They made camp that night in a forest clearing. Sasuke sat apart from the others, testing his new eyes.
The Mangekyo had significant chakra drain. Just keeping it active was exhausting. But he needed to understand it. Map its capabilities.
He focused on a nearby tree. Tried to feel... anything. Any connection. Any pull.
Nothing. The tree had no dojutsu. No eyes. The technique didn't react.
Then he looked at Karin. His Mangekyo scanned her—but found nothing. No dojutsu. No ocular power. The technique remained dormant.
"Sasuke-kun?" Karin noticed his stare. "What are you doing?"
"Testing." He deactivated the Mangekyo. The drain was too much to maintain constantly. "My eyes can perceive dojutsu. Identify them. And theoretically... absorb them."
"You already did that," Suigetsu pointed out. "With Ryota."
"That was confirmation. Now I need to understand the limits." Sasuke looked at his hands. "Takama-ga-hara only works on dojutsu—Sharingan, Byakugan, Rinnegan. Ocular bloodline limits."
Karin relaxed slightly. "So you can't just... absorb anyone's abilities?"
"No. Only those who possess visual bloodline limits. The technique is specific." Sasuke stared at his reflection in a water bottle. His normal three-tomoe Sharingan was visible now—he'd deactivated the Mangekyo to conserve chakra. "My soul craves the collection of sight—the divine eyes that perceive truth. Not general bloodlines."
"That's... actually kind of a relief," Suigetsu admitted.
"Dojutsu are the pinnacle of power in this world," Sasuke said. "The Sharingan sees chakra and copies techniques. The Byakugan perceives the body's inner workings. The Rinnegan controls life and death itself. Eyes are where true divinity resides."
He activated his Mangekyo again. Focused on a nearby boulder.
Black-red chakra formed around both his hands. Thin. Sharp. Crystalline in appearance, like hardened glass or diamond.
He thrust both hands forward.
The chakra shattered through the boulder. Not just piercing—the entire structure fractured and crumbled, as if its fundamental integrity had been compromised.
"Whoa," Suigetsu whispered. "What was that?"
"The offensive aspect of Ame-no-Sakahoko." Sasuke examined his hands. The chakra coating faded. "It doesn't just pierce defenses—it breaks them down at a fundamental level. Shatters barriers and protections."
"That's broken."
"It's necessary." Sasuke tested it again. This time on a chakra-reinforced tree. The crystalline coating shattered through the chakra enhancement like striking glass with a hammer. "For hunting dojutsu users. Many of them have defensive abilities. Susanoo. Byakugan's rotation. Various barriers. I need to be able to bypass those defenses."
He sat back down. The chakra drain was significant. Even short uses were taxing.
"This ability will get stronger with training," Sasuke said. "Right now it's basic. Undeveloped. But more importantly..."
"More importantly what?" Jugo asked.
Sasuke activated his Mangekyo again. Stared at the pattern reflected in a puddle. The spiral design with six sharp points converging inward.
"This design... it's incomplete. Intentionally so." He traced the pattern in the air. "When I absorb dojutsu, the pattern will change. Grow. Evolve. Each absorbed eye adds to the collection."
"Your Mangekyo evolves?" Karin's eyes widened. "That's... I've never heard of that."
"Because it's unique to my soul's nature. I'm a collector. My eyes are designed to collect and store divine sight." Sasuke smiled slightly. "Every dojutsu I absorb will be represented in the pattern. And each addition will make my eyes stronger."
"That's insane," Suigetsu said. "And awesome. And terrifying."
"That's the point."