"Your current eyes were taken by Uchiha Yan from an invader's corpse," Uchiha Yao explained, revealing the origin of Uchiha Gin's eyes.
"By all accounts, you shouldn't have awakened Sharingan."
Yao stared at Gin's faintly red eyes, still surprised by the event.
Eye transplants weren't uncommon in the clan; certain forbidden jutsu used regular Sharingan as consumables.
"So what's going on with mine?" Gin asked, touching his eye sockets, recalling his Sharingan awakening. It always tied back to the system—could that be why?
"A few possibilities," Yao said, pondering before explaining.
"First, the eyes might've been swapped. You could have a clansman's eyes."
Unlikely. Back then, Uchiha Miao and Yan knew Gin's frail state. Implanting Sharingan risked worsening his condition, causing further harm.
"Second, your body assimilated these eyes."
Assimilated? New territory for Gin, who looked at Yao, puzzled, hoping for clarity.
"The eyeball has countless blood vessels and lymphatics sustaining it. After the transplant, your blood filled the eyes, altering their fundamental nature," Yao said softly, sharing his theory.
"This is the most likely. Even after a lifetime of study, the human body's mysteries elude me."
Gin nodded, noncommittal.
"There's one more guess," Yao added after a pause, as if struck by a thought.
"What?" Gin asked, snapping out of his thoughts.
"For years, I've studied bloodlines. We've collected many test subjects in wars. Examining them, I found something curious," Yao said, his lone eye shifting, lost in memory.
Gin listened intently, not interrupting.
"Unrelated ninja clans share similar genetic chains in their bloodlines. I thought it was from centuries of intermingling, but some clans, bitter enemies, would never intermarry."
"Senju, Uzumaki, Hagoromo, Hyuga, Kaguya…" Yao listed, then added, "and Uchiha."
Gin, privy to Naruto's lore, knew these clans descended from the Otsutsuki.
"Your eyes come from the Kaguya clan—a Kaguya-Hyuga hybrid," Yao revealed.
"?!"
Gin's eyes, from a Kaguya-Hyuga mix?
"Hold on, let me process this. It's a lot," Gin said, dazed. His original host's eyes were this complex?
He was Uchiha, with Kaguya-Hyuga eyes, plus system-given Uzumaki blood. Just missing Senju and Hagoromo to stack the full Otsutsuki buff and blast off to the cosmos.
"Shared genetic segments let your body adapt these eyes, converting them to Sharingan. If you were Hyuga, they'd likely awaken Byakugan," Yao explained.
Self-adapting hot-swap tech?
"With such compatibility, nurture them well, and Mangekyo is within reach," Yao said, misreading Gin's frown as clan pride, offering comfort.
"Awakening Mangekyo isn't hard for you. You just need the right trigger," Yao added. Gin's prior Mangekyo awakening proved his talent; doing it again was feasible.
"Got it," Gin said, knowing the "trigger"—deep emotional trauma. But in this world, he had no loved ones or strong bonds. How could he unlock it?
"I have a method, though I'm not sure it'll work," Yao said, sensing Gin's urgency.
"Grandpa, help me out!" Gin pleaded, bowing. A little groveling for Tsukuyomi? Worth it.
"I didn't want you to know this so soon," Yao sighed, turning to a hidden wall compartment, retrieving a glass jar.
"These are your father's Sharingan."
Yao, face grim, placed the jar before Gin.
In greenish nutrient fluid, crimson Sharingan floated, radiating potent pupil power despite years without an owner.
"These eyes hold the full record of your father's murder by Uchiha Tajima. View it, and you'll likely awaken Mangekyo," Yao said, stroking the jar, voice thick with hatred.
Who was telling the truth? Gin's head ached. Besides Yao, everyone said his father died protecting teammates. Now, he'd see for himself.
"Infuse your Sharingan's pupil power to unlock the sealed memory," Yao instructed.
Following Yao's guidance, Gin's three-tomoe Sharingan spun, channeling cold chakra into the jar's eyes.
Nearby, the jailer's dim eyes flickered with an unreadable glint, silently watching the duo.
As pupil power connected, Gin's body lightened, entering a third-person perspective.
A curly-haired man hurried along, joined by clansmen, all wounded. Kunai and shuriken whizzed past, signaling pursuit.
"Captain, they're too close!" a young man said. Gin recognized a youthful Uchiha Tajima, around twenty, exuding an elder's calm.
"Don't panic. I'll hold them off. You retreat," the curly-haired man said, his warm, confident voice inspiring trust.
"Kin, don't play hero. I'm with you," a fierce woman beside him snapped, glaring.
"I'm staying too!" young Tajima declared.
"Enough. I'll handle it alone. You'd just slow me down," Uchiha Kin said, shaking his head. "Meet up with Fuka. I'll catch up."
Kin turned to face the enemy.
"Stubborn idiot!" The woman, furious at Kin's solo stand, told Tajima, "Go. I don't trust your brother-in-law."
She chased after Kin. Tajima's eyes flickered, then he followed.
"Why'd you come? I told you to leave!" Kin shouted, trapped in an enemy encirclement, seeing them return.
"How could I abandon family?" The woman drew her weapon, face cold. Tajima nodded, activating his Sharingan.
After a bloody fight, they retreated, nearly ready to escape, when disaster struck.
"Tajima, what are you doing?!" Kin gasped, staring at the katana piercing his stomach, turning to see Tajima's crazed face.
"Sorry, brother-in-law. If you don't die, I can't become clan head," Tajima said, twisting the blade, blood gushing as Kin collapsed.
"No!!!" The woman's desperate scream echoed, Tajima's cold back the final image.
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