Uchiha Yuchi lay quietly in the basement, unable to remember how long he had been imprisoned in the stench and darkness.
Ever since his humiliating defeat at the hands of that insidious bastard, Uchiha Kai, he had been confined here. Kai had been ruthless. The first time they fought, Kai had used a jutsu similar to Chidori to shatter his limbs. But the second time—Kai had gone even further. He hadn't just beaten him. He had ruined him.
The loss, the isolation, the indignity—they drove Yuchi to consider ending his life more than once.
But Kai had made even that impossible. He'd hooked up nutrient IVs to Yuchi's body, keeping him alive, feeding him just enough chakra suppressants to stop any attempt at self-harm. It was crueler than death.
Even with his body shattered and his ninja career seemingly over, Yuchi's hatred burned. Revenge—the single word that kept him sane. He would kill Kai. Somehow. Someday.
That thought—vengeance—was all he had left. It clung to his shredded pride as a member of the Uchiha. Because even if his arms and legs were useless, his Sharingan and his chakra still remained.
In that void of pain and despair, Yuchi had noticed something. His Sharingan... had changed. It had deepened—sharpened. Hatred, he realized, was the best nourishment for their eyes. The Uchiha's bloodline wasn't strengthened by peace—it thrived in anguish.
But still, what could he do? He wasn't fit for the battlefield. His body was ruined.
"Damn you, Uchiha Kai..." Yuchi muttered through cracked lips, his voice dry as dust. "Didn't anyone in the clan ever question him…? Didn't Osamu…?"
He was wrong, of course. Uchiha Osamu had tried. But with Uchiha Fugaku silently backing Kai—and the village distracted by the Orochimaru defection—there were no answers to be found. Kai remained a mystery. A threat. An enigma even within the Uchiha.
Time passed. The basement never changed. Just shadows and silence.
Until today.
Footsteps.
For the first time in... how long? Yuchi's eyes widened. He knew that stride. That chakra presence.
It was him.
Uchiha Kai.
Anger flared through Yuchi's body like lightning. This was it.
"Long time no see, Yuchi," came the calm, cold voice. It was still young, but deeper now. Sharper.
Yuchi grinned with cracked lips, his voice low and hateful. "Every day I thought of you... bastard…"
Kai stepped into the dim light, his face unreadable. He gazed down at Yuchi, bound and crippled on the floor, eyes gleaming with loathing.
Kai didn't flinch. He'd seen hatred like that a thousand times—on the battlefield, in the eyes of dying men. It didn't faze him anymore.
But then—
Yuchi's eyes snapped open, glowing red.
The Sharingan activated in a flash—and in that instant, Kai felt it. The genjutsu pierced into his mind.
A crimson world of flames erupted around him. Kai found himself nailed to a cross, fire devouring his body. Yuchi's spectral form emerged from the flames, eyes burning, hatred incarnate.
It was a good illusion. Precise. Desperate. Powerful. For someone without a Mangekyō, it might've worked.
But there are no "what-ifs" in war.
Kai's eyes shifted—his own Sharingan flared to life.
Three tomoe spun into a Mangekyō pattern.
And just like that, the illusion shattered.
The flames reversed. The scenery folded in on itself. Now it was Yuchi nailed to the cross—screaming.
"No! NO!" Yuchi writhed as the illusion twisted against him. His last trump card, shattered like glass. Kai's Mangekyō had overwhelmed his Genjutsu completely.
"You see it now, don't you?" Kai said, voice low and razor-sharp. "The gap between us isn't just talent. It's in the eyes."
Yuchi blinked—then, in a snap, he was back in the basement. Panting. Broken. Kai still stood calmly before him.
It was over.
Again.
Kai frowned slightly. This wasn't the result he wanted. Numbness. Despair. A hollow soul. That wouldn't awaken anything.
A broken Uchiha doesn't awaken the Mangekyō.
"Anger works for some," Kai thought, reaching into his pouch. "But despair only worked for me..."
He crouched, forcing open Yuchi's mouth, and poured in a vial of pale-blue liquid.
The boy didn't resist.
"Don't go numb on me, Yuchi," Kai muttered, smiling faintly. "I need you angry. I need you awake."
Yuchi's body twitched.
"Do you know why you lost?" Kai asked. "Why you'll always lose?"
No answer. But Kai saw it—the faintest turn of the head.
"Because you have three tomoe. And I have something more."
He paused, letting it hang in the air.
"My Sharingan... isn't just complete. It's evolved."
Yuchi's breath hitched.
"It's the Mangekyō."
Kai's smile grew wider.
"You, your brother Osamu, even Fugaku—you're all stuck in the past. While I reached the next level. And you know what they say about these eyes, right? Their power is unimaginable."
Yuchi began to tremble. Kai leaned in.
"There's just one flaw—they'll go blind with overuse. So I need... replacements. Backups."
His voice was almost gentle.
"You. Your brother. You're potential candidates."
Yuchi choked, "You..."
Kai covered his mouth.
"Don't talk. Just listen. That potion will stir your chakra—your emotions. And I've got something else too. Props, let's say."
He stood, smiling faintly.
"I didn't want to hurt that girl. The one who admired you. But her death? That'll be your fault."
Yuchi's Sharingan flickered violently.
"And her parents too. Innocents. Ten, twenty people. All because you failed. Again."
The hatred returned like a thunderclap. His chakra surged. His eyes—
—began to bleed.
Kai let go, watching in satisfaction. "Don't worry. You'll do it soon enough."
"But this is your chance," he whispered. "Unlock the Mangekyō... and maybe you'll be worth something again."
He turned his back.
"And maybe then... you'll be able to face me for real."
Behind him, Yuchi Uchiha trembled, his body wracked with burning chakra, his eyes swirling with bloody power.
The door closed.
Kai's voice echoed back, one last time:
"Are you ready, Yuchi Uchiha?"
And in the darkness, scarlet eyes wept blood.