"The Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan is typically used to distinguish chakra signatures. With your current level of strength, you're not strong enough to evade detection. If you could evolve your Sharingan to the three-tomoe stage, you might be able to use genjutsu to fool them—but you..."
Itachi's crow clone sighed helplessly. His younger brother excelled at everything—except improving his Sharingan.
Back when Sasuke had personally witnessed their parents' deaths, Itachi had even cast him into Tsukuyomi to make him relive the scene again and again, just to finally awaken the single-tomoe Sharingan.
Unlike the Mangekyō, the two- and three-tomoe stages can normally be reached through regular training. But for Sasuke, there had been no progress at all.
At this point, the crow clone was starting to suspect that maybe he'd scolded Sasuke too harshly in the past, to the point where Sasuke had no desire to improve his Sharingan anymore.
"Three-tomoe? I'm fine as I am. If I really awaken it, that geezer Danzo might just see my eyes as backup donor material," Sasuke's shadow clone sighed, not wanting to discuss his eyes further.
He had already figured out that his Sharingan could only be upgraded through the system's enhancement cards—and more importantly, that these enhancements stacked.
Only one card was needed to upgrade to two-tomoe. But to reach the three-tomoe stage? Probably ten cards. And beyond that...
The thought alone was terrifying. He had originally assumed the system would be a straight-up cheat tool that let him dominate instantly—but now?
Clearly, the system was worried he'd improve too quickly and lose his grounding, so the later upgrades had to be slowly earned through grinding.
"Danzo... you need to be careful around those elders. Danzo's already done plenty of shady things. As for the Third... never mind, I won't get into that again. You've only got a one-tomoe Sharingan—how dare you even glare at me with that?"
Having been thoroughly "warped" by his time with Sasuke, Itachi's crow clone no longer hesitated to throw sarcastic jabs at him.
He'd tried multiple times to explain that the Third Hokage could at least barely be considered a qualified leader.
But unfortunately, every time he brought it up, Sasuke would list countless scandals and misdeeds tied to the Third—starting from the death of the Second Hokage, all the way to the food he and Naruto were eating now. In Sasuke's mind, the Third was even worse than Danzo.
Though the crow clone hated to admit it, he'd been thoroughly brainwashed by Sasuke.
"So what if I only have a one-tomoe Sharingan? You wanna bet I'll awaken the Mangekyō straight out of nowhere someday?"
Sasuke's shadow clone let out a sarcastic remark, then turned back to watching the shadow clones spar.
Ever since he had obtained the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, he had been using it for training—though of course, only because he couldn't use it freely outside.
Now, with just one year left before graduation, it was probably time for him to start learning some A-rank jutsu too, right?
Even if he wasn't sure when he'd actually use them, having more techniques never hurt—it was better to be overprepared.
"Don't awaken the Mangekyō for now—the burden is too great. Your body can't handle it yet."
The crow clone flapped its wings as it spoke, then flew off to rest on the side.
It understood better than anyone just how damaging the Mangekyō Sharingan could be.
The physical toll only grew heavier over time, and who knew how the real Itachi was faring now? Hopefully, he wouldn't fall apart before Sasuke came for him. All the preparations would be wasted otherwise.
"Onii-san... teach me some higher-level jutsu. The more I learn now, the better. Once I can leave the village, I'm going to find a way to bring back our parents."
The shadow clone Sasuke walked over to where his parents' bodies lay. While nothing inside this system space would deteriorate further, bringing them back to life—at least for now—seemed impossible without the Rinnegan.
As for the system…
So far, it hadn't offered any rewards or options related to reviving his parents. That meant, at least for now, it couldn't be counted on for that.