Ch.27 A Forbidden Technique That Can Distort One’s Personality

"This dojutsu…" Uchiha Shinji paused, a look of realization appearing on his face. "Now it all makes sense!"

The dojutsu in Uchiha Fugaku's right eye was called "Izanagi-no-Mikoto."

Both the name and its effect were somewhat similar to the famous forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha clan, Izanagi.

To put it simply:

Izanagi is a technique that alters fate.

The user selects a favorable path from the branches of fate and overlays it onto reality, thus changing destiny.

It is a jutsu that can truly distort reality.

Because of this, the cost is extremely high—once activated, the user permanently loses one Sharingan, which is why it is classified as a forbidden technique.

However, Fugaku's right-eye dojutsu, Izanagi-no-Mikoto, is different from Izanagi.

Its effect is to glimpse into the branches of fate and gather unknown information from those possible futures.

In other words, Izanagi-no-Mikoto cannot alter fate or twist reality like Izanagi. Instead, it can only peek into the possibilities of events that have yet to occur.

For example, when two people, A and B, are facing off.

At that moment, fate will diverge due to minute environmental factors, creating unknown branches.

One branch may lead to A and B fighting fiercely, while another might have them step back and avoid conflict. From there, further branches would show A defeating B or B defeating A.

Izanagi, the forbidden technique, allows the user to twist and rewrite any unfavorable branch.

Izanagi-no-Mikoto, on the other hand, allows the user to glimpse into potential branches of fate before events occur—to peek into possible outcomes before they happen.

For instance, if A has Izanagi-no-Mikoto, before engaging with B, he could use the technique to foresee the result of their battle.

By peeking into the future branches of fate, A would learn whether he is likely to win or lose the upcoming fight.

If he sees that he's likely to lose, A could then avoid the fight altogether, thus sidestepping a future where fate turns against him.

So, in essence:

Izanagi can actually alter fate and twist reality, while Izanagi-no-Mikoto only helps avoid unfavorable fates by foreseeing them.

After fully understanding the characteristics of the dojutsu Izanagi-no-Mikoto, Shinji finally understood Fugaku's contradictory actions during his planning of the Uchiha rebellion.

It was clear:

During the Third Great Shinobi War, when Fugaku awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, he was filled with ambition, believing that the Uchiha clan could finally rise again.

But then the Fourth Hokage, Minato, appeared, becoming the brightest star of the war!

Fugaku likely used Izanagi-no-Mikoto on Minato and realized he was no match for him, forcing him to lie low.

Even when Kakashi, a disciple of the Fourth, transplanted a Sharingan without the Uchiha clan's permission, Fugaku dared not act openly to reclaim it.

Then came the Nine-Tails Incident, and with the Fourth Hokage and his wife's deaths, Fugaku must have believed the Uchiha's opportunity had finally come. He may have secretly used Izanagi-no-Mikoto on the Third Hokage, Danzo, or other high-ranking members of Hidden Leaf.

Judging from his later contradictory behavior, it was easy to deduce that what he foresaw in the branches of fate was either a stalemate or that victory would come at an overwhelming cost.

Thus:

His ambition, fueled by his Mangekyō Sharingan, drove him toward rebellion, but the future glimpses from Izanagi-no-Mikoto left him hesitant and fearful.

This resulted in his contradictory actions: on the one hand, eagerly holding clan meetings to plan the coup, while on the other hand, being indecisive and hesitant to make a final move.

As for the Uchiha Massacre:

Fugaku likely used Izanagi-no-Mikoto on Itachi as well and discovered, to his dismay, that he couldn't even defeat his own son.

Perhaps to preserve his dignity or to avoid wasting Itachi's Mangekyō eye power in a pointless father-son battle, Fugaku ultimately chose to surrender without resistance.

At this realization, Shinji felt a chill run down his spine.

Initially, after understanding the abilities of Izanagi-no-Mikoto, he thought it was an extremely powerful, even terrifying dojutsu.

After all, information is often priceless.

Exchanging eye power to gain knowledge of the future—even a brief glimpse of what's to come—could almost be seen as a form of future sight if used correctly.

But upon reviewing Fugaku's life, Shinji was horrified to discover that Izanagi-no-Mikoto had, little by little, twisted Fugaku's personality.

To reach the position of Uchiha clan head and awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, Fugaku must have been an outstanding figure in terms of both talent and power within the Uchiha clan.

Yet after gaining Izanagi-no-Mikoto, his behavior as clan leader was, to put it mildly, disappointing.

In the span of just seven or eight years, despite having geniuses like Shisui and Itachi in the clan, Fugaku had led the prestigious thousand-year-old Uchiha clan to complete destruction.

"Even a pig in his position couldn't have done worse, right?"

While grumbling to himself, Shinji also felt a sense of caution.

Uchiha Fugaku, after awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, had become indecisive—cautious to the point of cowardice.

This indicated that Izanagi-no-Mikoto had subtly influenced, if not outright twisted, Fugaku's personality.

It seemed as though he had gained the power to glimpse and control fate, but in reality, he had been slowly ensnared by the web of fate, eventually becoming a man paralyzed by fear of making any decision.

"If I rely too much on this technique, I might end up just like Uchiha Fugaku—a coward who can only move forward when presented with a guaranteed victory!"

Imagine:

Had Shinji already possessed this dojutsu earlier, he would have used it to peek into the fate of attacking the ANBU headquarters. He would have learned that he either couldn't win or that the victory would come at a steep cost.

Faced with that knowledge, would he have still dared to make his move?

Similarly, after seeing a likely unfavorable fate, would he have still dared to storm Danzo's Root base?

Upon reflection:

If Izanagi-no-Mikoto had shown him a future where failure was likely, Shinji wasn't sure if he would have been as bold and meticulous in storming both the ANBU headquarters and Root base.

"One needs a certain level of mental fortitude to wield such a fate-altering technique!"

Shinji sighed softly.

Previously, he had assumed the cost of using Izanagi-no-Mikoto was merely eye power, but now he realized it also required a different kind of payment: courage, something that couldn't be measured in value.

It was only then that he understood—like Izanagi, Izanagi-no-Mikoto was also a forbidden technique with an unreasonably high cost!