Chapter 2: The path to the lair
"I did it," Kakoto said as he sat down while resting his back on a nearby tree after running without rest for many hours.
His body was covered in wounds, bruises and blood but at least he got out alive with all his limbs still attached to his body.
His right eye was bleeding and was in pain so much that he had to close it for several hours already.
He was finally able to relax his body and he fell asleep soundly in the forest far away from the village that ended his family's life.
After many hours Kakoto woke up due to hunger.
He has not eaten anything since he escaped from Konoha.
"My whole body is aching. It seems like using my Mangekyo ability not only affects my eyes but also my whole body." He said.
The aftermath of the wounds and injuries that he suffered seems even worse after he took a nap.
On the bright side, his right eye had completely stopped bleeding.
"That man with the scar on his chin. He is the reason why I am in this kind of situation. And that masked traitor. He was supposed to be the next clan head but instead he. He...." He was clenching his teeth just thinking about the two people that destroyed his life.
He was pissed. He was unable to do anything back towards the man who killed his family and the people who were involved in the murder of his family because he was just a powerless kid who was not even able to use a fireball jutsu.
However, even though he was becoming more and more angry he quickly swept aside those thoughts as his hunger started to feel even more intense.
He searches inside the pocket that was inside his pants to see whether he has some sort of candies or snacks that he could eat to appease his hunger.
Unluckily for him, there was no such thing.
However, he did find a small pouch that contained some money.
It was not much and contained around 5,000 ryo.
"I could buy something to eat using this," Kakoto said.
However, then he remembered he was not in Konoha and was now residing in the middle of nowhere.
He walked around the forest he was in to look for food like fruits or small animal tags he could eat.
A few hours passed and to his surprise, there were no signs of fruits or even animals that he could use to fill his stomach.
He realized that there was a reason why he was able to sleep soundly in the middle of the forest without any danger this was an empty forest without any kind of food or animals.
If there was some kind of wildlife present here he might have already been killed by it.
"What is this place exactly?" He thought as he looked around.
Then the bush that was behind him moved.
"What is that noise?" He said as he turned his back to see that there was nothing there.
However, he was sure he heard something.
He activated his Sharingan to see what was the thing that was near him.
He only activated his one tomoe version and not his MS( Mangekyo Sharingan) as he did not want to put unnecessary strain on his eyes and body.
"A snake?" He said as he saw the chakra of a small white snake that was watching him within the bush.
"I was hoping that it would be a boar or a deer but guess you will do." He said as he picked up a small rock that was on the ground and approached the snake.
He was planning to kill the snake after smashing its head with the rock and then roast the snake for a meal.
Then he slowly approached the snake and the snake quickly ran away when it noticed that Kakoto was approaching it with a strong killing intent while holding a rock.
"It disappeared," Kakoto said as he noticed that he couldn't sense the presence of the snake before.
"Hehe Hehe." Then he heard a laugh. It seemed like someone was playing a prank on him and the snake was just a decoy.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Kakoto yelled out.
However, there was no reply.
Kakoto panicked. Is it a Konoha ninja that was sent to get his eyes? Is it that traitor who wanted to finish his business? He was terrified.
If it was a Konoha Ninja or the traitor they would not have waited for me to get up and play a prank on me.
He thought as his heart was beating intensely at that time started to settle down.
Then he remembered the conversation between a few Uchiha members that he had happened to stumble across many years ago.
He doesn't fully remember all the details of it however there were two things that he really couldn't forget about the conversation that he just happened to hear accidentally.
About a rumor about how there was a location near Konoha where only people who were willing to sacrifice everything for absolute power could enter.
"Should I try finding the way to that place?" He asked himself.
He was really hungry and was barely able to stand up but then the face of a man wearing an Anbu mask popped into his mind.
"If I die It just means that I am not suited to live out my life." He said as he stood up and started to walk aimlessly.
It's better to die in the pursuit of strength compared to living like a coward who has to be afraid of everything and everyone.
He thought.
It was an edgy and childish way of thinking but in his defense, he was still a child.
He didn't know where to go, he didn't know how far he had to travel.
But he keeps walking despite the condition that his body is in and the intense hunger that he is feeling like a fool to find a place that he is not sure even existed.
There is only one thing on his mind. If he wanted to keep on surviving he needed strength.
And currently, as an orphan who cannot return to the place he once called home this might be the only way for him to become stronger.
After walking for like six hours, sparks of hope finally appeared on the face of the young Uchiha boy.
"Huh? Is that...." He was shocked.
He was not expecting to see an apple tree that had apples on it in the forest.
He was not expecting to find any food on his way to that cave.
He thought that the lack of food and living beings around this place was because of the location that it was in.
As in a place that was close to the cave where those snakes lived.
He walked towards the apple tree and started to pick up a few apples that were on the ground.
He was so happy that his eyes started to tear up.
The apples were real things.
They weren't like a mirage that was created by his eyes because of his intense hunger.
He knew he could get apples that were in better condition if he decided to collect them directly from the tree but he was too tired and had no energy left to even think about climbing the tree.
"Hopefully it's not poisoned." He said as he took a bite out of the apple.
Then the information about how the apple fell to the ground suddenly appeared in his mind.
It seems like the apples fell to the ground because several hours ago a few ravens tried to feast on some apples that were on the tree.
The ravens tried to collect the apples that were on the tree and a few apples fell to the ground because of their efforts.
"What the hell was that? Why am I wondering about how the apples fell to the ground?" Kakoto asked himself.
He just thought that his mind was wandering around aimlessly while he was eating.
He didn't notice that his left Mangekyo Sharingan ability was the reason why that information entered into his mind.
Of course, it was not a full activation as his eyes didn't change their colour and shape.
Plus he also didn't feel any pain either in his eyes or his body.
It was just a partial activation of his left eye's power.
The power to see and break down everything that he sees or experiences down to the subatomic level as long as he is curious about it.
Even in its one tomoe Sharingan state, the eyes let you see chakra and its nature in its purest form.
This was the reason why he was able to see small chakra particles in the air that were around other living beings who were able to produce chakra.
This is also the reason why he was able to understand how Izanagi works and gained the knowledge to recreate it to some extent.
And sensed the danger that was approaching him before they reached him which ultimately saved his life while he was trying to flee from Konoha.
At its full potential, the eye can even allow you to understand how some kekkei genkai or hidden techniques work just by observing it.
Not only that, the eye allows you to see things from your blindside, in a dark area with no light source, or things that can be picked up by your other six senses even if you don't have a vision for it.
The ultimate eye for a scholar or any ninja who pursues knowledge.
However, to unleash the full potential of the eye you have to use it while it is in its Mangekyo Sharingan state.
The backlash that one receives when one uses their Mangekyo Sharingan ability is still present whenever you try to use the eye at its peak state.
This means that as powerful as the eye is, it cannot be overused as you can still go blind.
Even then the water-toned version of the eye (its non-ms state) that does not
risk any sort of blindness is still something that other ninjas, scholars or scientists would kill for.
Surprisingly as powerful as the left eye is, the small fraction of power from the right eye is still superior to the full potential of the left eye.
"It's too sweet." He said as he slowly ate the apples.
He was so hungry that he ate the whole apple without even leaving the stern and seeds.
After all, beggars can't be choosers.
After eating about seven to eight apples Kakoto was finally full.
"I should take some with me so that I can eat them whenever I get hungry again. I am not sure I will ever find something like this on my way to that cave."
He then looked around to see if there was anything that he could use to carry the apples.
But there was no luck. The only things that he was able to find were just sticks and stones.
And it was not like he could create some sort of clone that he would be able to use to carry the apples around or create a dimension or subspace where he could store the apples and access them at any time.
"Ha." He sighed.
He finally gave up the idea of bringing a large amount of apples along with him as he was not able to find anything that could be used to carry a large amount of them conveniently.
He just put like two of them into his pocket.
"I should keep going." He said as he stood up and kept walking aimlessly hoping to find a cave where the sage of the snake lived.
Funnily enough, although he kept walking for like nine more hours he didn't feel any hunger anymore.
What is more surprising is that during these hours it seems like his body didn't make any waste and all the food that he ate was fully converted into nutrients as he was still full of energy and didn't feel tired.
It was despite him walking more quickly compared to his normal pace which requires more energy than usual.
It was like his body was maximizing all the functions that it was able to perform at the top level.