Welcome to this article, my fellow weebs! In this article, we are going to tell you all about the Sharingan—everything you’d ever need to know!
The origin of Sharingan, abilities, transformations, Izanagi & Izanami, and lastly some amazing Mangekyo Sharingan abilities.
It is said in the lore of Sharingan that when the wielder of these eyes, an Uchiha, experiences a powerful emotion about the person that is closest to them, their eyes are transformed into a Sharingan.
What is the Sharingan?
Sharingan is a kekkei genkai passed down in the Uchiha Clan. Kekkei Genkai is basically a unique DNA transformation that only happens in a specific Blood Line, for example, Sharingan in the Uchihas, Byakugan in the Hyugas, etc.
Sharingan literally means “Copy Wheel Eye” which gives the wielder two major abilities. Firstly, the ability to see chakra and copy jutsus, and secondly the ability to perform strong genjutsu, more on this later.
This all is just information about the eyes but moreover, what does the Sharingan signify? Sharingan is the ‘Eye that reflects the Heart’, just awakening the Sharingan takes a toll on the wielder’s heart.
They have to suffer through powerful emotions of loss and heartbreak to awaken the kekkei genkai, that is why it is called the eye that reflects the heart. It shows how much an Uchiha has suffered, it shows the pain they went through.
The Curse of Hatred
The Uchihas are said to be one of the most affectionate and caring people in the world. They have a strong sense of love and relationships in them yet they often hide their feelings, never showing them to the person they are so fond of.
The truth of the Sharingan is that it is only activated when the wielder goes through a powerful emotion, the emotion when they lose their loved ones, their friend, their brother, or their family. This causes their love to transform into blind hatred.
In the series, we can see the Curse of Hatred run its course with almost every Uchiha character who gets a spotlight, like how Kakshi, activated his Mangekyo Sharingan when he lost someone very close to him.
This so-called Curse of Hatred makes all the Uchihas insanely powerful but at the same time, they all have to suffer the excruciating pain of losing their loved ones. What is the use of the world’s best abilities when the person you love the most is not there with you to see you with those powers?
In the end, all of them take reckless decisions, stop caring about the world around them, start blindly hating the entire society and never take accountability for their actions.
Abilities of The Sharingan
The wielder of an awakened Sharingan gets two major abilities called the “Eye of Insight” and “Eye of Hypnotism”. Sharingan is one of the most powerful abilities in the anime universe, so now let’s address what makes it so powerful!
“Eye of Insight” gives the power of seeing chakra, not as powerful as the Byakugan’s ability to sense chakra and chakra points but it can detect anomalies in a person’s chakra flow.
This ability also enhances the vision such that the wielder can read lips, and movements in battle, anticipate attacks, and much more. This ability gives the user to copy any jutsu that they see with the Sharingan.
All of us remember the scene when Kakashi copies Zabuza before he even performs the jutsu, that’s the power of Sharingan. Kakashi had mastered the Sharingan to the level where he could copy a jutsu even before his opponent performed the jutsu, that’s why they call him the “Copy Ninja”.
“Eye of Hypnotism” gives the user the power to use strong genjutsu. If mastered to the extreme this ability gives the user to take control of their opponent’s entire body and have them do as they please. I don’t think I can explain this without mentioning Itachi, the god of genjutsu.
In the anime, Itachi’s genjutsu is on a completely different level, his ability to conquer anyone’s mind and have them do as he pleases is just one of his amazing powers.
This ability is also why the Uchihas are able to control the tailed beasts. The Uchihas can enter their mind and control the beast’s chakra better than anyone else.
Izanagi and Izanami
In addition to the other two abilities, we have these two powerful Jutsu that any wielder can perform but this Jutsu cost enormous sacrifices. Izanagi is the jutsu used to warp reality and illusion, literally changing the events that happened just seconds ago and making them an illusion and the illusion becomes reality.
Uchihas used this in the war to revive themselves after facing a deadly blow, but this jutsu as I said has an enormous cost. The cost is your eyes, the wielder after using this Jutsu once loses one of their Sharingan.
The Izanagi was so destructive that it led the entire clan into chaos, everyone started using the Jutsu for themselves and changing reality in their favor by sacrificing their eyes carelessly.
To put a stop to this chaos running rampant in the clan, the Izanami was invented, it is a jutsu that puts your opponent in a loop made from a set of significant instances from which there is no getting out. Using Izanami is also equally bad, it also costs the user their eye.
Mangekyo Sharingan
“You can evolve your eyes into Mangekyou Sharingan just like I did but there is one condition. You must kill your best friend, just like I did” ~ Itachi Uchiha. The Sharingan is truly mysterious, firstly you awaken it after facing a powerful emotion of loss and hurt and then you can evolve it even more if you take the life of your closest friend.
What are you even supposed to feel after killing your closest friend? You evolved your eyes but at what cost? Was it worth it? The Mangekyo Sharingan gives the user a special ability, a Jutsu that is unique to every user, and only they can perform it, like the black flame Amaterasu for Sasuke.
Mangekyo Sharingan isn’t exactly the perfect version of Sharingan because if used excessively Mangekyo turns blind and eventually loses all vision. Then there are even more sacrifices, as well as a world of pain and suffering.
To achieve the perfect eyes, The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the blinded Mangekyou Sharingan should be replaced with a different pair of Mangekyo Sharingan but this pair should be from your close relative or family member, like a brother.
The Eternal Mangekyou never goes blind no matter how much it is used. Summing up, all of the Uchiha clan is cursed with this suffering caused by their own lust for power.
They get so lost in the hunt for fame and power, they get blindsided by the abilities and the power of the Sharingan and lose sight of their brethren, their precious family, their closest friends, and turn to the darkness and pain in their hearts and get lost in their own hatred.
Mangekyou Sharingan Abilities
Sasuke’s Mangekyo gives him the ability to use Amaterasu, a black never-ending flame that can set anything and anyone on fire. He can set anything on fire with his left eye and control the flames and guide them with his right.
This Jutsu is insanely powerful and the damage from it cannot be cured by normal techniques. He can also use the Susanoo since he activated Mangekyo Sharingan in both of his eyes. Itachi probably has the strongest Mangekyou, in my opinion. Where everyone else has one ability, this badass has three.
With his left eye he can cast Tsukuyomi on his opponents, a genjutsu so strong even Kakashi fell to his knees in a mere one second, it allows Itachi to distort his opponent’s perception of time, and with his right eye, he can cast the Amaterasu, similar to Sasuke’s.
Since Itachi also has Mangekyou in both his eyes, even he can use the Susanoo. Shisui activated his Mangekyou at the age of 10, with an ability called the Kotoamatsukami. This ability is basically a genjutsu.
The genjutsu is so strong that Shisui is able to manipulate others without them even realizing that they are being manipulated and are under his control.
How can we talk about the Mangekyou without mentioning the first-ever human to awaken the Mangekyou? Madara was such an exceptional Uchiha, he could tame the tailed beasts with his Sharingan and Genjutsu. His Susanoo is by far the strongest on the show.
Hope you guys had a fun time reading this article!
