Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto world is filled with some of the most incredible shinobi who have demonstrated some extremely impressive powers over the years. From the passionate and gutsy Eight Inner Gates of Might Guy to the Honored Sage Mode of Jiraiya, this story has featured countless amazing powers that have amazed the fans. One such power is the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.
Introduced in the very beginning of the story, the Sharingan is initially thought to be an incredibly useful eye capable of doing some amazing things such as casting powerful genjutsu or copying the techniques of other people. However, the deeper the story dives into the lore of this majestic eye, the clearer it is that this power comes at a huge cost. It goes without saying that the Sharingan ranks among the very best abilities in the Naruto series, however, not everyone would want to wield this power due to the cost of using it being too high.
The History Of The Sharingan
The Sharingan is a power that evolved from the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya Otsutsuki's Rinne-Sharingan. Although Hagoromo Otsutsuki didn't manifest the eye, his son, Indra Otsutsuki, was the first wielder of the Sharingan, and later, he became the progenitor of the Uchiha clan as well. Although the manga doesn't state how Indra awakened his Sharingan, his case was likely no different from all the others who awakened this power in the story. Essentially, the Sharingan can only be awakened when someone with the Uchiha bloodline experiences a great emotion. Often, this emotion is linked to stress or loss of a loved one, which is how Itachi Uchiha awakened his Sharingan in the Itachi Shinden.
Over the centuries, the Sharingan has awakened out of stress or loss quite often, which is why it is directly tied to the Uchiha Clan's infamous "Curse of Hatred." According to Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage of Konohagakure, the Uchiha are actually people who love very dearly. In fact, given the way the love of the Uchiha has been portrayed in the story, it is safe to say hardly anyone can love as deeply and powerfully as them. Yet, when their loved ones are in danger or in some unfortunate cases, die, their love is manifested as great hatred. Their brains send a special chakra to their optic nerves and turn their eyes into the Sharingan. Simply put, the Sharingan is an eye that signifies tragedy most of the time. The manifestation of the Sharingan itself is a sign that the user has witnessed a tragedy in most cases, which is why, in Itachi Shinden, the young Uchiha almost laments awakening the eye in the first place.
While Sharingan evolves from stress and loss most of the time, this is not always the case. At times, the awakening of the eyes is triggered by a strong desire to protect the loved ones of the user, as seen with Obito Uchiha, whose Sharingan manifested itself when Kakashi Hatake was in danger. The ability of the eye to manifest itself based on the feelings of the user, both positive and negative, has fittingly earned it the name of "the eye that reflects the heart."
The Powers Of The Sharingan
Since the price to pay for the Sharingan is too much, the power that it grants is equally great, twisted as that might be. The Sharingan's power is such that it is considered to be one of the "Three Great Dojutsu" in the Naruto world, the other two being the Byakugan of the Hyuga, and the godly Rinnegan which only manifests in those who have the chakra of the Sage of Six Paths.
The Sharingan mainly offers two major powers, the first of which is the "Eye of Insight." With this ability of the eye, the Sharingan can pull of things like seeing the chakra of those around them clearly, although not as well as the Byakugan does it. Nonetheless, it is enough to tell whether a person is under the influence of a genjutsu or not. At the same time, this eye also offers the ability to see through most obstructions, but once again, its level is nowhere near the Byakugan in this regard. Perhaps one of the most important powers of this eye is that it allows the user to read intricate movements extremely well and also anticipate some movements. With each evolution of the Sharingan, the ability to read these movements improves. A fully matured Sharingan is capable of reading high-speed movements that even break the sound barrier with ease.
One of the greatest powers of the Sharingan is certainly its ability to copy any jutsu that isn't a Hiden ability or a Kekkei Genkai. Be it ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu, the Sharingan is capable of copying any technique with ease. However, the user of the eye must have learned the prerequisites for performing the jutsu that they copy. For instance, copying an Earth Release jutsu would require a Sharingan user to know Earth Release, at the very least.
The other major power of the eye is the genjutsu ability that it offers. Out of the Three Great Dojutsu, the Sharingan's genjutsu prowess is simply unmatched. With mere eye contact, the user is able to trap their opponents in a powerful genjutsu that is, in some cases, strong enough to completely take over the target's body, as seen with Obito Uchiha and Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure.
As evident from the reasoning behind its awakening, the Sharingan grows stronger the more the user experiences powerful emotions such as grief. In case they witness the death of a loved one, the eye evolves into a Mangekyo Sharingan, which is even stronger than the regular Sharingan. As such, the strongest users of the Sharingan are those who have suffered the most. Madara Uchiha, a legend of the Uchiha clan, witnessed the death of four of his brothers and eventually, his hatred kept growing, which is why he was as strong as he was.
Similarly, Sasuke Uchiha being scarred with the Uchiha Clan Massacre and then Itachi's death made him blinded with hatred and powered his Sharingan even more. At one point, Sasuke was described to have been completely consumed by hatred by Karin, and the more his hatred grew, the stronger and more sinister his chakra became. The Sharingan is, thus, a power that can be described as incredible but at the same time, is the representation of a great tragedy. The eye is more of a curse than it is a blessing, but in the tragic world of ninja, it is the reality of the Uchiha clan.