When Does Sasuke Awaken The Mangekyou Sharingan?

Sasuke Uchiha is one of the main characters within the Naruto universe and is also one of the most fascinating, gaining a cult following among fans as he breaks bad and turns into an international criminal – his character arc is one of the darkest and most complex of all the characters in Naruto.

He epitomises much of the Uchiha clan, being described as the spitting image of Madara Uchiha by Kurama, and especially the clan’s ‘Curse of Hatred’.

This concept is no better understood than when Sasuke gains his Mangekyou Sharingan, and also his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, one of the only ninjas, alongside Madara himself, who ever awoke this rare evolution of the Sharingan.

Who Is Sasuke Uchiha?

If you didn’t already know, Sasuke Uchiha is one of the main characters in the Naruto animanga world. 

In the early series simply named ‘Naruto’ he is a broody and doomer shinobi who epitomises the teenage angst many fans could relate to.

However he is particularly traumatised as his clan was wiped out at the hands of his brother, Itachi, who left him as the sole survivor. Sasuke was part of Naruto’s genin team ‘Team Kakashi’, led by its eponymous leader Kakashi Hatake, and alongside his future wife Sakura

In ‘Naruto: Shippuden’ Sasuke is pushed to leave the Hidden Leaf to grow strong enough to defeat his brother Itachi and avenge the whole Uchiha clan.

Seeking to grow his strength as a shinobi, but also an Uchiha, Sasuke sought out the taboo training of Orochimaru.

This behaviour led to his exile from the village and ultimately earning him the label of an international criminal just like his brother Itachi, later joining the Akatsuki just as the latter did. 

Once he was convinced into turning his back on his vengeful and violent ways by Naruto in the climax of ‘Naruto: Shippuden’, Sasuke eventually becomes a noble member of the Hidden Leaf and is one of the main assistants to the now Hokage,

Naruto. We see many tender moments with his now wife Sakura and his child Sarada, who carries on the Uchiha name.

What Is The Mangekyou Sharingan?

The Mangekyou Sharingan is considered to be the ‘complete’ form of the Sharingan and gives its user access to many abilities that were not open previously.

Itachi demonstrates many of these techniques, such as Kotoamatsukami, Amaterasu, and Tsukoyomi – all of which are exclusive to the Mangekyou Sharingan. Once this level of evolution is reached the eye gains a new design alongside these powers.

More specifically, the host of the newly obtained Mangkeyou Sharingan will find their eyes to be endowed with specific abilities. Itachi, for instance, gains Amaterasu in one eye and Tsukoymi in the other, allowing him to cast these specific abilities well and with frequency.

It’s strongly implied that a Mangkeyou, different to awakening the base form of the Sharingan, can be obtained simply through mastering the original Sharingan. However, this often occurs alongside some form of emotion, like that which is needed to awaken the eye in the first place.

One major drawback with the Mangekyou Sharingan is that it leads the user to become blind with overuse of their abilities.

When Did Sasuke Obtain The Mangekyou Sharingan?

As mentioned, Sasuke had been using his base Sharingan for a long time, so the evolution could have simply occurred when it did due to him becoming adept at using the original Sharingan,

however its strongly implied the trauma of his battling his brother is what led to his evolution into the Mangekyou.

It’s worth noting that Itachi specifically doesn’t kill Sasuke in certain situations, when he could, so that he could gain the Mangekyou. He tells him ‘Come back and fight me when you have learned to use your eyes’, specifically referencing the Mangekyou Sharingan. 

However, when Sasuke ‘defeats’ Itachi, debated among many fans whether Itachi dies from his disease or a fatal blow from Sasuke, he does so without his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Although, Sasuke has mastered the full version of Orochimaru’s Curse Mark which enables him to access more adept abilities comparable to the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Either way, Itachi is dead and Sasuke is absolutely drained of his chakra. Tobi brings him back to an unspecified lair, likely his lab, so Sasuke can recover.

Upon waking Tobi tells Sasuke that Itachi isn’t who he thought he was and convinces him to let him tell Sasuke the true story of his brother. 

Soon, Sasuke learns from Tobi, revealed to be an Uchiha now, although posing as Madara, that his brother’s massacre of his clan was actually done to protect the Hidden Leaf rather than to bring its downfall.

Without getting into this too much, upon learning that his brother actually wanted Sasuke to to survive the Uchiha name and avenge the clan by killing him, Sasuke is notably shocked and particularly confused with his emotions. 

At the end of the episode we see Sasuke and his teammates, as well as Tobi, on a cliff edge. Sasuke stares into the water and gives an emotive monologue about how Itachi was actually his deepest,

and perhaps only real, relationship and his death was brought about by the Hidden Leaf elders who kept his truth a secret and forced him into the atrocious act he committed. 

With a new resolve to destroy the Hidden Leaf, he takes a look straight down the lense and as his eye opens we see a new SHaringan design heralding its evolution into the Mangekyou Sharingan.

We later learn that Sasuke’s Mangekyou has been endowed with Amaterasu, just like his brother, while his other eye is endowed with Kagutsuchi which allows him to manipulate and control the flames.

With a mastery of these two abilities Sasuke actually becomes a more proficient Amaterasu user than his brother Itachi.

What Is The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?

This is an evolution of the eye that is even taboo among the Uchiha clan. It involves transplanting the eye of another Uchiha, preferably one with a similar genetic makeup, such as a sibling, into the body of Mangekyou Sharingan user. AS a result, not many have ever achieved this eye.

Madara is the only ninja, alongside Sasuke, to ever achieve this level of eye. The eye allows its user to have permanent use of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Moreover, if it wasn’t already powerful enough, it allows its user to create a perfect Susanoo, which is described as being as powerful as a chakra beast when mastered.

While Madara killed his brother Izuna to gain this, Sasuke had already defeated Itachi and his eye had been harvested by Tobi when his Mangekyou was obtained.

How Did Sasuke Obtain The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?

Tobi constantly tells Sasuke to complete the transplant so he can have the Eternal Mangekyou, as overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan will lead the eyes to become blind.  

However, Sasuke achieves this level of overuse pretty quickly from flexing hard at the Five Kage Summit and using his newly acquired Susanoo as well as Amaterasu very often in his fight with the Five Kage. 

Pretty soon after the Five Kage Summit he goes after Danzo in order to start avenging Itachi and enters an even harder battle with Danzo who requires serious effort to defeat.

Even sooner after this he has to battle Naruto and Kakashi for a small period. Soon after, rather inevitably he becomes nearly blind from overuse in this short period. 

Tobi immediately saves him from the fight with Naruto and takes him to his lab in order to transplant Itachi’s eyes into his. Sasuke recovers from this for quite a while both as his chakra is near depleted and from the effects of the transplant.

When Sasuke eventually emerges, half way through the Fourth Shinobi World War, he has finally gained the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. We see it demonstrated soon after in his fight, alongside his reanimated brother, against Kabuto Yakushi.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Sasuke earns his Magekyou Sharingan after his brother Itachi dies. An emotional moment occurs when he realises the true intentions of his brother’s actions, his eye evolves into the Mangekyou soon after.

As soon as he gains this eye he overuses it extremely quickly and as a result Tobi takes him to transplant his brother Itachi’s eyes into his body to stop him going blind.