Sharingan: types, abilities, Mangekyo and how to get

Шаринган - одно из самых узнаваемых додзюцу вселенной Наруто и фамильная сила клана Учиха. Этот «алый глаз» умеет копировать чужие техники, предсказывать движения противника и плести смертоносные иллюзии, а на высших ступенях открывает доступ к Мангекё Шарингану, Вечному Мангекё и даже Риннегану. Разберём, что такое Шаринган, как он пробуждается, какие у него стадии и способности, какие техники дарит Мангекё и кто владел этим глазом сильнее всех.

Шаринган (写輪眼, «зеркальное колесо глаза») - кеккей генкай клана Учиха и одно из Трёх великих додзюцу (Сандай Додзюцу) наравне с Бьякуганом и Риннеганом.

What is Sharingan

Sharingan is simultaneously a kekkei genkai (hereditary ability passed down through blood) and a dōjutsu (eye technique). It manifests only in descendants of the Uchiha clan and originates from the chakra of Indra Ōtsutsuki, the progenitor of the line. It appears selectively: not every Uchiha awakens their eye.

The Canon calls the Sharingan "a mirror that reflects the heart": it is directly connected to the strong emotions of its wielder. In terms of abilities, it is among the three greatest shinobi eyes alongside the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan and the Rinnegan, and under certain conditions, it itself evolves into higher forms.

How the Sharingan Awakens

The first Sharingan awakens when the gene carrier experiences a powerful emotional shock related to a loved one: most often it is the loss or threat of loss of someone close. In the Uchiha clan, this trait is called the Curse of Hatred - love turning into crushing pain, and it awakens the eye. Less commonly, the trigger is the opposite feeling, the desire to protect.

Externally, the awakening is noticeable immediately: the iris fills with red, and around the pupil appear tomoe - black "commas". A beginner may temporarily lose orientation while the body gets used to the sharply increased flow of information.

Three stages: one, two and three tomoe

The power of the Sharingan grows with the number of tomoe. Important point: new "commas" do not add new abilities, but make existing ones more precise and deeper.

Some users awakened two tomoe at once in each eye (for example, Itachi and Obito). When an Uchiha awakens the Mangekyō, the base eye automatically "matures" to three tomoe if it has not yet reached its full form.

Sharingan Abilities

The powers of the Sharingan are divided into two large groups.

Dosatsugan, 'eye of insight':

• Chakra vision. The bearer sees chakra, distinguishes it by color and source, notices superimposed illusions and flow anomalies. In the detail of reading chakra channels, the Sharingan is inferior to the Byakugan, and this was acknowledged by Kakashi himself.

• Prediction of movements. The eye reads the smallest muscle signals and as if «sees» the opponent's next step, creating an effect of foresight.

• Copying techniques. The Sharingan memorizes almost any technique along with the sequence of hand seals and allows to repeat it.

Saimingan, "eye of hypnosis": through eye contact, the user influences the target's consciousness, weaves powerful genjutsu, and at the limit takes full control of another's body. This is how the Uchiha historically controlled tailed beasts.

What Sharingan cannot copy: kekkei genkai and any techniques for which the user does not have the necessary physiology. The eye "records" everything, but only what is biologically available can be reproduced.

Mangekyō Sharingan: power and price

Mangekyo Sharingan is the next stage, and it awakens from a much more severe trauma: the death or loss of a truly close person. Each Mangekyo is unique in its pattern and set of techniques that no one else has.

This power must be paid for with eyesight: the more often the user employs Mangekyō techniques, the more they go blind. The only way to lift the curse is the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan: transplanting the eyes of a blood-related Uchiha restores vision and strengthens the user.

Mangekyo Techniques by Owner

Each strong Uchiha unlocked Mangekyo in their own way. Here are the most iconic techniques.

Forbidden techniques (kinjutsu) of the Uchiha. Izanagi rewrites reality, turning received damage or even death into an illusion; this is how Danzo fought. Izanami locks the victim in an endless loop of sensations, and there is only one way out - to accept one's fate; Itachi used it against Kabuto. The cost of both techniques is the same: the used eye goes blind forever.

Eternal Mangekyo and the path to Rinnegan

The Eternal Mangekyo in the "recorded history" was first obtained by Madara Uchiha, who transplanted the eyes of his dying brother Izuna. Later, Sasuke followed the same path, receiving the eyes of the deceased Itachi.

The highest evolution of the eye - Rinnegan, which is born from the mixing of the chakras of the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths, Indra and Asura:

• **Madara** implanted Hashirama Senju's cells into himself for decades and awakened the Rinnegan in both eyes at the end of his life.

• **Sasuke** received the Rinnegan in one eye as a gift from the spirit of Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

And the progenitor of both the Sharingan and the Rinnegan is considered to be the Rinne-Sharingan - the eye of the goddess Kaguya Otsutsuki, with which she cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the world.

Sharingan not from Uchiha

The Sharingan can be transplanted into a person not from the Uchiha clan, but it comes at a high cost. Without the native gene, the body spends much more chakra on the eye, and the eye itself cannot be "turned off": it remains constantly active. It also cannot be passed down through inheritance. Yet two non-Uchiha became legends precisely because of someone else's Sharingan.

Kakashi Hatake is the most famous Sharingan user outside the clan. His left eye was given to him by his dying friend Obito during the Third Shinobi World War. With this eye, Kakashi copied over a thousand techniques and earned the nicknames "Copy Ninja" and "Kakashi of the Sharingan", and outside of battle he hid it under his headband to conserve chakra. At the moment of Rin's death, the Mangekyō awakened in both of Obito's eyes at once, and Kakashi became the rarest non-Uchiha to wield Kamui; in the Fourth War, Obito temporarily returned both eyes to him, granting full Kamui.

Shimura Danzo followed the path of a collector of others' eyes. He implanted Shisui's eye with Kotoamatsukami into his right eye socket, and ten Sharingan along with Hashirama's cells into his right arm. In total, Danzo carried eleven foreign eyes, and each granted one use of Izanagi: for a short time he literally rewrote reality, canceling his own death in battle. Learn more about how the clanless Danzo gathered a dozen Sharingan.

Non-Uchiha do not awaken Mangekyo "from scratch" and do not develop the eye themselves: they inherit the already ready power of the previous owner. Kakashi's case is an exception, explainable by the shared tragedy with Obito.

All Sharingan wielders