Here is a theory written by Pepper M. Twist from fanfiction on how the Sharingan works. I don't care if it may be completely wrong (so if you review, don't bother telling me so), this is just him applying science and sense to something fictional and insensible. This is to be read as if you were reading a real comprehensive historical research paper. Please assume that the person writing this does not have extensive personal knowledge of things such as the Rinnegan.
Note: This was not my work but it is a nice read to all those who are sharingan enthusiasts like myself.
Sharingan Mechanics
A historical study looking into one of Konoha's most infamous Bloodline Limits
By Pepper M. Twist
Spread among the Five Great Shinobi Nations is a unique genetic coding called a Kekkai Genkai, or a Bloodline Limit. Often times Shinobi villages often boast about the Bloodline Limit carrying clans that live and serve as nin in their village, as ninja with genetic enhancements often have the edge in a battle, and make fearsome ninja.
Bloodline Limits are genetically inherited by their hosts and are passed down through specific families and clans. There are many Bloodline limits across the nations of all different types. There used to be many more, but some have died out via the killing of the clans that carry the Bloodline Limit, or just the eventual decline of members of the clan 'activating' their Limit.
To 'activate' the Bloodline Limit means to use the genetic trait as a weapon or ability. All members of a Bloodline Clan carry the genetics of the Limit, but only highly skilled Shinobi have the capacity to actually utilize their Limit.
These Limits spread over a wide range of ability and many have collected cross-country fame. Some of these Limits include the ability to combine the two elements that a Shinobi is prominent in to create a new sub-element that that shinobi's genetic inheritance allows. Other Limits include the ability to manipulate the body of the shinobi. There are even some Limit's that deal solely with the eyes of a shinobi.
There are three most famed Eye Bloodline Limits, The Byakugan, The Sharingan, and The Rinnegan.
The Rinnegan is famed among legend as the first and forefather of all Kekkai Genkai, not just the Eye Limits. The Rinnegan hasn't shown up in the Shinobi world for the past few hundred years. It is a thing of legend, and just as mysterious as it sounds. The Rinnegan's powers are unknown, and it is said that it is an extinct Limit. Although its appearance, abilities, and whereabouts are unknown, it is thought to be the most powerful Bloodline Limit in the history of Shinobi.
The two other Eye Limits are supposedly the most direct descendants of the Rinnegan. Both the Byakugan and the Sharingan resided in the village of Konoha in Fire country. The superior of these Limits is the Byakugan. The Hyuuga clan is the host of the Byakugan, and the clan is considered noble in Konoha, its opinions able to greatly influence Fire Countries politics.
The way the Byakugan works is a well-kept secret by the Hyuuga clan, but it is known that Chakra is pumped into the eyes, and they are able to see great distances away. They can also see around themselves 359 degrees, with only one small blind spot. In addition to all of that, the Byakugan's most notable trait is the ability to see the bodies 'inner coils' or the Chakra System. The Chakra system is the body's way of circling chakra throughout the body. With the ability to see the acute points of the Chakra System, a Byakugan user can force their own chakra into specific points upon their opponents body and can efficiently disable their ability to use jutsu's, limit their ability to move, or kill the opponent by damaging the vital organs with their devastating chakra.
The Hyuuga clan has developed its own inner Political structure with its clan, its own fighting style (Described above, called the Gentle Fist Style), and its own secrets. Despite this closely knit clan, a mysterious event occurred that was never recorded, but in some way, shape or form, The Sharingan was developed from the Byakugan. What little is known about this historical event isn't helpful as to how it happened, but what is recorded tells the opinion of the Hyuuga clan upon the development of the Sharingan.
An excerpt from the book Konoha's Notable Clans: Historical Development of Power:
"Chapter 12, Page 430, Paragraph 6
When the Sharingan became its own Bloodline Limit within a thriving clan, The Hyuuga Clan, the users of the Byakugan, which was the predecessor of the Sharingan, became infuriated. The Sharingan and The Uchiha were looked down upon by the Hyuuga Clan. The Hyuuga's began to refer to the Byakugan as 'pure' and the Sharingan as 'dirty' or the 'soiled' version of the Byakugan. The political balance between these two clans was unsteady for the…."
The separation of the Sharingan and the Byakugan occurred back before even the Shinobi villages had formed, and clans were simply hired war power. It is to be noted that the Uchiha clan had a heavy influence on the tide of battle, despite the Byakugan's superiority in eyesight. This could be due to the far more aggressive nature of the Uchiha clan itself and the social differences between them and the Hyuuga clan.
The Sharingan itself works in a very unique way. Unlike the Byakugan, the Sharingan does not channel huge amounts of chakra into the eyes. When activated, the eyes of a Sharingan user change and develop, and even change color. A person who carries the Sharingan gene will be born with nearly black eyes. As the host grows, they will either activate their Limit or not.
This depends entirely on the skill of the ninja, and what sort of stress they are under. The Sharingan is often activated for the first time under stress or impending doom, when its help is needed most. When activated for the first time, the eyes of the host will turn an angry red color, and a second pupil, shaped much like a comma, will develop in the Iris of the eye. This second pupil, called a tomoe, will revolve on a circular path around the main pupil.
What is especially unique about the Sharingan is the ability to evolve or develop it further. With the first stage Sharingan, there are three levels. The first is the eye with one tomoe revolving around the main pupil, the second is two tomoe's revolving on the circular path, and the third level is three tomoe on the path.
The Sharingan works by having the additional tomoe rotating around the main pupil and collecting additional light. With more light collected from different angles, the user can use the light that is reflected off an opponent and be able to properly predict where the opponents will be a few fractions of a second before they get there.
For example, it works much like regular eyes do, just on a much higher and fine-tuned scale. The eyes of a human are spaced apart in order to catch light reflecting from sides of the spotted object the other eye cannot see. This detail is so small, most don't even notice that their eyes are seeing the same object from slightly different angles. This is wildly important, though, because without being able to see an object from slightly different angles humans (or any being with eyes in the front of its head) would have no depth perception at all. Depth perception allows us to identify objects that are three-dimensional, and gives humans capabilities that they are rarely thankful for. Such as not walking off a cliff because your depth perception allows you to know roughly how far away the edge is.
The Sharingan works very much like this, except with four pupils in each eye with all different angles, the Sharingan is able to pick out even the smallest details of movement. With such a high advantage of sight and the angles of a moving target, a Sharingan user who has trained with their eyes can accurately predict where a target will be before they even get there.
There is a problem with the Sharingan though. This is the problem that with additional pupils collecting additional light, the Sharingan will slowly burn the user's retina until blindness occurs. Fortunately, the Sharingan has developed an efficient way of preventing this. Because it takes chakra to activate the Sharingan, it is the chakra itself, flowing to the eye and retina, that cushions the retina from harm, but allows it to register the light coming in from the pupils. This Chakra flow must be perfectly balanced though, or it might not be enough to cushion the retina. Most Uchiha clan members who have the capacity to activate the Sharingan possess a genetic mutation that causes the chakra flow to balance completely on its on..
Although the Sharingan is the only evolving eye Bloodline Limits, it is not the only evolving Limit. However, what does make the Sharingan stand alone beyond all Limits is that it is capable of evolving farther than any other Limit.
There is little known about these further 'stages' of the Sharingan, but many rumors and horror stories surround them. However, with comparison of myths and truths, it is possible to estimate which is fact and which is fiction.
Most, if not all, of these stories stipulate that a dark and personal sacrifice is mandatory for the activation of the evolved Sharingan.
The evolved stage of the Sharingan is called the Mangekyou Sharingan, or the Kaleidoscope Sharingan. It is the most common among the rare evolved Sharingan types. The Mangekyou has been rumored to require a very personal sacrifice in order to activate it, but it's not known how this works. What is known is that with the Mangekyou comes with two* very powerful jutsu's, one for each eye. The left eye contains an extremely powerful genjutsu, called Tsukinomi.
The Tsukinomi, like all genjutsu's, projects the users determined image that the receiver feels with all five of the senses, essentially taking control of the victim's environment. This could be an extracted fear from the receiver or an image that the wielder deems the landscape. The difference between the Tsukinomi and a regular genjutsu is the fact that any harm done to the victim within Tsukinomi is actually done outside the genjutsu too. The wielder of the genjutsu could irreparably harm a victim for a limitless amount of time within the genjutsu, and only a moment would have passed in the real world, and the victim would still feel the effect of those long hours.
The right eye contains an extremely potent ninjutsu, called Amaterasu. This ninjutsu allows the wielder to look at anything, and it will burst into suffocating black flames. These flames cannot be put out until the wielder forces them out by ending the jutsu, or if they completely burn what they have caught fire to.
While both these jutsu's seem to be end-all be-all ultimate's, they come at a grave price. Because the pupil of the eye opens up so wide when these jutsu's are used, connecting all four pupils in the Sharingan, the exposure to light offsets the careful balance of chakra padding and light that the regular Sharingan has. Once developed, the Mangekyou Sharingan will eventually cause the user to become completely blind.
Because the Mangekyou wields so much power, requires such a personal sacrifice, and causes the painful decay of vision, the Mangekyou Sharingan was declared by the Uchiha Clan as forbidden, and few users have ever earned the power that will curse them in the end. Most information about the Sharingan and the full extent of its powers** were also hidden away by the Uchiha Clan.
In conclusion, the Sharingan is one of the most powerful and unique Bloodline Limits ever seen in the Shinobi world. Its potent power can be useful and harmful to both others and the wielder. But in the end, the Sharingan is just another tool used, feared, and respected in the Shinobi World.
Note: This was not my work but it is a nice read to all those who are sharingan enthusiasts like myself.
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Sharingan Mechanics
A historical study looking into one of Konoha's most infamous Bloodline Limits
By Pepper M. Twist
Spread among the Five Great Shinobi Nations is a unique genetic coding called a Kekkai Genkai, or a Bloodline Limit. Often times Shinobi villages often boast about the Bloodline Limit carrying clans that live and serve as nin in their village, as ninja with genetic enhancements often have the edge in a battle, and make fearsome ninja.
Bloodline Limits are genetically inherited by their hosts and are passed down through specific families and clans. There are many Bloodline limits across the nations of all different types. There used to be many more, but some have died out via the killing of the clans that carry the Bloodline Limit, or just the eventual decline of members of the clan 'activating' their Limit.
To 'activate' the Bloodline Limit means to use the genetic trait as a weapon or ability. All members of a Bloodline Clan carry the genetics of the Limit, but only highly skilled Shinobi have the capacity to actually utilize their Limit.
These Limits spread over a wide range of ability and many have collected cross-country fame. Some of these Limits include the ability to combine the two elements that a Shinobi is prominent in to create a new sub-element that that shinobi's genetic inheritance allows. Other Limits include the ability to manipulate the body of the shinobi. There are even some Limit's that deal solely with the eyes of a shinobi.
There are three most famed Eye Bloodline Limits, The Byakugan, The Sharingan, and The Rinnegan.
The Rinnegan is famed among legend as the first and forefather of all Kekkai Genkai, not just the Eye Limits. The Rinnegan hasn't shown up in the Shinobi world for the past few hundred years. It is a thing of legend, and just as mysterious as it sounds. The Rinnegan's powers are unknown, and it is said that it is an extinct Limit. Although its appearance, abilities, and whereabouts are unknown, it is thought to be the most powerful Bloodline Limit in the history of Shinobi.
The two other Eye Limits are supposedly the most direct descendants of the Rinnegan. Both the Byakugan and the Sharingan resided in the village of Konoha in Fire country. The superior of these Limits is the Byakugan. The Hyuuga clan is the host of the Byakugan, and the clan is considered noble in Konoha, its opinions able to greatly influence Fire Countries politics.
The way the Byakugan works is a well-kept secret by the Hyuuga clan, but it is known that Chakra is pumped into the eyes, and they are able to see great distances away. They can also see around themselves 359 degrees, with only one small blind spot. In addition to all of that, the Byakugan's most notable trait is the ability to see the bodies 'inner coils' or the Chakra System. The Chakra system is the body's way of circling chakra throughout the body. With the ability to see the acute points of the Chakra System, a Byakugan user can force their own chakra into specific points upon their opponents body and can efficiently disable their ability to use jutsu's, limit their ability to move, or kill the opponent by damaging the vital organs with their devastating chakra.
The Hyuuga clan has developed its own inner Political structure with its clan, its own fighting style (Described above, called the Gentle Fist Style), and its own secrets. Despite this closely knit clan, a mysterious event occurred that was never recorded, but in some way, shape or form, The Sharingan was developed from the Byakugan. What little is known about this historical event isn't helpful as to how it happened, but what is recorded tells the opinion of the Hyuuga clan upon the development of the Sharingan.
An excerpt from the book Konoha's Notable Clans: Historical Development of Power:
"Chapter 12, Page 430, Paragraph 6
When the Sharingan became its own Bloodline Limit within a thriving clan, The Hyuuga Clan, the users of the Byakugan, which was the predecessor of the Sharingan, became infuriated. The Sharingan and The Uchiha were looked down upon by the Hyuuga Clan. The Hyuuga's began to refer to the Byakugan as 'pure' and the Sharingan as 'dirty' or the 'soiled' version of the Byakugan. The political balance between these two clans was unsteady for the…."
The separation of the Sharingan and the Byakugan occurred back before even the Shinobi villages had formed, and clans were simply hired war power. It is to be noted that the Uchiha clan had a heavy influence on the tide of battle, despite the Byakugan's superiority in eyesight. This could be due to the far more aggressive nature of the Uchiha clan itself and the social differences between them and the Hyuuga clan.
The Sharingan itself works in a very unique way. Unlike the Byakugan, the Sharingan does not channel huge amounts of chakra into the eyes. When activated, the eyes of a Sharingan user change and develop, and even change color. A person who carries the Sharingan gene will be born with nearly black eyes. As the host grows, they will either activate their Limit or not.
This depends entirely on the skill of the ninja, and what sort of stress they are under. The Sharingan is often activated for the first time under stress or impending doom, when its help is needed most. When activated for the first time, the eyes of the host will turn an angry red color, and a second pupil, shaped much like a comma, will develop in the Iris of the eye. This second pupil, called a tomoe, will revolve on a circular path around the main pupil.
What is especially unique about the Sharingan is the ability to evolve or develop it further. With the first stage Sharingan, there are three levels. The first is the eye with one tomoe revolving around the main pupil, the second is two tomoe's revolving on the circular path, and the third level is three tomoe on the path.
The Sharingan works by having the additional tomoe rotating around the main pupil and collecting additional light. With more light collected from different angles, the user can use the light that is reflected off an opponent and be able to properly predict where the opponents will be a few fractions of a second before they get there.
For example, it works much like regular eyes do, just on a much higher and fine-tuned scale. The eyes of a human are spaced apart in order to catch light reflecting from sides of the spotted object the other eye cannot see. This detail is so small, most don't even notice that their eyes are seeing the same object from slightly different angles. This is wildly important, though, because without being able to see an object from slightly different angles humans (or any being with eyes in the front of its head) would have no depth perception at all. Depth perception allows us to identify objects that are three-dimensional, and gives humans capabilities that they are rarely thankful for. Such as not walking off a cliff because your depth perception allows you to know roughly how far away the edge is.
The Sharingan works very much like this, except with four pupils in each eye with all different angles, the Sharingan is able to pick out even the smallest details of movement. With such a high advantage of sight and the angles of a moving target, a Sharingan user who has trained with their eyes can accurately predict where a target will be before they even get there.
There is a problem with the Sharingan though. This is the problem that with additional pupils collecting additional light, the Sharingan will slowly burn the user's retina until blindness occurs. Fortunately, the Sharingan has developed an efficient way of preventing this. Because it takes chakra to activate the Sharingan, it is the chakra itself, flowing to the eye and retina, that cushions the retina from harm, but allows it to register the light coming in from the pupils. This Chakra flow must be perfectly balanced though, or it might not be enough to cushion the retina. Most Uchiha clan members who have the capacity to activate the Sharingan possess a genetic mutation that causes the chakra flow to balance completely on its on..
Although the Sharingan is the only evolving eye Bloodline Limits, it is not the only evolving Limit. However, what does make the Sharingan stand alone beyond all Limits is that it is capable of evolving farther than any other Limit.
There is little known about these further 'stages' of the Sharingan, but many rumors and horror stories surround them. However, with comparison of myths and truths, it is possible to estimate which is fact and which is fiction.
Most, if not all, of these stories stipulate that a dark and personal sacrifice is mandatory for the activation of the evolved Sharingan.
The evolved stage of the Sharingan is called the Mangekyou Sharingan, or the Kaleidoscope Sharingan. It is the most common among the rare evolved Sharingan types. The Mangekyou has been rumored to require a very personal sacrifice in order to activate it, but it's not known how this works. What is known is that with the Mangekyou comes with two* very powerful jutsu's, one for each eye. The left eye contains an extremely powerful genjutsu, called Tsukinomi.
The Tsukinomi, like all genjutsu's, projects the users determined image that the receiver feels with all five of the senses, essentially taking control of the victim's environment. This could be an extracted fear from the receiver or an image that the wielder deems the landscape. The difference between the Tsukinomi and a regular genjutsu is the fact that any harm done to the victim within Tsukinomi is actually done outside the genjutsu too. The wielder of the genjutsu could irreparably harm a victim for a limitless amount of time within the genjutsu, and only a moment would have passed in the real world, and the victim would still feel the effect of those long hours.
The right eye contains an extremely potent ninjutsu, called Amaterasu. This ninjutsu allows the wielder to look at anything, and it will burst into suffocating black flames. These flames cannot be put out until the wielder forces them out by ending the jutsu, or if they completely burn what they have caught fire to.
While both these jutsu's seem to be end-all be-all ultimate's, they come at a grave price. Because the pupil of the eye opens up so wide when these jutsu's are used, connecting all four pupils in the Sharingan, the exposure to light offsets the careful balance of chakra padding and light that the regular Sharingan has. Once developed, the Mangekyou Sharingan will eventually cause the user to become completely blind.
Because the Mangekyou wields so much power, requires such a personal sacrifice, and causes the painful decay of vision, the Mangekyou Sharingan was declared by the Uchiha Clan as forbidden, and few users have ever earned the power that will curse them in the end. Most information about the Sharingan and the full extent of its powers** were also hidden away by the Uchiha Clan.
In conclusion, the Sharingan is one of the most powerful and unique Bloodline Limits ever seen in the Shinobi world. Its potent power can be useful and harmful to both others and the wielder. But in the end, the Sharingan is just another tool used, feared, and respected in the Shinobi World.
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