Sharingan Theory: E1, Copying Makes A Genius
[ID: A banner of a chibi Sasuke from Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth. The angle is as if it was taken from the bottom. Sasuke’s wearing his late Part II outfit, pointing his sword at the viewer, and his Sharingan is on. The background is dark red with some light red patterns. White text reads, “Sharingan Theory,” and it is subtitled in white, “Episode One: Copying Makes A Genius (or, Kishimoto fucked up: AGAIN)”. End ID]
Hello and welcome to Episode One of Sharingan Theory! Today we’ll just go through the basics of what Sharingan is, why it's underutilised, and start poking deeper into the real meaning of this dōjutsu.
Okay, so we all know about Sharingan’s powers and abilities. And for those like me who stopped Naruto at the Chuunin Exams and aren’t fully caught up, here’s a quick overview:
Sharingan can copy any jutsu except kekkei genkai, and provides for a range of unique genjutsu like Izanagi, to control the flow of the space time continuum, and Izanami to loop time and reset physical damage, as well
Sharingan has an evolved form, Mangekyō, which has a range of abilities: Susanoo, a giant humanoid avatar made of the user’s chakra which surrounds them and fights on their behalf; Amaterasu, black flames that can’t be put out; Kamui, portal; and Tsukuyomi, the most powerful genjutsu ever
The Mangekyō has a catch in that if it is used too often you go blind. So to stop this you have to switch your eyes with the Mangekyō eyes of a close relative to produce an Eternal Mangekyō, which possesses all Mangekyō’s abilities and never fades
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to ask a few questions. Starting with, why is Sharingan’s most powerful ability so overlooked?
But, you say, Susanoo isn’t overlooked at all! It’s spammed!
However! That's exactly what I mean. Susanoo is not the strongest ability of the Sharingan - oh, no. This dōjutsu’s power lies in its name.
Sha-rin-gan. Copy Wheel Eye.
But why? What's so special about copying?
Well, first we need to understand how it works. So, the main strength of any Sharingan at base mode is to copy any jutsu it sees, that can be performed at the user’s level of chakra.
Say, X awakens it at 5. She will now be able to perform any jutsu she sees with her Sharingan on, that can be performed at her skill level.
And Uchihas are already natural talents, perserverent like anything - even inadept Obito could do a Grand Fireball! That takes a lot of hard work, and increases your skill and endurance. And just look at Sasuke, how he worked to get it right. So any Uchiha awakening their Sharingan should be able to copy most high-level jutsus (assuming that they awaken it at 13-15).
Now why do we need Mangekyō ability spam when we have this?! The copying wasn't even properly built upon in canon which makes me so sad.
Copying makes a genius - humans learn by imitation. We watch the world around us and imitate its mannerisms, then build on those to create our own unassailable strengths. And that's why Sharingan's copy ability should have not been so undersold.
So let's call it a wrap for today's episode! I hope you enjoyed this little first snippet of Sharingan Theory. And if you do, please tell me and I'll consider continuing it till 1000 followers until the promised 800!
Next time: Awakening process and why it’s bullshit, as well as an interesting headcanon I think you guys will love! And maybe a different Sasuke for the banner if I can find another chibi of him with Sharingan on. Or maybe Itachi.
