I Just Awakened My Sharingan, and You're Telling Me This Is DanMachi?

Ryota glanced to the side at the still-unconscious red-haired boy.

"Why did this Minotaur wait around for so long, only to pop up right after I broke Lain's charm?"

The timing was too perfect, the direction too precise, the target… far too specific.

This wasn't a random encounter at all — it was more like some kind of trigger mechanism.

His mind flashed through what he knew of Freya's charm, and Lain's strange behavior earlier.

A moment later, Ryota came up with a theory that fit almost all the evidence.

"Don't tell me — this Minotaur was using Lain as its marker?"

Not following him, but locking on.

It had treated Lain as some kind of "target beacon" and waited in hiding.

Once Lain got close to Ryota, it would automatically launch an attack.

"Lain was looking for me the whole time… while the Minotaur was lying in wait."

No wonder Lain never mentioned anything about a Minotaur —

he probably didn't even know this giant thing was here.

Ryota's thoughts moved fast, the three tomoe of his Sharingan spinning at high speed, almost completely breaking down the logic of the situation.

But soon he raised an eyebrow and shook all that out of his head.

"Forget it. Whether this was Freya's doing or not… it doesn't matter right now."

"The only thing that matters is this monster in front of me."

He steadied his breathing and tightened his grip on the Kusanagi Sword.

"Take down this big guy first, then get Lain out of here."

"Both objectives — I have to complete them."

The moment those words left his lips—

the Minotaur roared, its blood-red bull eyes locked straight onto Ryota.

Its prey had finally appeared. The pent-up killing intent burst forth all at once.

In the next instant, the Minotaur stomped the ground, its massive frame shooting forward like a cannonball, a huge axe gripped in its hands, charging straight for Ryota.

Ryota didn't back down. He charged right at the monster head-on.

Two tremendous forces collided in the middle of the clearing.

At the same time, the Kusanagi Sword began to blaze with lightning.

Zzzraaaap—

Visible arcs of electricity, like wild serpents, crackled down the sword's blade and in the blink of an eye wrapped around the Minotaur's axe!

The current jumped along the metal, hissing and snapping across its arms, its chest, even its head!

"ROOOOAAAR!!!"

A muffled roar tore from the Minotaur's throat.

Its huge body seized up violently, a numb, stabbing pain exploding from its limbs as its muscles spasmed all at once, forcing it to stagger backward several steps.

Ryota landed, skidding a pace to bleed off the impact, the Kusanagi Sword still humming with residual lightning.

"This power… easily at least Level 3."

"Ottar… really went all-out."

"Throwing something two whole levels above me, who's supposed to be a Level 1 rookie — they sure think highly of me."

If it had been an ordinary adventurer, the difference in fighting power would have crushed them before they could even react.

Unfortunately for the Minotaur—

Ryota was no ordinary adventurer.

"Even if I'm still Level 1…"

"I have more than enough ways to send it packing."

Then Ryota leaned forward slightly, his left arm hanging loose, palm spread open, faint sparks gathering at his fingertips.

Crackling—!!

Like breaking glass, like thunderclouds bellowing, a fierce sound of lightning roared through the air.

Concentrated lightning gathered in his left palm, pure, violent, and sharper than any blade, giving off a shrill, high-frequency chirping — like a thousand birds beating their wings at once.

Even the Minotaur flinched, a brief flicker of wariness flashing across those crimson bull eyes!

It… subconsciously stepped back half a pace.

But in the next moment, as if something snapped inside it, seeing Ryota's slim figure and unthreatening aura, its wild nature roared back, overpowering its reason.

It bellowed again, rearing up for a savage charge.

But the very next second as it lifted its axe—

"—Chidori."

Fwoosh!!

Ryota's form vanished from sight, leaving only the ripping thunderclap behind.

The Minotaur didn't even have time to see what hit it. All it felt was a sudden chill in its chest, followed by an explosion of searing pain where its heart should be.

It struggled to look down —

there was a blood-soaked hole punched clean through its chest, the scorched edges still crackling with leftover lightning, like it had been run through with a thunder spear.

Boom—

The giant frame swayed for a moment, then crashed to the ground!

Its massive body kept twitching on the ground, a final reflex of its dying nervous system.

Ryota was just too fast.

So fast that the Minotaur's body hadn't even reacted before it was already dead.

A few seconds later, the leftover lightning dispersed completely, and the colossal corpse began to crumble apart, turning into a cloud of pitch-black ash that scattered through the Dungeon like drifting dust.

—With that, the Minotaur was truly dead.

In the silence that followed, a familiar mechanical chime suddenly sounded in Ryota's ear:

[Ding! Main Branch Quest — solo kill of the Minotaur complete!]

[Calculating rewards—]

[Reward 1: Dōryoku +10%!]

[Reward 2: Chakra Capacity +1000!]

[Reward 3:

A-rank Technique — Lightning Style: Chidori Stream unlocked

A-rank Technique — Lightning Style: Chidori Sharp Spear unlocked ]

Ryota nodded slightly, a hint of understanding in his eyes.

"Back to the roots again, huh…"

It wasn't surprising.

Any mission tied directly to combat usually unlocked new ninjutsu.

Whereas those focused on forging or Familia support tended to unlock things like Puppet Master Jutsu.

"Tch, figures. This thing's basically railroading me into becoming an all-rounder."

Ryota let out a chuckle, shifting his attention to the two newly unlocked Lightning Style techniques.

Both were advanced branches of Chidori, developed by Uchiha Sasuke during live combat.

Chidori Stream focused more on lightning defense and area control.

While Chidori Sharp Spear extended Lightning Style chakra into a long-range piercing spear, with powerful paralysis and penetration effects — coupled with the Sharingan's insight, it was practically guaranteed to hit.

"Not bad. Now I've got both control and ranged offense covered."

But deep down—

Ryota still dreamed of mastering that ultimate, overwhelming Lightning Style Sasuke had poured his soul into — Kirin.

That was the true power that could change the entire flow of battle in a single strike.

Pulling his thoughts back, Ryota turned around, lifting a foot to go retrieve Lain.

But just as he stepped forward—

"…!"

His left eye suddenly exploded with a pain so intense it felt like someone was drilling straight through his brain!

It was as if something inside his eyeball was being ripped apart from deep within!

"Gah—!!"

He staggered two steps, then collapsed to his knees.

The Kusanagi Sword clattered to the ground as he clutched his left eye, pain so vicious he couldn't even form words, his breathing turning ragged.

"Haa… haa…"

"What… what the hell…?!"

The agony flooded over him like a tidal wave, except this time, it wasn't a chakra surge — it was his eye itself changing!

The Sharingan — evolving to a new stage!

The instant that realization hit him—

it felt like his entire mind was being pulverized by a drill, the world spinning wildly around him.

"Damn it… this is the Dungeon."

"If I pass out now, I'm dead."

His consciousness felt like it was being torn in half by the pain and vertigo, while his left eye's pupil was transforming into a black hole, devouring his chakra, breaking down, growing, shattering and rebuilding all at once!

Ryota fought to keep his shaking body under control, grabbed the Kusanagi Sword from the floor, and stabbed it into the ground with a sharp clang.

Clang—!!

The blade bit into the stone with a clear, ringing note.

He gripped the hilt with white-knuckled force, leaning on the sword, willing himself not to collapse.

But the pain kept going, his left eye feeling like it was being burned by fire, torn apart by lightning, chakra draining out of him by the second, and his mind slowly fading.

"If… if this keeps up, and monsters show up…"

Ryota gritted his teeth, fighting through the waves of agony rolling through his brain, and forced a single thought—

With a soft pop, Karasu's puppet body appeared at his side.

Ryota, still clutching the Kusanagi Sword, lifted his trembling right hand and forced threads of chakra into the puppet's joints, making it hover and lock into position above him.

That effort drained the last of his strength. Cold sweat dripped from his chin to the floor, the sword hilt creaking from how tightly he gripped it.

"Watch over me, Karasu…"

The puppet creaked around with a faint whir, its four arms spreading out, like a guardian holding vigil over Ryota.

His breathing grew more and more ragged, his skull feeling like it was about to split.

"Can't… pass out…"

"If I black out now, this eye's mutation will swallow me whole."

He desperately mobilized every shred of his chakra, channeling precise threads of it into the meridians around his left eye, trying to stabilize the rampaging "Visual Jutsu awakening."

His Sharingan spun violently, the three tomoe whirling so fast they looked like they were merging, then breaking apart, recombining over and over.

This wasn't simple fatigue or normal Sharingan strain—

this was evolution!

Evolving to an even higher stage of the pupil!

But at the same time, the spiritual and chakra burden of that evolution was pushing him to his absolute limit!

"Haa… haa…"

Ryota gasped for air,

"Hurry… hurry up and finish already…"

He could feel it — at the very center of his left eye, something new was about to be born!

He had no idea how long it lasted —

a minute, five minutes, maybe even hours —

before that bone-deep, soul-scorching pain finally, slowly began to fade.

It felt as if some ancient seal had been torn open, leaving behind nothing but a hollow, shaking quiet.

Ryota's whole body was drenched in sweat.

His hair clung to his pale cheeks, his clothes stuck to his back and chest like he'd just been dragged out of a freezing pond.

"I… I survived…"

He rested there for a full two minutes before he finally managed to pull the Kusanagi Sword from the stone.

Then he turned it, using its reflective blade to look at his own face.

In the mirror—

his left eye was no longer the triple tomoe.

Instead, it was pitch-black, with a dark, circular ring.

At its center, a complex, icy-cold hexagram pattern was etched in, faintly showing a shape reminiscent of a shuriken.

But no matter how you described it —

the Mangekyō Sharingan — had awakened!

Ryota stared blankly at the slowly turning new pattern in his left eye.

A seal of hexagrams and shuriken twining together, every rotation seemingly peeling away some hidden barrier deep inside his soul.

"My Mangekyō… on the left side…"

He murmured softly, voice trembling with disbelief and also with the relief of a destiny finally coming full circle.

"I… I did it…"

----

Join my Patreon for early access to chapters: Patreon.com/rivyura :)