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As we know, there are only two who have achieved the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Madara and Sasuke.

Madara

Madara and his brother both gained their MS from killing those closest to them. Madara then gained the EMS when he took Izuna's (his brother's) eyes, who had the MS.

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Sasuke

Itachi gained his MS when he witnessed Shisui die. Sasuke gained his MS when he learned the truth about Itachi from Tobi. Sasuke then gained the EMS when he took Itachi's eyes.

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Question

When Itachi was fighting Sasuke, he was saying how he wanted to take Sasuke's eyes so he could obtain the EMS. Sasuke did not have the MS at the time, so was Itachi lying, or are just "blood tie" Sharingan needed for the EMS? *Sidenote I personally don't believe Itachi would lie about this, because if he did and Sasuke found out, Sasuke would then be questioning Itachi's true motives.

Does anybody have any proof that you have to have the MS in order to awaken the EMS?

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  • Itachi didn't transfer his MS into Sasuke. He just put a defensive jutsu that will activate Amaterasu the moment Sasuke saw Tobi's eye.
    – 絢瀬絵里
    Oct 21 '16 at 15:13
  • Is that what happened? So you're saying Sasuke activated the MS because his brother died in front of him? At the time, Sasuke did not see Itachi as a friend, but as an enemy. So why would that activate the MS in Sasuke?
    – Hunter Turner
    Oct 21 '16 at 15:15
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    Yes on both questions. Love and hate are separated only by a thin line. dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1081242/…
    – 絢瀬絵里
    Oct 21 '16 at 15:25
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    That's not the point. Read the article please. What I meant by that is that you can switch from love to hate and vice-versa quickly, BUT that doesn't mean that it would always be the case. When an Uchiha killed a Senju, they do it with hatred. This hatred in no way would turn into love, simply because there is no reason for it to be so. However, in Sasuke's case, Sasuke loved Itachi. His hatred was from Itachi killing the rest of the clan. But even then, he never stopped loving him. This is evident from him crying for him and turned his goal into destroying Konoha after Tobi tells the truth.
    – 絢瀬絵里
    Oct 21 '16 at 15:38
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    @AyaseEri, Okay I can see that. That actually makes more sense. So Itachi only implanted in him the Amaterasu in him to counter Tobi. Then Sasuke's MS activated after he discovered the truth about Itachi. Which is that scene of him crying and he opens his eyes. I'll edit my question to include that. It doesn't answer the question, but it's definitely helpful. Thanks! :)
    – Hunter Turner
    Oct 21 '16 at 15:43
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Here's a simpler thought: you can't obtain something greater if you have something lesser to offer.

We know that obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan requires someone to witness someone close to them being killed or lost. Some of the more prolific wielders obtained this by killing someone close to them, with the notable exceptions of Madara and Itachi who only witnessed someone close to them die.

One of the changes when someone with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan undergoes is that the tomoe of the previous MS wielder is blended in with their own as a secondary pattern, similar to how a kaliedoscope blends in multiple pictures. This is evident with the final look of Sasuke's own EMS.

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With that, it makes sense that a prior Sharingan would have needed to have been an Mangekyo, since there wouldn't have been a new tomoe pattern to include into the kalideoscope.

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  • So does that mean that what Itachi was saying about wanting Sasuke's eyes is a plot hole? Or was he taking advantage of Sasuke's ignorance about the MS and just saying he wanted his eyes to put pressure on him?
    – Hunter Turner
    Aug 2 '19 at 15:15
  • I'm not entirely sure of Itachi's motives in this context. It's likely that he knew his brother's eyes could achieve MS, but he had to push him in order to do this.
    – Makoto
    Aug 2 '19 at 18:29

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