Masashi Kishimoto has created some unique powers for Naruto characters that have slowly become iconic techniques. Naruto’s Talk no Jutsu and the Uchiha Clan’s Sharingan have evolved into pop culture references. But did you know that there is a medical condition that stands closest to explaining how the Sharingan works?
A medical condition called Polycoria is extremely similar to how a Sharingan would look in real life. A Nauto fan pointed out that the abilities of a Sharingan as well as the pupil displacement can be explained by learning about this condition.
The Real-Life Medical Condition That Could Explain Sharingan From Naruto
In order to explain Polycoria and how it is extremely similar to Sharingan, first, you need to know some basic facts about the eyes. The pupil is the hold in our eye through which light enters, and the retina has two types of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Cones primarily identify color and are the densest in the center of the retina. Rods are sensitive to light and dark changes as well as shape and movement, but it’s not built for color vision; they are present around the outer edges of the retina, where the tomoe resides in a Sharingan.
Now, let’s talk about Polycoria, a rare medical condition in which the eye has two or more functioning pupils within one iris. Each pupil reacts to light independently or dilating or constricting on their own. The extra pupils are often smaller and they tend to be displaced from the normal position. The Sharingan has a primary pupil in the correct position, the tomoe are smaller, thus the primary vision isn’t impacted. According to the fan theory, the tomoe which are incredibly similar to the extra pupils in true Polycoria can increase the eyes’ sensitivity to movement, leading to a heightened perception.
According to Naruto, after first acquiring Sharingan, the user’s enhanced perception often throws off their timing. An explanation for this can be found in chronostasis, the term for when time seems to slow down it happens after a quick eye movement. Since the tomoe are known for spinning, it probably triggers a form of chronostasis.
Polycoria Explains Why Mangekyo Sharingan Degrades Over Time
According to the theory, Polycoria can also explain Mangekyo Sharingan’s degradation over time. The eyes can’t naturally support extra pupils and when a Sharingan is activated, it awakens the extra pupils with chakra. The normal tomoe probably shouldn’t cause much damage, however, Mangekyo Sharingan warps the iris into difficult shapes which are almost always larger than the tomoe in Sharingan. This might be causing a lot of damage to the eye, and overexposed photoreceptors that normally aren’t used directly.
Sarada in Boruto had awakened her Sharingan at an early age, and by the time Jigen invaded Konohagakure, she had already awakened a third tomoe in both her Sharingan. She activated Mangekyo Sharingan at age 12 due to her anguish and anxiety over Boruto’s safety.
Since Sarada has two Sharingans and is bound to overuse Mangekyo in the near future, she stands at risk for losing her eyes. Polycoria can thus explain the struggle that Sarada is bound to face later, and this can serve as the perfect opportunity for Masashi Kishimoto to explain the drawbacks of overexerting the techniques.
You can read Boruto on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
