After Raph blacked out, the rest of the Turtles, April, and Casey fought Shredder. But soon enough, Shredder was killed. Leo killed him with his sword. As for Raphael, Leo tried to heal him with the ancient Japanese scrolls that Splinter possessed, but Shredder was right. He got the last laugh on Raphael. He was permanently blind. Now, one could wallow in self-pity, and act like their life was over and ruined. But not Raphael. True, he would never be able to see ever again, but he was a ninja. He was trained to fight in combat when in a situation of blindness. In fact, the ninjas rely on the dark. He would compensate for this physical disability. He relied on his other senses to help him in combat. It made him a better, more mature ninja than when he was in his youth. His blindness gave him perspective. To show that this was now who he was, Raphael sewed his eye slits shut.

It was a year after that fateful day, and Raphael was on the rooftops. He could hear the footsteps of someone behind him. "Oh hey Leo," Raphael said nonchalantly. He could recognize his brothers and friends by their scent, footsteps, and heartbeats alone. After Splinter died, Leonardo was appointed as the sensei of the team. "How're you holding up Raph?" asked Leo. Raphael turned around and said, "I'm having one of my good days. You know, it's funny... back when I had my sight, I could only see half the battle. I guess Splinter's words are suddenly making me understand." Leo smiled and said, "That's good. You're a good ninja. I'm glad to know you've set your anger aside."

"There's a bright side to being blind," said Raph. "And what's that?" asked Leo, trying to humor his brother. "At least I don't have to see Mona Lisa's smug face anymore," quipped Raph as he gave his signature smirk. Leo chuckled with him. "Thanks for not giving up on me bro," said Raphael. "No problem," said Leo, "brothers never give up on each other. Let's go inside. Casey and April are bringing in the pizza." Leo and Raph then went inside, and Raph didn't need the use of a cane. After all, he knew the place by heart.