At that fleeting moment earlier, the 'Jikibi' connecting Shinji to Karin suddenly gave him an unprecedented sensation.
"Was that the eruption of the All Creation Power?"
Realizing the possibility, Shinji was both shocked and elated.
He had been waiting for this moment, on and off, for years.
Suppressing his excitement, he immediately activated 'Jikibi' to contact Karin, asking, "What just happened?"
Karin seemed dazed.
Only when Shinji's voice reached her did she seem to find her anchor, urgently replying, "My lord, my Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan just experienced a stirring!"
"A stirring!?"
Shinji pondered.
A stirring in the eyes often signified new life, as it was a natural phenomenon tied to the birth of new power.
When Shinji had transplanted that pair of fully depleted Mangekyo Sharingan into Karin to attempt their restoration, they had gone through a similar stirring.
And that stirring hadn't disappointed—the Mangekyo Sharingan had been reborn, fully restoring its dojutsu power!
Understanding this, Shinji quickly asked, "What about now?"
Karin replied, "The stirring seems to have stopped."
"Stopped!?" Stunned, Shinji pressed urgently, "Other than the stirring, did anything else happen?"
Karin thought carefully, then shook her head. "No, nothing else."
"Just the stirring?"
Shinji frowned slightly.
The dojutsu power of Karin's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was near the pinnacle of what a Sharingan could achieve, slightly surpassing even Shinji's own Eternal Mangekyo.
Such a stirring in her eyes was not to be taken lightly.
However, Shinji didn't know the detailed process of awakening the Rinnegan from an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He only knew that Uchiha Madara, after meeting all the conditions, had waited until he was old and near death to barely awaken the Rinnegan.
As for the catalyst or circumstances of Madara's awakening, Shinji was completely in the dark.
That night.
Dressed in Akatsuki garb, Shinji silently infiltrated Karin's apartment.
Upon meeting, he immediately asked, "How's it going now?"
Karin answered honestly, "There's been no activity since that stirring this afternoon."
Without further questions, Shinji used 'Jikibi' to examine the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Karin's eye sockets.
As expected, after the stirring, the dojutsu power of her Eternal eyes had grown even stronger.
If Shinji's Sharingan had previously been only slightly inferior to Karin's, the gap had now widened significantly.
This sudden surge in dojutsu power convinced Shinji that Karin's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was at a critical juncture in its pursuit of the Rinnegan.
The awakening process might have already begun!
Seeing Shinji's serious expression, Karin grew anxious. "My lord, is something wrong with my eyes?"
Shinji wasn't sure how to respond.
He organized his thoughts before speaking slowly. "If I'm not mistaken, what we've been waiting for is about to happen!"
Karin was stunned, then overjoyed. "Really?"
Shinji nodded lightly. "All the conditions have been met. Awakening the Rinnegan is only natural."
Regarding the Rinnegan, Shinji had withheld only the most critical details, sharing basic information with Karin. After all, during the battle in the Land of Grass, everyone had witnessed Nagato and the 'Six Paths of Pain' with their Rinnegan eyes.
Karin knew her leader aimed to use her body to forge the legendary 'Sage's Eye,' and she was willingly committed to this goal. Confirming the Rinnegan awakening had begun, she asked, "My lord, what do I need to do now?"
Shinji shook his head. "I don't know."
"Huh!?"
Karin was stunned again.
This was the first time she'd seen her leader uncertain. Every step before had been executed with absolute confidence.
Ignoring Karin's shock, Shinji muttered to himself, "Ultimately, awakening the Rinnegan is a qualitative transformation of chakra! It's the fusion of ultimate Yin Release chakra and ultimate Yang Release chakra, giving rise to Yin-Yang Release…"
He paced the room, murmuring.
Karin followed like a shadow, nodding vaguely, half-understanding.
Shinji continued muttering, "Transforming low-level chakra into high-level chakra is inherently against the natural order. The only way is to brute-force it with sheer chakra volume. Even if the conversion rate is low, as long as the total amount is sufficient, the success rate won't be too bad…"
Though he didn't know the specifics of Madara's Rinnegan awakening, reverse-engineering it wasn't hard. To awaken the Rinnegan, Madara must have amassed an immense amount of chakra.
Back then, despite Madara's strength, he had lost one Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan's dojutsu power due to using 'Izanagi' in the Battle at the Valley of the End. Relying solely on himself to accumulate chakra, it wasn't surprising he only succeeded in his later years.
Karin's situation, however, was entirely different.
After receiving First Hokage cells, Karin now possessed the Sage Body of both the Uzumaki and Senju clans, and her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was in perfect condition. In terms of foundation for awakening the Rinnegan, she surpassed even Madara.
Moreover, Shinji wielded 'Jikibi' and 'Wazunagi,' dojutsu capable of directly transferring chakra through the void, allowing Karin to not only use her own chakra but also receive a continuous supply through the 'Wazunagi' channel.
This alone could save Karin years, if not decades, of accumulation.
Unlike the body's limited capacity to refine chakra at once, even with secret techniques like the 'Yin Seal' to increase chakra storage density, the loss was significant. It couldn't compare to the direct, efficient chakra infusion via 'Wazunagi.'
With this in mind, Shinji began calculating his available chakra sources.
Beyond himself and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, whom he controlled with genjutsu, there were Shion, Yakumo, Haku, Sasuke, Neji, Kimimaro, and even 'H' as potential chakra reserves.
Among these, Shion, as a priestess, had tailed-beast-level chakra. Yakumo, with First Hokage cells and the Koryugan, had an absurdly large chakra pool. Sasuke, as the reincarnation of Indra Otsutsuki, had exceptionally high-quality chakra.
Aside from Haku's slightly weaker chakra reserves, the others were all premium chakra sources.