Uchiha Izumi already understood the mysterious ability of her left eye. It was unlike any other Sharingan power she had encountered. Her left eye possessed the extraordinary ability to bestow vitality upon inanimate objects—to breathe life into the lifeless, and even, astonishingly, to resurrect the dead.
But this immense power came with a heavy price and an even greater mystery.
Yesterday, in a moment of unbearable sorrow and desperation, Izumi's left eye had activated on its own, releasing its power towards her mother, Uchiha Hazuki, with the desperate hope of bringing her back to life.
However, something unexpected had happened.
The Divine Ink residing within Izumi's body had seized control of the jutsu. Instead of being directed solely at her mother, the resurrection power was redirected to the Divine Ink itself. The result was startling—the Divine Ink awakened, taking on a life of its own.
With Izumi's left eye as its core, the Divine Ink began absorbing massive amounts of spiritual energy, steadily growing stronger.
Izumi had already sensed something deeply familiar about her eye—its power resembled the legendary abilities of Shisui Uchiha. Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was a devastating genjutsu that, once used, required a long cooldown before it could be wielded again. Izumi's own eye, however, demanded an even longer recharge period—an astounding twenty years before it could be used again.
The ability to restore life to the dead or grant consciousness to the lifeless was far beyond the grasp of ordinary ninja.
This was only possible because of the divine essence contained within the Divine Ink that flowed inside Izumi.
But such a power was burdensome—and it could only be used once every two decades.
---
Izumi sat slumped against a wall, laughing bitterly at her fate.
"Divine Ink…" she muttered, her voice trembling between despair and madness. "Am I the master… or is it the master? Turns out I'm just a host… hahahahahaha…"
Her laughter echoed, a chilling sound in the quiet street.
At the same time, she sensed a change deep within her body. The Divine Ink was different from before. It felt like her left eye had become the very nest of the Divine Ink—a core from which it continuously absorbed spiritual power, growing stronger with every passing moment.
Covering her head with her hands, Izumi scoffed, "If this continues, will it backfire on me? Hah… Now that I think about it, everything was designed. Hahahahaha…"
Lying on the ground, her laughter turned into uneasy silence. After a moment, she slowly lifted her head.
"Now that you're alive… do you have consciousness? Or did you have consciousness all along?" she asked aloud. "Speak! If you can't speak… write a word!"
---
Suddenly, words formed in her mind.
Hello.
Shock rippled through her.
Her body trembled uncontrollably as she whispered, "Who are you? Divine Ink?"
Before she could react, her consciousness was drawn into a strange, surreal world.
She found herself standing upon a sea of black ink, an endless void of swirling darkness beneath her feet, and an endless white sky stretched above her.
From the black sea, a figure slowly emerged—an ink-formed human shape that gradually transformed into another Izumi, identical in every detail.
---
"Who… are you?" Izumi asked cautiously.
The ink figure spread its arms and approached with a gentle smile.
"Didn't you want to see me?" it said softly.
"You… you are Divine Ink?" Izumi stammered.
"That's right. Or rather… I am an artifact spirit."
"Artifact spirit?"
"Yes," the figure explained. "I am the ink—the essence among brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—created by a god. But in an accident, we were cast into the void, gaining freedom. However, I suffered severe damage. Half of my body was lost, but then I encountered you."
Izumi's mind raced. "What exactly does that mean? Are you trying to occupy my body?"
The artifact spirit chuckled softly, covering its mouth. "Hahaha. For a divine creation like me, there's no need to fight for your body."
"So then, what do you want?" Izumi pressed.
The spirit's smile deepened. "What surprised me was that you awakened a jutsu powerful enough to rouse my dormant consciousness and bring me back ahead of schedule. That was impressive."
"Impressive?" Izumi echoed in disbelief.
"However, I am still too weak to leave your body. I need more immense energy to break free."
"More energy? To leave my body?" Izumi's voice was barely a whisper.
"That's right. I do not desire your body. What I seek is freedom—to find my other companions who share my fate."
Izumi nodded slowly. "So the energy you need is…"
The spirit grinned. "It's not difficult. You simply have to give me that eye—the one on the moon."
"The Reincarnation Eye?"
"Yes. With that eye, my power will multiply. I will be able to open a portal to a higher plane where I can recover my full strength."
Izumi's eyes widened. "Can I go with you?"
The spirit tilted its head. "Do you really want to go back?"
Izumi fell silent, contemplating.
---
The Divine Ink continued, "With just a fraction of my power, your Mangekyō Sharingan has gained the ability to resurrect the dead and grant life to objects. Imagine what I could do with more."
"If I return to the higher plane, I could not only regain strength but also give you the ability to traverse between worlds."
"I am ink, like an author who can freely edit their own work. I can manipulate the two-dimensional world—redrawing, altering, and creating reality itself."
Izumi was speechless.
"Since you have such power, why don't you just modify yourself to become stronger? Why go through all this trouble?"
The spirit's smile turned sly. "My soul is connected to yours. Any power I gain must first be obtained by you, then I can use it."
---
Izumi remained quiet.
The spirit sighed. "Usually, meeting me would consume most of your power. But I saw you were on the brink of madness, so I decided to meet you."
"So… do you agree?" the spirit asked.
Izumi scoffed bitterly. "What choice do I have? My life and death are in your hands."
With a chuckle, the Divine Ink spirit appeared behind her, wrapping its arms gently around her neck.
"I am the one who understands you best," it whispered warmly. "How could I bear to harm you? Let us make a pact."
"When it is done, I will leave your body. Though you will grow weaker, I will leave part of my power behind."
"When you grow stronger, resurrecting your mother will be easy."
"After all, there are many ways to bring someone back in this world."
---
Izumi could only nod.
"Agreed," she said softly.
"Good. Then it's settled. Goodbye, my other half."
The spirit kissed Izumi's forehead tenderly and slowly faded back into the sea of ink.
---
Izumi rose to her feet, a wild laugh escaping her lips.
"Whether this is true or false, I'm willing to take the gamble."
"But first… I need to understand exactly what happened."
Her Mangekyō Sharingan faded away, and her eyes returned to normal, but the Divine Ink's presence clung tightly to her, continuously drawing spiritual energy.
Ignoring it, Izumi made her way to the training forest, waiting for the one she sought.
---
Soon, a figure approached—Hiroya Masuda.
He tossed a scroll in her direction.
"I received your signal," he said quietly. "Everything that happened at your house is recorded here. Don't worry, I haven't altered any of it. Everything is exactly as it happened."
With a nod, he turned and disappeared into the trees.
Izumi unfurled the scroll and began reading.
---
The further she read, the darker her expression grew, especially when she saw how the hospital ninja had repeatedly probed her mother's memories, their trembling hands betraying their nervousness.
A scream tore from her lips.
"Ah!"
She tore the scroll to shreds in a furious rage, stomping on the fragments before burning them with a flick of flame.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" she cried, clutching at her long hair as if trying to tear it out.
"Bastards!"
---
The clone she had left behind bore an expression of deep gloom and cold indifference.
It vanished silently.
Meanwhile, the real Izumi at home suddenly opened her eyes.
She sneered coldly.
"Once I confirm the truth, I will slaughter you all."
"Remember this."
---
At the entrance of Root headquarters, Uchiha Fugaku waited patiently until a Root ninja approached.
The ninja handed him a scroll.
"Clan Head Fugaku," the ninja said respectfully. "Please check if there are any problems. If not, I will return."
Fugaku scoffed.
"Danzo, that old fool, must have kept backups. Thankfully, I received some compensation from the Third Hokage."
"Danzo shouldn't act so brazenly anymore. Tell them to be careful."
He reviewed the scroll carefully and found no errors.
"Hmm, no problem," Fugaku said.
"But if Danzo dares to harm anyone in the clan over this, I will report it to the Third Hokage."
The ninja nodded.
"I will not see you out."
Fugaku sighed, glanced back at the Root headquarters, and departed