"Decomposition!"
As Izayoi spoke, the deposit in the points column instantly surged from just over 700,000 to 2.81 million—an exact number.
"No guarantee, but totally worth it!" Izayoi's lips curled slightly.
One for one isn't a loss, and one for two is definitely a profit.
There were still hundreds of thousands of points left. With that, Izayoi could upgrade three red entries to colored entries.
At that point, he would be a man with five colors.
Thinking of this, Izayoi couldn't wait to act on his thoughts.
He raised his hand and clicked, and a "+" symbol appeared behind the [Six Paths Qualification (Red)].
In an instant, the 2.81 million points dropped sharply to 1.81 million and one.
The Six Paths Qualification, which had previously been slightly smaller than the colored entries and had a static red color, suddenly grew in size, and the red hue quickly faded, replaced by a flowing multicolored light.
The words "Six Paths" writhed like worms crawling.
When they stopped moving, the words "Six Paths" disappeared. What replaced them was... [Transcendent Qualification (Color)].
Boom—Crack!
The moment the entry completed its transformation, Izayoi's heart pounded violently, and he faintly heard something shatter.
But in the silent universe, it seemed like that sound was just a hallucination.
Izayoi's focus wasn't on the sound—it was on the Transcendent Qualification (Color) entry.
More precisely, his eyes were fixed on the Transcendent Qualification (Color) in the entry column.
Just like a computer file system, entries were also ranked by level and rarity.
Higher-level entries came first, and among entries of the same level, the rarest and most valuable were prioritized.
Before upgrading, Izayoi had only two colored entries. The first one, of course, was Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color).
Izayoi's current strength was largely thanks to the Otsutsuki Bloodline.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the heart of all his entries.
Without this core, Izayoi wouldn't have been able to gain the Bloodline Limit · Rinnegan (Color) at this age. Even if the Sage's Eye (Red) and Sage's Body (Red) had been obtained from Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, without the Six Paths Sage's inheritance, he likely wouldn't have awakened the Rinnegan until middle age.
No matter how talented one is, they can't leap from super-kage level to Six Paths level by the time of the final battle.
This is the upper limit for hybrid Otsutsuki descendants.
Yet Otsutsuki Toneri, with just a Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red), awakened the Rinnegan after transplanting high-purity Byakugan at a young age.
So among red entries, Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red) always ranked above Sage's Eye (Red) and Sage's Body (Red).
After upgrading to colored level, Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) far surpassed the Rinnegan.
After all, the first sub-entry it unlocked was already at the red level.
At this age, Izayoi had already unlocked the Sky (Red) entry—so Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) definitely held more than just one red sub-entry.
And the Rinnegan was simply the result of combining two red entries.
Izayoi speculated that even among colored entries, Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) should rank very high.
But now, that top-ranked, untouchable Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) had been pushed down.
The new first-place entry was... Transcendent Qualification (Color).
To Izayoi, the qualification entry used to be the most trash and useless.
For instance, Chakra Control increased his chakra control talent—without it, he couldn't master the Truth-Seeking Balls.
Even Medical Genius and Medical Master could make someone a famous doctor in the ninja world when fully developed.
But Qualifications, regardless of whether green or red level, had no actual abilities—just occupying space in the entry column.
It had always been seen as a support-type entry.
When it came time to raise the upper limit, the first entry to be upgraded was always Qualifications.
It usually ranked at the bottom, or somewhere in the middle.
But now, this entry had surpassed even the core-level Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) to become number one.
What's even more shocking was that Izayoi actually felt like Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) had lost.
"Transcendent Qualification"... these four words were easy to understand.
Especially for someone like Izayoi, who had watched Boruto—he believed only two people in the entire universe and throughout history might possess this entry.
One was him.
The other was the rumored Otsutsuki God who transcended the world—Otsutsuki Shibai!
Izayoi slightly raised his lips and muttered:
"I didn't hear wrong earlier. Something really broke. But it wasn't a physical object—it was a concept!"
"My shackles... are broken!"
As if responding to Izayoi's realization, his brain suddenly released a large surge of chakra into his eyes.
His eyeballs began to wriggle uncontrollably.
"Hiss..."
Izayoi held his eyes and gasped softly.
The next moment, he let out a stunned sound: "Is this... fetal movement? How is that possible?!"
"Could the Rinnegan evolve again?"
After the Rinnegan went through three fetal movements and awakened the Rinnegan Chakra Mode like Otsutsuki Toneri's, Izayoi had thought the ultimate ability would be Chakra Beads, the power of creation.
Now, it seemed three fetal movements weren't the limit.
Or rather, three fetal movements were the limit of Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red) and Six Paths Qualification (Red)—not the limit of the Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color) and Transcendent Qualification (Color).
The third fetal movement had unlocked the Chakra Mode and Chakra Beads—so what would the fourth fetal movement unlock?
Just as Izayoi was wondering, his eyeballs suddenly stopped moving.
"What happened? Did it end so quickly this time?"
He conjured a mirror and looked at himself—he had already undone the Wood Clone and Rinnegan Chakra Mode.
With white hair and dragon horns, his youthful face still looked handsome, and his eyes were still the same blue-and-white Rinnegan.
It was as if the eye movement earlier was just an illusion.
Izayoi, with his incredible far-vision and x-ray sight, leaned closer to the mirror, nose touching the surface, staring straight into his own eyes.
If one looked carefully, the black pupils in the Rinnegan had a surrounding halo—no longer white, but… faintly golden.
Seeing this barely noticeable golden glow, Izayoi's lips curled again.
He realized immediately—it was a pupil power he couldn't yet control.
This power was slowly altering the nature of the Rinnegan in a gentle way, unlike the abrupt changes of the previous three fetal movements.
Just like how Uchiha Madara, after fusing Hashirama's cells, gradually increased his eye power and one day awoke the Rinnegan...
Izayoi could feel the Rinnegan slowly drawing in his chakra.
Or more accurately, chakra was slowly gathering toward the eyes.
Unlike the first three fetal movements, he could still use the Rinnegan's powers freely.
This fourth fetal movement didn't disrupt his usage, nor did it rapidly consume chakra.
Izayoi had a hunch—this one will last a long time.
Which was just what he wanted.
If possible, he hoped the fetal movement would last as long as it needed.
The longer the evolution, the greater the gain—and the more stable the foundation.
The best example? Uchiha Madara.
The worst? Uchiha Sasuke, who received the Six Paths Sage's power and evolved one eye into the Six Tomoe Rinnegan.
Madara and Hashirama got stronger with age; Sasuke and Naruto declined.
That's because they reached their potential limit too early.
With Izayoi's current strength, he had only four and a half true opponents in the ninja world.
His arsenal was vast—he lacked nothing in firepower.
What he lacked were secret trump cards that were exclusive and unknown.
After all, in his last fight, Izayoi had revealed all his cards.
If Madara, the Sage of Six Paths, or Otsutsuki Hamura and Isshiki had ways to counter those techniques, he would be on the back foot.
Izayoi needed a new trump card to take the lead in the information war.
He hoped this fourth fetal movement would give him that.
That way, he would be even more confident when facing the unpredictable Six Paths Sage.
"Should I upgrade this thing too?"
After smashing the mirror, Izayoi looked again at his personal panel, eyes landing on Sage's Body (Red), and muttered to himself.
Soon, he made his decision.
"The Six Paths Sage was able to cultivate a sage body, and Ashura inherited a red-level one. That means the Sage's body must've reached color-level too." Izayoi glanced at his three colored entries, paused on Transcendent Qualification (Color), and smiled confidently. "If he can do it, then there's no reason I can't."
"Instead of spending points on an entry that's bound to be upgraded, it's better to save them for emergencies—or for that one."
At that, Izayoi's eyes shifted to Sky (Red).
Sky gave Izayoi flight and incredible talent in space-time.
In just a few months, he had mastered Sky Teleportation and Flying Thunder God, and even developed a space-time teleportation array using the chakra beads.
Without it, he wouldn't have been able to defeat Madara.
If Sky (Red) was already this powerful, wouldn't upgrading it unlock even more, possibly even time-space powers?
Just thinking about it made Izayoi excited.
But logic kept him calm.
Yomi Hirasaka came from the bloodline system—it was within reach.
Space-time portals were tied to the ultimate eye technique, too.
These powers might already be part of the pure-blooded Otsutsuki lineage.
Even the flying ability might just be a sub-entry of Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color).
Even if the Sky entry upgraded, its potential would still need time and effort to unlock.
So instead of spending 990,000 points now, it was better to save those two upgrades for future Rinnegan synthesis.
Izayoi quickly calmed himself and closed the personal panel.
Then he used the chakra beads to create a seven-layer overlapping space-time teleportation array, instantly jumping from the universe back to his home basement on Earth.
Since the second round of battle with Madara had taken place in space...
No one knew about it, except a few individuals.
Even those few might only guess who won by looking at Madara's injuries.
After all, during the two-day, two-night fight, Izayoi had been calculating not just Madara—but also the Otsutsuki.
If they had appeared, he would've noticed.
Since they didn't, that meant they didn't dare get too close.
As for being stronger than him?
Izayoi thought it was unlikely.
Even if they were stronger, it wouldn't be by much—they couldn't crush him.
Otherwise, they would've attacked already.
Only those who aren't confident choose to hide.
Thinking of this, Izayoi smirked in disdain.
After obtaining the Transcendent Qualification (Color), he was filled with strength and self-belief.
Just its sublimation had triggered the fourth fetal movement of the Rinnegan.
Which proved his theory.
Transcendent Talent not only raised his potential—it also activated the power of the Otsutsuki Bloodline (Color).
Just like Sage's Eye (Red) and Byakugan Prince (Red) did with the red bloodline and let Izayoi awaken the Rinnegan with three fetal movements.
This fourth fetal movement might be a gift from the Transcendent Talent (Color).
Izayoi had now truly entered a growth phase.
And his future progress would be unimaginable.
...
"Izayoi-kun, you're back?"
"Izayoi-kun, are you okay?"
"Onii-chan, Hanabi was so worried about you!"
As soon as Izayoi came out of the basement, the four Hinata girls rushed to him.
Different from before, this time Hinata, Karin, Hanabi, and Shion all looked extremely worried.
Hanabi clung tightly to his waist.
Other than the Otsutsuki, only these four knew about his second battle with Madara.
At first, they were confident in Izayoi and believed he was unbeatable.
But after two days and nights with no word—and his Wood Clone suddenly vanishing—they finally panicked.
Though it had only been a short time, to them it felt like years.
Seeing their tearful, anxious faces, Izayoi paused for a second.
Feeling their emotions, he smiled softly, opened his arms, and pulled the girls into a hug.
"I'm sorry for making you worry," he whispered.
The girls held him tighter, finally feeling at peace from his warmth and presence.
But the warm moment didn't last long—
"Wuwuwu… I can't breathe!"
Hanabi's muffled voice came from being stuck between them.
"Hahaha… Sorry, sorry."
Izayoi chuckled, and the atmosphere turned light-hearted again.
Just as the girls were about to ask questions, a chakra signature passed through the barrier—instantly catching their attention.
Whoosh!
A shadow appeared and kneeled before Izayoi.
"Izayoi-sama, Hokage-sama has instructed you to report to the Hokage's office immediately," said a masked ANBU with purple hair—Uzuki Yugao.
"I understand. I'll head over soon. You're dismissed."
But Yugao didn't leave.
She looked at Hinata and Karin, then said:
"Hokage-sama specifically ordered that you go alone. Hinata-sama and Karin-sama will follow me to the Hokage building."
Izayoi raised his brows and looked at the two girls—they were just as puzzled.
"In that case, Hinata, Karin, you go with Yugao. I'll meet with Hokage-sama alone," Izayoi instructed.
"Yes."
Hanabi and Shion nodded obediently after he added, "Hanabi, Shion, stay here and wait for us to return."
Moments later, all four disappeared.
Izayoi vanished without a trace, and the other three disappeared instantly as well.
A few days later, the third round of the Chunin Exams ended.
And a piece of shocking news spread across Konoha—then the entire ninja world.
The ninja world was in an uproar.