Chapter 183: Striking from the Shadows, and the Mangekyō Sharingan Opens!
After returning to the Hokage's office, Kinoshita Genichi gave his assurances to Tsunade and Hiruzen. Tsunade then dropped the matter, trusting in his strength and his judgment based on that strength.
After they finished discussing the Zero-Tails, Genichi hesitated for a moment before saying, "I've decided to go find Madara Uchiha after we split the Nine-Tails. Instead of waiting for them to come to us, I will take the initiative and strike first. It would be best if I can eliminate him. If not, then we will make more preparations. It will also be a chance to test the enemy's strength."
"What?" Tsunade shot to her feet. "You're going alone? Why did you suddenly make this decision?"
"Fourth Hokage, calm down," Hiruzen said, taking the pipe from his mouth. "For Genichi to make such an attempt, he must have his reasons."
Tsunade huffed and sat back down, staring at him. "You'd better give me a good reason."
"Of course," he said quickly. "I have now mastered Sage Mode. With that, plus the power of half the Nine-Tails, as well as Wood Release and my Ice Release Kekkei Tōta, I should be strong enough to match the First Hokage from back then…"
Before he could finish, Tsunade cut in. "When did you master Sage Mode? And Ice Release… a Kekkei Tōta?"
Hiruzen was also shocked, the hand holding his pipe trembling slightly. Sage Mode was one thing, but a Kekkei Tōta… what unparalleled talent.
"I just mastered it, which is why I made this decision," Genichi said seriously. "Being constantly on the defensive is too passive."
"Are you going alone?" she frowned.
He nodded. In Konoha right now, the only one who could coordinate with him was Minato, who had also mastered the Flying Thunder God. But if he were to leave, it would be best for Minato to stay in the village. Besides, he also had this idea because he wanted to test his own strength. He had been itching for a fight with Madara for a long time.
"Don't worry," he smiled. "Even if I'm not his match, I have the Flying Thunder God. No one can stop me from returning to Konoha."
Tsunade relaxed a little and looked at Hiruzen.
"It is indeed necessary to gather accurate intelligence beforehand and confirm his situation," Hiruzen said in a deep voice. "But there is one prerequisite: you must ensure your own safety. Given Madara's age, time is on our side. Even if he really does intend to revive himself using the Rinnegan's power, we have plenty of room to stop him."
"While we are in a passive position now, we are not the ones who should be in a hurry," Tsunade nodded.
Genichi nodded. In truth, he simply wanted to stretch his legs. And speaking of which, he didn't even know if Madara had unplugged himself from the tubes yet.
"Since there are no objections, I'll be going then." He waved his hand and vanished from the office.
Underground Laboratory.
Genichi appeared. His gains from this 'cheat' were not yet fully tallied. Besides the improvement to his constitution and the Ice Release Kekkei Tōta, the biggest gain was actually the numerous experiments conducted in the future. Using White Zetsu, plus the 'free' cooperation from Auntie Snake… one could only say the harvest was joyful.
And so, he dispelled the clones in the lab, then created new ones, having them gradually reproduce some of the things he had obtained. For example, the Spore Technique. By planting spores on a White Zetsu, they could absorb its power and grow into a new one. This new Zetsu was, of course, not as good as the four he had previously captured and enhanced, but it could be further strengthened by transplanting Hashirama's cells. Then, by repeating this process, he could continuously create more.
These Zetsus were excellent test subjects. He could transplant the cells of various Kekkei Genkai into them… and conduct all sorts of experiments. This could be said to be an alternative form of cloning. In the future, he had even combined his own cells with a Zetsu's to experiment with sage transformation.
Leaving the clones behind, he went to the lab's break room. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he opened the third eye on his forehead: Namiichi's three-tomoe Sharingan.
In the future, Ice Release, Magnet Release, and the Mangekyō Sharingan had been his priority targets. Therefore, he had specifically analyzed the power of the Mangekyō, and three pairs at that: Fugaku's, Itachi's, and Shisui's. This was not just observing with the Mirror Eye, but actually gouging out their eyeballs and installing them in his own body to analyze and comprehend them. Just like how he had repeatedly used Izanagi before to analyze it and Namiichi's Sharingan, which had led to him awakening his own Mirror Eye.
This research had continued for a full ten years. He wouldn't say he had completely and thoroughly researched the Mangekyō, but he had mastered many key things, and perhaps even understood it better than the Uchiha who possessed it.
He had tried to evolve Namiichi's Sharingan into a Mangekyō last time and had failed. This time, his constitution and spiritual power had been enhanced again, but the dōjutsu power of the eye on his forehead had not increased. However, that feeling of stirring was still there.
So, he was going to try again. And this time, he would try something different.
Clap!
He clapped his hands together. His two eyes closed, but the Sharingan on his forehead remained open. Then, natural energy was absorbed into his body, a large part of which was magnetic field energy. This was why he had come to the underground base; the magnetic field energy was more abundant here, which saved him a lot of trouble in separating the natural energy, although he was already very proficient at it from his repeated attempts in the future.
After the natural energy entered his body, his Primordial Spirit within the Yin Seal immediately moved, absorbing the non-magnetic energy into the seal and creating senjutsu chakra. The remaining magnetic energy remained in his physical body.
After repeating this several times, the magnetic force reached a threshold. This was a quantity he had obtained through repeated experiments in the future. If he exceeded it, he would also rampage; his internal magnetic field would be completely disordered, and he would lose control of his emotions.
At this moment, due to the influence of the natural energy on his internal magnetic field, various negative emotions began to erupt. But it wasn't enough. He began to control this natural energy and direct its influence, specifically on his liver and lungs. And so, hormones were secreted at high speed and, through his body's circulatory system, affected his brain. The emotions of anger and grief rose sharply, occupying a dominant position in his consciousness.
This was a side product of his research into sage transformation. In the future, he had not used this to try to awaken the Mangekyō, because he had been focused on researching it. But after receiving the feedback from the future, he had quickly combined these two seemingly unrelated things, which led to his current attempt.
At this moment, his face was filled with sorrow and anger. These emotions were not from external stimuli, but from controlling the hormone secretion in his body to affect his brain, causing it to react. This process was accompanied by countless memory fragments from his past life flashing through his mind.
Sorrow came from the heart, and anger came from the heart.
When it had accumulated to a certain degree, a special chakra was refined in his brain, which then, through his meridians, combined with the visual nervous system of the Sharingan on his forehead.
With a sharp pain in his optic nerve, the Sharingan on his forehead began to spin on its own. The three tomoe spun wildly, then formed a new pattern.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
It's finally done.
He immediately converted the natural energy that was affecting his emotions into senjutsu chakra, and a sense of joy welled up.
Opening his eyes, he stood up and went to the attached bathroom, then saw the pattern of the Mangekyō on his forehead. The blood-red pupil was divided into three circles. The innermost was a black dot. From the center of the dot, three tomoe extended, connecting to the second circle. And the black circle formed by the second layer was three black tomoe linked together, and the connection points were solid black circles, which in turn connected to the three tomoe extending from the innermost layer, also forming a tomoe shape.
The overall look was like six black tomoe forming a vortex pattern. At a glance, one's gaze was unconsciously drawn in.
He reached out and touched it, a smile unconsciously appearing on his lips. A non-Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyō on his own. Tsk tsk tsk. The human body was truly mysterious. No wonder Auntie Snake was obsessed with human experiments.
"Then the abilities of the Mangekyō…"
He lowered his eyes, carefully sensing the power hidden within the eye. With only one eye, he naturally did not have the Susanoo.
"So that's how it is… I have another trump card."
He opened his eyes, but couldn't help but glance at the panel in his mind. Was it the influence of my 'cheat,' or was there a lingering obsession from Uchiha Namiichi?
The Sharingan on his forehead slowly closed. He then activated his Mirror Eye. It could be said to have mutated from the Sharingan. Now that he had awakened the Mangekyō, he would now try to see if the Mirror Eye could be further upgraded. However, it did not require extreme emotions as a catalyst, but powerful Yin nature transformation and a strong constitution. And with the awakening of the Mangekyō, his Yin nature transformation had been elevated.
When he had awakened the Mangekyō just now, he had clearly felt his Mirror Eye also being enhanced. The dōjutsu power of a single eye was in no way inferior to the Mangekyō on his forehead. But it had not transformed.
"When I awakened the Mirror Eye," he thought to himself, "although it was in the state of a three-tomoe, its dōjutsu power was already at its extreme. The strength of the Mangekyō now, at least in the future, neither Shisui, Itachi, nor Fugaku could compare to me. As for comparing it to an eternal eye, I have no samples, so I can't judge. But when I fight Madara, I'll know."
If the Mirror Eye also transforms into a Mangekyō, I wonder what kind of dōjutsu it will have. Will the Susanoo appear? He was very much looking forward to it.
He turned and left the bathroom, going to his clone's side. "The further improvement of Heaven's Eye is still a little off. The 'Brain in a Vat' I envisioned for genjutsu is not yet complete. I've finished Scorch Release, but there's been no progress on Dust Release. A Kekkei Tōta is really difficult. Next, I have to put more time into it…"
Arriving at the lab, he collected his thoughts and saw that one clone had already replicated quite a few White Zetsu test subjects using the Spore Technique. Another clone was transplanting Hashirama's cells into them to further strengthen them. Next, they would be injected with his own cells, to give them the Magnet Release ability. Then, he would conduct the sage transformation-Magnet Release experiment.
He went forward to help. This experiment was very important. It was related to whether he could master a Kekkei Tōta Magnet Release, whether he could become a Magnetic Field Maniac.
In a lab in a mountain in the northern Land of Fire, Orochimaru watched as several test subjects in a cell underwent mutations. Some grew horns, some grew extra limbs, others grew tails. And all of them went on a rampage, losing control of their emotions, screaming and shouting, and then attacking each other.
Soon, only one of the five was left. But even this one ended its life by self-destructing. Orochimaru watched all of this quietly.
"As expected of sage power…" he stuck out his tongue, then turned and left. The power of the curse mark still needed to be adjusted.
Leaving the confinement area, he came to another lab full of various experimental equipment. At this time, a child who looked to be no more than ten years old, wearing glasses, was busy working. Hearing footsteps, the child stopped what he was doing and looked up. "Lord Orochimaru."
"Kabuto…" A smile appeared on his face. This child was a war orphan he had taken in at Kikyō Castle during the battle there, and had casually named him Kabuto. The reason he had taken him in was that he had once, by chance, seen the orphaned Kabuto distinguish between military rations pills and antidote pills from the bodies of dead ninja just by smell, in order to obtain food. A rare talent.
And he had not been wrong. Although this child was not as outstanding as Genichi, he was also very smart and had an extraordinary talent and intuition for medicine. So Orochimaru had taken him with him and had trained him, and had even opened many secrets to him, such as Hashirama's cells, the Impure World Reincarnation, the sage art curse mark…
He had high hopes for him. If Kabuto could one day reach Genichi's level… no, half would be enough.
"Any gains today, Kabuto?" he asked casually.
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto continued to prepare his potion as he answered seriously, "I have completely mastered the Mystical Palm Technique. The Delicate Healing Extraction Technique is also no problem. Next time you need it, I can help."
"Not bad, not bad," Orochimaru was quite satisfied.
Kabuto hesitated for a moment. Noticing this, Orochimaru smiled. "If you have something to say, you can just say it. Although you are my subordinate, in the field of knowledge, we are all explorers, equals. It's just that I have gone further than you."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto nodded. "I was reading your research data on Hashirama's cells and the Sharingan. It mentions that the combination of the two powers may give birth to a new Kekkei Genkai. And according to the research, Hashirama's cells have a very good promoting effect on the Sharingan. Then why is it not that Hashirama's cells can make the Sharingan upgrade and become a stronger Kekkei Genkai? After all, Lord Orochimaru once said that the greatest strength of Hashirama's cells is the power of Yang Release. And the Sharingan, in terms of nature transformation, is a combination of Yin and Yang, right?"
Orochimaru was taken aback, and his mind began to race. Hashirama's cells upgrading the Sharingan? From his previous research with Danzō, there had been no such phenomenon. For example, there had been no case of a single tomoe upgrading to a double. Nor had there been a case of a three-tomoe upgrading to a Mangekyō. Of course, Danzō was not an Uchiha.
So was Kabuto's speculation possible?
"Madara obtained Hashirama's cells, it should have been at the battle at the Valley of the End, right?" He reorganized the information he knew. "So, was the real purpose of that battle the cells? Hehe, interesting."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed. He then said to Kabuto, "A very good idea. Keep up this kind of thinking."
Kabuto nodded, but he was wondering if what he had said was possible.
And at this moment, Orochimaru was also thinking, Genichi-kun, did you discover something? In terms of research on Hashirama's cells, he considered himself to be the number one person in the ninja world. But for the Sharingan, he knew that he was certainly not as good as Genichi, who could control it freely. And Kabuto's words had made him connect the Rinnegan with Madara. Nagato, who had the Rinnegan, seemed to be from the Uzumaki clan. And the Uzumaki were close relatives of the Senju.
"Genichi-kun's guess that Madara wants to revive himself with the Rinnegan was based on his age. Is there any other intelligence to support it?"
As one of the current decision-makers, Orochimaru also knew a lot of intelligence. For example, about Madara not being dead, about the Akatsuki's Rinnegan.
Looks like I have to make a trip back to Konoha.
The Hidden Leaf Village, underground lab.
In an empty room, Genichi was controlling a White Zetsu test subject that had his cells and the Magnet Release ability to absorb natural energy. The natural energy other than the magnetic field power was converted into senjutsu chakra, while the magnetic field energy was absorbed by the cells. This was an attempt that even his future self had not begun. However, after the various experiments stimulating cells with natural energy in the future, his understanding and control of it had already reached a very high level.
With the enhancement of the Art of Pyo, the cell activity was doubled. He carefully controlled the magnetic field power, letting the Zetsu's cells absorb it bit by bit.
When the absorption reached the first level he had set, he clearly felt that the Zetsu's physical strength had suddenly surged, and its body's magnetic field had also become stronger. When it reached the second level, he felt that it seemed to have reached a limit. If it continued, the cells in its body would automatically divide. And he also felt that the Zetsu's consciousness, which he had been suppressing, was showing signs of reviving.
Does the magnetic field also affect the spiritual consciousness? That's normal…
He stopped absorbing natural energy and turned to control the Zetsu for another attempt: to control the magnetic field inside its body. However, there was no movement at all. He couldn't control its own magnetic field through the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai.
He frowned to himself. "My Magnet Release is all manifested in the application of magnetic force… It seems I must first abandon the mental limitations brought by my original Magnet Release. I must start from the magnetic field itself, that is, the movement of electric currents."
A magnetic field is generated by the movement of electric charges or the change of an electric field. This was his most basic understanding of it. And so, his training seemed to have returned to Lightning Release.
"Then I'll start with the electric field…"
He adjusted his direction. Chakra underwent the lightning nature transformation, and then he controlled the movement of the electric current within the Zetsu's body. A new magnetic field was created, and he could also sense the change in the magnetic force through his Magnet Release. He then tried to control the magnetic force with his Magnet Release, and at the same time control the electric current, the two working together to gain control over the magnetic field. But he could only control the magnetic field generated by the electric current; he could not directly control the Zetsu's own bio-magnetic field, only indirectly influence it.
But for him, this was already a very good start. It could be considered a combined effect of Magnet Release and Lightning Release.
He tried repeatedly, until his Primordial Spirit was exhausted. Only then did he stop and return to his main body. However, as it lost his control, the Zetsu's sage transformation immediately went out of control. It uncontrollably absorbed natural energy, and then its cells divided without limit, rapidly expanding.
Finally, with a pop, the Zetsu exploded. White matter filled the entire room, and it was very regular, looking like the distribution of magnetic field lines.
Genichi watched from another room through a glass wall, a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, he walked into the room and began to clean up, leaving not a single trace. All the White Zetsu matter was directly dealt with by Fire Release, because this test subject had his cells.
The next day, he continued to repeat the experiment. Time flew by quickly. He was so busy that he even just sent a shadow clone to meet Orochimaru. Anyway, he had gotten a lot of knowledge from him for free in the future, so there was no need for in-depth cooperation for the time being.
And just like that, time passed to June. Three months had passed since Kushina had gotten pregnant, and the pregnancy was now stable.
On this day, after breakfast, Genichi took Ina to the outskirts of Konoha. Before their eyes was a giant red torii gate, with Anbu ninja guarding on it.
"Lord Genichi," they greeted him.
He nodded slightly and walked through the gate with Ina, entering the barrier. On an open grassy field, Tsunade, Hiruzen, Biwako Sarutobi, and the Minato-Kushina couple were all there.
Today was the day to split the Nine-Tails.
Tsunade and Biwako were here to ensure that after the Nine-Tails was extracted, Kushina's life and the baby's were not in danger.
(End of Chapter)
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