At this moment, Orochimaru looked like a venomous snake on the brink of death. His yellow-golden snake-like pupils were starting to bleed at the edges, glowing with a faint red hue.
If he hadn't known that he couldn't defeat Uchiha Hikaru, he might have attacked him the moment he understood what Hikaru had just implied.
Hikaru glanced at Orochimaru, who was clearly ready to pounce, and let out a small sigh, shaking his head with a trace of exasperation.
"If I dare to claim I can help you achieve immortality, then of course I have a method," he said calmly. "Just stand back and let me handle it."
"I'm about to show off a little."
Those confident words sparked a flicker of hope in Orochimaru's heart once again.
He slowly began to calm himself. Yet now he had a clearer understanding of Itachi and Hikaru—those damn Uchiha. Was making others uncomfortable a clan trait or something? No wonder they'd struggled to get along with others back in the Konoha Police Force...
Hikaru took a deep breath, steadying himself. What he was about to do wasn't for the faint of heart—it would be gruesome.
He'd considered attempting this more than once before, but never found the right moment.
Now, Orochimaru's original body, corrupted by senjutsu chakra, was the perfect test subject. If it worked, it might even tie Orochimaru more tightly to Konoha. If not… well, Hikaru could always force him to stay. Orochimaru couldn't beat him anyway.
Of course, Orochimaru had no idea what Hikaru was really thinking. He just assumed the younger Uchiha was about to use some unique ritual technique.
Watching Hikaru begin to focus, Orochimaru suddenly thought of the monks from the Fire Temple—those self-proclaimed sages—and the spiritual rituals of the Land of Demons.
In all his knowledge, only a few obscure jutsu required such ceremonial preparation.
Hikaru reached into his all-purpose ninja tool pouch and pulled out two small vials filled with pale nutrient solution. One contained an eyeball suspended in fluid; the other was just nutrient fluid.
He lifted one hand and placed it in front of his right eye.
"Pfft!"
The stabbing pain in his eye was sharp but bearable—it didn't hurt as much as he'd expected.
Was this some kind of Uchiha-specific physical resistance?
The thought flickered through his mind as he calmly removed his right eye and dropped it into the empty vial filled with nutrient solution.
Orochimaru's eyes widened in disbelief. They trembled slightly. The image forming in his mind—the possibility that Hikaru was using some form of ancestral sacrificial jutsu—seemed to be turning real.
Could this be one of the forbidden rituals used by the ancient Uchiha shrine maidens?
As Orochimaru reeled, Hikaru took the three-tomoe Sharingan from the other vial and inserted it into his right eye socket.
Zzzzt~
Wisps of light and thin streams of blood-red chakra mist began to seep from the freshly implanted eye.
Hikaru focused his chakra and sent it surging toward the right eye.
With Hashirama's cells in his body, he figured this would be easy. After all, if Madara could swap eyes mid-battle and still wreck everyone, there was no reason he couldn't do the same.
The nerves in his eye twitched from the sudden intrusion. A few seconds later, Hikaru tested the movement.
Ten more seconds passed. Then, slowly, he opened his right eye, closed his left, and gazed around with the newly implanted Sharingan.
Not blurry. Clear. Sharp. Easily 1080k resolution. The original owner of this eye definitely took good care of it.
Under Orochimaru's baffled stare, Hikaru stood there silently, holding both vials. He didn't do anything flashy. Just held them.
Orochimaru was slowly overwhelmed with question marks.
Was this a sacrificial ritual? A special Uchiha rite? What kind of ridiculous clan was this!?
Then, with no warning, Hikaru formed hand seals while still holding both vials—Mao, Hai, Wei.
Hand seal accuracy? Please. Which real ninja even needed proper hand signs these days?
Aside from that honest-to-a-fault guy Kisame, who even cared?
This was symbolic. Style mattered more than form.
"Izanagi."
The three tomoe in Hikaru's right eye spun rapidly.
Orochimaru immediately felt it—a freezing, suffocating presence surrounding him.
That was ocular chakra—pure eye power!
And this man was casting a jutsu while holding a glass bottle!?
As expected… he was offering his own eye as the sacrificial price. While still holding the vials. This was insane.
Everything around Orochimaru began to feel surreal. Almost like he was trapped in a genjutsu.
But Hikaru, who was standing in front of the massive glass container that held Orochimaru's original body, wasn't concerned with the Sannin behind him.
All his focus was on the test.
His right eye's power rapidly depleted, streaming into the container as a swirl of chakra. The crimson chakra flowed toward the Orochimaru clone floating inside.
Hikaru, using his left eye to observe, watched carefully as the corrupted gray-black chakra inside the body began to shift.
Starting from the head down, the unnatural hue was slowly overwritten—restored—transformed into a healthy light-blue chakra signature.
That's right.
He was using Izanagi to exploit a loophole.
Since Izanagi could convert illusion into reality for up to a minute, why not use that window to rewrite Orochimaru's corrupted senjutsu chakra into ordinary chakra?
Izanagi could rewrite death. Rewriting a bit of senjutsu corruption should be child's play.
One minute passed.
And Orochimaru's original body—entirely restored.
Orochimaru stood speechless, staring at the body suspended in the green solution. He couldn't believe it. This defied every scientific law he believed in.
Then Hikaru—without flinching—plucked the Sharingan back out of his eye socket and dropped it into the vial it came from.
Pfft~
Just like that.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he carefully opened the container holding his original eye and re-inserted it.
With Hashirama cells and chakra running through him, the eye healed in seconds.
He blinked a few times, moved his gaze around.
Yeah. That borrowed Sharingan had been nice—clean resolution, no lag—but nothing beat the feel of your own eye. More natural. Easier on the chakra. More... stylish.
Hikaru turned, sauntered up to Orochimaru, clapped a hand on his shoulder, and flashed a cocky grin.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the restored body.
"Well? What are you standing there for?"
"Just a small issue, wasn't it?"
"Handled it easy, bro~"
Only then did Orochimaru fully realize—
This technique required a Sharingan sacrifice.
But not even your own Sharingan?
You could just use someone else's?
…Uchiha truly were terrifying.
-------
Send Power Stones
Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
---------------------
Join my Patreon and get access to 50+ early chapters before anyone else! 🔥
https://www.patreon.com/UK21
Your Support is Truly Appreciated 🫂