Konohagakure concealed a vast underground complex more than a hundred meters beneath the village. Its maze-like tunnels served as both the headquarters of the former Root organization and Konoha's emergency shelter.
However, that shelter had never truly fulfilled its intended purpose.
During Danzō's rule, only Root shinobi were permitted to take refuge there. Ordinary villagers were never allowed inside.
After Hayashi became the Fourth Hokage, the situation changed. With his strength protecting the village, Konoha's civilians had never needed to use the shelter at all.
Deep within the underground facility, inside the most secure laboratory, Hayashi lay calmly on an operating table while Orochimaru and Hiruko worked beside him.
With the Fourth Great Ninja War about to begin, there was no longer any reason for Hiruko to remain undercover within the Akatsuki. Even if he continued for another several years, he would never become its leader.
Besides, Orochimaru had far greater use for such a talented researcher.
As a result, Hiruko returned to Konoha and resumed his role as one of Orochimaru's researchers, naturally assisting in today's operation.
The surgery itself was surprisingly straightforward.
All that was required was the transplantation of Madara Uchiha's cells into Hayashi's body, allowing him to obtain Indra's chakra.
Technically, the procedure was not especially difficult.
Unlike Hashirama Senju's cells, which possessed an overwhelming tendency to assimilate and overwhelm their host, Madara's cells lacked such aggressive properties.
Simple as it was, this operation represented an essential step toward awakening the Rinnegan.
Not every Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and implanted Hashirama's cells could obtain the legendary Dōjutsu.
Both Indra's and Ashura's power were indispensable.
In the original timeline, Obito possessed Hashirama's cells, awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and even became the Ten Tails' Jinchūriki. He had endured experiences remarkably similar to both Madara and Sasuke.
Yet despite all of that, he never awakened the Rinnegan.
The reason was simple.
He lacked Indra's power.
Yakushi Kabuto had once claimed that the Sharingan could eventually evolve into the Rinnegan.
While that statement sounded reasonable, it was fundamentally inaccurate.
The two Dōjutsu were not part of the same evolutionary path.
The Sharingan's highest natural stage was the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Rinnegan was not obtained by further evolving the Sharingan.
Rather, Madara and Sasuke awakened it because they were the reincarnations of Indra, the elder son of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, and therefore already possessed Indra's chakra.
After combining that power with Ashura's chakra through Hashirama's cells, the fusion recreated the power of the Sage of Six Paths, creating the conditions necessary for the Rinnegan to awaken.
Without both powers, obtaining the Rinnegan was impossible.
This was the true meaning behind the words engraved upon the Uchiha Stone Tablet.
When Yin and Yang unite, all things are born.
Now, Hayashi finally possessed both Indra's and Ashura's chakra.
Even so, that did not mean the Rinnegan would awaken immediately.
Madara had required decades for the two powers to fully merge, only awakening the Rinnegan near the end of his life.
Sasuke had likewise reached the brink of death before Hagoromo personally bestowed his power, allowing the Rinnegan to awaken instantly.
Hayashi had no illusions that he could obtain a power Madara spent most of his life pursuing the moment the surgery ended.
That would be absurd.
What he required now was a brush with death.
Only by crossing the boundary between life and death could the fusion of Indra's and Ashura's chakra accelerate enough to awaken the Rinnegan.
To accomplish this, Hayashi intended to rely on the Mangekyō Sharingan once belonging to Uchiha Kagami.
Both of Kagami's eyes, one formerly possessed by Uchiha Yama and the other hidden by Danzō, had already been recovered.
Originally, Hayashi had planned to transplant them and obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Now, that was no longer necessary.
The Eternal Mangekyō's greatest advantage was eliminating blindness caused by excessive use of the Mangekyō.
Hashirama's cells already provided that benefit.
More importantly, the Rinnegan did not evolve from the Eternal Mangekyō.
Instead, it emerged when Indra's and Ashura's chakra fused, giving rise to the power of the Sage of Six Paths and replacing the Sharingan entirely.
Although the abilities of Susanoo would remain after awakening the Rinnegan, the Mangekyō's unique ocular techniques might not.
Whether he possessed the Eternal Mangekyō or not no longer mattered.
The remaining challenge was obvious.
How could he recreate a genuine life-and-death experience?
Fortunately, Hayashi already had an answer.
Kagami's left Mangekyō possessed the Dōjutsu known as Taikōjin.
During his battle against Uchiha Yama, Hayashi had once fallen victim to this terrifying Genjutsu.
Within that illusion, he experienced ten years of life.
The experience had been so real that he nearly began doubting whether his life in the shinobi world was genuine.
Had the System not forcibly interrupted the illusion, he might have remained trapped until dying of old age inside the Genjutsu.
Its effects were truly terrifying.
Calling it one of the most powerful Genjutsu imaginable would not be an exaggeration.
Kagami's right Mangekyō possessed another Dōjutsu called Ōtsujin.
Its ability was the complete opposite.
Rather than creating an entirely new lifetime, Ōtsujin extracted a memory from its target and forced them to relive that single day repeatedly in an endless loop.
The two techniques mirrored one another.
Hayashi needed to experience the passage of an entire lifetime.
For that reason, Taikōjin was the perfect choice.
To cast the Mangekyō Genjutsu, someone first had to transplant Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan.
The person chosen for that task was Shin.
Once one of Danzō's experimental subjects, Shin had even sacrificed his right arm for him.
After Orochimaru took control of Root, Shin had become one of Orochimaru's most loyal subordinates.
More importantly, Shin possessed a unique physique.
His body rejected nothing.
That extraordinary compatibility made him the ideal person to wield Taikōjin.
"Are you ready?"
Orochimaru and Hiruko both wore surgical masks as they stood beside the operating table.
Nearby, Shin waited with unmistakable anticipation in his eyes.
"I'm ready."
Hayashi gave a calm nod.
"Let's begin."
"Taikōjin."
The three tomoe in Shin's Sharingan twisted together, forming the intricate pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Hayashi made no attempt to resist.
He willingly accepted the Genjutsu.
Although only a few seconds would pass in reality, he would experience an entire lifetime within the illusion, spanning decades, until he either awakened naturally or the System forcibly pulled him out.
The sensation resembled Captain America's final journey through time.
To everyone else, only a few seconds had passed before he returned as an old man.
For Steve Rogers, however, an entire lifetime had unfolded.
Hayashi's body would not age.
But his mind would experience something remarkably similar.
His eyes gradually lost focus.
A surge of chakra rippled through his brain.
The next moment, Hayashi slipped into unconsciousness.
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