"But have you really thought this through? Compared to the Uchiha Clan, our situation here... you could say we don't even have enough strength to protect those eyes of yours." After some thought, Yūshin asked this question.
While Shichimi Uchiha's decision was certainly favorable for Yūshin, he still offered gentle dissuasion. After all, her decision seemed somewhat hasty, possibly lacking sufficient deliberation and consideration.
Going from the Uchiha Clan to The Fireflies organization was basically equivalent to jumping from a "world's top five" multinational corporation to a rural innovative enterprise—no matter how you looked at it, it carried an air of unreasonableness.
Yes, Yūshin's place was quite innovative, but how long would he need to innovate before reaching the Uchiha Clan's level?
"There's nothing unclear about it. I'm being rational."
"I never had much attachment to the Uchiha name anyway... The others in the organization just call me 'Shichimi' after all."
"Or rather, being able to put down some burdens—I think that's a good thing."
Due to Shichimi Uchiha's special entrance method, the ninja originally from the Hagūgen naturally knew her origins.
But for the other part—the Fūma Clan—aside from clan leader Gorō Fūma, they didn't know she came from the Uchiha Clan.
Hearing the determination in Shichimi's tone, Yūshin seemed to understand her actions somewhat...
Besides having some recognition of the organization, Shichimi Uchiha's choice to make this place her refuge probably also involved some thoughts of escape and hiding her identity.
She looked directly at Yūshin and added: "Ninja are destined to die, aren't they?"
This was a line from Uchiha Madara's conversation with her last night. The logic was indeed sound, yet the words seemed filled with tragic and helpless emotions.
Yūshin read a hint of defeated negativity in her gaze.
Shichimi Uchiha's actual age was probably close to her apparent age, but her birth time would be much earlier than it "appeared," and her lifespan should be much more distant.
So, if one wanted to explore why she had thoughts of escaping the Uchiha Clan, the reasons could only be found in her past.
More precisely, her attitude toward the Uchiha Clan was very likely related to her eye-awakening process—as everyone knows, every ninja possessing Mangekyō Sharingan has quite tragic past experiences.
There's no "most tragic," only "more tragic."
But with Yūshin's position, he had neither the standing nor the means to continue inquiring about such matters. After thinking, he decided to honestly ask another question:
"You seem somewhat resistant to the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
This was a subjective feeling Yūshin had since meeting Shichimi Uchiha—no reasoning, purely guesswork. No matter how you looked at it, Shichimi's development of her Mangekyō Sharingan appeared excessively low-level.
Whatever her special dōjutsu was, theoretically, after possessing such eyes, if she wholeheartedly pursued strength, she should be able to go all-out with her "Gundam."
With absolute defense as a premise, being chased and slashed by that evil Senju brat was very strange.
Even if she couldn't win then, she shouldn't have lost either.
However, whether due to subjective factors or objective reasons, not every Mangekyō Sharingan could manifest Susanoo.
Yūshin's question sent Shichimi Uchiha into memories—certainly not pleasant ones. Her expression showed slight struggle, and after a while, breaking free from the memories, she said:
"My Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu is called 'Umashikami.' This technique allows me to hide within slices of time..."
"It can take me through timelines, but I cannot decide when to stop this ninjutsu."
"Activating the technique once, when I reappear, only a few days might have passed in reality, or it could be years, even decades."
"Umashikami can traverse timelines, but it cannot stop my thinking. So every time I activate this ninjutsu, I fall into endless nothingness, like a feather that can only drift with the current in time's river."
"In endless darkness, nothingness, loneliness, and desolation, I'm stripped of my senses, unable to decide direction, only able to feel never-ending pain..."
Yūshin hadn't expected Shichimi Uchiha to explain her ability so directly. This ability was quite consistent with his previous speculation.
Although her dōjutsu sounded like it could only travel forward through timelines, this ability was absolutely beyond specifications—after all, this was the power her Sharingan displayed without being fully developed.
But it also followed the principle that all ninjutsu have corresponding costs. One could imagine that Shichimi Uchiha indeed suffered immensely during the process of activating her ability... That feeling of being locked in a dark room could probably drive someone insane.
"It sounds... truly painful indeed."
But actually, Shichimi Uchiha was answering beside the point. Her resistance to the Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't because using this technique brought her endless loneliness and nothingness... At least, this definitely wasn't the main reason.
But asking further would be impolite. Yūshin secretly sighed—it seemed everyone carried some unbearable past experiences.
Shichimi Uchiha was far more complex than she appeared.
"I have one last question. Would it be convenient to explain your true 'age' and your status within the Uchiha Clan?"
Yūshin wanted to clarify Shichimi Uchiha's birth time and more specific identity.
Shichimi Uchiha hesitated to speak, her expression showing slight struggle, but ultimately she provided an explanation:
"I have a younger brother named Tajima Uchiha."
"Tajima? I haven't heard of him..."
Yūshin felt somewhat baffled. Was this younger brother very famous? The name sounded ordinary, very much like a younger brother, very much like a background character.
Due to his excessive ignorance, he almost made Shichimi Uchiha laugh in exasperation. Since the conversation's purpose had been achieved, she no longer paid attention to the currently foolish Yūshin and directly turned to leave.
Yūshin appeared quite innocent. Regarding the Uchiha Clan of this era, being able to know Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna—that tragic pair of brothers living in the shadow of the Senju brothers—was already quite good.
So this Tajima, could he be more famous than Uchiha Madara?
...
Actually, Yūshin really wanted to learn (seize) Earth-nature chakra transformation, because he felt that since White Zetsu bodies could help him master one Kekkei Genkai, they could help him master a second one.
He was obsessed with Wood Release.
It wasn't because he valued Wood Release's power—actually, only the First Hokage's Wood Release was the top-tier Kekkei Genkai that dominated the shinobi world for a century. As for others' Wood Release, one could reference Yamato Tenzō, who later received transplanted First Generation cells.
Yamato's Wood Release couldn't be called weak, but compared to other Kekkei Genkai, it didn't display any overwhelming advantages.
Even if Yūshin mastered Wood Release, could he guarantee being far superior to Yamato? One could only say it was pessimistic and doubtful.
The reason he wanted Wood Release was because he valued a combination:
White Zetsu body + Wood Release + medical chakra—these three abilities together looked very promising.
Combining the three, it felt like even Senju Hashirama's self-healing ability was within reach.
At the very least, if the First Hokage didn't use sage techniques, Yūshin felt that this "three-in-one" wouldn't differ much from Senju Hashirama's "seal-less self-healing."
If he could become an "immortal cockroach," the enhancement Yūshin would gain was imaginable.
Unfortunately, among the White Zetsu responsible for monitoring Uchiha Madara, there were no "Earth-nature experience packs," causing Yūshin's envisioned development plan to fall through directly.
Clearly, his imagination had been running wild, almost envisioning his growth limit in the shinobi world as "Kekkei Mōra" as a "small goal," but reality immediately gave him a "failure before success."
Indeed, things couldn't be ideal to that degree.
With no other choice, he could only focus his next strength development on existing conditions.
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