Drip.
Drip.
Above Konoha, rain fell steadily, pattering against the ground.
The earth, already left in a complete mess by the earlier battle, had become even more muddy and miserable.
As for Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, lying inside the crater—
This time, he had truly become a drowned chicken.
Pride?
Nobility?
Dignity?
All of it had been trampled into the mud.
"I didn't call you here to stew soup. This thing is a noble member of the Ōtsutsuki clan. I need to control him."
Uchiha Kai waved his hand.
His Kotoamatsukami Spores might not necessarily work, and besides, Shisui spent all day locking himself inside his room…
It was about time to drag him out for a walk.
"Understood."
Shisui nodded.
In his eyes, the three-tomoe Sharingan instantly appeared.
The three tomoe spun rapidly, and very quickly, they transformed into a pitch-black shuriken pattern!
He looked at Urashiki on the ground, and his mind moved.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump, thump!
At this moment, the entire outer region of the Forest of Death fell silent.
Only the sound of heartbeats echoed continuously.
The light in Urashiki's three golden pupils also gradually softened.
It was no longer as piercing as before.
Splash.
The rain above grew heavier.
The drizzle connected into lines, then gathered into a curtain and poured down.
Urashiki looked up at the sky.
Feeling the coolness on his face, a thought suddenly emerged in his heart.
Let all this rain fall…
Three minutes later.
"Cough, cough…"
Shisui suddenly coughed twice. He looked at the birdman on the ground and said softly, "Kotoamatsukami seems to have… only an average effect."
"It's fine. Once your cooldown is over, just give him another shot."
Kai waved his hand, not caring at all.
He could sense it.
Although Urashiki had not been fully controlled, his hostility toward Konoha—
Or rather, the viciousness in him right now—
Had already been reduced by more than half.
That was enough.
Using him as forced labor like this would be completely fine.
As for Shisui's Kotoamatsukami cooldown…
After obtaining the Mangekyō Sharingan of his ancestor, Uchiha Kagami, Shisui's ocular power had grown by far more than just a little.
Even the cooldown time of Kotoamatsukami had shortened considerably.
The exact length depended on the degree of control and the strength of the target's spirit.
At longest, three years.
At shortest, three months.
"Eh? Th-this, this is another pair of Mangekyō?!"
At this moment, after seeing the Mangekyō in Shisui's eyes, Boruto's jaw was about to dislocate again.
After the conversation just now, he had also guessed that the person in front of him was not Mirai Sarutobi.
After all, Mirai did not have the Sharingan.
But similarly, after seeing Shisui's Mangekyō, Boruto could not hold himself together anymore.
In his impression, the Mangekyō Sharingan was the supreme ocular power of the Uchiha clan!
So how did two random clansmen who appeared today both have it?
At this moment, he could not help turning his head toward the idol he had always admired.
Lord Sasuke.
His words carried curiosity and confusion.
"Lord Sasuke, did the Uchiha clan in the past really have this many strong people?"
"With this many Mangekyō… just how powerful would someone have to be to wipe out the clan?"
Sasuke: "…"
His heart had been stabbed, and he could not even refute it.
Was he supposed to say that Brother Shisui had been killed before the massacre?
Or say that his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, possessed heaven-defying strength?
Then someone would ask:
If he was that strong, why didn't he kill the Hokage?
How would Sasuke answer that?
He couldn't.
…
The next day.
Dawn.
Forest of Death.
Konoha's new industrial park.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The main melody of this place seemed to forever be the deafening sound of metal impact.
Looking out, one enormous chakra-powered concrete mixer after another was roaring as they operated.
They swallowed crushed stone, then spat out flat foundation slabs one after another.
It had to be said—
Development was the first driving force behind technological progress.
After manpower, land, and free labor had all been solved, Konoha's researchers had, in an extremely short time, created concrete mixers according to Kai's rough concept.
The efficiency had practically taken flight.
What went in was crushed rock.
What came out was stone slab!
Looking at the fiery, bustling scene before him, Boruto opened his mouth wide.
His jaw dislocated again.
What was he seeing?
On the left, dozens of burly men wearing tattered Kumogakure flak jackets had veins bulging across both arms. They shouted work chants while using Lightning Release-hardened fists to pound the foundation with all their strength!
Every punch that landed made the ground tremble!
Beside them, an old Iwagakure overseer held a small leather whip, spitting as he shouted while lashing out.
"Faster! Faster! All of you, move faster! Did you not eat today?"
"That black Kumogakure bastard over there! Yes, I'm talking about you! Why aren't you using chakra on your fists? Did all that strength in your body go to the dogs?"
"And you! You think I wasn't talking about you? You still dare glare at me?"
Smack!
Smack, smack!
As he spoke, he lashed out several times.
Smack!
"You ugly big-nosed bastards, did you not eat?!"
A Kumogakure overseer glanced over from the other side and immediately swung his hand, cracking his whip twice.
It seemed that in order to surpass the Iwagakure overseer over here, his whip strikes were louder and heavier!
Seeing this, the old Iwagakure man seemed to take it personally.
Smack, smack!
He lashed twice again!
The dark-skinned Kumogakure man on the other side retaliated with several even louder whip cracks!
At that moment, the rivalry between the two overseers made more than a hundred people suffer unbearably.
They no longer resented Konoha.
They no longer resented Uchiha Kai.
Instead, they began resenting the overseers!
Resenting Kumogakure and Iwagakure!
The point of conflict had successfully shifted.
Farther away—
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
Uniform shouts rang out one after another.
Over a hundred Iwagakure shinobi were kneeling on one knee. After forming hand seals, both fists slammed heavily into the ground!
Rumble!
In an instant, huge square stone pillars rose from the earth one after another!
Beside them, the Kumogakure shinobi, who had long been waiting, immediately rushed up and used Lightning Release to cut and polish the pillars until they became smooth and rounded.
"Th-this, this… these are people from Kumogakure and Iwagakure?"
Boruto's voice floated slightly. He manually pushed his jaw closed with difficulty and cried out,
"Aren't they all shinobi? How did they end up being used for—"
But halfway through, his voice suddenly stopped.
In his line of sight, a figure that felt somewhat familiar quietly appeared.
He could no longer suppress the shock in his heart and cried out in disbelief.
"Holy crap! Th-th-th-that isn't Uncle Fourth Raikage, is it?"
"He became forced labor too?"
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