novelraw Chapter 123 Another Attempt to Open the Eyes
Chapter 123 Another Attempt to Open the Eyes
Chapter 123 Another Attempt to Open the Eyes
The name Uchiha, ancient and proud, stirred quietly within him like an undercurrent in the water.
The bloody coup and massacre of the clan that shocked the ninja world in the original work may be quietly changing under the light of victory.
Without the external pressure of life and death, will the suspicion and resentment accumulated between the Konoha leadership and the Uchiha clan still fester to the point of armed conflict?
Will Fugaku Uchiha's yearning for the pinnacle of power be temporarily soothed by the stability brought by victory?
These have all become huge unknowns.
The key point may still lie in those scarlet eyes that can reflect all things, the Mangekyou Sharingan.
If Uchiha Shisui were to awaken this forbidden power, and Uchiha Itachi were to do the same, and if his own eyes were added, the Uchiha would possess three legendary powers!
When legends become reality, can the overwhelming sense of power truly keep the Uchiha leadership calm?
Do they really have no thoughts whatsoever about supporting a Hokage who belongs to the Uchiha clan?
If there really wasn't a single thought in mind, then the coup in the original story would never have happened!
But did they truly understand that Uchiha Shisui's "Will of Fire," which transcended his clan, almost destined him not to become a sharp knife in the hands of the coup plotters?
The same was true of Itachi Uchiha, who was deeply influenced by Shisui Uchiha, to the point that he was even able to turn his sword against his own clan!
Yuan Tuoye could only remain silent and observe.
If Fugaku Uchiha fails to see this fundamental contradiction under the temptation of power, then the abyss lies ahead, no matter how the overall environment of Konoha changes.
In the end, a serene stillness rose in his heart.
Whether the Uchiha clan staged a coup or was wiped out, what did it matter to him? His bond with the Uchiha was so shallow that it was almost negligible.
The Uchiha clan's ambition and Konoha's political intrigues—their own paths must ultimately be paved by themselves, or they may find themselves in dire straits.
"Heh, that's much less troublesome—"
He murmured something, with a sense of detachment.
The plan unfolded clearly in my mind.
It seems that if he puts the Uchiha matter aside, he will have a lot of free time.
That's not bad. He basically didn't lack anything before, so this free time came just in time!
After a short rest, he will return to the bustling Konoha camp and the busy post-war reconstruction with this heavy trophy of the Eight-Tails.
Right now, what he needs is to seize this hard-won free time to reflect and digest.
Time slipped by like quicksand, and the smoke of war finally began to dissipate.
After suffering a devastating blow to its top-tier fighting force, the Hidden Cloud Village had to face the harsh reality that it chose to surrender to the Hidden Leaf Village.
As a consequence of their defeat, Kumogakure was forced to promise to compensate Konoha with a huge amount of resources and planned to send an official envoy to sign a comprehensive and binding peace agreement.
This turning point not only marked the collapse of the Cloud Concealment strategy, but also foreshadowed a fundamental shift in the entire battle situation.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield where Iwagakure and Konoha clashed, the situation came to an abrupt end.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, a ruler known for his shrewdness and cunning, let out a heavy sigh the moment he received news of the defeat at Kumogakure, and then decisively issued an order to withdraw his troops.
In stark contrast to the devastating losses suffered by the Cloud Village, the casualties among the Iwagakure troops were extremely limited.
It turns out that, as early as the moment Minato Namikaze arrived on the battlefield, Onoki had already secretly harbored the intention to retreat.
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He meticulously devised a conservative tactical plan to ensure that the army could withdraw at any time.
This caution not only preserved Iwagakure's main force but also kept Konoha's casualties on this battlefield at a low level.
Onoki's heart was not without turmoil.
When he saw Minato Namikaze, a surge of confusion and anger welled up in his chest: "Is Minato Namikaze deliberately going against Iwagakure? Kumogakure launched a brazen invasion of the Land of Fire, yet Minato Namikaze remained calm and inactive; but we at Iwagakure only made a slight probe, and he immediately led his army into battle!"
This series of questions, mixed with the humiliation of being a Shadow, made him almost unable to control himself, which was also the reason why he did not choose to retreat immediately.
However, when the details of the intelligence from the Hidden Cloud battlefield reached his ears, Onoki's anger was instantly replaced by extreme shock.
The Fourth Raikage, that young leader known for his strength, is on the verge of death on the battlefield!
Even more incredibly, the two Jinchuriki of Kumogakure also suffered severe injuries!
The intelligence repeatedly emphasized: "The power of Konoha is terrifying! Although a mysterious collector has intervened, rumored to have made a deal with Konoha, the key variable in this battle is undoubtedly Jiraiya. He used some kind of hidden trump card, nearly killing the Raikage in just a few exchanges."
"Jiraiya—this kid actually has such a game-changing killing move hidden in his hands?" Onoki gasped in shock, a chill running down his spine.
At this moment, his mindset suddenly changed: the "unfair treatment" he had previously encountered from Minato Namikaze had actually become a blessing in disguise for Iwagakure.
It was this conservative strategy that allowed Iwagakure to escape unscathed with minimal losses, effectively avoiding Konoha's true thunderous attack!
Thus, a hasty but orderly retreat began on the front lines of Iwagakure.
The clamor of war was abruptly cut short as soon as it began, leaving behind an ironic ending of "much ado about nothing".
As the Iwagakure army retreated like a tide, Konoha finally saw the dawn of true peace under the heavy pressure of fighting on two fronts.
Thus, this war, which affected the entire ninja world, officially came to an end.
Compared to the "original story" in historical timeline, this battle not only broke out earlier but also ended much faster than expected, and the outcome of this battle also took the opposite turn.
A new era, fraught with uncertainty, has quietly begun amidst the embers of the battlefield.
The brief peace brought by the end of the war finally allowed Gen Takuno to withdraw from the battlefield.
After things settled down, he did not immediately head to the Land of Snow to continue his research on bloodline limits as planned, but instead returned to his familiar old laboratory first.
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In the laboratory, he was intently modifying a unique instrument, a device he had developed in his early years to assist in activating the Sharingan.
The sealing techniques were densely packed on it like a fine nerve. At this moment, Yuan Tuoye was examining and strengthening these key runes one by one to ensure that the next experiment would be foolproof.
At the same time, he also made an important innovation to the instrument's core mechanism, "memory sealing".
Previous designs involved sealing the original body's memories first, and then unsealing them all at once after the illusion simulation was completed, allowing the original body's memories to return to dominance.
However, there is a hidden danger in this process that cannot be ignored: at the moment of unsealing, the virtual memories constructed by the machine will still briefly dominate the mind.
Although the original body's memories, due to their substantial and real nature, will quickly dilute them, the risk of mental derangement always lingers.
The key to this modification lies in this: he adjusted the settings so that the user would not immediately regain consciousness when the illusion ended.
The memory seal used for preservation will not be removed, but will be immediately reconstructed and applied to the completely fabricated "illusionary memory" that was just experienced.
In this way, when the user is fully awake, only the pure ego and the real past will remain in the mind, like a clear mirror with the dust wiped away, while those carefully woven false memories will be firmly locked away.
After several hours of meticulous work, Yuan Tuoye gazed at the newly renovated and complex incantations on the instrument, a hint of barely perceptible satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
Without hesitation, after some experimentation, he skillfully formed hand seals, creating a shadow clone to guard outside the machine, while his main body calmly stepped inside.
It has been a long time since this machine was last started.
Now it's time to launch the second crucial attempt.
The shadow clones stationed there kept their eyes fixed on the equipment. As chakra was poured in, the densely packed sealing runes on the surface of the casing lit up one by one, their faint light pulsating like life itself.
Amidst the low hum of the machine, the shadow clone's gaze pierced through the gaps in the device, focusing on the original body, Gen Takuno, inside.
The core template chosen this time is "Uchiha Obito", a soul experience of someone who nurtured his talent with blood and tears, opened his eyes with two tomoe, and forcibly broke through to the Mangekyou Sharingan in a very short time.
Can this painful yet rapid growth serve as a key to help Gen Takuno unlock the deeper realm of the "Three Tomoe"?
Time slipped away silently as the runes faded and the light finally dimmed completely. When the machine's hum subsided, the shadow clone held its breath in anticipation.
However, Gen Takuno's true form did not awaken as expected.
His consciousness seemed to still be deep within his mind, processing the storm he had just weathered.
A moment later, the machine's gate finally opened, and Yuan Tuoye stepped out.
A hint of disappointment, which could not be completely concealed, was clearly reflected in those deep black eyes.
Without a word, the shadow clones stationed there instantly turned into white smoke and dissipated, returning all their senses to their original form.
Yuan Tuoye silently moved to a dusty full-length mirror, his face reflected in the mirror showing a hint of fatigue.
He gazed into those pupils that belonged to him, pure and unfathomable in their blackness.
Then, something unexpected happened!
The pure black faded away, blending into a breathtaking blood-red background, with two jet-black tomoe floating and sinking within it, like bloodthirsty tadpoles.
Yes, the two-tomoe Sharingan is clearly visible, but the expected third tomoe is nowhere to be found.
"Still—just a little short." Yuan Tuoye lightly touched the cold mirror with his fingertips.
Although he genuinely felt a significant increase in his pupil power, a surge of energy filled his eye apertures, and the final barrier leading to the three-tomoe jade seemed within reach, yet stubbornly kept the excellent opportunity at bay.
A strong and primal urge surged through me instantly—to lie back down in the machine!
He was almost certain that if he tried again, he would be able to break through that invisible barrier!
However, this restlessness stemming from longing lasted only a moment before it was completely frozen by reason rooted in one's very bones.
Even if those virtual memories are carefully sealed away, as if locked in the strongest cage, it cannot guarantee that the emotions and influences they generate can be completely isolated.
To maintain the unity of the soul and avoid the nightmare of division, each instance of descent into depravity through the machine must be followed by sufficient intervals for the original body to settle, digest, and thoroughly soothe the ripples on the spiritual level.
A barely audible sigh dissipated into the quiet air.
Gen Takuno scrutinized the two tomoe floating in his eyes.
With his current level of power, the visual insight brought by the two-tomoe realm has become limited in its help to actual combat, and is even far less useful than his innate "Kagura Mind's Eye".
Nowadays, it is only invoked as a temporary, sophisticated auxiliary tool when certain illusions are meticulously constructed.
With a slight shift in thought, the crimson light receded like a tide, and his eyes returned to their deep, dark depths.
He turned around and strolled through the experimental base, which was filled with the marks of time, for the first time in a long while.
His gaze swept over the rows of dusty bottles and jars, delicate petri dishes, and experimental samples containing rare blood and tissues on the display shelves, and a sense of emotion welled up within him. These were the various precious "materials" that he had painstakingly collected in his early years, almost at the cost of everything he had.
If it were today, with his vastly different strength, acquiring them would be as easy as taking candy from a baby.
"In the end—it still comes down to strength," he muttered to himself.
From the initial struggles to the present, this world has cruelly revealed its most fundamental rules countless times: strength is the only passport, and the strong are respected.
Their footsteps finally stopped in front of the special isolation room.
The heavy metal door slid open silently, and a powerful yet subdued energy fluctuation spread out.
What came into view was the "severed arm of the Gedo Mazo," which had long since lost its arm shape.
After a long period of time and careful cultivation and nourishment with special chakra, it has undergone an amazing transformation. Now it is more like a "miniature Ten-Tails" with mysterious patterns all over its body, curled up in the energy field and still in its young form!
A glint of light flashed in Yuan Tuoye's eyes as he gazed at the sleeping beast embryo. "If all the collected tailed beast chakra were poured into it now—a true 'mini Ten-Tails' would be born, no doubt!"
He quickly tallied it up in his mind: up to now, he had collected the chakra of the Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails, which was nearly half of the nine tailed beasts!
Most importantly, apart from the Three-Tails' chakra, which was painstakingly separated from naturally dissipated residues and thus slightly inferior in purity and quantity, the chakra of the Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails were all essence fragments forcibly "cut" from their original bodies by him using absolute power!
Each portion contains one to two tenths of the original power of the corresponding tailed beast.
This amount of chakra is more than enough to create a "mini Ten-Tails"!
The line of thought unfolds clearly: "The One-Tailed Shukaku resides in the Sand Village, where sandstorms rage; the Four-Tailed Son Goku and the Five-Tailed Kokuo dwell in the Iwagakure village nestled among the mountains; the Six-Tailed Saiken hides deep within the misty Kirigakure village; and the Seven-Tailed Jōmei guards the treasures hidden in the dense forests of Takigakure village."
The strongest fighter in Sunagakure is only the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who controls golden sand? He's nothing to fear.
Takigakure Village is even more insignificant. The so-called "Hero's Water" is nothing more than a powder keg that burns life to gain temporary power, and the price is too heavy to be worth the risk.
The "Earth Grudge Fear" technique is a highly forbidden and rarely practiced technique, making it extremely easy to obtain the Seven-Tails' chakra.
The situation in Kirigakure, however, is extremely complicated.
At this moment, it is essentially under the control of Obito Uchiha's shadow.
In the past, he could rely on his foresight and understanding of Kamui to exploit Obito Uchiha's lack of experience as a newborn calf and deal with him.
However, by now, Obito Uchiha's strength and mental fortitude are likely vastly different from what they once were, so this method may not be effective.
Moreover, the current Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, lives in the same village as Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki. Taking it by force would be tantamount to breaking into a heavily fortified tiger's den.
The best time—perhaps only the moment when Yu Gao defectes from the village.
As for Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, that dwarf-like old man, might not be considered a peak Kage in terms of overall combat strength, but the destructive power of his bloodline limit "Dust Release" is enough to make him stand out from the crowd, and could even reach the terrifying "Super Kage" level!
Unfortunately, the price of its power is its relatively slow casting speed. Dust Release has a noticeable pre-cast animation, resulting in a less than satisfactory actual hit rate.
Otherwise, Onoki might have been able to become the gatekeeper of the Super Kage with this technique.
Moreover, those two Jinchūriki from Iwagakure are not easy opponents.
"The time is not right." Gen Takuya shook his head slightly, having already made up his mind. At present, he did not have a great need for the tailed beast's chakra.
All plans must be based on the successful completion of one's own "Oni-Ya-Luo Technique".
Only by forging this body to the ultimate level, capable of bearing the power of the gods, can the grand ambition of becoming the "Ten-Tails Jinchuriki" be realized.
Before that, the process of collecting tailed beast chakra can be temporarily suspended.
The tension in my mind eased slightly, and a sense of exhaustion from a long battle quietly crept in.
He yawned habitually, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the items he carried, finally taking out a letter that had been stored away for a long time.
The envelope showed obvious signs of wear and tear; it had already been delivered. However, on that bloody and fiercely competitive battlefield, he had only glanced at it briefly, and after judging that it was not an urgent matter, he casually put it deep inside his baggage.
At this moment, the smoke of battle has dissipated, and time finally begins to flow lavishly.
Yuan Tuoye held the belated letter in his hand, his fingertips brushing against the slightly yellowed paper, preparing to carefully read the information contained within.
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