"It's nothing..."
Yashiro hesitated and ultimately decided against telling Tōshirō about Uchiha Madara's existence. "I'm just a little emotional."
"Emotional about what?"
"That you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. The gap between people really is huge. To be honest, I'm a bit discouraged."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Yashiro laughed and scolded, "Hey, shouldn't you be comforting me right now?"
"We're all adults. I'm sure you can get over it yourself." Tōshirō shrugged, teasing, "If you were a beautiful, sexy young woman, I might consider it."
Seeing Tōshirō's childish demeanor, Yashiro was speechless for a moment before continuing, "I knew it. If you were there at that time..."
Tōshirō interrupted, "What's happened has happened. Let's just let it go."
Yashiro was very curious about what Tōshirō had gone through back then, but seeing that he was unwilling to talk about it, he decided not to push.
More than that, he now wanted to meet Uchiha Madara again and ask the elder what their next move should be.
In the room, Fugaku brought up the matter from the recent meeting. "Was it a good idea to use the Mangekyō Sharingan in front of everyone?"
There was a traitor in the clan who was secretly providing information to the Konoha elders, and Fugaku was worried that this information would fall into the hands of the higher-ups.
"It doesn't matter..."
Tōshirō's Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities had already been exposed, which was why he wasn't too careful about using it. "Besides, the Mangekyō Sharingan was just a smokescreen I put out..."
"A smokescreen?"
Fugaku looked surprised. It was quite a statement to use the Mangekyō Sharingan as a smokescreen.
Tōshirō smiled slightly, extending his right hand. A rhomboid-shaped ice crystal condensed above his palm.
"Ice Style?"
Fugaku didn't understand why Tōshirō was using Ice Style in front of him.
However, this confusion was quickly replaced by astonishment.
"What is this..."
The ice crystal reflected in Fugaku's eyes was burning, turning into a ball of blue flame. What was even more unbelievable was that this flame was cold, not hot.
"Speechless, aren't you?" Tōshirō laughed lightly. "This is a power I've only recently acquired."
"What exactly is it?"
"To help you understand, you can think of it as a Kekkei Tota."
"Kekkei Tota—!"
Fugaku's eyes widened just as much as the first time he saw Tōshirō's Mangekyō Sharingan.
"I no longer have the Boil Style Kekkei Genkai."
Tōshirō's voice carried a hint of regret as he explained.
"How could that happen?"
"My Boil Style has been eliminated."
"Eliminated."
"Kekkei Tota is when two Kekkei Genkai forces within the body constantly clash, with the victorious Kekkei Genkai evolving. In other words, you can simply think of it as the law of survival of the fittest in nature."
"So, you've already mastered Kekkei Tota?"
Fugaku's breathing became rapid. Thinking about how Tōshirō also had the Mangekyō Sharingan, he felt that Tōshirō's strength was unfathomable.
"I'm still in the exploratory phase. What you're seeing now is me forcibly pushing the Ice Style into a Kekkei Tota state with chakra. Once I truly master this power, this is how my Ice Style will manifest."
"What is your Kekkei Tota ability..." As Fugaku asked, he seemed to have thought of something and shook his head. "No, forget it..."
"What's wrong?"
"Just to be safe, you shouldn't tell me your Kekkei Tota ability. There are many ways in this world to pry into people's memories. If something were to happen to me, I wouldn't want to get you involved because of it."
"That makes sense." Tōshirō nodded and suddenly said, "Swastika Style."
Fugaku was stunned.
"That's the name of my Kekkei Tota."
"I thought you said..."
"Don't worry too much. I'm just telling you the name. Besides, can you guess the ability from the name?"
Fugaku thought about it and indeed couldn't guess the meaning behind the name Tōshirō chose, so he relaxed.
Tōshirō clenched his fist, and the blue flame in his palm dispersed. With a flick of his wrist, it completely vanished into the air.
The Uchiha clan's coup crisis had been resolved, and Tōshirō could now leave the village for a while with some peace of mind. "Fugaku, I'm going to be away from the village for a while. I'm counting on you to handle things in the Uchiha clan."
"You're leaving the village? What for?"
"Hmm, to take care of some things."
Fugaku asked, "What things?"
Tōshirō held up five fingers and explained each one, letting him know his plans: "First, I need to search for information on Orochimaru. Second, I need to get some money. Third, I'm going to the Land of Demons. Fourth, I'm going to the Land of Grass. The fifth is TBD..."
Fugaku only understood the first item. The rest of the list left him completely confused.
Why did he specifically mention getting money?
And what was he going to do in the Land of Grass and the Land of Demons?
As far as he knew, Tōshirō had no connection to those two countries.
As if sensing Fugaku's confusion, Tōshirō smiled. "Do you want me to tell you the purpose of my visits to those places?"
He was going to the Land of Demons to have his Soul Fire devour Mōryō's soul and get stronger.
As for the Land of Grass, there were two reasons:
First, he was going to "kidnap" that red-haired little girl and bring her back to the village as a future wife.
Don't misunderstand, not for himself, but for his beloved disciple, Sasuke.
The bloodline created by a special Uzumaki clan member and an Uchiha clan member would surely have great research value.
Of course, he wouldn't force it; he would let things happen naturally.
His personal motive was one thing, but another was that he owed Uzumaki Mito a great debt, and Tōshirō couldn't stand to see Mito's clansmen suffer.
After the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, besides Kushina who was taken away and lived in Konoha, the other members scattered across various countries, even choosing to settle in smaller countries rather than come to Konoha.
The role Konoha played in the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools must have been very intriguing.
Second:
The Hidden Grass Village had a secret jutsu called the Dragon Life Reincarnation Jutsu, which could revive people.
Tōshirō knew of three genuine revival jutsus: the Dragon Life Reincarnation Jutsu, the Creation Rebirth Jutsu, and the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
Among these, Tōshirō valued the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique the most, as it would surely be able to revive Tsunade.
However, the difficulty was too great. It was not a wise choice to go head-to-head with Pain with his current strength, so he had to set his sights on the other two jutsus.
Both jutsus had their flaws, and Tōshirō was targeting the easiest one to acquire, the Dragon Life Reincarnation Jutsu.
Whether the Hidden Grass Village would hand it over was not a concern for Tōshirō. If necessary, he would take it by force.
As for the final item on the list, if he had time, he might go to the Land of Lightning to get the training method for the Lightning Armor to improve Sasuke's strength.
His plan for Sasuke's training was to focus on a muscular build, mastering Lightning Style and the Taijutsu style.
As for Fire Style, there was no need to train in it, as it was completely useless in the later stages, just a waste of chakra. It might even replenish the opponent's chakra.
Fugaku shook his head. "No need. You take care of yourself... Ugh, never mind."
"???"
Fugaku uncharacteristically quipped, "Instead of worrying about you, I'm more worried about the unlucky souls you're targeting."
"I never knew you had a sense of humor."
Tōshirō joked with Fugaku, then continued, "If the elders ask about me, just say you don't know."
Under normal circumstances, a ninja leaving the village would need to report and get permission. Otherwise, depending on the severity of the situation, it could be treated as desertion.
Fugaku was worried about this, which led to his next question: "Is that really a good idea? You're showing no regard for the elders."
Tōshirō's lips curled into a cold smile. "The elders will tolerate me because they know that once a conflict starts, the situation will spiral out of control."
Seeing his attitude, Fugaku sighed inwardly. It seemed that a future conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village elders was inevitable.
Before leaving, Tōshirō added one more thing with some unease. "If there are any unexpected incidents, remember to notify me at any time. I will rush back."
Fugaku nodded.
"Then I'll leave it to you..."
With those words, Tōshirō vanished.
.....
In a dimly lit room.
On an operating table, a effeminate-looking man with a sharp scalpel was dissecting a corpse.
The corpse reeked of blood. A normal person would vomit just by seeing this, let alone performing the dissection themselves.
However, to him, this was a perfectly normal thing.
After all, he had done this countless times and had long since grown accustomed to it.
He wore a black coat with red clouds, his skin was very fair, but lacked a bit of color. A pair of jade-green comma-shaped earrings hung from his ears, reflecting a faint, eerie light from the dim lamp, adding a touch of bewitching pathology to his already pale face.
Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps echoed from behind him. The effeminate man remained still, continuing to focus on dissecting the corpse.
The person who could appear here and deliberately make noise was clearly no stranger.
"Orochimaru, at it again."
The newcomer's voice was filled with a teasing tone. Orochimaru, while still dissecting the corpse, spoke in a hoarse voice: "Oh, what brings you here, Hiruko? If you're willing to lie on my operating table, I'd be very happy to have you."
"...I have a piece of news you might be interested in."
"Interesting. Do tell."
"Tōshirō... Uchiha Tōshirō has returned to Konoha..."
Orochimaru paused, his hand stopping its motion. A smile appeared on his face. "Oh, my, that's a truly fascinating piece of news..."
(End of Chapter)
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