Whether it was Sasuke, Naruto, or Hinata.
The team formed by those three was the most significant team in Konoha.
After their last mission was downgraded, the only assignments Sasuke and the others could receive were ones that could be completed within the village.
Even if they had to leave the village, Itachi would always be hanging right behind them.
One could say their safety was absolutely guaranteed.
As for Rengoku's side, he was following along with Kimimaro and Haku's team. Recently, Kurama Yakumo had been working hard to make up for her shortcomings in physical ability.
Meanwhile, Shion had, thanks to her mother's revival, begun receiving training in witchcraft.
With Karin and Gaara added to their group, their lineup could already be considered very luxurious.
Ordinary B-rank missions were no longer a challenge for them.
And with Rengoku also sending a clone to accompany them, overall Rengoku still wasn't worried.
Just like that, half a month passed in a hurry.
In broad daylight, the entire sky suddenly darkened.
Rengoku raised his head to look at the sky.
It turned out to be a solar eclipse.
However, in this world, this celestial phenomenon was called an Annular Solar Eclipse.
For others, this time just meant a brief period of darkness.
But for Hiruko, this was the crucial time required for his experimental ritual.
Yet Rengoku didn't know where Hiruko was.
Naturally, he had no way to go there.
———
[A Few Days Ago]
[Mount Shumisen]
Tomorrow would be the annular eclipse, but Obito had not brought back the promised Sharingan with three tomoe.
This made Hiruko all the more impatient.
He had already placed the other materials in position.
If the Sharingan didn't arrive, this chance to perform the extraction ritual would be missed.
With only an hour left before the annular eclipse began, Obito finally drilled out from the ground.
As soon as Hiruko saw Obito appear, he shouted urgently, "Why are you only coming now? Don't you know if you were any later we'd miss it?"
Obito snorted and took out a nutrient jar holding two eyes.
"Satisfied now?"
"Two?", Hiruko was overjoyed. Since Kakashi had escaped his control earlier, he had thought something might have gone wrong. The worst-case scenario, without doubt, would be the leader failing to bring back any Sharingan.
Obito feigned seriousness as he said, "Kakashi was already on guard. Your puppet curse was useless."
"I wasted a lot of time before finally finding a lone Uchiha clan member."
Hiruko's eyes gleamed as he stared at the two Sharingan with three tomoe.
There was no time to verify whether Obito was telling the truth; the time remaining was already too short.
"Good! Good! Good! Hurry and give them to me, there's no time!"
Obito sneered coldly inside, then handed the jar with the Sharingan over to Hiruko.
Hiruko removed the eyes and began inspecting them.
After all, the quality of experimental material would directly affect the success or failure of this secret ritual.
Hiruko quickly completed his examination of the Sharingan.
Sure enough, their vitality was high. It was obvious they had just been gouged from a body.
Obito hadn't deceived him.
After hurriedly checking, Hiruko carried the Sharingan to the formation to make adjustments.
But only Obito knew: these two Sharingan had originally come from Danzo.
To set up this deception for tomorrow, Obito had captured a White Zetsu.
By placing the eyes on White Zetsu to nourish them, since Zetsu possessed Yang attributes, the Sharingan's vitality was quickly restored, making them nearly indistinguishable from freshly taken eyes.
And by returning at the very last moment, he ensured Hiruko wouldn't have enough time to carefully inspect them.
Because the Sharingan had, of course, been tampered with.
As time passed, the annular solar eclipse Hiruko had awaited for so many years was finally about to begin.
Although the Sharingan had only been examined hastily, Hiruko had already replayed the entire ritual process countless times in his mind.
Before the eclipse began, Hiruko went around injecting each bound test subject with a shot.
Very quickly, the blood of those tied together began to boil.
Everyone's faces flushed red, and their bodies started to swell slightly.
Outside, the sun had originally cast down a beam of light, but that beam now seemed covered by something.
The sky gradually darkened.
A mass of darkness blocked out the sun's brilliance.
Obito stood outside the barrier, watching as the moon gradually covered the sun.
At this moment, Hiruko stood at the very center.
This altar cast down five beams of light, with Hiruko standing in the middle.
Around him, four beams of light corresponded respectively to Dark Release, Steel Release, Swift Release, and Storm Release.
The Sharingan was placed by Hiruko's side.
His hands began forming seals nonstop. Within Hiruko's short body, it seemed as if some monster was constantly struggling.
Soon, Hiruko's violet-colored seal was broken from within.
Semi-transparent gelatinous material rapidly emerged from his body. Inside this substance were black eyes.
The sight was unbearably sinister.
This was the essence of Hiruko's technique, the Chimera.
After the injection, several of the test subjects woke up.
Though they didn't know exactly what the man before them was trying to do, it was certainly nothing good.
One by one, they struggled desperately on the crosses, but Hiruko's bindings were extremely tight, even their mouths were sealed shut.
They could only writhe while letting out muffled groans.
Hiruko's expression was feverish as he glanced at the Sharingan in his hand.
"Then let's start with this one! Hahaha!"
Forming seals, Hiruko's eyes suddenly bulged outward, as if something inside pulsed twice.
His original eyeballs were directly pushed out.
But behind them there was no flesh, only the same translucent gelatin.
The Sharingan, wrapped by the Chimera substance, was forcefully stuffed into Hiruko's eye sockets.
Under the Chimera's grafting, the Sharingan spun several times before finally connecting.
"So this is the Sharingan?"
The three tomoe spun rapidly, and the whole world became unnervingly clear.
At this moment, the sun was completely hidden by the moon.
Hiruko shouted aloud, "The sun is obscured by the moon, and the calamity of the Annular Eclipse shines upon the earth!"
"The three elements of heaven, earth, and man are now complete, your kekkei genkai shall all become one with me!"
His face showed intoxicated rapture. He spread his arms wide, lifting his head skyward, "Now I shall merge and become the perfect existence!"
As he spoke, Hiruko's body swelled again. Countless translucent gelatinous masses, the Chimera, seemed to come alive.
They spread outward from where Hiruko stood, twining around the four sacrificial offerings.
All the living sacrifices bulged their eyes in agony, their entire beings writhing as though suffering the torment of dismemberment.
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