Chapter 242: Experiment Failed
"Heh. What a frog in a well." Yasushi shook his head with a cold laugh, offering no further explanation.
It wasn't just Tsunade who couldn't accomplish this feat—even those wielding the Rinnegan's Yin-Yang Release couldn't manage true limb regeneration. Naruto and Sasuke both possessed Yin-Yang Release, yet Naruto still required Hashirama cells to regrow a lost arm, while Sasuke simply resigned himself to his one-armed existence.
Yasushi's ability to regenerate Hiashi's severed limb stemmed from the synergistic fusion of Yin-Yang Release with his Mangekyo Sharingan's healing abilities—two powers working in concert to achieve what neither could accomplish alone.
Having tested limb regeneration, Yasushi seized Hiashi again and pressed his hand against the man's forehead.
Through his dojutsu's power, he spent some time regenerating a new pair of Byakugan for the Hyuga clan head.
"Come now, test them. Tell me how they feel—any differences from your original eyes."
Hiashi touched his newly formed eyes with disbelief, his expression wavering between shock and uncertainty.
He'd assumed that without returning to his clan, he'd spend the rest of his life blind. Who could have imagined someone possessed the ability to create new Byakugan from nothing?
"What are you plotting?"
"Enough chatter. Hurry up and use those eyes. Tell me how they function."
Hiashi was equally curious about his regenerated Byakugan. He channeled chakra, veins bulging across his temples as he activated the dojutsu.
His first instinct was to examine Uchiha Yasushi standing before him. Immediately, he witnessed the obviously abnormal chakra fluctuations radiating from Yasushi's body, along with the massive Tenseigan connected to him through threads of chakra.
His heart seized with alarm. But with Yasushi watching him like a predator stalking prey, he didn't dare make any unnecessary movements. He shifted his gaze away, scanning his surroundings instead, quietly memorizing potential escape routes.
After several moments, he deactivated his Byakugan and spoke with carefully measured relief:
"They feel identical to my original Byakugan. No difference whatsoever."
"Though we are enemies rather than friends, I must still express my gratitude." Hiashi bowed respectfully toward Yasushi with exaggerated courtesy.
Now that escape seemed possible, Hiashi naturally adopted a much more accommodating demeanor.
Anyone could play at false politeness when necessary.
But before he could straighten from his bow, his body suddenly went rigid—completely frozen.
His Byakugan reflected Yasushi's face, which had abruptly transformed into something cruel and predatory. His pupils contracted violently with pain.
A hand had thrust cleanly through his chest from behind, then withdrawn. That blood-soaked palm clutched a still-beating heart, which spasmed in the open air as it expelled its final spurts of crimson.
"You... you..." Hiashi's face contorted with disbelief as he stared at Yasushi, who'd struck without warning. His body slowly crumpled, collapsing to his knees in the spreading pool of his own blood, sending dark red ripples across its surface.
Yasushi casually crushed the heart in his grip, flinging the remains aside before standing coldly to observe.
Only after Hiashi had been dead for some considerable time did Yasushi finally crouch down and place his hand upon the corpse.
"Come now. Let me see your limits—whether you can truly resurrect the dead." Yasushi's voice trembled with mingled anticipation and excitement.
He fully mobilized the giant Tenseigan's power. Green chakra flowed from that enormous eye into his own, transforming through Tenseigan Chakra Mode into Yin-Yang Release. This combined with his Mangekyo Sharingan's healing capabilities, pouring chakra madly into Hiashi's lifeless body.
The corpse had already gone cold. But under this massive infusion of life force, the body slowly warmed again. Cells gradually regained their vitality.
Everywhere the chakra touched, necrotic tissue turned an eerie pink. Severed blood vessels writhed like serpents seeking prey, automatically searching for connection points.
Rigor mortis faded at visible speed. Pale skin flushed with renewed color.
After an unknown quantity of chakra had been poured into the body, Hiashi's removed heart regenerated completely and resumed beating with muffled drum-like sounds.
Yasushi's spirits soared instantly, his own heart racing. He hastily patted Hiashi's cheeks, calling out urgently:
"Hey! Wake up! Stop sleeping!"
But no matter how much Yasushi called, Hiashi lay motionless like some sleeping beauty, showing no response whatsoever.
His urgent calls gradually turned frantic. Yasushi grabbed Hiashi's collar, hauling the upper body upright. But the head simply lolled backward limply—exactly like a corpse.
The hopeful light in Yasushi's eyes gradually dimmed. That heart which had burned so hot grew cold once more.
"Is it because there's no soul?" Yasushi collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at Hiashi's body.
The chest rose and fell with slow, steady breaths. The complexion remained healthy and ruddy. By all appearances, this was a living human being.
But Yasushi knew better. Before him lay nothing more than a vegetable—identical to those clone bodies floating in nutrient tanks throughout Orochimaru's laboratories.
A heartbeat. Metabolism. Everything except the spark of a soul.
This was a hundred thousand miles from the resurrection of the dead he'd sought.
Hope had descended, then transformed back into crushing disappointment. Yasushi's emotions surged violently once more.
The aura surrounding his body erupted into chaos. The Mangekyo Sharingan in his shoulders spun wildly, growing redder and more blood-soaked by the moment. A chakra storm exploded outward with him at its center, lifting every piece of debris within a hundred meters radius. The suspended rubble seemed crushed by invisible hands, pulverized into fine powder that drifted down like snow.
Yasushi leaped to his feet with a savage roar, arms flailing as golden light streamed from his hands, slashing wildly in all directions.
"It's not enough!"
"Still not enough!"
"Yin-Yang Release alone is useless!"
"It must be combined with an actual resurrection jutsu!"
With the giant Tenseigan providing unlimited power, Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion manifested as if it cost nothing—Yasushi wielding it with reckless abandon.
Where the golden light fell, everything was effortlessly cleaved in half before erupting in massive explosions.
The sprawling palace complex was consecutively demolished—collapsing like sandcastles beneath the onslaught.
"Damn it, what madness has seized you now?" Zetsu barely escaped from beneath a collapsing palace structure, dragging the barely recognizable form of Otsutsuki Toneri.
But seeing the twisted contortion of Yasushi's face and the madness blazing in his eyes, Zetsu immediately fell silent, not daring to provoke him further at such a volatile moment.
Zetsu wisely retreated underground, patiently waiting for the surface to calm before cautiously emerging once more.
By then, Yasushi had regained his composure. He'd swapped the positions of his Mangekyo Sharingan and Tenseigan back to their original configuration, severing the connection with the giant Tenseigan.
Without the giant Tenseigan's support, the Yin-Yang Release within his body dissipated into nothingness. The Tenseigan chakra stimulation hadn't granted him the permanent ability to wield Yin-Yang Release.
Yasushi fixed Zetsu with blood-red eyes, demanding coldly:
"The situation with Otsutsuki Hamura's descendants is resolved. What about Otsutsuki Hagoromo's side—have you discovered anything yet?"
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