Chapter 1 : Konoha, Root Laboratory
A bare-armed Uchiha lay on the ice-cold operating table, limbs and even neck locked tight by metal rings.
Uchiha Qingguang was about to become a test subject. The unease made him instinctively activate his Sharingan.
That very change caught Orochimaru's attention. "Qingguang-kun, I suggest you turn off the Sharingan for now."
"Excessively strong Yin-nature chakra will make it hard for me to control the dosage. It could easily cause the surgery to fail."
"If you regret it now, there's still time."
Faced with Orochimaru's kind reminder, Qingguang shook his head slightly. When he opened his eyes again, the Sharingan had been replaced by pitch-black pupils.
"Senior Orochimaru, I'll be careful."
"As for giving up—please don't say such things. If I back out now, I'd be tarnishing the Will of Fire my father passed down."
"And I'd be letting down Lord Danzō's expectations and trust."
Having said that, Qingguang turned his head and looked through the glass window at the man outside the operating room—Danzō.
Feeling the burning loyalty in Qingguang's gaze, Danzō only grew more fond of the young man.
Mirror, your son lives up to your name—he's even better than you were. He wasn't fooled by Hiruzen's false pretenses.
The Sharingan hidden beneath the bandages and sealing jutsu burned hotter.
Qingguang was one of the top young geniuses of the current Uchiha clan. If the Wood Release experiment succeeded on him…
Then it could absolutely be replicated on himself!
Suppressing his desire and hiding it, Danzō nodded at Qingguang, eyes full of praise. "Qingguang, the ninja world is in dire straits. War could break out any moment. Konoha's jinchūriki still hasn't matured."
"Wood Release is our last hope right now."
Danzō's words overflowed with worry for Konoha, as if Qingguang were the sole savior—the chosen one to become Konoha's future pillar.
Qingguang took a deep breath, adjusting his emotions.
This old bastard's acting is damn convincing.
If he weren't a transmigrator, he'd probably be completely taken in—willing to slave away for Danzō and Orochimaru, even volunteer as their Wood Release lab rat.
But all of this… was just to reset his skill points.
Father dead before he was born, mother died in childbirth. Awakened early, literate at two, studying Father Mirror's scrolls at four, refined chakra at five, mastered the Three Body Techniques and Great Fireball at six. Graduated early at eight during peacetime.
Promoted to jōnin at fourteen. Now just past seventeen, Qingguang's strength had reached the ceiling of an ordinary Uchiha.
Over the years, using the system's repeated point-resetting and reallocation, he had maxed out Great Fireball.
Unfortunately, the system had limits.
The five basic nature transformations could convert between each other. Chakra nature, shape transformation, Yin Release, and Yang Release could also interchange.
But cross-tier resets? 10:1 ratio.
And Sharingan evolution required special Yin Release chakra—specific Yin-nature transformation.
That exchange rate was 100:1!
His three-tomoe Sharingan was the result of practicing Great Fireball countless times over the years.
As for Mangekyō…
10,000 special Yin points meant learning Great Fireball 1,000,000 times.
He'd spent a decade and only scraped together 1,000 points by age sixteen. Did that mean he'd need to practice Great Fireball for a century to unlock Mangekyō!?
So he gave up and looked for another path.
Wood Release—like Sharingan—was a kekkei genkai, and one of the highest tier. By the system's logic, it should be convertible too.
He didn't know if it would work, which was why he was nervous lying here.
"Senior Orochimaru, let's begin."
Qingguang's face was calm, his gaze resolute—ready to face death.
Come on. Let's test if my theory holds.
"I understand."
Orochimaru picked up the prepared syringe, gently pushing the plunger. A trace of pale-green liquid oozed from the sharp, thin needle.
"Oh, right, Qingguang-kun."
"No anesthesia during the procedure. It might hurt a little. Please endure it."
As he spoke, the needle pierced Qingguang's skin and slid into the vein in his neck.
(O_o)?? You couldn't have said that earlier!?
With no time to react, Qingguang felt his entire body instantly burn. Veins bulged across his skin, as if countless ants were gnawing him from the inside.
He thrashed on the table.
Orochimaru stuffed a towel into his mouth—afraid he'd bite his tongue and kill himself from the strain.
It had happened with other test subjects before.
Amid the agony, Qingguang mentally summoned the transparent system panel.
His pupils changed uncontrollably—Sharingan activated again.
Come on, system! If you don't show up, I'm really done for!
Just as he was about to pass out from the pain—
BANG!
A thick black staff with golden ends smashed through the metal door, landing at Danzō's feet.
Danzō instantly drew a kunai and assumed a combat stance. "Who?!"
He turned—and saw his old classmate, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen, how did you find this place?"
Hiruzen ignored Danzō. His eyes locked through the glass on Qingguang writhing on the table. Rage exploded within him. He roared at Danzō:
"I banned the Wood Release project six months ago! You're still running it—and using Qingguang, Mirror's only son, as a test subject!"
"Can you face the memory of Mirror sacrificing himself to cover our retreat!?"
He charged to the glass, knocking Danzō aside with his staff, and shouted to his most cherished disciple:
"Stop the experiment immediately! No matter what, Qingguang must survive!"
Orochimaru spread his hands, looking helpless—though inside, he was thrilled.
Because the previously collapsing data… was stabilizing again!
But first, he had to calm his teacher's anger—or at least avoid being blamed.
Orochimaru glanced at Danzō on the floor, then looked at Hiruzen. "Teacher Sarutobi, the surgery was voluntary. I even asked Qingguang again before starting if he wanted to back out. He insisted."
"And now, it's too late to stop. All the agent has been injected. It's up to fate now."