Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

Chapter 181 Born in Death
The lampposts on the wall emitted a dazzling light, making the glass surface of the lampposts shimmer and sparkle.

The turquoise sea of ​​leaves ripples, and the sharkskin opens its mouth wide to bite the leaves and branches.

The sucking sound echoed in the sealed glass column, like a strong man who hadn't eaten for three days swallowing noodles. Accompanied by a terrifying suction force, a vast green ocean, thick as porridge, poured down into the gaping mouth.

Clatter!

Before the sharkskin could finish eating, a large tree branch was quickly pulled out of its mouth.

Hui Li pulled out Samehada and leaped down from the tree, instantly raising dust from the flat bricks of the basement.

"What happened! What happened?" Tsubaki, who was leaning against the glass pillar pretending to be asleep, was startled by the loud noise and quickly stood up from the ground.

"Sorry, I have an urgent matter. You can continue sleeping!"

Waving at Tsubaki, Kairi, carrying Samehada, rushed out of the basement impatiently. If it weren't for the barrier, they would probably have already rushed outside in the blink of an eye.

How can I possibly sleep now?

Tsubaki's complaining voice echoed behind her, but there was little anger in her tone.

The two had become quite familiar with each other over the past few days, and she had gained a better understanding of Hui Li's personality. She knew that Hui Li would never act so rashly unless it was something truly important.

However, her plan to take a nap had to be abandoned.

hum!
Strange patterns automatically formed on the surface of the barrier, then disappeared in response. Gray Glass leaped up the steps and appeared inside the experimental department.

The nurse pushing the medical cart stopped when she saw Hui Li rushing out, and the others tactfully made way for her.

Although Chihaya Tohru's attitude towards Hairi changed during this period, although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone wasn't blind and could eventually discern the difference. Secretly, they had already regarded Hairi as the second-in-command of the Experimentation Club, and the various rumors that had been circulating had also vanished.

But new rumors began to circulate among the people.

For example, there are rumors that Lord Danzo ignores the affairs of the Root and focuses on his training, and that he will let Hairi take over the Root and choose him to succeed as the future leader of the Root.

The rumor is not true, but it's not exactly absurd either.

After all, the other party is Danzo's newly accepted disciple, the legendary second strongest member of Root. If the leader really lets her manage Root, then it's only natural. As a low-level member of Root, it's better to believe it than not.

They were even more respectful towards this legendary young master of the Root.

Seeing that everyone had made way for a straight path, Hui Li didn't hesitate and rushed out of the experimental department like a dump truck.

A fierce wind blew everyone's hair wildly, and as they watched the figure rampaging through the Root base, the rumors they had heard became even more deeply ingrained in their minds.

Ryoma is really fast!

Gray Glass charged down the dimly lit corridor, seemingly oblivious to the guards along the way. Areas that were normally difficult to access were practically nonexistent for her. The winding path quickly led her to the ground as she walked in a straight line.

This was the plan the two of them had discussed that day.

Danzo was familiarizing himself with his arm in the secret chamber, unable to leave for the time being, while Ryuma was gradually building momentum for him within Root. Don't underestimate these rumors now; once Danzo dies, Root will naturally fall into the hands of the two of them. Legitimacy is incredibly important everywhere.

Barrier lifted.

Gray Glass burst out of the underground cave and arrived at the forest outside the base.

The azure sky was bright with the sun, and the dazzling golden light shone through the gaps in the bare branches, casting dark shadows on the ground.

It was late autumn, but the weather was not scorching.

Having spent so much time in the dark, the sudden bright sunshine made Hui Li feel a little uncomfortable. She squinted, her body instinctively wanting to return to that dark underground place.

Staying cooped up at the Root base every day, her daily meals and sleep are irregular; sometimes she even loses track of time, her lifestyle is even less healthy than a vampire's. The people at Root are becoming increasingly strange, most likely due to the negative effects of the Spectre environment.

With her head tilted back, Hui Li determined her location by the sun's position and then quickly headed towards the Death Forest.

After a long period of exploration, she has figured out the terrain here.

The primeval forest where the Root base is located is the outer edge of Konoha's Training Ground No. 27. As long as you go north through the forest, you can directly reach the Death Forest where the main body is located.

Zizi!

Lightning Release Chakra surged across his body, and riding the biting autumn wind, Gray shot off toward his target.

Huhu~
The wind howled in her ears, and the earth groaned under her feet, but nothing could overshadow her surging emotions.

I have been in this world for almost half a year.

From a lonely, desperate girl from the Hidden Mist Village who was being hunted down, to now becoming a disciple of both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, secretly taking charge of Konoha's Root, and even developing her own longevity ninjutsu, aiming for the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Only she knows how difficult the journey was and how much she suffered.

at last!

at last!

Hui Li's eyes shone brightly, like stars. Unable to express her excitement, she only knew to continuously unleash her chakra, releasing boundless power.

Boom boom!
A graceful figure moved through the forest like a coiled dragon.

Giant trees swayed and fell, deep furrows were plowed into the earth, and countless birds took flight in terror.

It was less about rushing and more about venting.

And so, Gray Glass continued northward, and within minutes he saw the giant net woven from barbed wire, with dark brown branches extending out of the wall through the gaps in the net. That was the infamous Death Forest.

Hui Li continued her charge, her feet stomping across the iron net like a wild goose, and continued rushing towards the waterfall. But after only half a mile, she realized something was wrong.

The autumn wind rustled against my cheeks.

Nasal twitching.

A faint, pungent odor lingered in the wind, causing Hui Li, who had regained her composure after venting her anger, to notice something amiss.

Stop.

She cautiously activated her White Eye and peered forward.

The mottled, dense branches gradually became transparent. In the thick grass, animal carcasses collapsed the vegetation, flies swarmed everywhere, and the skin was abnormally wrinkled, with an eerie bluish-gray hue showing through the rotten parts.

Her eyes twitched.

As far as the eye could see, there were at least a hundred animal carcasses of all kinds.

Moreover, they were all large animals such as wild boars and pythons, and the stench of decay was so strong and foul that it felt as if someone was stirring chopsticks into one's nostrils.

It's exactly the same as the Thousand-Handed Tree in the basement. Manipulating nerves and effortlessly blocking the sense of smell, it managed to rot to this extent even in the cool late autumn. And given its sheer scale, just how many animals did the original experiment on?

Hui Li sighed inwardly.

Indeed, she was quite certain that the source of these animal carcasses was the very entity behind the experiment that reversed the Eight Gates.

The final step in reversing the Eight Gates requires continuously extracting and purifying life force, then injecting it into other animals to test for impurities.

Extracting life force itself leads to aging and death, which goes without saying.

However, if a beast that has gained vitality contains foreign life impurities, and biological tissues that do not belong to it grow in its body, it will die even faster once a rejection reaction occurs.

The animal carcasses were mostly well-preserved, except for the most severe abdominal wounds, which were covered with various claw and tooth marks. Their internal organs had been emptied by scavengers, indicating that they had died first and were then injured by animals attracted to their corpses.

Most importantly, she saw tissues on many animal carcasses that were definitely not from the same species.

A hare with deer antlers, a wolf's snout with rings of snake fangs, a python's back covered with porcupine quills, and a wild boar with yellow net-like patterns on its body.

Some animals even show some plant-like characteristics.

For example, some deer whose breed can no longer be identified have emerald green, needle-like leaves growing from their antlers and inside their eyes.

The strange plants, tinged with a bluish-green hue, grew in concentric circles around the eyes, some even bearing half-purple, half-red stamens—this was definitely not the state that natural organisms should be in.

As Hui Li pondered, she strode past the countless eerie corpses and ventured deeper into the forest.

Along the way, she encountered countless strange-looking animals. The further she went, the stranger the corpses became, and the more perfectly preserved they were.

It's not because they're particularly fresh, but because many small animals have become part of the corpses, and all the scavengers that eat these carcasses have died out, so naturally the corpses remain intact.

Boom boom boom!
As she got closer to the waterfall, she could already hear the muffled thunderous sound of the water.

Go further inside.

To her surprise, once she entered the area around the waterfall, the animal carcasses that had been scattered everywhere suddenly disappeared.

No, it's that almost all living things have become extinct.

As far as Gray Glass could see, the ground was covered with withered and decaying weeds, and the trees were so dry that they looked as if they had been scorched by fire, with their branches drooping limply, a stark contrast to the lush and vibrant trees outside.

There seem to be two invisible dividing lines here.

The outer edge of the Death Forest remains as vibrant as ever. Due to the mass deaths of plants and animals in the central area, many animals have been forced to flee to the outer edge, resulting in a higher animal density on the periphery.

Once inside the central region, one will find numerous bizarre corpses and small birds that are difficult to catch. Far from being affected, some scavengers are even more active and robust than before.

She saw no fewer than a thousand crows alone.

They were all as fat as chickens.

Now, in the core area she had entered, even the plants had all died. Wild grasses withered, trees were dry, and even the most resilient insects had vanished, resembling a strange, dead zone.

We traveled and observed along the way.

The further inward you go, the more desolate the ecosystem becomes. The ground is completely barren, and the trees have decayed and rotted on the ground. Over time, they become covered with various fungi.

White eyes peer through the surface into the interior.

The wood was loose and sponge-like, covered with pits of all sizes, and there was no moisture or life inside. It was even more lifeless than the animals teeming with maggots on the outside.

The Forest of Death, now it truly lives up to its name!

Hui Li muttered to herself as she looked at the increasingly deafening waterfall in the distance.

In the distance, she saw a figure exactly like herself, sitting cross-legged on a boulder, its body radiating a purple light like a river, and the three green life gates within it surging forth like a spring.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the original body was quite different from before.

Her silver hair cascaded down to her waist, swaying and reflecting the sunlight in the breeze, shimmering like mercury with a sharp, metallic sheen. Her skin was as smooth and delicate as jade, but what was most striking was not her beauty, but her vibrant life force.

"Why did you make such a commotion?"

Hui Li slowly opened her eyes.

The three keys between his brows slowly rotated, his eyes shimmering with a faint light. The intense, dark gray power in his pupils seemed even more dazzling than the sun in the sky.

"Since there were no humans to use as test subjects, we had to use animals instead. To ensure safety, we did more than necessary."

The Yang-style clone nodded.

She's not from an animal protection association, and if she doesn't use humans for experiments, then using some small animals is perfectly acceptable.

"How does it feel?"

"Unprecedentedly wonderful!"

Hearing the question from his clone, Gray Glass smiled, sat upright on the boulder, and opened his arms as if to embrace the entire sky. Two scarlet eyeballs swirled wildly in his snow-white palms, exuding a unique beauty amidst their wickedness.

"The effect of reversing the eight gates is even more perfect than we imagined."

Using the Sharingan's extreme Yin power, I conjured and simulated the filter organ of Hashirama's cells, which can be considered another level of Yin-Yang Release. The life force obtained was extremely pure, and by injecting the life source through the 'Gate,' I could feel my power increasing every day.

At this point, Hui Li closed her eyes in enjoyment, seemingly experiencing the intense pleasure of life force entering her body.

The feeling was like being so hungry that your vision was blurry, and your stomach was throbbing with pain that you were about to die.

Then, suddenly taking a bite of braised pork belly brimming with oil, paired with a bowl of fragrant white rice, regardless of the taste, the warmth that spreads from the inside out and the gradually filling stomach brings a sense of hope and comfort.

"Life force is the origin of everything. The more I devour external life, the more I can feel my body undergoing fundamental changes."

Teeth fall out and grow back stronger new teeth, hair becomes shiny and thick, skin becomes translucent and white, and even the chakra seed in the body seems to be growing rapidly and sprouting new buds under the influence of life.

"By seizing the life force of all things to increase chakra, the abundant energy of the Shikotsumyaku (Corpse Bone Pulse) automatically strengthens the physical body, and the spiritual power and Byakugan also benefit in the process, evolving towards a higher dimension..."

"Wait a minute, Byakugan evolution!?"

The Yang Release clone instantly grasped the key point: if the Byakugan were to evolve further, it would become the Tenseigan! That would require the fusion of at least several hundred pairs of Hyuga Byakugan, or even the Byakugan combined with the Otsutsuki body.

Could it be that taking away the body of the living also activates the bloodline of the Otsutsuki clan?
With one heart and one mind, Hui Li immediately saw what her clone was thinking and shook her head to explain:
"I have successfully reversed the Eight Gates, but my life force accumulation is still insufficient. My current immortal body is at most in the budding stage. I can pretend to be a member of the Uzumaki and Senju clans, but I am far from being a member of the Otsutsuki clan."

As for the Byakugan evolution... have you considered a very important question?

At this point, Hui Li suddenly paused for a moment, her deathly gray pupils gleaming even brighter:
Why is the white of our eyes...gray?

(End of this chapter)