Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

Chapter 234 The Path of Light and Darkness (Part 2)

The sky was azure, and the floating clouds formed layers upon layers of mountains.

A gentle breeze pushed the clouds and mountains to move, and the interplay of light and shadow on the forest floor drew a clear line between the young men and women.

The handsome young man stood in the light, his eyes were sinister and scarlet, and his spiky hair left sharp black shadows on the ground.

The silver-haired blind woman stood in the shadows beneath the clouds; in the slightly dark environment, her radiant skin glowed with a captivating light.

This beautiful scene can remind a bitter middle-aged man of his youthful days, and it can also make a love-struck young woman's eyes light up as she weaves countless versions of her youthful story to move herself.

But the reality is...

"Lightning Blade Kiba is a legendary ninja sword from Kirigakure. It has the ability to amplify the power of Lightning Release, increase the release speed, and reduce chakra consumption. It can also directly summon heavenly lightning to fight."

This is nothing like Zabuza's tattered door panel. Among the Seven Ninja Swords of Kirigakure, the Lightning Blade is a contender for the title of strongest ninja tool, a priceless treasure for a swordsman proficient in Lightning Release!

The shadow clone responsible for researching the Thunder Blade transmitted information and memories to Gray Glass, while she closed her eyes and 'blown' out the performance of the twin swords to Sasuke!

As she absorbed the memories of the shadow clone, images of various experiments and research filled her mind, and she became increasingly surprised by the power of the Thunder Blade.

The Thunder Blade Fang, or Thunder Fang for short, has an extremely high chakra metal content in its blade. In addition, it is a pair of swords, so the cost of the blades alone is extremely high. The complexity and intricacy of the lightning release incantations engraved inside are so amazing that even she was full of praise.

Unsealed Lightning Release, accelerated spellcasting, doubled power, halved consumption... This thing is basically a lightning staff in dual-blade form!

What she said was absolutely true.

Samehada may be slightly better in terms of functionality, but when it comes to offensive capabilities, the two are not even in the same league. If this sword were in the hands of a ninja who is proficient in lightning release, it would definitely be qualified to compete for the title of the strongest ninja sword!

As Hui Li continued to explain, Sasuke's eyes swirled with tomoe, his crimson pupils gleaming faintly, clearly indicating his determination to obtain her.

"As a test subject, its value is far less than that of this ninja tool, unless..."

Seeing Sasuke's extremely solemn expression, Hui Li said with a smile, "You are willing to join my organization."

"Your organization?"

Sasuke frowned. Despite knowing each other for so many years, he had no idea what organization Gray belonged to.

"The organization's name cannot be revealed at this time, but as long as you agree to become a member of the organization, carry out the assigned tasks, and evolve your Sharingan under the guidance of the experimental personnel, you can obtain a powerful lightning blade!"

Hui Li revealed her true purpose.

She has no one she truly trusts in the Roots; Ryoma, who betrayed her, is no longer capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.

Whether it's Chihaya Toru or Iwakuma, they are both old friends who have been with Ryoma for decades, and they are also Danzo's former subordinates. She has always been wary of them.

Most importantly, apart from her, there are no other high-end combatants at the root.

There are several Jonin, but in the increasingly frenzied ninja world, Jonin are only slightly better than cannon fodder.

Young talents like Sai and Aburame Torune are worth nurturing, but their potential is limited. They are useful, but not capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.

Sasuke, however, is different.

Having spent five years with her, her arrogance had long been worn away. With Naruto, Guy, Kakashi, and others by her side, her personality was not as dark and aloof as in the original work.

Danzo, the culprit behind the Uchiha clan's massacre, was a wanted criminal hated by everyone in Root, while Hairi was the benefactor who drove him out of Konoha. Given Sasuke's personality, there was no need to worry about betrayal.

Needless to say, their talent ceiling is even higher.

After activating the three-tomoe Sharingan and calming down a bit, I went to find Itachi, who was dying, to activate the Mangekyou Sharingan. Then, I used Itachi's eyes to evolve into the Eternal Eye. Once I activated the complete Susanoo, I went straight to the Kage level, and my strength improved like a rocket.

Her roots need people like this!

The clouds drifted in the wind, and the shadows of the waves beneath Gray Glass's feet gradually moved toward Sasuke.

The conditions proposed by Hui Li were too harsh. Sasuke's chest puffed out, and his eyes, like tomoe, darted around as he weighed the pros and cons. He remained silent for a long time.

He was willing to become a test subject for research because he believed in Gray Glass, but this is a completely different concept from joining an organization.

To carry out a mission assigned by a mysterious organization and to become an experimental subject for research on the Sharingan is undoubtedly a contract of servitude.

"I am your only superior in the organization, and you only need to follow my orders," Hui Li explained patiently, her eagerness to recruit talent exactly the same as Danzo's before.

She was once a double-flower red-ranked member of Root, and now that she has been promoted to the leader of Root, she naturally needs to recruit capable ninjas.

Sasuke remained expressionless, but the resistance above his head noticeably diminished by a third.

There is a play!

Seeing the other party's performance, Hui Li was invigorated and continued to tempt her: "As long as you join the organization, I can also help you awaken a Sharingan that is even more advanced than the three-tomoe Sharingan!"

bass!
A glint seemed to flash in Sasuke's eyes, and his face was filled with unconcealed shock:

"A Sharingan even more advanced than the three-tomoe Sharingan? Yes, Itachi's eyes..."

He stared at the gray glass and murmured to himself, recalling the tragic scene from his midnight dream. Besides the endless pain, there was also the spinning, enlarging black shuriken, which was Itachi Uchiha's strange Sharingan.

If his Sharingan could evolve to that level, he could go and take revenge on Itachi!

To avenge my parents and the entire Uchiha clan!
A flame of revenge ignited in Sasuke's chest. This emotion was colder and heavier than mere anger, yet far more intense and complex than pure killing intent.

"I agreed!"

Faced with the generous terms offered by Hui Li, Sasuke could no longer refuse. He gazed at Hui Li's face and promised, word by word:
"Give me the power of revenge, and I'll take whatever you want!"

"I want your loyalty!" Hui Li raised her right hand, her index and middle fingers joined together, and purple light ignited at the tips of her fingers.

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat when he saw that unique gesture. The way Gray raised his hand completely overlapped with that familiar figure!
Itachi!
Overwhelming rage nearly shattered his reason; the two tomoe in his left eye spun wildly around his pupil, forming a black ring, with a third tomoe faintly swirling within it.

The evolution that was interrupted in the Land of Waves has now restarted under this sudden stimulus!
Is this the beginning of evolution?

With his right hand raised, Hui Li raised an eyebrow. Before he could even marvel at Sasuke's sensitivity, he seized the crucial moment of Sasuke's Sharingan evolution and activated his Byakugan power to directly invade Sasuke's brain.

She immediately saw a surge of Yin Release chakra, brimming with intense emotion, flowing through her pineal gland between her eyebrows.

This is it!

A gleam emanated from his Byakugan as Hui Li stared intently at Sasuke's brow. The chakra that appeared quickly converged towards his left eye, and on the outer side of his pupil, the third tomoe instantly materialized.

"I... evolved?"

Enraged, Sasuke found the scene before him becoming clearer, even the strands of hair flowing behind Ash's head seemed to slow down dramatically, and his chakra increased under the influence of his Sharingan's evolution. Having experienced a Sharingan evolution before, he instantly realized that the three-tomoe Sharingan he had been desperately seeking had finally been awakened!
The joy of becoming stronger interrupted his emotions.

The special energy derived from the pineal gland rapidly broke apart, and the constantly swirling tomoe slowed down and stopped. The two scarlet Sharingan eyes, three on the left and two on the right, presented completely different states.

"Congratulations."

Having witnessed Sasuke's Sharingan evolution, Hui Li was somewhat bewildered, completely unable to understand how that special chakra was generated.

There was no fusion of mental and physical power required for normal chakra, nor was there a special generation process. Neither the pineal gland nor the brain had the special structure she had imagined.

It seems that the Sharingan's evolution only requires the right emotions to create special chakra out of thin air.

This is not a ninja at all!
Even a powerful clan like the Otsutsuki must rely on the Divine Tree to absorb natural energy in order to obtain chakra; it is absolutely impossible for them to create chakra out of thin air!
This is the underlying logic of chakra, which cannot be broken by the mere Sharingan. However, the evolution of the Sharingan is indeed challenging the entire system of the ninja world!

Lowering her raised right hand, Hui Li continued her observation with unwavering determination, especially focusing on the pineal gland where Sasuke's chakra was emanating from between his eyebrows, scanning each cell one by one.

My pupils are severely depleted, and my brow feels sore and swollen.

No matter how she observed, she couldn't find the source of the chakra.

The opponent's brain had no unusual structure, and the generation of chakra was extremely strange.

It's as if that Yin Release chakra has existed since the beginning, but it's hidden in a different dimension similar to Kamui, and can only be opened with extreme emotions as the key.

The pineal gland is like a signal transmitter connecting to another dimension!
Could that special chakra containing extreme emotions be... Indra's chakra?

Hui Li suddenly thought of this legendary figure, but then she realized something was off.

Surely the Uchiha dissected by the Second Hokage couldn't have been a reincarnation of Indra! Besides, Itachi and Obito's Sharingan evolution relied on emotional power; if they were both Indra's chakra...

Hui Li's eyes flickered, and various pieces of information collided and sparked wildly in his mind. The unexpected evolution of the Sharingan revealed a secret that was simply astonishing!
Seeing that Hai Li had fallen silent, Sasuke, feeling the new power, opened his eyes wide like saucers and stood quietly in place, letting the other party observe him.

Although he had just agreed to the other party's conditions, he was already prepared to become a test subject.

He felt he had gotten a great deal simply by being observed, rather than by undergoing bloody experiments like dissections.

The wind on the training ground grew stronger, the clouds shifted, and the shadows had completely swallowed the two people on the ground, with sunlight struggling to pierce through the thick clouds and shine through the thin slivers of light.

Sasuke was very self-conscious about displaying his Sharingan and dared not look away even for a moment, but Hairi did not accept his kindness. She was already immersed in thinking about the Uchiha, the Sharingan, and Indra.

Hypothesis!

If this special Yin Release chakra is truly Indra's power, then an extremely unsolvable problem will inevitably arise—

Who exactly is the reincarnation of Indra?
The answer has already been revealed in the original work, but Sasuke's Sharingan evolution process has made this originally obvious question even more elusive.

There is no doubt that both Madara and Sasuke have awakened the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and both have been acknowledged by the Sage of Six Paths as reincarnations of Indra.

A bold guess suddenly surfaced in Hui Li's mind:

Perhaps the word "reincarnation" itself is ambiguous; if we call them the inheritors of Indra's power, then it all makes sense!

All members of the Uchiha clan are descendants of Indra. They all possess the ability to draw upon Indra's power using extreme emotions, and are all successors of Indra.

What makes Sasuke and Madara special is that they have awakened the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, which means they possess a much larger share of Indra's power than others!
The so-called reincarnation of Indra is not predetermined, but only the Uchiha who becomes the strongest in his era and obtains the most power from Indra can be given the title of Indra's reincarnation!
After much thought, Hui Li felt that her guess was close to the truth.

Indra is exceptionally talented, arrogant, and pursues the ultimate in personal ability. Therefore, only the strongest Uchiha can obtain the name Indra!
Sasuke and Madara are the strongest successors of their respective eras, and of course, they are both reincarnations of Indra. If Itachi and Obito awaken the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan first, they can also be called reincarnations of Indra!
It's just unknown whether Indra's power can evolve into four pairs of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, or whether someone might occupy too much of Indra's power, preventing others from evolving.
Is this why there can only be one eternal kaleidoscope in each era?

It is highly likely that Indra's power was only enough for one Uchiha to evolve the Eternal Eye in the same era, and it would take decades or even centuries to recuperate before it could evolve again.

So much time has passed, and the previous generation of Uchiha died when their lifespan was exhausted, which led to the emergence of theories about Indra's reincarnation.

So what's the deal with Naruto being the reincarnation of Ashura? Only the Senju and Uzumaki, with the strongest life force, could inherit the name Ashura?

Hui Li slowly shook her head. Apart from the power of the Nine-Tails, she had never seen any other type of chakra appear in Naruto's body, so she couldn't make a judgment easily.

Perhaps the different inheritance methods of Asura and Indra are why their reincarnations often fight!
"Finished the research?"

Staring with his scarlet Sharingan, Sasuke saw Haili shaking his head as if in regret and quickly asked him what was wrong. He wasn't a ruthless killer, and it was inevitable that his eyes would become dry after keeping them open for a long time.

"more or less!"

Licking his back teeth, Hui Li had found a way to evolve the Sharingan into the Mangekyou Sharingan.

It's impossible for him to manipulate Indra's power on his own. The Sharingan requires Uchiha bloodline, which is the chakra seed passed down through the Uchiha clan for thousands of years.

The only solution she could think of was:
At the moment when Sasuke's extreme emotions triggered Indra's power, she stole the special chakra from his pineal gland and injected it into his Sharingan, which would surely cause it to evolve!

But the Mangekyou Sharingan that eventually evolved was probably Sasuke's Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi.

This behavior is no different from gouging out Sasuke's eyes.

As for the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, there's no need to even think about it. Haili has no siblings who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Sasuke's energy was extracted, preventing him from evolving the Mangekyou Sharingan, nor could it be synthesized according to the formula.

"You really understand?"

Sasuke had no idea what Hui Li was thinking, but he was extremely surprised by Hui Li's research methods and speed! The Sharingan is the bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan, how could he understand it all just by looking at the evolution process?

Rubbing her throbbing temples, Hui Li didn't want to say anything more to Sasuke, this guy who was both lucky and unlucky.

If the truth about Indra is as she predicted, Sasuke is arguably the luckiest person in the world.

It just so happens that Indra's power has been restored to its full potential, allowing him to evolve into the Eternal Eye; it just so happens that his entire clan has been wiped out, leaving him with no competitors; it just so happens that Obito Uchiha, whose talent surpasses his own, has no blood brothers; and it just so happens that he has an older brother who has awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan and is about to die.

Every point was just right, which is why Sasuke, who was originally of average talent, became the reincarnation of Indra.

However, when she thought of Sasuke's tragic past, Hui Li was no longer envious. Perhaps this was the unparalleled fortune that came from sacrificing his parents and clan!

bass!
Purple flames reignited at her fingertips, and Hui Li looked at Sasuke calmly and said:

"Offer your loyalty! I will show you the correct formula for gaining power!"

Sasuke's expression was solemn. He removed the Konoha headband from his forehead and slowly walked to Haili. Seeing the other raise his hand and make that familiar gesture, he brushed a strand of hair from his forehead to the side, closed his eyes, and waited...

"Stick your tongue out."

"?"

(End of this chapter)