Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 236 The Undercurrents in the Ninja World

The eye power that Xia Zuo fused with was of a higher quality and greater strength than that of an ordinary kaleidoscope, and it did not have the kind of defect that would seriously damage the body.

Xia Zuo suppressed his joy, took a deep breath, and carefully guided his pupil power into two streams.

One of the streams spreads out, connecting with and stimulating a mysterious area in the brain that is extremely attractive to pupil power, causing the brain to undergo a slow evolution.

Another surge of pupil energy directly entered the pineal gland, causing this organ, which had already expanded five or six times and evolved from an oval shape into a spherical one, to undergo even more intense changes.

Under Xia Zuo's watchful gaze, as the power of his pupils was injected, the pineal gland swelled again, exceeding the size of two normal eyeballs.

Then this spherical organ began to move with difficulty inside the skull. It slowly bypassed the vertebrae, squeezed open the third ventricle of the brain, and moved steadily forward and upward.

Such organ changes are no less than the growth of a tumor, and the movement of the pineal gland is a terrible trauma, causing considerable damage to the brain and resulting in severe pain.

Fortunately, the pineal gland itself secretes a large amount of melatonin, and the pituitary gland is also working at full capacity, releasing a hundred times more endorphins, which forcibly suppresses the intense pain.

The damage to the brain tissue also healed rapidly under the influence of Wood Release chakra.

In just four hours, the pineal gland, which had expanded further, moved from the tetrageminal cisterns near the tetrageminal body to the prefrontal lobe.

The pineal gland even squeezed out a hole in the frontal lobe, an organ involved in emotional expression, and embedded itself in the crack in the frontal bone.

At this point, the pineal gland became larger and evolved into a pupil and sclera, becoming a real eye.

As the skin on her forehead finally split open, a blood-red eye was revealed—a Sharingan with three tomoe.

However, the power and pressure emanating from this eye were even greater than those of the Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan.

Xia Zuo was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to fuse the Sharingan so smoothly, and not just the Mangekyou Sharingan, but a direct regression to the "original Sharingan".

That is, tracing back to the original form of the Sage of Six Paths, he opened the same eyes as Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

However, Xia Zuo's Sharingan is very different from that of the Sage of Six Paths. It is a third eye, possessing some characteristics of Kaguya Otsutsuki's Rinnegan with nine tomoe.

Stimulated by the third Sharingan, Xia Zuo's Byakugan automatically activated, and the power of the Byakugan clashed with the power of the Sharingan.

Two completely opposite pupil powers clashed fiercely in Xia Zuo's brain, causing him severe headaches.

However, both of these eye powers are ultimately Xia Zuo's own power, and their essence is a combination of chakra and mental power. With the help of the consistency of mental power, the two eye powers gradually found a point of coexistence.

When the power of the Byakugan and the Sharingan reached a balance, achieving a state of mutual antagonism and mutual support, both eyes showed an increase in power.

The two pupil powers, one red and one blue, intertwined and entangled, yet supported each other, constantly expanding and endlessly improving in quality.

After an unknown amount of time, Xia Zuo finally felt his pupil power reach its peak. This was not the limit of the two bloodline limits, but the limit that his own strength could support.

Reluctantly, he stopped cultivating, closed his still fragile eye between his eyebrows, and lay down completely relaxed on the bed made of wood, entering a deep sleep.

Next comes the painstaking process.

He needs to spend a year and a half gradually refining his body to support the continued improvement of the Byakugan and Sharingan's power, ultimately achieving a breakthrough in both eyes' bloodline limits.

But now, Xia Zuo feels that the most important thing is to get a good night's sleep.

In the desert where the Land of Wind and the Land of Bears meet, there is an extremely secretive underground base.

Inside the core room of the base, several men in white coats trembled as they reported to their leader.

Their leader had a mohawk-like hairstyle, except his hair was longer and tied back into a long, smooth braid.

The originally comical hairstyle, when contrasted with the leader's serious and aloof facial features, became a memorable characteristic.

This person's skin was extremely fair, making the Roman numeral IⅣ tattooed under his left eye stand out, while the diamond-shaped mark on his chin was even more unsettling.

He was dressed in a white haori, but with huge red earrings hanging from his ears, and red neck warmers and wristbands around his neck and wrists, the colors of which were very appropriate and eye-catching.

After reporting on the progress of their specific tasks, the doctors in white coats began to complain.

"Chief, our biggest problem is that we're out of money."

"Damn Konoha Village, no matter what we research, they can replicate it exactly in a very short time and then make our products unsellable at a lower price."

"Tape recorders, light bulbs, induction cookers, rice cookers, electric fans, air conditioners, movie cameras, and projectors—we invented them all, but the foolish nobles, merchants, and commoners of the ninja world only recognize the same models made in Konoha Village."

"Those foolish ninjas copied our appliances, but the quality and details are not as good as ours; they're just cheaper."

"But----"

The leader sighed, "But they only care about price, not quality?"

He took two radios out of his sleeve.

One of them is exquisite and compact, with a silver exterior adorned with intricate gold thread patterns. Every detail is exquisitely crafted, and it is even inlaid with red and blue gemstones.

The other radio was bulky and rugged, with a wooden casing simply painted over and no decorations other than the mark representing Konoha Village.

The leader pointed to the exquisitely crafted small radio and asked, "Are the radios we make really this exquisite?"

The doctors in white coats swallowed hard and shook their heads in unison.

The leader said helplessly, "To be precise, their exquisite craftsmanship far surpasses ours, and the luxurious decorations are something we never even imagined."

"Who would have thought that something so utterly useless for radio reception could fetch a price of 16 taels of silver and be so sought after?"

"After having in-depth conversations with several nobles, I realized that what they cared about was appearance; the more exquisite and luxurious the decorations, the more popular they were."

"They spend a lot of money to buy radios in order to outshine other nobles and show off their wealth and status, so the more expensive the radio, the more they like it."

The leader then pointed to the crude and simple radio and said, "This thing is indeed very rough, but it only costs 2500."

Two, that's something we can't compare to.

"Moreover, the roughness is only on the surface; the internal refinement is in no way inferior to that of a fine radio, and the functions are exactly the same."

The leader chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I took these two radios apart, and their internal parts are exactly the same, without the slightest difference."

"But the price is so attractive that even poorer families can afford it if they grit their teeth and save up."

"How do you think Konoha Village manages to keep prices so low?"

One of the doctors in a white coat guessed, "Leader, is Konoha Village selling at a loss?"

The leader shook his head: "Definitely not. These cheap goods are what Konoha sells the most. Although a lot of those exquisite luxury items are sold, it's definitely not enough to make up for the losses from selling them at a loss."

While he was thinking, he habitually tapped his forehead lightly with his fingers, his black nails, painted in the same style as those of the Akatsuki, were quite eye-catching.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, "Well, I really don't understand why it's so cheap."

"From now on, you should stop researching new electrical appliances and instead focus all your efforts on how to lower their prices. Otherwise, our work will only benefit Konoha Village."

The men in white coats nodded in unison: "Yes, Chief."

The leader continued, "Besides studying how to lower prices, we also need to study how to turn appliances into expensive luxury goods."

"If Konoha Village imitates the electrical appliances we invented, then we can also improve our products and sales methods in the same way as Konoha Village."

The doctors in white coats immediately cheered: "Yes, that's what we'll do!"

"The leader is right. Konoha copied us, so naturally we can learn from them."

"Yeah, I refuse to believe we can lose to a bunch of ninjas!"

Having driven away the group of highly motivated researchers, the leader sat alone on his throne, lost in deep thought.

He muttered to himself, "Why did Konoha react so quickly?"

"They didn't just imitate; they also made amazing improvements, as if they were the result of countless refinements."

"Incredible, Konoha Village must be hiding some secret."

"It's such a pity. There are Ashura and Indra's chakra in Konoha. If I get too close, I will definitely be discovered by Hagoromo Otsutsuki."

"This guy who's willing to lay a hand on his own mother is not someone to be trifled with."

"Let's wait a little longer."

"Following Konoha's methods, the electronics business should improve. With money, I can continue my research without having to fight the ninjas."

"I still have time, I can wait, there's no rush, no rush—"

Nagato sat on the right thumb of the Gedo Mazo, routinely transferring chakra to it to replenish the energy the Gedo Mazo used to repair itself.

He has persisted for 10 years since he first summoned this giant creature, and the appearance of the Gedo Mazo has undergone tremendous changes.

The pitted and uneven damage has been smoothed out, the once withered and weak body has become thick and full, and the power emanating from the demonic statue is growing stronger day by day, with an increasingly terrifying quality of divine might.

However, the golem's unique sense of inner emptiness became increasingly apparent as a result.

Nagato looked up at the nine increasingly deep holes in the golem and said, "It'll be soon. The golem will be fully restored soon. We just need to wait a little longer to capture the tailed beasts to fill it up."

-

"Once this world-destroying weapon is fully completed, lasting peace will come to the ninja world."

"Yahiko, our dream is about to come true—"

After a long while, Nagato took a deep breath, regained his composure, and quickly cast a strange spell by forming hand seals.

The ten fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path emitted a hazy light, and then human figures were outlined one by one.

First to appear was Konan, followed by Black Zetsu in disguise, and then the duo of Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.

After waiting a while, Deidara and Sasori appeared on their respective fingers. They were currently busy with the mission in the Land of Frost, so their reaction speed was a little slower.

Next, a slightly disheveled Kakuzu appeared. He had clearly just gone through a battle, and it was unclear which bounty target he had been hunting.

Finally, Obito Uchiha appeared on his left index finger. He had reached an agreement with Nagato and was still wearing the orange spiral mask to disguise his identity.

In this way, the Akatsuki organization could leverage Madara Uchiha's reputation to gain a stronger deterrent effect.

At this moment, nine powerful shadowy figures of Kage-level ninjas appeared on his ten fingers, making the missing little finger of his left hand stand out starkly.

Nagato said, "The Ring of Void is still in Orochimaru's hands. We still need to find an opportunity to hunt down this traitor and retrieve the ring."

"Zetsu, do you have any information about Orochimaru?"

Black Zetsu said, "Leader, Orochimaru, that traitor, has been hiding in Konoha for the past few years, only leaving once when he was plotting against the Fourth Kazekage."

Nagato: "They've been hiding in Konoha all this time."

He looked at Itachi Uchiha and asked, "You're a rogue ninja from Konoha, and you easily defeated Orochimaru. Do you have a way to deal with this traitor?"

Itachi Uchiha shook his head and replied, "I've already tried. As long as the Fifth Hokage is in Konoha, it's impossible to get close."

Nagato sighed in disappointment, "I understand."

As is well known, the Fifth Hokage often caused major incidents, shaking the ninja world several times a year and making the leaders of various ninja villages tremble with fear.

However, in his daily life, the Fifth Hokage was a homebody who always stayed in Konoha Village.

What frustrated the Kage of the four great ninja villages even more was that the Fifth Hokage had almost no daily work, spending all his time focused on training and always maintaining the best combat readiness.

As long as Orochimaru stays in Konoha, the Akatsuki won't be able to touch a hair on his head.

They all knew that the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, possessed a great deal of intelligence about the Akatsuki organization, and even knew that the Akatsuki's base was located in Amegakure.

If they slip up during the operation, Amegakure will face annihilation.

Thinking of the miraculous explosion in the ancient kingdom of Loulan, even Nagato would immediately abandon any plans related to Konoha.

Nagato spoke up: "I admit that the Fifth Hokage, Sasuke, was the strongest ninja in the ninja world, stronger than me."

"However, the Fifth Hokage was still a ninja, and his strength could not be compared with the ultimate weapon left behind by the Sage of Six Paths."

"Given the Fifth Hokage's strength, our previous plan of action is no longer appropriate."

"If we capture multiple tailed beasts in a short period of time, it will inevitably alert the five great ninja villages, and thus prompt the Fifth Hokage to intervene."

"I've decided to start capturing the Tailed Beasts now, and restore the power of the Gedo Mazo as discreetly as possible."

"Perhaps it won't be long before we don't have to worry about the Fifth Hokage anymore."