Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Like Illaoi, they chose to go all in.

Uchiha Yan used all his remaining eye power to forcibly activate the third form of Susanoo.

Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain.

Instead of lingering in the second form and passively consuming resources, it's better to advance to a strong offensive and finish the battle quickly.

Two lines of bloody tears slowly slid down her cheeks.

A burst of scorching chakra erupted, and the silver Susanoo once again took shape in Illaoi's vision!

His bones stretched, his veins and flesh quickly merged, and a thin layer of armor formed on the surface. Finally, Susanoo put on his gauntlets.

The surface of the boxing gloves is printed with a cross-shaped pattern.

At close range, this attack was unavoidable.

Susanoo's powerful punch struck Illaoi without reservation, instantly deforming his face. His body flew backward, headfirst, embedding itself directly into the rocky wall, his entire body stiff and straight, stuck in the crevice parallel to the sea surface.

After throwing this punch, Uchiha Yan's silver Susanoo also disappeared.

She crouched on the sea surface and couldn't help coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Despite severe physical exhaustion, he was in an unprecedented state of high spirits.

The Kaleidoscope is a fundamental transformation compared to the Three Tomoe Sharingan. The third form, Susanoo, is also a qualitative change compared to the previous two forms.

She was absolutely thrilled.

After adjusting his own state, Uchiha Yan looked towards Illaoi at the reef.

He remained stuck in the crevice, motionless, his fate unknown.

Uchiha Yan exclaimed in astonishment, "What a terrifying body, like that of a tailed beast! It took my full-force punch head-on without turning into a bloody mist. But, this is the end..."

She strode toward the reef, intending to deliver the fatal blow to the defenseless Illaoi.

At that moment, she became alert and turned to look at the main passage in the middle of the canyon.

Two figures were rapidly approaching, and arcs of electricity crackling across the sea surface struck first.

"Tch, have reinforcements arrived?"

Uchiha Yan glanced at Illaoi with resentment, but reason prevailed over killing intent. He decided not to linger in the fight and decisively withdrew before the Cloud Village reinforcements could completely surround him.

...

"Damn it, the intruders got away!" shouted the Cloud Village Special Jonin Samoi in a fit of rage.

The battle between Uchiha Yan and Illaoi caused quite a stir.

The three members of the team who had already returned to the village sensed it.

Therefore, the two special Jonin immediately chose to turn back to support Illaoi, while the only Genin went to a nearby outpost for help.

Samoy pulled Illaoi out of the crevice, and gasped as he saw her injuries: "This..."

On the center of Illaoi's chest was a hideous, enormous blood cross.

"What exactly happened?"

"What kind of monster could have injured Illaoi like this?"

The other two looked at each other in astonishment and immediately gave Illaoi basic first aid.

A moment later, Illaoi, who had been unconscious, slowly awoke and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Illaoi, are you alright?"

"He won't die..."

"Illoy gasped for breath and responded weakly."

He sat up abruptly and saw the huge scar on his chest. He burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Shame! This is my shame!"

Known for his Tailed Beast-level physique, he was severely injured by a full-force attack from Susanoo's third form.

"What exactly happened?" Samoi pressed again.

Illaoi caught her breath and shared her experience with her two companions without reservation.

The two grew increasingly alarmed as they listened, exchanging bewildered glances. "The Uchiha clan? The Mangekyou Sharingan? And Susanoo... Could the person who attacked you have been Madara Uchiha?"

“No, it’s not him,” Illaoi denied. “That guy’s Susanoo is silver, and its form is different from Madara Uchiha’s. Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility that Susanoo itself can change color and form.”

His face darkened. "In short, the appearance of Uchiha ninjas in Cloud Thunder Gorge is no accident; they must be hiding a secret. They might even be after the First Hokage's corpse. We must report this to the Raikage as soon as possible and have him demand an explanation from Konoha."

"Should we pursue the enemy?"

"No, that person has companions with him. If you recklessly pursue them, you might also die."

"Let's go back immediately!"

"But your injury..."

"It's alright!" Illaoi forced herself to stand up, her eyes resolute. "Even when seriously injured, maintaining physical function is an essential condition for becoming the Raikage."

...

Even so, they met Uchiha Yan at the border of the Land of Lightning.

Seeing her like this, he raised an eyebrow: "You've activated the third form of Susanoo?"

"Hmm." Uchiha Yan's voice was weak, her tone full of resentment, "I almost killed Illaoi, but his companions suddenly arrived, I was afraid... Pfft!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

A mouthful of blood spurted from the corner of her mouth and splashed onto the ground.

Shen Er's expression remained unchanged, as he had already anticipated this situation.

Even Sasuke, who has the power to boost his Indra chakra, couldn't stably maintain his third form, Susanoo, while in Mangekyou Sharingan mode, let alone Uchiha Yan, who ascended to Mangekyou Sharingan through technology.

After helping her recover, Shen Er finally spoke: "You should have felt it, right?"

"The side effects of the Kaleidoscope Eye Technique."

"yes……"

Uchiha Yan removed his mask and wiped away the blood and tears from the corner of his eyes.

She could clearly feel that her vision was much blurrier than before she set off. This was not a simple decline in eyesight, but a comprehensive decline in the Sharingan's abilities. Along with the decline in eyesight, all the basic abilities such as observation, copying, and hypnosis were also compromised.

She can still use Susanoo.

But once her eyesight is depleted, she will lose even the most basic Sharingan.

Those who pursue power will eventually lose all power, just like the curse of fate.

Although the battle damaged Kaleidoscope's eyesight, it was not without its gains.

Let's set aside the matter of the Raikage's corpse for now.

This battle provided Jin with detailed data: the Mangekyou Sharingan activated by the original chakra of a naturally awakened user can also activate the third form of Susanoo, only with slightly less stability.

Seawater conducts electricity, which is advantageous for Lightning Release ninjas; and the enemy's superior mobility further hinders and restrains Susanoo. Even under these unfavorable conditions, Uchiha Yan still defeated Illaoi.

This data allowed Shen to boldly derive the relational symbol. Under normal circumstances, Uchiha ninjas using the Mangekyou Sharingan could easily defeat elite Jonin.

This important symbol also clarified the risk control standards for future missions: if the mission target involves ninjas of elite Jonin level or above, the use of the power of the Technological Kaleidoscope should be carefully considered.

Jonin, Chunin, and Genin are all determined by a combination of strength and battle achievements.

However, in Shen's eyes, he would use the iconic ninja as a benchmark, disregarding special factors such as intelligence suppression. Those whose combat strength falls between Kage-level and elite Jonin are uniformly classified as Quasi-Kage.

Characters like the Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure, the later Sannin of Konoha, Kakuzu, Kisame... and even the weakest Mizukage, Chojuro, all belong to this tier.

With his fully powered Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke was able to pose a threat to all the Kage except Onoki at the Five Kage Summit.

With her remaining Mangekyou Sharingan, Uchiha Yan was able to pose a threat to the Kage.

A strict combat capability ranking system.

"I said, when can you help me stabilize the state of my Mangekyou Sharingan? So much time has passed, you should have a way, right?" Uchiha Yan asked breathlessly, "My eyes are really hurting terribly right now."

"A solution? Of course there is."

The optimal solution is to awaken the artificial Mangekyou Sharingan in Uchiha Bin, fusing it with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to fundamentally alleviate the Mangekyou Sharingan's load and durability issues. If that doesn't work, there's the alternative of fusing it with Hashirama's cells.

However, the latter carries significantly higher risks and is much more difficult to implement than the former.

She even prefers to believe that Uchiha clan members who are siblings share the same talent for the Mangekyou Sharingan. If the sister can awaken an artificial Mangekyou Sharingan, then the brother can too.

"any solution?"

"Let's go back to Akatsuki first," Shen said calmly. "You'll soon be wanted by the entire ninja world. Not just Kumogakure, but even Konoha will join the hunt for you. Did you clean up all the traces when you left?"

"It's all cleaned up."

Uchiha Yan's face showed displeasure: "Don't act like it's my fault! If we had waited another day, until the vigilante team left, taking the body wouldn't have been exposed. So what are you trying to do, so eager for the First Raikage's body?"

Shen Er knew perfectly well that this was not Uchiha Yan's fault, but rather that his own urgent need for the First Raikage's corpse had exposed her to the risk.

There was no other way. The journey back to Konoha from Yunlei Gorge was long, and acting on the fifth day was already the limit. If they delayed for another day, they wouldn't be able to deliver the heart to the original body within the time limit.

But if you're just a tool, you should be aware of what it means to be a tool.

He wouldn't explain it to Uchiha Yan.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Now, let's return to Akatsuki Village."

...

A long-distance raid.

At the edge of the field of vision, the outline of Akatsuki Village came into view.

After more than two years of development, Xiaoren Village has expanded again. The village has buildings both above and below ground, attracting a large number of civilians from the surrounding area to live there.

The number of registered ninjas has surged from the initial thirty to one hundred. Among them are native ninjas from the Land of Rice Fields as well as wandering ninjas from various countries, all drawn by their reputation.

This size is already considered huge for a small country.

With the number of participants skyrocketing, a mix of good and bad is inevitable.

However, the development of the ninja village requires an expansion of manpower, which is a last resort.

Even so, Shen's will was still carried out.