Deep Blue Panel? No, It's Mangekyo!

Staring at the Deep Blue Panel after allocating points, Daren Yi thought of an interesting question. If the attribute boosts reached a hundredfold or a thousandfold in the future, wouldn't it become "Constitution: Enhanced 100000%"?

Wouldn't counting all those zeros be a pain? The moment that thought crossed his mind, the Deep Blue Panel before him flickered and changed into "Constitution: 3" and "Spirit: 5," while everything else remained unchanged.

Having long suspected as much, Daren Yi tentatively deactivated the Mangekyō Sharingan he had kept active. Sure enough, the translucent Deep Blue Panel before him twisted into a mass of Colorless Transparent Flames, then vanished into the air.

Daren Yi closed his eyes, reopened his Mangekyō, and carefully sensed the special Dojutsu within them.

In the silence, Colorless Transparent Flames surged from his eyes, enveloping his body and everything within three meters of him as they burned without a sound.

The wooden floor beneath his feet and the potted plants caught within the flames slowly lost all life, eventually turning into ash and dust.

At his command, the Colorless Transparent Flames gathered before him once more, then continuously compressed and transformed, becoming that translucent Deep Blue Panel again.

"The Dojutsu in one eye is Devouring and Plundering. The Dojutsu in the other is Evolution and Restoration. Together with the Genjutsu trait, they form the Deep Blue point-allocation panel."

Opening his eyes, Daren Yi muttered to himself, helping sort through his thoughts.

"More accurately, this mass of flames is the true manifestation of the Deep Blue Panel. Devouring and Plundering burns others, while Evolution and Restoration burns myself.

"It took this form because of my own intense desire.

"The Mangekyō Sharingan is an eye that reflects the soul. Whatever you intensely desire in your heart, you gain a corresponding Dojutsu.

"And me? A transmigrator without a Golden Finger. What I desired most naturally was a Cheat Golden Finger, so I imagined a Deep Blue Panel into existence for myself!

"As expected, people have to rely on themselves. If you don't intensely desire a Golden Finger, if you can't think about one until you go insane, if you can't even go crazy for it, why would a Golden Finger choose you?"

Examining the "Mental State Abnormality Degree" that had reached 37% on the panel, Daren Yi confirmed once again that his psychological problems and mental illness had worsened considerably. His condition was growing more severe by the day.

To obtain a Cheat Golden Finger, he really had paid a great, great price!

From the moment an Uchiha Clan member awakened the Sharingan, their mental state was already abnormal. Every last one of them was undeniably mentally ill.

Analyzed using knowledge from his previous life, the process of awakening the Sharingan could also be viewed as a psychological issue causing physiological changes.

From Single Tomoe to Double Tomoe, from Double Tomoe to Three Tomoe, the condition worsened time and again. The Mangekyō was the sign of going completely insane.

It was just that different people went insane in different ways. Some went mad more openly, while others hid it better.

Some were crazy without any logic, while others were crazy in an orderly, well-reasoned manner.

But at their core, they were all lunatics. They merely looked like normal people.

"Still, crazy was crazy, and strong was strong!"

The panel's "Mental State Abnormality Degree: 37%," along with its corresponding "Chakra Strength/Recovery Speed Boost: 370%" and "Yin Release Ninjutsu/Genjutsu Strength Boost: 370%," made Daren Yi understand where the Uchiha's power came from.

"The more neurotic and obsessive you are, the stronger you become?

"Chakra itself is linked to Spirit Energy, and then there's the conversion boost from the Uchiha bloodline and the Sharingan.

"So intense, blazing emotions that burn one's own self, and a stubborn, pure mental state so obsessive it becomes neurotic—

"Those are the very things that drive the Uchiha Clan to grow stronger?

"Holy shit, they're born lunatics! The crazier they get, the stronger they become. The stronger they become, the crazier they get!

"If this were the Sea Tiger World, where magnetic-field lunatics existed, the Uchiha Clan would have taken off long ago.

"I suddenly understand how Tobirama Senju felt back then. A whole bunch of potential lunatics lived right next door—anyone would panic.

"No wonder he insisted on keeping the Uchiha Clan tightly confined within the village, then did everything he could to brainwash them into normal people.

"Turning good guys into weaklings! No wonder the Uchiha Clan became so pathetic later on.

"They'd been brainwashed by several generations of Hokage into having normal thought patterns and ways of thinking. If lunatics didn't go crazy, where would their strength come from?

"Uh, no, there were three who went crazy. With the raw power of three pairs of Mangekyō, any great ninja village would have had no choice but to remain calm and choose peaceful coexistence.

"And then two of them basically committed suicide, while one turned around and wiped out his own entire clan...

"Ah, I really can't make sense of the thought patterns and behavioral rules of lunatics at all!

"As expected of lunatics!"

Daren Yi, who had also awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, mocked the thought processes of other Mangekyō users without the slightest self-awareness, feeling that he had figured out many things.

After understanding his own Mangekyō Dojutsu, his mood brightened. Only then did he realize he was hungry. He got up, walked into the kitchen, and heated the prepared food he had brought home in the microwave.

A while later, the kitchen door creaked open. Daren Yi, who was eating with relish, did not even raise his head as he asked, "Want some?"

There was a little sincerity in his tone, but not much.

"No. You've already finished it all!"

The teardrop mole girl, who had just woken up, was both annoyed and amused. That was far too perfunctory an invitation to eat.

"I figured you wouldn't have much of an appetite, so I didn't save you any."

Daren Yi did not look the least bit embarrassed. He swallowed the last piece of meat in his mouth, and only then did his expression turn serious.

Looking directly into the girl's eyes, he asked earnestly, "You awakened the Mangekyō then, right? What are your Dojutsu abilities?"

Izumi Uchiha looked somewhat melancholy, recalling that moment when she had come so close to death. "The Dojutsu is called Ōkuninushi. The left eye's ability is False Death, and the right eye's ability is Substitute Death.

"Substitute Death brands another person with a mark that remains permanently effective. After death, they revive automatically. Unfortunately, only one mark can be placed on each person at a time, and it has to be branded again after revival.

"False Death brands a mark on myself. It activates automatically when I die, or I can use it voluntarily to create a fake version of myself to die in my place."

"No wonder there was a real corpse in that false Genjutsu while those Root Ninja were immersed in my illusion."

Daren Yi pondered the two Dojutsu that had never appeared in the original work. The ability to give both others and himself "revival coins" was a little absurd. It was no less broken than Obito's pair of Kamui Mangekyō.

"Thank you, Brother Yi. I never expected you to save me."

Izumi Uchiha pursed her lips, her cheeks slightly flushed. She lifted her head to meet Daren Yi's eyes, as though trying to see something in them.

"Brother Yi, your strength... I never imagined it! You hid it for so many years. Why take such a risk this time? Didn't you think about what would happen if you were discovered?"

"Of course I did. That's why I deliberately kept my distance all these years and didn't contact you for a long time."

Daren Yi's face remained calm, as though he had never shed blood or tears from beginning to end. He continued stabbing at the girl's heart.

"To be honest, I didn't expect that I would take the risk of saving you, either.

"Mm, I was pretty surprised myself!"

The girl was stunned and solemnly warned him.

"Brother Yi, if you don't know how to talk, then don't!"

"Don't call me brother. We're the same age. I'm even a few months younger than you."

Daren Yi continued displaying his straight-man nature, correcting her improper form of address without a shred of tact.

But Izumi Uchiha burst out laughing. Remembering scenes from their childhood, her smiling eyes curved into crescents as she reminisced.

"You were like an adult even as a child, always so serious. You took especially good care of people, and you knew so much... I was always looked after by you, so of course I treated you like an older brother."

"I understand. So it's the affection between siblings?" Daren Yi nodded seriously.

A smile appeared at the corners of Izumi Uchiha's lips. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, her soft, warm body pressing into his embrace.

When she tilted her head up, their cheeks pressed tightly together. Closing her eyes to feel the warmth of his cheek, she murmured, "No. That affection has already changed!"

Daren Yi fell silent, then reached out and held her tightly.

After a long while, the teardrop mole girl spoke again. "What are your Mangekyō Sharingan abilities? Don't tell me you don't have any. I felt your Dojutsu Power surge back then too."

"One is Devouring and Plundering, and the other is Evolution and Perfection. I use the energy gained through Devouring and Plundering to perfect myself and evolve to higher, stronger levels."

Izumi Uchiha chuckled. "Hey, why does it seem like neither of them has anything to do with me? I was thinking about you when I awakened the Mangekyō!"

Daren Yi's gaze did not change, as if his sensitive ears were not itchy at all. The moment he opened his mouth, he continued testing the edge of death.

"Yeah. Only after awakening the Mangekyō did I realize that perhaps I don't love you as much as I imagined. The Mangekyō is an eye that reflects the soul.

"Men can say sweet things, but Mangekyō Dojutsu never lies."

Izumi Uchiha gritted her teeth in anger and clenched her fists, pounding his shoulder resentfully. Yet as she fumed, she could not help laughing again.

"You should have told me that you realized only greater strength could protect the person you loved, which was why you awakened such Dojutsu."

Daren Yi snorted, his face full of pride and disdain. "I would never lie just to please a woman. I only tell the truth!"

Watching his stubborn expression and recalling the atmosphere of their childhood interactions, Izumi Uchiha was both angry and amused. Her nose twitched as she softly snorted twice, then quietly leaned against one of his shoulders.

After another while, she finally remembered the Uchiha Clan that had been slaughtered. Her eyes dimmed. "It's a shame that my mother and the others..."

Daren Yi had expected this. He put an arm around her shoulder and led her toward the basement. From a waterproof, heatproof container securely protected by multiple layers of metal boxes, he took out five Sealing Scrolls and explained.

"Konohagakure's forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation, can use bodily tissue to summon the dead person's soul back to the Human World. Combined with certain special forbidden techniques, it can revive the dead."

Izumi Uchiha was a little dazed. There was too much information, and it had come too suddenly. She foolishly asked, "The scrolls contain tissue from your parents and mine?

"When did you get tissue from my parents? And whose is the other Sealing Scroll?"

Looking at the silly girl, Daren Yi could no longer keep a straight face. He broke into laughter on the spot, and his voice unconsciously softened.

"After Nine-Tails Night, when I helped bury your father and took care of your mother...

"As for the fifth Sealing Scroll, of course it contains tissue I collected from you in advance. That's why I said I shouldn't have saved you, and I hadn't planned to save you."

???

Her childhood sweetheart had planned to watch her die without saving her, yet he had prepared a backup plan to revive her beforehand.

So the question was—

Did this man love her or not?

Izumi Uchiha blankly opened her mouth, feeling that the question was a little too brain-burning. Her CPU was about to burn out.

"Then why did you change your mind at the last minute?"

Curled up in his arms, the teardrop mole girl resentfully pinched and twisted the soft flesh at his waist.

Daren Yi also held her tightly and said softly, "I couldn't hold back then."