Bloodline Origin Tracing Project

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned and sank into thought.

Uchiha Hikari rose to her feet on her own. "That's all I have to say. Take your time thinking it over. I'm going back to cook..."

"Oh, one more reminder for you."

"The man who called himself 'Uchiha Madara,' who triggered the Nine Tails Riot and caused Minato Namikaze's death, isn't dead yet. He has a very unusual space-time ninjutsu that can pass through Konoha's barrier. You'd better have the Barrier Team heighten their vigilance, especially around the Naka River area where the Uchiha Clan resides. Don't let him exploit an opening."

After casually tossing out those words, Uchiha Hikari walked around Sarutobi Hiruzen and strode away.

The Anbu stationed nearby consciously made way for her.

A long while later.

A hidden door on the side of the room slowly opened, and Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu emerged.

"Homura, Koharu, what do you think?"

Faced with Sarutobi Hiruzen's question, the two advisers exchanged a glance. "Though I still dislike that arrogant little brat, her proposal is indeed worth considering."

"Now and then, the Uchiha Clan does produce members with sound minds, like Kagami back then. As long as we retain approval authority over personnel selection and choose Uchihas who meet the standards to enter the Anbu and Jonin ranks, we won't need to worry too much about the Uchiha Clan using those institutions to cultivate its own power."

"As long as we establish the regulations in advance and enforce them strictly, that little brat shouldn't be able to find any fault with them, right?"

"...All right. I'll draft a plan and talk with Fugaku again."

With Sarutobi Hiruzen's nod, the three old teammates reached a preliminary consensus.

After that.

Utatane Koharu asked somewhat worriedly, "Hiruzen, are you sure there won't be any problem with letting that little brat read the Book of Seals?"

"It's fine. It's only a copy, after all."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said softly, "Besides, I already removed the section on Sealing Techniques, as well as the Flying Thunder God Technique. Even if she learns a few other forbidden techniques, she won't be able to casually damage the seal the Fourth Hokage left on Naruto... This is also a way to verify whether she has truly met the Fourth Hokage, since these were all ninjutsu Minato excelled at most."

At the mention of the "Fourth Hokage," the elderly people fell silent.

"Hiruzen, do you really believe that little brat once met the Fourth? And what she said about 'Uchiha Madara'..."

Mitokado Homura paused, lowering his voice. "Is there a possibility that the pair of Mangekyō Sharingan that controlled the Nine-Tails back then was actually..."

"Not very likely."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. "Uchiha Hikari really did awaken recently. If she had already awakened four years ago, she should have been around eight at the time... Shisui had not awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan yet, and Fugaku... he has an alibi."

"In any case, let's handle the intelligence she provided as if it were true for now."

At that, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. "If Minato were still alive... he probably would have handled this better than us."

Uchiha Hikari naturally knew that part of the Book of Seals had been deliberately removed.

For instance, she had not seen the Four Symbols Seal or the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which should have been recorded in it.

But it was not a big problem.

The few forbidden techniques she chiefly wanted to learn were all there. She could first study and master those, then think about the rest later.

That evening, after completing her usual daily training, Uchiha Hikari opened her notebook. After pondering for a moment, she wrote a line at the top of the blank page:

Bloodline Origin Tracing Project for the Uchiha Clan

Since she had decided to intervene in the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, she naturally had to consider how to maximize her own gains.

She did not have much hope for the current Uchiha clansmen. They were a bunch of useless trash; aside from a rare few worth looking at, most were hopelessly incompetent.

But...

The Sharingan itself, as a Kekkei Genkai, still held considerable value.

Uchiha Hikari had previously only suspected that the Mangekyō Sharingan possessed a genetic defect, without giving much thought to the reason behind it. Tobirama Senju's theory, however, gave her an idea—

"The Uchiha Clan's genetic defect was likely not innate, but gradually formed during the process of developing the Sharingan."

"According to Tobirama Senju's theory, the essence of ocular power is a special Chakra produced in an Uchiha's brain when they experience extreme pain. That means... after ordinary people suffer pain, the negative emotions they produce gradually dissipate and fade over time. But an Uchiha's negative emotions are retained when their Sharingan awakens, becoming nourishment for their ocular power. Thus, the stronger the emotions, the stronger the ocular power, creating a vicious cycle."

"As large quantities of negative emotions accumulate and circulate in the brain, they continuously affect the cells and genes there, damaging the optic nerves while also causing drastic changes in temperament. The cause of Bloodline Disease is probably a side effect produced during this process..."

Take Itachi Uchiha, whose Bloodline Disease manifested the earliest, as an example.

He went to war at four, leaving him with war-related PTSD; awakened his Sharingan at eight after a companion was killed; entered the Anbu at eleven; slaughtered his entire clan at thirteen... His accumulation of negative emotions began earlier and proceeded faster than anyone else's in the clan, so his Bloodline Disease was also the most apparent.

As for other Mangekyō users, even Uchiha Madara during the Warring States period could still skip stones with Hashirama Senju in his childhood, and he had a younger brother, Izuna, by his side to help him vent negative emotions. As a result, his illness developed very slowly instead.

Uchiha Hikari put down her pen and lightly tapped the tabletop with her fingertips.

"I'll go see Fugaku tomorrow."

"Through Fugaku, I'll conduct a large-scale sampling survey within the Uchiha Clan. I'll collect blood, hair, and skin tissue samples from people of different ages and Sharingan tomoe states, then ask Dr. Brief to conduct comparative research. We'll confirm the trend of changes in gene sequences after every Sharingan evolution, as well as the differences among those with the same tomoe state. That may be the key to why Mangekyō Sharingan manifest different abilities..."

"If the Mangekyō Sharingan's changes follow patterns, then there must be a way to uncover those patterns..."

If she could accomplish that, it would not merely solve the problem of genetic defects or producing special medicine. She would trace the Uchiha Clan's bloodline back to its origin, glimpse the secrets of their ancestor Indra, and perhaps even the Rinnegan of the Otsutsuki Clan!

On that foundation...

Perhaps she could even develop a method to skip the intermediate step of accumulating negative emotions, reverse cause and effect, and artificially create Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan.

This was not mere fantasy.

The Super Saiyan transformation in Dragon Balls also required an extreme emotional shift—anger—to achieve, making it somewhat similar to the Sharingan.

But in the original Dragon Balls story, Bulma and her father studied Goku's and Vegeta's cells, discovered the secret of transforming into a Super Saiyan—the S-Cells—and allowed Vegeta, whose innate talent had been insufficient, to take a shortcut and successfully transform into a Super Saiyan.

Then tracing the Uchiha Clan's bloodline back to its origin might not be impossible either.

Even if it truly could not be done, Uchiha Hikari could at least inscribe marks on the entire clan and use them as reserve energy for Yachihoko. The combined ocular power of several hundred Uchiha clansmen was still a considerable force, capable of replenishing her at critical moments.

With those thoughts in mind.

Early the next morning, Uchiha Hikari climbed out of bed and intercepted an Uchiha clansman who had come to deliver vegetables in the outdoor corridor.

It was a girl.

She looked only eleven or twelve years old, with long, smooth black hair and a beauty mark beneath her right eye. When she suddenly looked up and saw Uchiha Hikari, she hurriedly bowed. "A junior of the Uchiha Clan greets, greets Grand Ancestor!"

"...What is your name?"

Uchiha Hikari studied the girl carefully. She felt somewhat familiar.

The girl answered obediently, "Izumi. My name is Izumi Uchiha."