Hashirama Cells

"Fugaku, you're back!"

Upon returning to the Uchiha compound, Uchiha Fugaku found Uchiha Mikoto at the entrance, dressed in a kimono with a gentle smile on her face.

Her black hair was pinned up, making her look dignified and beautiful. Even beneath the kimono, her impressive figure could not be concealed.

"Mm."

Uchiha Fugaku nodded.

Danzo had accosted him the moment he returned, leaving him in a foul mood. Yet the instant he saw Uchiha Mikoto, his mood abruptly improved.

At the entrance, he slipped off his wooden clogs. Uchiha Mikoto gently stepped forward and helped him remove the outer garment he wore to shield himself from the wind and dust.

He enjoyed Uchiha Mikoto's tenderness, allowing her soft hands to brush over him.

Her familiar, elegant fragrance drifted toward him, instantly calming his restless heart.

Thump, thump, thump!

Accompanied by the sound of running across the wooden floor, a delicately handsome little boy with black hair and black eyes came running over. It was Uchiha Sasuke, still just a little boy.

"Father."

Seeing Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Sasuke called out happily.

Uchiha Fugaku smiled and rubbed Uchiha Sasuke's head before asking, "You haven't been slacking off while I was away, have you?"

The previous owner of this body had devoted most of his attention to Uchiha Itachi, whom he regarded as his pride, and had paid little attention to Uchiha Sasuke.

However, knowing Uchiha Sasuke's future potential, he had begun paying much more attention to him and deliberately training him.

"I haven't. If you don't believe me, ask Mother."

Uchiha Sasuke replied in a crisp voice.

"I can testify. Sasuke has been very diligent these past few days," Uchiha Mikoto said with a gentle smile.

"That's good."

Uchiha Fugaku nodded, picked Uchiha Sasuke up, and entered the house together with Uchiha Mikoto.

He glanced around the room, somewhat surprised, and asked, "Why don't I see Itachi?"

"He received a mission a few days ago and left the village," Uchiha Mikoto said.

"Big Brother clearly promised to train with me, but he broke his promise again." Uchiha Sasuke pouted.

"He has a mission to carry out. There's nothing to be done about that," Uchiha Fugaku comforted him.

His expression remained unchanged, but thoughts flashed through his mind.

A few days ago—the timing was close to the destruction of the Root squad. The mission Uchiha Itachi had accepted was likely to investigate the "enemy" who had wiped out that Root squad.

As for the Uchiha Clan, the surveillance mission should already have ended.

Without Uchiha Itachi watching him, it would be much more convenient for him to act from now on. That was a good thing for him.

After chatting with Uchiha Mikoto for a while and training with Uchiha Sasuke for some time, Uchiha Fugaku entered the study and locked the door behind him.

He pushed aside the bookshelf and lifted the floorboards, revealing a staircase leading underground.

This was the previous owner's secret room, used to store important items.

After lighting a lamp, he descended the stairs and entered an underground chamber spanning several hundred square meters.

Against the wall on the right stood a bookshelf, sparsely filled with several precious scrolls.

Against the wall on the left was a weapon rack holding three finely crafted ninja swords.

At the very back was a large empty area paved with sturdy stone slabs, serving as a small training ground.

Arriving at the training ground, he took out the Sealing Scroll containing White Zetsu's corpse and released the seal.

Poof—

Amid a puff of smoke, White Zetsu's corpse appeared, lying flat on the training ground.

"At last, I can deal with the problem with my eyes!"

As he looked at White Zetsu's corpse, anticipation filled his eyes.

After using the Mangekyō Sharingan and unleashing Susanoo in his battle against Kakuzu, his eyes had suffered considerable damage, and his vision had worsened significantly again.

He estimated that if he went through a few more battles of that intensity, he would likely go blind.

Fortunately, White Zetsu's corpse was already in his hands. He would soon be able to eliminate this hidden danger.

Corpse Melting—

His eyes transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan, and the pattern in Uchiha Fugaku's left eye began to spin rapidly. As it spun, the Dojutsu housed within his left eye, Corpse Melting, activated.

Buzz—

A pitch-black, lightless vortex appeared in the air. Uchiha Fugaku grabbed White Zetsu's corpse and stuffed it into the vortex.

White Zetsu's corpse vanished, appearing in a space several meters long and wide, filled with black liquid.

The moment it was submerged in the black liquid, White Zetsu's corpse began to rapidly melt away.

A type of biological tissue, similar to cells yet not truly cells and possessing bloodline characteristics, was extracted and flowed out from his left eye.

After flowing out, this biological tissue spread throughout his body, reacting with the cells in every part of it.

Something he had experienced once before happened again.

A scorching sensation arose. The difference was that this time, it was no longer confined to his head—his entire body burned with heat.

Under this scorching sensation, sweat seeped from his entire body, quickly soaking through his clothes.

Meanwhile, the cells throughout his body underwent rapid changes. Their forms and structures were all subtly transforming.

After quite some time, White Zetsu's corpse completely melted away. The production of biological tissue ended, and the scorching sensation in his body faded.

He could feel that his body was clearly somewhat different from before.

His cells seemed more active, and his recovery ability had become stronger.

Before he could carefully sense these changes, he discovered that a cool aura was slowly yet continuously flowing from all parts of his body toward his eyes.

A chilly sensation appeared in his eyes, and beneath that cool feeling, his eyes felt much more comfortable.

It was like suddenly applying soothing eye drops to exhausted, bloodshot eyes. A comfort he had not felt in a long time surfaced.

He keenly noticed that the damage to his eyes was slowly being repaired.

Even the best Medical Ninja, Tsunade, should have been helpless against this kind of damage, yet it was now being repaired.

Although the process was extremely slow and would likely take a month, it was indeed being repaired.

"Not only can it prevent blindness, it can even repair damage that has already been done!"

Uchiha Fugaku was delighted.

The benefits he gained from melting White Zetsu's corpse exceeded his expectations.

He had originally thought the effect would only prevent his eyes from suffering further damage and avert blindness. He had not expected it to also repair damage that had already occurred.

Upon thinking it over carefully, it was not difficult to understand.

It was said that Hashirama Senju possessed a Sage Body. This physique was ideal for cultivating Sage Mode and granted terrifying self-healing abilities.

By melting White Zetsu's corpse, his body had gained the characteristics of Hashirama Cells. While it was unlikely that he had obtained a Sage Body, he had certainly gained some degree of self-healing ability.

That was precisely why it could repair the damage to his eyes.