Consciousness Splitting

"Huh...?"

Li Yao's current state was quite strange.

It seemed the newcomer had cut a piece of flesh from his thigh. That piece contained his Chakra, and his consciousness had fused with his Chakra, so it had separated along with the Chakra in that piece of flesh.

A small fragment of his consciousness had split off!

This was something Li Yao had never expected.

Fortunately, only a small part of his consciousness had separated, not his soul. Otherwise, Li Yao figured his soul would have split apart and killed him.

Now that a portion of his consciousness had separated along with that mass of Chakra, it gave Li Yao a very peculiar sense.

The separated consciousness remained connected to his soul and will, and was still under his control.

Through that separated consciousness, he could vaguely sense the Chakra around it using Chakra perception.

"It should be Danzo!"

After thinking it over briefly, Li Yao concluded that the man just now had been Danzo.

There were not many people in Konoha whose Chakra quality came close to the Third Hokage's, and among those staying in an underground base like this, Li Yao could not think of anyone besides Danzo, that bastard who was closely acquainted with the Third Hokage.

Moreover, Li Yao had sensed a mass of Chakra at the location of Danzo's right eye that was of even higher quality than the Third Hokage's.

In the ninja world, there were no eyes with Chakra quality greater than the Third Hokage's apart from the three great dōjutsu.

The eye in Danzo's right socket was undoubtedly a Sharingan—and a Mangekyō Sharingan at that.

If Li Yao remembered correctly, Danzo's right eye during this period should have belonged to Kagami Uchiha.

"I wonder whether Mangekyō Sharingan-level genjutsu would work on me?"

The thought suddenly struck Li Yao, and a trace of urgency welled up within him. He had no desire to use a Mangekyō Sharingan to test whether he could withstand genjutsu of that level.

For now, he needed to increase his strength and escape first.

Lab One.

Danzo arrived before a piece of experimental equipment. It was a hedgehog-shaped device covered in long slots, with a long electrical cable connected to its base.

Danzo inserted the test tube containing Li Yao's flesh and blood into one of the slots, then pressed the switch. The hedgehog-shaped device slowly began to rotate, faster and faster.

After three minutes, the device stopped.

During the test, Li Yao's flesh and blood had been completely broken down into individual cells, thoroughly mixing with the dark green liquid to form a pale green solution tinged with red.

The inky substance seemed to have reacted during the electrified spinning process, either disappearing or transforming into something else.

Danzo took the test tube and went to another device. This one was a transparent, smooth panel of special glass, with a light board beneath it that emitted a faint white glow.

Danzo poured three drops of the liquid from the test tube onto the glass panel, forming three spots. Then he activated the light board beneath the device, which shone a dazzling white light onto the transparent glass panel.

Danzo carefully observed the changes in the three drops under the white light.

Very quickly, beneath the dazzling illumination, the pale green liquid tinged with red gradually faded in color until it finally became completely colorless.

Danzo's brow furrowed slightly at the sight.

"Not cells from a special Kekkei Genkai!"

The cells of a ninja with a Kekkei Genkai differed from those of ordinary ninjas. When exposed to dazzling white light on special transparent glass, they would display a different color.

Only ninjas without a Kekkei Genkai would exhibit the colorless state seen now.

This meant Li Yao was not a Kekkei Genkai ninja.

Then why could the Chakra in his body resist an invasion by genjutsu Chakra as powerful as the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique?

There was only one possibility.

Li Yao, or his Chakra, had been constantly maintained in some special forbidden jutsu state. That was why, even with both his mind and body on the verge of collapse, he could still resist the genjutsu invasion of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.

"No wonder Hiruzen had me study him. It seems he noticed this too."

Danzo smiled faintly to himself. If it was all the effect of a special ninjutsu, then the value of that ninjutsu would rise enormously.

After all, Kekkei Genkai were difficult to replicate.

Just like Wood Release. So many powerful members of the Senju Clan had died, yet they had still gained nothing.

But if it was ninjutsu, even forbidden jutsu, it could potentially be widely taught.

He, Hiruzen, and the Root and Anbu squads under them could all learn it.

If they mastered this unique ninjutsu that granted immunity to at least genjutsu below the Mangekyō level, they would not only hold an advantage against the Uchiha Clan, but also against other genjutsu specialists in the ninja world.

It would effectively increase Konoha's strength.

It could be considered a strategic-level ninjutsu.

It was understandable why Hiruzen valued it so highly.

And why he was so wary of that little brat called Li Yao escaping.

But Hiruzen did not know that he had already tortured the boy until he only had a few years left to live. He was worrying over nothing.

At that thought, Danzo frowned again.

That little brat clearly did not have many years left.

He had to obtain this genjutsu-immune ninjutsu while the boy was still alive.

Danzo continued his research, testing and experimenting with Li Yao's cellular solution across one device after another, attempting to break the special ninjutsu Li Yao's Chakra constantly maintained or uncover the peculiar effects it produced.

Unfortunately, even after the cellular solution in one test tube had been used up, Danzo obtained no useful results.

Danzo immediately left the room, intending to get some more of Li Yao's flesh cells from Lab Two.

But halfway there, Danzo stopped.

"Hiruzen still hasn't gotten the results he wanted after half a year. That means this isn't so simple."

"And that little brat can't withstand too much more torment now."

To ensure he could study Li Yao's body for longer, Danzo decided to set the matter aside for the day. He would return to continue researching the Sharingan and examine Li Yao's cells again in a few days.

The days passed one after another.

Over the following days, after confirming that the Chakra within his acupoints had not drawn Danzo's attention, Li Yao continued gathering Chakra while trying to find ways to increase his strength.

Soon, half a year passed.

Winter, Year 35 of Konoha.

As the Land of Fire took measures in response, the conflicts among the Five Great Nations beyond their borderlines grew increasingly intense.

In truth, the Five Great Nations did not directly border one another. Several small countries lay between each of them.

The clashes between the ninja villages of the various nations all took place within these small countries. Their own territories remained unaffected, and ordinary civilians had no idea that the conflicts among the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations were escalating.

The destruction and casualties caused by the conflicts among the Five Great Hidden Villages were all borne by the people of the small countries wedged between the Five Great Nations.

Among them, the Land of Rain, whose borders connected to the Three Great Nations, suffered the most.

Thus, the Land of Rain, which bordered the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire at the same time, naturally became the region where the conflict among the Three Great Hidden Villages was at its fiercest.