Soul Awakening the Eyes

Jiraiya curiously took the Picture Book. The cover was blank. He flipped it open indifferently, muttering, "With my years of experience traveling the world, what haven't I seen? I don't believe it..."

"Holy crap!" The white-haired man almost had a nosebleed after only seeing the first page.

After quickly and roughly flipping through the entire book, it turned out to be a comic strip similar to the illustrations in Shuichi's works, or to put it more artistically, Beauty Painting, but this one was much more explicit than the usual kind.

"This art book is a compilation of my inspirational essence," Shuichi said, spreading his hands. "Now you have directly access to my summarized creative ideas, so my future book will likely be even more successful."

"Besides, I probably won't be writing many more adult books like this, and it won't conflict with your work much..."

Shuichi felt he had accomplished a great feat. Seeing his wonderful collection of drawings might help Jiraiya curb his voyeuristic addiction, which would be a huge contribution to Entire Ninja World!

"..."

After some friendly communication, Shuichi successfully quelled Jiraiya's "resentment" and reached an agreement with him by offering a fun picture book, a small amount of free distribution, and news of Tsunade's drunkenness at a nearby tavern. The controversy surrounding the book's publication had passed.

After Jiraiya rushed off to Tsunade, Shuichi's desire to continue strolling around waned considerably. He accompanied Kurenai to buy some things and then embarked on their journey back to the village.

There were two of them when they went out, and there were still two of them when they came back. Although Karin was "gotten" and then lost, the haul was actually quite substantial.

After two days of leisurely travel, on a sunny afternoon, Shuichi finally stepped through the Konoha Gate. A member of the Anbu) leaped in front of him in a flash.

"Lord Shuichi, you've returned just in time. The Lord Hokage has urgent business with you."

"Oh? What is it?"

The Anbu glanced at Yūhi Kurenai beside him, deciding there was no need to hide anything. "It's Anko 'Chunin squad who are unconscious. The other members aren't seriously injured, but Mitarashi Anko is currently acting strangely, and the Lord Hokage is personally monitoring her."

Upon hearing that her friend was in trouble, Hong asked worriedly, "What happened to Anko? Can I go and see her?"

"Hmm..." Shuichi moment, then smiled and reassured her, "Don't worry, I roughly know what happened. It'll be nothing serious. You should go back and rest."

After comforting Hong and letting her go home first, Shuichi gestured for the Anbu to lead the way.

All the injured Konoha Ninja are recuperating in the hospital, except for Anko, who was transferred to a secret room in the Anbu Base. The Third Hokage didn't deal with her directly in the office building, seemingly wanting to conceal the news as much as possible.

"Shuichi, you've arrived..." Underground Chamber, besides the Third Hokage, there were two Medical Ninja and a skilled member of the Sealing Squad.

Seeing Shuichi, he asked with a serious expression, "What exactly is Orochimaru researching? Why did he suddenly appear and attack Anko?"

"Don't be in such a hurry." Shuichi stepped closer and glanced around.

Anko lay in the center of the room with her eyes closed and her face flushed. A few black lines on her neck were visible, constantly shrinking. Her body trembled from time to time, as if she was enduring unbearable pain.

A ring of various spells surrounded her, clearly intended to suppress the evil chakra emanating from her.

"Teacher Orochimaru has succeeded. Should I congratulate him? Anyway, I can't set off fireworks to celebrate," Shuichi thought to himself.

But he said something else entirely, "This thing is called Cursed Seal, I think. I tried using it a few years ago, how should I put it..."

"After activating the Cursed Seal, the ninja enters a state similar to a semi- Sage Mode. In this state, Natural Energy will involuntarily gather around the Cursed Seal bearer, greatly increasing physical vitality and chakra strength."

"All in all, it should be a good thing, I guess..."

"But Anko Chunin's physical condition isn't good right now!" Medical Unit ninja nearby couldn't help but say, "Her body temperature is even higher than when she has a fever. If this continues, it could cause permanent damage."

"So I'm already preparing." Shuichi moved closer, channeling his chakra. "You can remove the seals now; leave it to me."

The staff looked at the Third Hokage and saw him nod without changing his expression. The Sealing Squad members then switched hands, warning, "Be careful, this chakra is extremely active; it can even absorb surrounding energy to grow stronger."

Shuichi ignored them and quietly waited for the Barrier binding his chakra to dissipate.

The Cursed Seal, now free from suppression, immediately went berserk, spreading visibly from Anko's neck.

Shuichi calmly formed a few hand seals and found that Anko was indeed unable to resist the erosion of the Cursed Seal. Too lazy to say that she was useless, he quickly placed his hand on the location of the Cursed Seal.

"They didn't use the Evil Sealing Method?!" The Third Hokage and the others were puzzled, their eyes fixed on the changes in Anko.

Shuichi's chakra had an extremely significant effect; he calmed the scene almost immediately upon touching the Cursed Seal, and the overflowing evil chakra vanished as if water had no source.

"No problem, the Evil Sealing Method isn't as powerful as my Exclusive Seal," Shuichi said casually.

"Anko won't exhibit any more unusual behavior unless she encounters an extremely difficult battle that leaves her completely exhausted. However, if that happens, the re-emerging Cursed Seal might still be able to save her life."

The Third Hokage frowned slightly; this so-called variant of Sage Mode was clearly somewhat strange.

Because Senjutsu Chakra is a mixture of Natural Energy, Mental Energy, and physical energy, it is indeed a level above ordinary chakra.

However, in any case, the nature of Senjutsu Chakra should match the creator himself; it's impossible for mixing one-third of Natural Energy to turn it into something else entirely.

Anko could sense Orochimaru's chakra, and she was very familiar with Orochimaru's chakra, but the Cursed Seal was different from both of them; that aura... was not like that of a normal human at all.

Orochimaru, what exactly are you researching?

The Third Hokage's head started to ache again, and to make matters worse, Orochimaru had already left the village. Given that guy's cunning nature, he didn't want to reappear and be untraceable.

Shuichi could roughly guess the Third Hokage's thoughts. What the Third Hokage didn't know was that this evil chakra truly belonged to Orochimaru, and contained within it a Reborn Soul.

If you combine another piece of Snake Flesh, you could even create a person on the spot.

Shuichi was secretly excited, but he didn't show it on the surface. He turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen and said, "Don't worry, I guarantee Anko will be fine."

I made a promise to Seinichi- senpai back then, and I never break my word.

The Third Hokage trusted Shuichi completely. Purple Aurora was known for his composure and rarely made mistakes in anything he did from a young age. Of course, he would take even better care of his junior sister.

"Then I'll leave the Anko in your care. Report any unexpected situations to me immediately."

He could only put Orochimaru aside for the time being, focus on comforting the injured ninjas, and provide them with some compensation while keeping the news under wraps.

"No problem..."

After leaving the Anbu Base, Shuichi helped the unconscious Anko back to his house. He found a good spot on the training ground outside and put her down, then rubbed his hands together excitedly, looking like a complete freak.

Perhaps due to their excessive gluttony and rich nutrition, the Anko exhibit remarkably good development.

The little red bean buns of yesteryear have now grown into large, rounded buns.

Unfortunately, Shuichi already has a girlfriend, and as a self-proclaimed gentleman, he wouldn't be tempted by lust.

Besides, given Anko's strange personality, would you really marry her and treat her like a brother...?

"Call!"

After carefully confirming that no one was watching, Shuichi reached out and placed his hand on Anko's Cursed Seal, using his Mental Energy to penetrate it as much as possible.

He wanted to investigate what exactly the Cursed Seal residing in Orochimaru's soul was all about, as it was related to his future research direction.

Since the teacher has sent us such good material, it would be a waste not to understand it.

There was no large space similar to the one in Naruto's seal, nor was there the pink fleshy area from the Living Corpse Reincarnation in the original work; the "view" was temporarily dark.

Shuichi's chakra easily came into contact with Orochimaru's Orochimaru Senjutsu Chakra, sensing that the other party was in... a semi-dormant state.

"Hi, teacher!" Shuichi tentatively called out.

After a few seconds, the chakra within the Cursed Seal seemed to stir briefly before falling silent again.

He didn't know what state Orochimaru's soul was in, but it was best not to continue trying today, since Anko had just received the Cursed Seal and overstimulating it might damage her body.

"I haven't gained much yet, but it's still helpful to me!" Shuichi silently withdrew his hand, feeling very happy.

The reason he didn't use the Evil Sealing Method was not only because Anko's willpower wasn't strong enough, making her prone to relapse, but also because it made it easier for him to do it himself.

Strengthening the seal on the Anko several times a year or irregularly is indeed more effective than using Evil Sealing Method; this excuse will not arouse any suspicion.

It allows one to turn Anko's body into a chat platform with Orochimaru, which is extremely helpful for research into one's soul.

After sending the Anko home, Shuichi began to thoroughly organize the existing resources and review Tsunade's research findings on White Zetsu Cells over the next few days.

"Tsunade is very powerful, but when it comes to the core technology of the Shinobi World, you have to look to Teacher Orochimaru!"

In his own study, a large number of open Scroll were scattered on the table, Shuichi thought with a smile.

He realized that obsessively working on mastering Sage Mode was pointless. If he could create a secondary soul within himself, wouldn't he be able to use Sage Mode perfectly?

The second soul helps absorb Natural Energy to create Senjutsu Chakra, which the main body can use directly, completely compensating for the drawback of having to separate movement and stillness.

"I never imagined that having a system attached to me would ultimately turn me into a scientist..." Shuichi remarked. "Perfect, it's time to put all that knowledge I've accumulated to use."

As the year passed, only his passive skills continued to improve him; he could no longer experience the thrill of a sudden surge in strength.

The passive divine skill is theoretically invincible, but he doesn't have the patience to wait hundreds or thousands of years. If he can't break through the lifespan limit, it will all be for nothing in the end.

With a goal in mind, Shuichi immediately began to take action, with the main focus still on the Cursed Seal.

Now that he is the next Hokage, many of the village's Forbidden Jutsu are no longer kept secret from him.

After a period of careful preparation, a large amount of valuable data was neatly arranged in the secret laboratory:

With a combination of Yin Release Ninjutsu, Tsunade's research on White Zetsu, Spirit Transformation Technique, Reaper Death Seal, the Cursed Seal left by Orochimaru, and his own previous accumulated knowledge... Shuichi was eager to make a big splash.

As spring arrives in the new year, the chill of the Land of Fire gradually fades.

New buds have sprouted on the big tree outside Shuichi's Villa.

Click, click--

The faint sounds of mechanical buttons clattering came from inside the room, along with the occasional burst of laughter, which made the atmosphere quite lively.

"Haha, Itachi, you're so bad! I killed your second character from full health again. If you can turn the tide, I'll eat this machine right now." Shuichi said smugly, tapping the buttons.

Inside the game room, Bai covered his mouth and chuckled softly. The new machine had a game called "Konoha Fighter 56" installed.

Shuichi's movements were incredibly smooth, clearly demonstrating his extensive knowledge of the game. He completely dominated Itachi, who was new to the game, making him utterly shameless.

As Itachi was feeling helpless, Shuichi looked at him and thought to himself, "The original work says he awakened his Sharingan at age 8 and became Chunin at age 10."

My arrival meant Chunin was promoted to Chunin at age 8, but now at 10 I still haven't awakened my Sharingan. Does it really require a strong stimulus to awaken it...?

Shuichi felt that the official record of "Itachi Shinden" was completely unreliable. How brain-dead would Obito be to deliberately cause trouble for a group of Konoha Genin, and then deliberately let Itachi, who had his Sharingan activated, return alone afterward? And when Konoha discovered that something had happened to this team, why didn't they interrogate the sole survivor?

"Perhaps because the Uchiha's connection with Konoha hasn't been severed in this life, there are fewer channels for generating negative emotions. Oh well... it's actually better for my health to awaken my Sharingan later..."

Putting his thoughts aside, Shuichi continued to control himself and Itachi's Purple Aurora in a fierce battle.

The reason I didn't lose any health when defeating Itachi earlier was also related to [Shuichi's ] overly powerful attributes. Well... as the boss, it's not unreasonable for him to design himself as a BOSS-level character, right?

Click, click, click--

Despite the extremely dire situation, [Shuichi]'s health bar was much higher than everyone else's, and he remained stubbornly standing despite being hit repeatedly.

Itachi has a very focused attention. He is actually extremely competitive, but he doesn't show it. He wants to do his best in everything.

In the first two battles, he noticed that his teacher was deliberately hiding some powerful moves, because after testing them, he discovered that the button layout for each character was different.

Since the two characters in this battle are exactly the same, then...

Deliberately creating an opening!

Shuichi, relying on his familiarity with the game and his penchant for showing off his skills and unleashing powerful moves, feigned a blocking error. Itachi immediately tilted his head slightly, intently watching his opponent's hands.

"Down-forward-down-back heavy kick, I see. You have to press multiple keys at once to unleash the move."

In that instant, the world seemed to slow down, but Itachi, too engrossed in his surroundings, didn't notice.

Meanwhile, Haku, who was watching from the sidelines, happened to look over and immediately opened his mouth in surprise. "Brother Itachi, your eyes... have turned red!"

"???"

Shuichi stopped in shock and turned to meet Itachi's gaze, who was equally astonished. Itachi's eyes, which were originally jet black, had turned blood red, with a single Tomoe rotating on each side. "Holy crap!"

Unable to resist swearing, Shuichi then slapped Itachi on the shoulder. "You actually awakened your Sharingan by playing video games!"

From this moment on, you have created a record that is unprecedented in the Uchiha Clan and may never be repeated. Awaken your Sharingan! I, Purple Aurora, acknowledge you as the strongest.

He spoke from the heart, then added analytically, "You've been training diligently, and your physical and Mental Energy far surpasses that of ordinary adult masters. This should be the fundamental reason for your eye-opening."

"It can be simply described as, 'When the essence is full... it overflows!'"

Uchiha Itachi: "..."