Enhancement Successful

"Again! This time, after my modifications to the serum, the success rate is at least thirty percent!"

Orochimaru picked up the serum for the third time and looked at Uchiha Shūichi, who was sitting beside him.

Uchiha Shūichi sighed, expertly replaced one of his eyes with a Three Tomoe Sharingan, took the serum Orochimaru handed him, and injected it directly into the spine behind him in an awkward position.

A spinal injection worked better—or at least, that was what Orochimaru claimed.

Uchiha Shūichi did not know whether it truly worked better, but the injection was more painful, and its effects took hold faster. That was indisputable.

Moments later, intense pain spread from Uchiha Shūichi's spine, quickly filling every bone in his body before spreading into his blood vessels, muscles, skin...

Uchiha Shūichi clenched his teeth and endured the agonizing pain. His entire body turned fiery red, and faint steam rose from his skin—the sweat evaporating under his body's extreme heat.

Temperatures high enough to kill or even cook an ordinary person could not kill a powerful shinobi like him in such a short time. After a while, the blazing heat flowing through his body gradually faded, and a powerful sensation began brewing within Uchiha Shūichi.

Uchiha Shūichi could even feel his cells restructuring and his Chakra transforming. His organs, muscles, blood, bones, and spinal marrow were all undergoing earth-shaking changes.

His muscles became denser and stronger, his bones tougher and sturdier, his internal organs functioned far more efficiently, and his blood and marrow brimmed with vitality...

"It seems... it worked?!"

Feeling the changes in his body, Uchiha Shūichi's face lit up with excitement. Before Orochimaru could say anything, he formed hand seals and used a ninjutsu.

"Wood Release—Wood Clone Technique!"

Orochimaru possessed quite a few Wood Release ninjutsu, and Uchiha Shūichi had looked through them before.

He had not paid much attention to the other Wood Release techniques at the time, since he had lacked Wood Release Chakra. He had merely glanced over them.

But the Wood Clone Technique was fundamentally no different from other Clone Techniques. It only required replacing ordinary Chakra with Wood Release Chakra, so Uchiha Shūichi could use it immediately.

Cracking sounds rang out as a large number of wooden strips separated from Uchiha Shūichi's body and wove themselves into a human form. Moments later, a Wood Clone identical to Uchiha Shūichi appeared before him.

He had actually used a Wood Release ninjutsu! The entire process had felt incredibly smooth, without the slightest sense of obstruction. The Hashirama Cells that had long since fully integrated into his body showed no adverse reaction either.

"It truly succeeded... Hashirama Cells have completely merged with your body, my lord. Or rather, you have assimilated them, turning them into your own Kekkei Genkai."

Uchiha Shūichi could also feel that the amount of Chakra in his body had increased by at least two or three times. It was even continuing to rise slowly. He estimated that his Chakra would eventually reach roughly five times what it had been before the serum injection.

Because the Uchiha Clan had inherited the bloodline of the Six Paths, their Chakra reserves and physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary civilian shinobi.

But compared with the Senju Clan, which had truly inherited the Sage Body, the Uchiha Clan's constitution was utterly lacking. Compared with Senju Hashirama, a monstrous mutation even within the Senju Clan, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Uchiha Shūichi's fivefold increase in Chakra would already be exceptionally rare within the Uchiha Clan. Even among the Senju Clan, it would be considered impressive. But compared with Senju Hashirama, it might not even amount to one percent of his Chakra.

Still, this serum had only been made from a portion of Senju Hashirama's cells. Uchiha Shūichi was already more than satisfied that it had raised him to this level.

Just look at Yamato. He too had perfectly fused with Hashirama Cells, yet his Wood Release was only twenty percent as powerful as Senju Hashirama's. As for Chakra reserves, he might not even have surpassed Uchiha Shūichi before the enhancement.

The changes to his body were already immense, but Uchiha Shūichi could feel that his pair of Mangekyō Sharingan had improved even more.

The Uchiha were, after all, a clan renowned for the Sharingan. Improvements to his body and Chakra mostly compensated for weaknesses and improved endurance. The increase in Sharingan Dojutsu Power was what truly raised his offensive strength.

Now, Uchiha Shūichi believed he could easily activate the fourth stage of Susanoo, complete with armor, limbs, and weapons, without suffering an enormous burden.

As for the final stage, the Complete Body Susanoo with wings sprouting from its back—that was power only the Eternal Mangekyo could wield. He still could not use it.

However, even Susanoo at the same stage could vary in strength.

For example, although Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sasuke were both at the Eternal Mangekyo level, Uchiha Madara's Susanoo was absolutely several times larger and more powerful than Uchiha Sasuke's.

Uchiha Shūichi could now tell that, with such abundant Dojutsu Power, his Susanoo had surely been greatly enhanced. Though he could not unlock the final stage, he could definitely raise the fourth-stage Susanoo's power by a considerable margin.

I wonder who the first opponent to face a Mangekyō Sharingan developed to this extent will be?

Just as Orochimaru had guessed, the commission Uchiha Shūichi had issued under Shimura Danzō's name was ultimately rejected by the Akatsuki Organization.

To avoid attracting the attention of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the missions accepted by the Akatsuki Organization were generally unrelated to the major shinobi villages.

Although Shimura Danzō had ostensibly endorsed this mission, neither Nagato nor Konan trusted Shimura Danzō's credibility. Not to mention that they had personal grudges against him.

Uchiha Shūichi had no solution to that. He could only first use Kotoamatsukami to control Shimura Danzō, then place several seals within Shimura Danzō's brain.

These seals concealed Danzo's brain. Even if someone examined it with the Byakugan, they would be unable to detect any Chakra.

Fortunately, Shimura Danzō's head already contained seals. He had specifically placed them to counter Kotoamatsukami, which was why the Byakugan had never been able to see through his brain in the first place. There was no need to worry about arousing suspicion.

Unfortunately, the seals Danzo had originally placed in his mind did not achieve the effect he had imagined. After all, he likely never expected that Orochimaru would ambush him before he ever encountered Kotoamatsukami.

Orochimaru took only a few hours to break the seals in Danzo's mind. Then Uchiha Shūichi treated him to Kotoamatsukami and took control of the leader of Konoha's Root.