Removing the Mangekyo's Drawbacks

"What the..."

A translucent panel that floated into his mind caused Izuna to freeze in surprise for two seconds.

Seeing the text at the very top, which referred to him as a "Player," sent Izuna into a trip down memory lane.

He had been playing a Naruto online game when he accidentally fell asleep on his keyboard. Upon waking up, he found himself in this world.

Could this cheat system have something to do with the game he was playing?

Wind Release: Gale Palm (Learned, B-rank Wind Release) →

Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane (A-rank Wind Release, requires 54 Skill Points)

Wind Release: Wind Scythe Formation (A-rank Wind Release, requires 50 Skill Points)

Wind Release: Rasengan (A-rank Wind Release, requires 66 Skill Points)

[Lightning Release: Ground Rush (Learned, C-rank Lightning Release) →

Lightning Release: Terra Flow (B-rank Lightning Release, requires 26 Skill Points)

Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave (B-rank Lightning Release, requires 22 Skill Points)

Lightning Release: Furious Thunder Tiger (B-rank Lightning Release, requires 26 Skill Points)]

Izuna was stunned by the words and quickly checked, discovering a system similar to a skill tree from a game had appeared in his mind.

Each ninjutsu he had learned was marked with a note, such as "Wind Release: Gale Palm (Learned)," "Lightning Release: Ground Rush (Learned)," "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation (Learned)," and so on.

Behind every learned ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, and other skills, there was an unlocked, more advanced ninjutsu.

Just like in the game, skill points were needed to unlock them.

In the Warring States period, the number of ninjutsu was not as vast as in the later Konohagakure, which would fill an entire Scroll of Seals.

Each ninja clan had a limited number of ninjutsu.

Great clans like the Uchiha, Senju, and Sarutobi naturally possessed more ninjutsu, but even the Uchiha only had S-rank ninjutsu in their most proficient category, Fire Release.

Ninjutsu of the other four elements generally lacked A-rank techniques.

Izuna suddenly remembered something important and brought up the skill tree again, clicking on the "Kekkei Genkai" tab.

As expected, it was listed there:

Sharingan (Learned) → Mangekyo Sharingan (Learned) → Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (Unlocked, requires 300 Skill Points, Condition: Blood of a Loved One)

Evolvable: Rinnegan (Unlocked, requires ?? Skill Points, Condition: ??)

"With this, I can get rid of the drawbacks of the Mangekyo Sharingan, right?"

Seeing this, Izuna inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he and Madara Uchiha had only just met, he could still feel the deep bond between the brothers from this body.

He didn't want to end up fighting Madara to the death over eye-related issues in the future.

Putting aside the drawbacks of the Mangekyo Sharingan for now, Izuna decided to focus on sorting out the ninjutsu situation.

Although he possessed Lightning and Wind Release in addition to the Fire Release common to all Uchiha, his skill trees for Water and Earth Release remained dim and unawakened.

Unless he awakened the Rinnegan and gained all seven elemental affinities, it was unlikely they would ever awaken.

He really wanted the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, but the conspicuous "300" skill points required, compared to the meager "80" displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, made him despair.

Izuna had no choice but to give up. This 80 seemed to be leftover points from his previous life's in-game purchases...

If it were a peaceful era, he wouldn't mind accumulating skill points slowly.

But they were currently in a time of war, and the Senju were about to attack his camp!

Ultimately, Izuna chose the A-rank Wind Release ninjutsu, Wind Release: Rasengan.

It was the most cost-effective ninjutsu he could unlock at the moment.

Immediately, Izuna felt a warm current flow through him, and he had mastered a new ninjutsu that was not even present in the Uchiha clan or this era.

After learning Wind Release: Rasengan, the skill tree immediately displayed:

[Wind Release: Rasengan (Learned) →

Wind Release: Rasenshuriken (Unlocked, S-rank Wind Release, requires 100 Skill Points, Condition: Sage Chakra (Can be thrown))]

At this moment, Izuna suddenly remembered that he could create scrolls of these ninjutsu and let other Uchiha clan members learn them.

For example, Madara Uchiha's chakra affinities seemed to be Fire, Lightning, and Water. This Lightning Release technique might even be more suitable for him than for himself.

However, they were currently in a stalemate with the Senju, or rather, the Uchiha were at a disadvantage. He would put these thoughts aside for now and focus on escaping the immediate threat from the Senju.

He spent the entire night researching new ninjutsu and the Mangekyo Sharingan.

The next morning, in the main camp, over ten high-ranking Uchiha ninja, including Izuna and Madara, gathered.

"Today, we must decide who will stay behind to cover our retreat."

A middle-aged ninja, of the same generation as Tajima Uchiha, spoke in a deep voice.

"I believe... the wounded should be responsible. Our clan's strength is severely depleted right now; we should protect those who are still healthy."

"How can we do that? Those people are our clan members who fought and bled for us! Are we just going to send them to their deaths for nothing?"

"Right now, we need to consider the entire clan. If absolutely necessary, we can only make such sacrifices."

"Sacrifice is unavoidable. If it comes to that... perhaps using Izanagi can turn the tide, but if we do that..."

The higher-ups were divided into two factions. One group believed they should sacrifice the wounded, those already injured and possibly beyond saving.

They would have them fight to the death, even resorting to the forbidden jutsu, Izanagi, to hold back the Senju.

The other group argued that the elite forces should stay behind to cover the retreat, allowing the wounded to be transferred as soon as possible.

These two completely different opinions caused the meeting's atmosphere to become tense for a moment.

At this time, Izuna spoke, "If we let the wounded risk their lives to cover our retreat, what will the next generation think of us when this news gets back?"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. A middle-aged ninja at the peak of the Jonin rank, who had advocated for this course of action, said unwillingly, "But if we sacrifice our elite core, our Uchiha situation will only worsen, and we'll no longer be able to contend with the Senju."

The current situation between the Uchiha and the Senju was already disadvantageous for the Uchiha. In the original story, Madara not only couldn't match Hashirama Senju in terms of ability, but even the clan's overall strength lagged behind their opponents. It was no wonder they were constantly being beaten.

Izuna was right, but the other side also had a point. The Uchiha truly couldn't afford many sacrifices right now.

"Let me do it."

Izuna stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest, a hint of defiance emanating from him.