Just as Qingguang was spending points on his Sharingan, Orochimaru stood beside him, watching his eyes spin faster and faster. His anticipation kept swelling.
Yes, just like that. The Sharingan's ocular power was still growing stronger. Just a little more—faster!
Was there a more advanced form of the Sharingan beyond the Three Tomoe Sharingan!?
Just as Orochimaru thought his guess was about to be confirmed, Qingguang's Sharingan gradually began to slow.
Oh, no! No!! No!!!
How could this happen?
Orochimaru lowered his head and glanced at the liquid in the syringe. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't squeeze out another drop of Hashirama Cells.
Clearly, the syringe was empty.
No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't feed Qingguang's Sharingan enough to break through that barrier.
Of course, Qingguang had no idea what Orochimaru was thinking.
All he knew was that his Wood Release points had reached 2,409. The surgery had earned him over 3,500 points in total, even more than the previous operation!
Qingguang slowly got to his feet. Seeing Orochimaru's vacant, disappointed expression, he felt a flicker of suspicion.
Why did Orochimaru look so strange?
Never mind. The procedure was over. It was time to spend his points.
Before Orochimaru could move, Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed aside the pipe he'd once been so fond of, set it on the table, and stepped forward to help Qingguang up.
"Qingguang, are you all right? We injected 20% more Wood Release Cells than last time. Do you feel uncomfortable? Is anything wrong with your body?"
Qingguang shook his head. "Don't worry, Uncle Hiruzen. I'm fine. I trust Senior Orochimaru."
"Not only am I fine, but I feel like I have even better control over Wood Release."
As he spoke, Qingguang stepped down from the operating table and put on his clothes. Then he closed his eyes, felt the flow of Chakra through his body, and brought his hands together.
"Wood Release: Forest Creation!"
In the blink of an eye, thick trees as wide as a person's embrace burst through the sturdy floor of the training ground. They wrapped around several wooden practice posts, squeezed them tight, and crushed them into splinters.
The Wood Release filled the several-hundred-square-meter training ground in an instant.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the miracle before him, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.
"This... This is the First Hokage's jutsu!"
The scale was nowhere near as grand as Hashirama's, but this was already beyond what an ordinary Jonin could easily accomplish.
There couldn't be more than a handful of people in the village capable of performing a jutsu on this scale.
Kagami, your son is in my care. I'll raise him for you.
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi wished more than anything that Qingguang were his own son!
And this was only after Qingguang's third surgery. What would happen if he received a few more injections?
But soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi realized there was another concern. If Qingguang's strength grew too quickly, would it put a strain on his body? Would he remain loyal to him?
While Qingguang continued his treatments, Hiruzen had to make him his own as soon as possible.
He absolutely couldn't let Danzo get his hands on Qingguang again, like before!
Just then, Orochimaru walked over, looking uninterested, and ran his palm over one of the trees Qingguang had created.
He pressed hard and snapped off a branch.
"It looks impressive, but its strength is nowhere near that of the First Hokage's Wood Release, as described in the scrolls."
"The scrolls say that with a single gesture, he could create a forest, and with a stomp, he could turn into a wooden giant. He could suppress the Nine-Tails with ease."
"Qingguang, your Wood Release is stronger than ironwood, but it's still far too weak compared to Lord Hashirama's. Most importantly, it absorbs far too little Chakra—almost none at all."
Orochimaru ignited the branch in his hand with Fire Release Chakra. Before long, it had burned to ash.
"Teacher Sarutobi, we need to increase the frequency of Qingguang's surgeries and raise the dosage. Otherwise, it'll be too late by the time war breaks out."
A gleam flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. He picked up the pipe from the table, reclaiming the old companion he'd just tossed aside.
"Orochimaru, the surgery may be under control for now, but Qingguang's life is at stake. No matter how weak Konoha becomes, we can't stake all our hopes on one young man."
"If Konoha really faces a crisis, I'll find a way to deal with it."
"Qingguang, you spent all day with Tsunade. You've just finished surgery, so go home and rest."
Qingguang saw the two of them disagreeing, but simply took his leave.
"Yes, Uncle Hiruzen. I'll head back now. Senior Orochimaru, thank you for your efforts."
Then, under cover of night, he swiftly slipped into Konoha's Forest of Death.
The place was full of ridiculously huge trees, as well as all sorts of strange beasts and medicinal herbs that couldn't be found elsewhere.
It was the most dangerous place in Konoha.
The area had been sealed off for years, and no one was allowed near it, lest they wander inside and lose their life by accident.
Even a Special Jonin had once died there while training.
But now, the place was deserted. It was the perfect spot for Qingguang to awaken his Mangekyō.
After finding a hollow in a tree, Qingguang mercilessly drove out the ferocious beast living inside, set up a barrier, and sat down within.
Once he'd taken a few deep breaths and steadied himself, he spent one point of Wood Release proficiency on his Mangekyō Sharingan.
In an instant, the Sharingan in his eye sockets spun rapidly. He could clearly feel a special kind of Chakra gathering in his eyes. The force was so great that his eyes couldn't bear it, and tears of blood streamed down his face.
It was like having a liquid a hundred times more painful than pepper spray dripped into his eyes.
At that very moment, Qingguang could feel the giant whose figure he'd never been able to see clearly drawing closer.
A pair of enormous, brilliant golden hands wreathed in flames tore through the gloom, as if grasping at some sort of barrier.
The hands ripped it apart. Gray mist billowed away in every direction, revealing a giant hundreds of meters tall, its entire body like orange-yellow amber, standing before him.
Behind it floated a divine halo, ringed in layer upon layer. Its awe-inspiring presence was like the might of heaven itself, as though all evil and sin would be driven away by its holiness.
"So this is my Susanoo..."
As the gloom gradually dispersed, the giant wasn't the only thing reflected in Qingguang's eyes.
Behind it stood a magnificent, boundless divine realm, suspended high in the sky.
Only then did Qingguang understand what that divine realm represented.
The patterns in his eyes changed further. The black Tomoe converged and fused, forming a round black mark at the center, surrounded by a black-and-gold ring of flames, like fire—or the flames of the sun.
Takama-ga-hara and Amaterasu. Those were the Mangekyō Dojutsu that had awakened within Qingguang's eyes.
He could accept the first name, but the second... Why was it called Amaterasu?
Why did that name sound so strange?
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