Kakashi and Icha Icha Paradise

The shattered barrier caught Yugito Nii off guard. Just as she was about to ignore it and continue her assault, another crimson screen enveloped the fortress.

"Damn Konoha, always hiding in their turtle shells."

Yugito cursed in anger and promptly exited her Tailed Beast transformation.

Landing on a treetop, Yugito panted slightly. Her naturally fair skin was flushed an eerie crimson; clearly, the sustained Tailed Beast transformation was a significant burden for her.

Like Shisui, her strength was still in its growth phase due to her age, and she could not yet wield the power of Matatabi with the ease of her own limbs.

If she had already mastered the Tailed Beast Ball, this level of barrier would only require three shots—no, two would have been enough to finish it.

Glancing resentfully at the slightly translucent screen, Yugito and the Kumogakure squad that had come to support her headed toward their stronghold on the border of the Land of Fire.

After they left, Shisui had the Hyuga ninja confirm the area once more before leading the Konoha side away from the fortress to rendezvous with the main force.

"We must notify Orochimaru-sama immediately."

"Orochimaru-sama, we received word from Kakashi's squad. They encountered an unknown enemy. Three members of the Barrier Team were killed, one was severely injured, and they failed to successfully activate the fortress barrier defense."

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru paused his movements while setting up the barrier, asking with suspicion, "An unknown enemy? Not Kumogakure?"

Fugaku nodded, his face also filled with astonishment. "According to the report, the enemy uses a bizarre space-time ninjutsu. They didn't even catch a glimpse of the enemy's face."

"Have them come see me as soon as they return."

Orochimaru nodded slightly and refocused his attention on the layout of the barrier formation.

When Kakashi and his team failed to send word at the agreed-upon time, Orochimaru had already anticipated their failure.

Fortunately, they had gained some advantages on the front lines against Kumogakure. The effect of the 'fake fortress' was surprisingly good; perhaps fearing another trap, Kumogakure had abandoned further attacks.

This allowed the Konoha side to calmly set up a new barrier. From this perspective, although there were some accidents, his strategic goal had been achieved.

Using the previous 'fake fortress' as a template, the progress of the barrier setup was very rapid, and the finishing work could be completed before dawn.

Of course, this was also because Orochimaru himself was a master of barrier ninjutsu; if they had relied solely on the Barrier Team, heaven knows how long it would have dragged on.

"However, it is a pity..."

Orochimaru licked his lips, feeling a touch of regret.

In truth, he had hoped Kumogakure would continue to engage him head-on. While that would have resulted in heavy casualties, the pace of the war would undoubtedly have accelerated.

Compared to commanding a battlefield, Orochimaru preferred slicing up specimens in the laboratory and happily conducting research.

"It seems you might need a little help."

Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind. Orochimaru's expression shifted slightly, and his hands trembled subconsciously, nearly disrupting the formation nodes he had just completed.

Fugaku had not yet left. Seeing this, he asked in confusion, "Orochimaru-sama, what is wrong?"

Orochimaru gave Fugaku a cold look without answering. Fugaku had no choice but to suppress his confusion and continue attending to matters within the fortress.

"Genie, when did you wake up?"

A humanoid mass of smoke emerged from behind Orochimaru, laughing, "Sometime last night, right before you performed the Eight Branches Technique. Seeing that you had so much to do, I didn't have the heart to disturb you."

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru's expression soured. It seemed he had been 'freeloaded' out of another forbidden technique by the Genie.

"Don't be so stingy. I'm appearing now to help you."

The Genie curled his lips into a grin and said, "Although you currently have the advantage in the war, a troublesome fellow has joined the battlefield besides Kumogakure. If you don't end this war quickly, his meddling might prevent you from achieving your goal."

"A troublesome fellow?" Orochimaru frowned, thinking of the mysterious enemy Kakashi had encountered. He was the greatest variable in this war.

"As you suspected, it is him." The Genie smiled. "I told you before, he is the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails Incident, the one who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan: Obito Uchiha."

"Obito Uchiha?"

Orochimaru gave a soft exclamation; he was very familiar with the name.

When he was competing with Minato for the position of Hokage, he had investigated all of Minato's intelligence. If he remembered correctly, like Kakashi, he should have been Minato's student.

In other words, Minato's student had secretly orchestrated the Nine-Tails Incident, not only killing his own master and mistress but now wanting to continue hindering the village from winning the war.

Even for Orochimaru, the logic behind this was difficult to untangle for a moment.

Meeting Orochimaru's questioning gaze, the Genie shrugged. "That's just how it is. As for the reason—well, they're Uchiha. Their brains are diseased. When they're having an episode versus when they're in a normal state, they aren't the same person. No need to dwell on it too much."

Orochimaru nodded. There was never a formula that could fully describe the human heart and human nature; there was indeed no need to spend too much energy on it.

Now, he only needed to know that Obito Uchiha was the enemy.

Moreover, the Genie's explanation corroborated his previous research: the Sharingan was an immature Kekkei Genkai, and maintaining it required paying a certain price, even more so for the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Perhaps the extreme personality of the Uchiha clan was a form of psychological bloodline disease.

Orochimaru shared his hypothesis with the Genie. Although the entity lacked research capabilities, he was knowledgeable and well-traveled, making his perspective highly valuable for reference.

"A bloodline disease? Your thinking is quite ahead of its time."

The Genie stroked his chin. In the world he inhabited before becoming a Genie, mental illness was not yet taken so seriously; he hadn't expected Orochimaru to notice this.

However, it was indeed interesting. The Genie thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Doesn't Kakashi also have a Sharingan? As someone without Uchiha blood, the price he pays for using the Sharingan should be even greater than that of a normal Uchiha."

"Observing the changes in him after he obtained the Sharingan might yield some results..."

At this point, the Genie paused slightly in his tone.

As far as he knew, hatred, love, anger... the more intense the emotions of the Uchiha clan members, the more powerful their ocular prowess became.

Continuing to speculate further, perhaps the reverse was also true: the ocular prowess could influence the Uchiha, reinforcing those with hate in their hearts into avengers, and those who were kind into saints.

When the Uchiha relied on their emotions to utilize the Sharingan, the Sharingan, in turn, controlled them to better output those emotions.

If this basis was not enough, the Genie had discovered some anomalies within the personal experiences of Kakashi.

Kakashi's Sharingan was different from that of an ordinary Uchiha; he lacked the Uchiha bloodline and could not actively activate or deactivate it, requiring him to maintain the operation of the Sharingan at all times.

Yet hatred, love... or other emotions were things humans could not actually maintain indefinitely; no matter how deeply engraved, they were, in truth, only momentary.

It was impossible for Kakashi to be constantly loving, constantly hating, or constantly feeling any other emotion.

Logically speaking, that Sharingan of his should not have been able to be maintained, let alone evolve from two tomoe to three tomoe.

So, what exactly allowed him to sustain it?

The Genie thought of a book, a work authored by Jiraiya that was extremely popular throughout the ninja world.

--Icha Icha Paradise

This made perfect sense; a young man of age, if he had the need, could maintain that certain state indefinitely.

Previously, the Genie had assumed that Kakashi's habit of never letting the book leave his hands was due to a lonely star destiny that left him depressed, causing him to use it to divert his attention.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps it was because his body found it easier to bear the burden of the Sharingan while reading, leading him to subconsciously develop a dependency on it.

Upon hearing the Genie's perspective, Orochimaru's tone became somewhat inexplicable, "Genie, your train of thought is truly unique, quite different from ordinary people..."

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