As he wrote, Sasuke suddenly noticed something was off. He set down his pen and looked toward the entry for April of Konoha Year 61.
According to the Rin no Sho, Team 7 had carried out eight missions between March and April, classified as C1D7. The C-rank mission was the one in the Land of Waves.
So what had they been doing during those three months from April to July?
Sitting at home picking their feet for three months?
They had not gone on a single mission?
But according to Sasuke from the original timeline, Team 7 should have carried out several missions during those three months. They simply had not been shown in the main story.
After running through the general course of the original timeline in his mind, Sasuke formed the beginnings of a plan and immediately burned the papers.
He had to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan within these four years and seven months.
At the latest, it could not be later than July of Konoha Year 61, during the Chunin Exams.
Only then could he ensure that he possessed enough force to carry out his plan smoothly.
Otherwise, things would become difficult...
Slowly gathering his thoughts and casting aside all distractions, he walked to the cushion in the center of the room and began practicing the Yoga Meditation Technique.
If he continued using this training method to increase his spiritual energy until April of Konoha Year 61 and still showed no signs of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan,
then he would have to use those three months from April to July to put some rather dangerous and extreme ideas into action.
Although he rarely did anything he was not confident about,
sometimes, certain risks had to be taken!
Land of Fields, somewhere within a newly built hidden underground base.
Inside a biological laboratory.
Orochimaru, dressed in fitted yellow-and-white clothing with a purple rope bow tied at his back, stood before a row of precision monitors, his expression utterly focused.
Microscopes, test tubes, scalpels, and all sorts of experimental equipment filled the space around him.
What he was studying at the moment were the Sharingan Danzo had sent him.
After a long while, Orochimaru raised his head and muttered, "What exactly is the difference between the awakening conditions of the Mangekyō Sharingan and those of an ordinary Sharingan?"
As Orochimaru picked up the documents Danzo had given him regarding the Uchiha clan, he continuously recalled the Uchiha he had encountered during his time in Konoha.
When members of the Uchiha clan awakened an ordinary Sharingan, it was generally when they were extremely enraged or facing a life-or-death crisis!
A biological stress response?
A stress response was an instinctive reaction displayed by living creatures when subjected to stimulation or confronted by danger.
It usually manifested as elevated blood sugar and blood pressure, an accelerated heart rate and breathing, increased adrenaline secretion, greater strength, and faster speed.
Everyone experienced such reactions. People often unleashed power far beyond their usual limits when enraged or under immense pressure.
Orochimaru had experienced it himself and was no stranger to it. The Uchiha clan was simply more special, possessing their Kekkei Genkai.
When they were extremely enraged or faced a life-or-death crisis, their brains secreted a mysterious substance. Their eye cells mutated under the influence of that substance, awakening into the Sharingan.
That was how an ordinary Sharingan awakened. But what about the Mangekyō Sharingan?
Sorrow? Rage? Pressure? Joy?
Or some other emotion?
If so, why had no Uchiha besides Uchiha Itachi awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan that night?
Or was killing one's relatives a requirement?
Orochimaru recalled Uchiha Itachi. Rumor had it that he had personally killed his parents. Could the method for awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan be something as cursed as killing one's relatives?
No!
No matter how extreme Uchiha Itachi's actions had been, setting aside all that mystical nonsense, it ultimately came down to his emotions changing after he killed his parents!
Talent!
Besides extreme emotional stimulation, one also needed extraordinary talent to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Orochimaru felt that he had grasped the key point. Even though he was full of hatred toward Uchiha Itachi, he had to admit that Uchiha Itachi was one of the most talented people he had ever seen.
"Hehehehe..."
Orochimaru licked his lips as he recalled Uchiha Itachi's younger brother, Second Pillar, who remained in Konoha. Since they were biological brothers, their talent might differ, but surely not by too much?
After setting down the analysis report in his hand, Orochimaru clapped. Before long, an assistant entered, dropped to one knee, and respectfully said,
"Lord Orochimaru!"
"Bring that child, Shin, here!"
"Yes!"
A while later, a pale-skinned teenage boy with short white hair lay on Orochimaru's operating table, unconscious.
The white-haired boy was named Shin. His constitution was exceptionally unusual; he showed no rejection response to any tissue transplanted into his body.
As a result, Orochimaru had conducted many experiments on Shin. Shin had not been forced by Orochimaru, but had willingly become Orochimaru's experimental subject.
For Shin, who hoped to master biotechnology, Orochimaru, with his profound mastery of biological technology, was undoubtedly the person he admired most.
"Even something as highly incompatible as the Sharingan can be perfectly fused?"
"What an astonishing constitution..."
Looking at Shin, who showed not the slightest rejection after receiving a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan, Orochimaru could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Unfortunately, these are merely ordinary Sharingan..."
Orochimaru's expression quickly darkened as he recalled Uchiha Itachi and his Mangekyō Sharingan!
Never in his life had he suffered such humiliation. It was not as though he had never been defeated in his career as a ninja.
But this was the first time he had been defeated so miserably, so quickly!
What filled him with even greater hatred was the look in Uchiha Itachi's eyes after defeating him.
Indifferent, utterly indifferent!
Like a lofty god looking down upon an overconfident crawling insect, a mere ant.
It humiliated him beyond measure!
Not even Hanzo the Salamander, the demigod who had defeated him, or that leader of Akatsuki had ever looked at him that way.
"Hehehehe... Uchiha Itachi, I will kill you someday... The humiliation you brought me... I will repay it all to you twofold..."
Orochimaru's gaze became incomparably cold, and his voice brimmed with killing intent. At that moment, he was like a venomous snake that had spotted its prey and bared its fangs.
Uchiha Itachi?
Who was he?
Why did Lord Orochimaru, usually so calm and composed, lose control like this whenever he mentioned him?
In his hazy state, Shin heard Orochimaru muttering to himself. Beyond the killing intent in his tone,
Shin also detected a trace of longing and fear concealed beneath that killing intent.
Longing?
Fear?
Even Lord Orochimaru longed for and feared a man named Uchiha Itachi?
Shin still did not know what kind of person Uchiha Itachi was.
But the name Uchiha Itachi left a deep imprint upon his heart!
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