Next, Nagato repeated the process, transplanting Obito's Sharingan into his right arm. This time, however, he left a layer of "eyelid" over the eye. When he was done, it looked as if a closed eye had grown on his right arm.
With his previous experience transplanting a Byakugan, the procedure went faster and more smoothly this time.
After waiting for the wound on his right arm to heal, Nagato tried channeling Chakra into the Sharingan there, then activated Kamui.
The Sharingan on his right arm, which had been closed, suddenly "opened." Boosted by Sage Mode, Kamui activated quickly. A vortex formed in the space around Nagato's right arm, opening a new dimension.
"What is that?" Konan stared in amazement. Why did this ability seem so much like Madara's?
Even Katsuyu couldn't help exclaiming, "He actually has a separate dimension!"
Having lived for so long, Katsuyu knew very well what it meant to have a separate dimension.
"Pretty impressive, right?" Nagato said as he reached into the dimension Kamui had opened. After confirming there was no problem, he stepped inside.
The area around him was pitch-black and empty, like a void.
Katsuyu, who had been perched on his shoulder, looked around. "It's only the most primitive form of a space, but even so, it's an incredible ability. So you just wanted to use this method to access the power of this Sharingan? That won't work for the Byakugan, though."
The Byakugan was different from the Sharingan. At this stage, it only had the ability to see. Without connecting it to the optic nerve, it would be completely useless.
"If I only want to improve my eyesight, I only need one Byakugan." Nagato gave that answer as he tried to attack from a distance within the dimension, the way Kakashi did. Unfortunately, it didn't work. That technique seemed to require a connection to the optic nerve.
And he couldn't make himself intangible like Obito, either. Neither ability mattered much to Nagato. All he needed was to be able to enter Obito's dimension. After activating Kamui again, he stepped back out.
"Nagato, how did it go?" Konan asked, sounding a little anxious.
At first, she hadn't understood why Nagato had asked her to take Kakashi's Sharingan. But now that she had seen its power with her own eyes, she immediately understood its value.
"Just as I expected." Nagato smiled at Konan. He knew exactly what she had been worrying about. "With this, we'll be unbeatable when we face that guy."
Obito's eye could no longer threaten Nagato with its most powerful ability.
"Next is the Byakugan."
As he said this, Nagato kept moving, cutting open the skin between his eyebrows with a finger.
Eyes only showed their true power as a pair. Although he planned to use just one Byakugan for now, Nagato had no intention of splitting up Hinata's pair.
Compared with the incision he had made in his forearm, Nagato proceeded much more cautiously this time.
He carefully used his Senjutsu Chakra to sense the area. After cutting open the space between his eyebrows, he followed the knowledge he had gained from Tsunade and slowly implanted the Byakugan, then began building the optic nerve.
In Sage Mode, his body was already extremely active. If it could even grow a new eye, then stimulating the growth of a new optic nerve was even easier.
And even if he failed, he wasn't worried. As long as he didn't damage the Byakugan, he could simply try again. After all, his Sage Body was exceptionally resilient.
Since this was his first time doing something like this, Nagato was inevitably a little clumsy. As he used Senjutsu Chakra to stimulate the optic nerve's growth, the skin between his eyebrows gradually healed, covering the entire Byakugan.
That was a little troublesome. If the optic nerve failed to connect, he would have to cut open the skin between his eyebrows again. But by then, Nagato was too focused to worry about that.
Building a new optic nerve system between his eyebrows was far more difficult than implanting a functional eye in his arm. Even a medical expert like Tsunade would need a long time to do it. Nagato was relying entirely on his Sage Body, Rinnegan, and Senjutsu to brute-force his way through it. If it worked, great. If not, he'd try again. He really didn't treat himself like a person.
"It worked..."
Fortunately, he seemed to be lucky. Or perhaps, during his earlier training in Senjutsu, he had become thoroughly familiar with unblocking and rebuilding the Chakra pathways in his body. He had plenty of experience when it came to operating on himself.
After all, even Tsunade had never rebuilt her own Chakra pathways.
Once the optic nerve was fully connected, Nagato tried channeling Chakra into the Byakugan in his forehead. The Chakra pathways there immediately bulged one by one. The Byakugan beneath his skin sprang into action, granting him a 360-degree field of vision.
"Have you already gained the Byakugan's power?" Konan asked in amazement, looking at the bulging veins on Nagato's forehead.
She knew what the Byakugan could do. Nagato had transplanted three eyes right in front of her with ease. That meant he now possessed the powers of the Byakugan, Sharingan, and Rinnegan—all three great dōjutsu—and his strength had increased once more.
Of course, this didn't mean Nagato had suddenly become a medical ninja. Konan could only attribute it all to Senjutsu. Becoming a competent medical ninja took a great deal of time, after all.
Nagato's demonstration had made Konan even more curious about Senjutsu.
"Does the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest have any other abilities?" she asked Nagato.
Nagato turned to look at Katsuyu, who answered in his place. "After learning Senjutsu, his body has partially taken on the traits of a slug. His Chakra reserves, and the strength of his Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu, will all increase. His ability to sense the Natural Energy around him will also improve. We won't know exactly how much until he absorbs Natural Energy on his own and enters Sage Mode."
"Is it difficult to absorb Natural Energy on your own?" Konan pressed.
"It depends on the person. This kid should find it easy, since he has a Sage Body," Katsuyu replied.
Konan let out a breath, a smile blossoming across her face.
At that moment, though, Konan ran into the same problem as Nagato: she didn't quite understand some of the terms Katsuyu had used. She tilted her head slightly and looked at Katsuyu. "What's a Sage Body?"
Katsuyu sighed, lowered her head, and fell silent again.
The atmosphere grew awkward for a moment.
"A kind of physique," Nagato answered from the side, then continued, "Next, I'll use up the Senjutsu Chakra I got from the Black Pool, then try to enter Sage Mode on my own..."
All three eyes had been transplanted successfully. For Nagato, a rookie who had never messed around with eyeballs before, it was like crafting three high-grade pieces of equipment in a row in a game without a single failure. He had to admit he'd been incredibly lucky.
Konan wasn't the only one smiling; Nagato was happy, too. He felt that he had at least secured a foothold amid the coming upheaval in the Shinobi World.
Even if he ran into some reanimated dead guy, he should be able to put up a fight, right? Maybe he could even go dancing with Edo Madara?
Just then, Tsunade let out a groan and woke from her unconsciousness.
Before you continue