The Pinnacle of the World

"Is this the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan without any side effects?!"

Uchiha Tamaharu stood at the bow of the ship, his Mangekyō Sharingan active as he freely surveyed his surroundings.

As Uchiha Tamaharu had suspected was most likely, the power awakened through his bloodline came from Indra's bloodline. He hadn't been lucky enough to reach Hagoromo Otsutsuki's level.

The power of this bloodline was on par with Madara Uchiha's strength before his death.

He had a Mangekyō Sharingan without side effects, and could activate a Susanoo in Gundam mode.

At the same time, he had an enormous amount of Chakra, enough to fight the First Hokage for three days and three nights. Compared to Uchiha Tamaharu before, this was an increase of more than tenfold!

His physical abilities had also improved considerably. His body was at least several times stronger than before.

Now, Uchiha Tamaharu felt that he could open the Six Gates.

"Going by what I remember, I shouldn't have much trouble fighting one of the Four Emperors, but two would be very difficult."

Uchiha Tamaharu analyzed the situation.

After all, he still hadn't encountered the strongest fighters in this world.

Bartholomew Kuma was still a long way from his peak, and the gap was huge. He was no basis for accurately judging the strength of his opponents.

At the very least, someone like Doflamingo was a more useful comparison. He was a little weaker than a Yonko Commander, but Tamaharu could roughly gauge his level.

"Still, I need to resolve the bloodline problem for the rest of the Uchiha Clan. It seems the bloodline really does have flaws."

"The ideal case is someone like Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who went straight from the Three Tomoe to the Rinnegan. Next is Indra—or rather, my current state. I don't need to exchange Mangekyō Sharingan with a family member to avoid side effects, and I can still activate a Gundam Susanoo."

"Now, if I return to the Shinobi World and use First Hokage Cells, I should be able to awaken the Rinnegan."

"But the Shinobi World is truly deep waters. The power of the Rinnegan alone might not be enough to keep me safe. Hagoromo Otsutsuki has lived for so many years—who knows what else he's prepared?"

"I can't even be sure I could handle Madara Uchiha after he's revived with Edo Tensei. I'd better keep growing stronger for now."

Though Uchiha Tamaharu's strength had skyrocketed, he still didn't feel secure enough to return to the Shinobi World.

Taking down Konoha would be easy, but there would be even more to deal with afterward.

Besides, Konoha wasn't going to fall anytime soon, and the Uchiha Clan was growing quickly in this world. He would wait a while before returning to the Shinobi World and settling everything at once.

"A new mission. It seems my actions really have caused some changes."

After deciding to keep making his way in the world of pirates, Uchiha Tamaharu began thinking about how to approach his next mission.

[The Pinnacle of the World] During the Summit War, join either the pirates or the Marines.

Pirate objective: Save Fire Fist Ace. If the Whitebeard Pirates suffer a casualty rate above fifty percent, the mission fails.

Marine objective: Destroy the Blackbeard Pirates. Wipe them all out; if even one survives, the mission fails.

Mission success: Obtain Busoshoku Haki [Internal Destruction], Kenbunshoku Haki [Short-term Future Sight], and Conqueror's Haki [External Release].

Mission failure: The system will reclaim them.

"As expected, it's a Summit War scenario. But because of what I've done, could it turn into an event where two kings' sons are taken out at once?"

"If the Revolutionary Army joins in too, things will get a lot more complicated!"

"Should I just choose to help save Ace?"

Uchiha Tamaharu was also a little troubled.

Still, he didn't regret using Luffy to secure a position among the Shichibukai. It was the simplest method.

The other ways of becoming a Shichibukai would take a long time. He would have to take risks and do something that angered the World Government, raising his bounty to five hundred million Beli. That would have a greater impact on the Uchiha Clan.

He had helped Luffy a little, but he didn't know how things would turn out. Whether the World Government could take out two kings' sons at once was hard to say.

"Forget it. I'll decide when the time comes. The three Admirals on the Marines' side will be hard to deal with, and there are Sengoku and Garp too. The pirates have only Whitebeard, and he's not at his peak. But if Monkey D. Dragon really shows up with the Revolutionary Army, they'll be tough to handle too. I'll think about it then."

Uchiha Tamaharu decided to act according to the circumstances.

He would see which side was easier to deal with and could bring the Uchiha Clan more benefits.

After five days at sea, they returned to Spring Queen City.

During that time, news of Uchiha Tamaharu becoming a Shichibukai had spread across the entire ocean, along with the Uchiha Clan's crest.

"Stay here and hunt pirates to collect their bounties."

"I'll come back in ten days. Gather everyone and form a team, then head farther afield to hunt pirates."

Uchiha Tamaharu said this to CP9 and the ten clan members staying behind.

He also left them the Marine warship so they could earn as much as possible.

These people were strong enough to take on pirate crews with bounties under three hundred million Beli. It was hard to run into enemies like that in this first half of the Grand Line.

Even the Supernova might not be able to withstand them.

Uchiha Tamaharu and the others bought a small boat at the port and reached the island where the Uchiha Clan now lived after just one day at sea.

Fugaku Uchiha had learned that Uchiha Tamaharu had become a Shichibukai on the very day the news came out.

Over the past few days, he had also learned about the situation in this world from information gathered by clan members who had gone out. It was just as Uchiha Tamaharu had said.

The position of Shichibukai could bring the Uchiha Clan a great deal of convenience.

It was a world away from the days when they'd been locked up in Konoha and treated like dogs.

"Captain Fugaku, don't read too much into this. It's only the beginning."

"In this world, the Uchiha aren't much safer than in the Shinobi World. It's because of these eyes."

"Sooner or later, the power of these eyes will be exposed. They don't know that people outside the Uchiha Clan suffer side effects when they use them."

"They'll only focus on the power these eyes grant. Then we'll end up like the Main Family of the Hyuga Clan, with people targeting our eyes."

Uchiha Tamaharu bluntly shattered Fugaku Uchiha's illusions.

The power of the Sharingan was tempting enough to attract plenty of people.

The Four Emperors and even the World Government had the power to deal with the Uchiha.

If the Uchiha Clan stayed together under his watch, perhaps nothing would happen. But if they went beyond the range he could control, they would definitely be attacked.

That was not what Uchiha Tamaharu wanted.

"Phew. I understand!"

"I'll keep the clan members in check and make sure they don't wander off."

Fugaku Uchiha broke into a cold sweat when he heard this.

If the Uchiha Clan were targeted and people kept digging out their eyes, he truly couldn't accept it.

"Only when the Uchiha possess overwhelming power and make everyone fear them—even if someone gets these eyes, they won't be able to use them—will this risk disappear."

"As for the Uchiha Clan's bloodline problem, I'll explain everything to everyone this time and try to find a solution."

Uchiha Tamaharu said this to Fugaku Uchiha.

Thank you all for the recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.

I've never had so many people following a new book during its launch period. I'm a little overwhelmed.

Did someone mess up while boosting the numbers? I'm not paying for that.