The Pinnacle of the World

"So this is the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan without side effects!"

Uchiha Tamaharu stood at the prow of the ship, his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, scanning his surroundings with abandon.

The power of this bloodline awakening, as Uchiha Tamaharu had guessed, was most likely the bloodline of Indra; he hadn't been lucky enough to reach the level of Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

The power of this bloodline was equivalent to that of Madara Uchiha before his death.

He possessed a Mangekyō Sharingan free of side effects, capable of activating the "Gundam" mode.

At the same time, he possessed an incredibly vast amount of Chakra, enough to fight the First Hokage for three days and three nights—an improvement of several dozen times over what Uchiha Tamaharu had possessed before!

His physical fitness had also improved significantly, at least several times stronger than his previous body.

Uchiha Tamaharu now felt he could open the Six Gates.

"Based on the levels in my memory, fighting one of the Four Emperors doesn't feel like much of a problem, but if it's two, it feels very difficult."

Uchiha Tamaharu analyzed.

After all, he had yet to encounter the absolute peak power of this world.

Bartholomew Kuma was still far from his peak; the gap was too wide to use him as a reliable metric for gauging his own strength.

At the very least, someone on the level of Doflamingo—who was a bit weaker than a First Mate—could provide a rough estimate of where he stood.

"However, I still need to solve the bloodline issues of the other members of the Uchiha Clan; it seems the bloodline truly has defects."

"The most perfect state is that of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, where the Three Tomoe directly evolves into the Rinnegan. The next best is the level of Indra, which is what I have now: no need for a relative to exchange Mangekyō Sharingan, no side effects, and the ability to activate the Gundam-like Susanoo."

"As for me now, as long as I return to the Shinobi World and use First Hokage Cells, I should be able to awaken the Rinnegan."

"But the waters of the Shinobi World are truly deep. Relying solely on the power of the Rinnegan might not be enough to cover everything. Hagoromo Otsutsuki has lived for so many years; who knows what else he has prepared?"

"Even just dealing with the Edo Tensei version of Madara Uchiha is something I'm not confident about. It's better to develop my strength a bit more for now."

Although Uchiha Tamaharu's strength had skyrocketed, he felt it still wasn't stable enough to return to the Shinobi World just yet.

While wiping out Konoha would be easy, the aftermath would be far more complicated to handle.

In any case, Konoha wouldn't collapse overnight, and the Uchiha were currently developing rapidly in this world. He decided to bide his time for a while before returning to the Shinobi World to settle everything at once.

"A new mission. It seems the things I've done have indeed brought about changes."

After deciding to continue drifting on the sea, Uchiha Tamaharu began to think about how to handle the next mission.

[The Peak of the World] During the Summit War, join either the pirates or the Navy.

Pirate objective: Save Fire Fist Ace. If the casualty rate of the Whitebeard Pirates exceeds fifty percent, the mission fails.

Navy objective: Eliminate the Blackbeard Pirates. Total annihilation; if even one survives, it is a failure.

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

Mission failure: System reclamation.

"It really is the Summit War plot dungeon. But because of what I've done, will it turn into taking out the sons of two kings at once?"

"If the Revolutionary Army joins in as well, the situation will become much more complicated!"

"Should I choose to help save Ace directly?"

Uchiha Tamaharu felt a headache coming on.

However, he didn't regret using Luffy to trade for the position of Shichibukai; it had been the simplest method.

Any other way to become a Shichibukai would not have been a quick process. He would have had to take risks, commit acts that offended the World Government, and raise his bounty to five hundred million, which would have had a greater impact on the Uchiha Clan.

Although he had given Luffy some help, he didn't know how things would turn out later, or if the World Government had the ability to take out the sons of two kings at once. That was hard to say.

"Forget it, I'll choose when the time comes. The three Admirals on the Navy side are hard to fight, plus Sengoku and Garp. On the pirate side, there's only Whitebeard, and he's not at his peak, but if Monkey D. Dragon really shows up with the Revolutionary Army, that will also be hard to deal with. I'll decide then."

Uchiha Tamaharu decided to play it by ear.

He would see which side was easier and which could bring more help to the Uchiha.

After sailing on the sea for five days, he returned to Spring Queen City.

During this time, the news of Uchiha Tamaharu becoming a Shichibukai had spread across the entire ocean, including the emblem of the Uchiha Clan.

"You stay here, hunt pirates, and exchange them for bounty money."

"I will come back in ten days, bring the rest of the men, form a team, and then go to more distant places to hunt pirates."

Uchiha Tamaharu said to the CP9 members and the ten clansmen who were staying behind.

He also left the Navy warship for them so they could work hard to make money.

The strength of these men was enough to deal with pirate crews with bounties under three hundred million Beli, and it was hard to run into such enemies in the first half of the Grand Line.

Even if they encountered a Supernova, the opponent might not be able to hold out.

Uchiha Tamaharu and his group bought a small boat at the port and spent a day returning to the isolated island where the Uchiha Clan was currently residing.

Fugaku Uchiha had known about Uchiha Tamaharu becoming a Shichibukai the very day the news broke.

Over these past few days, he had also learned about the specific situation of this world from the intelligence gathered by the clansmen who went out, and it was indeed as Uchiha Tamaharu had said.

The position of Shichibukai could bring too many conveniences to the Uchiha Clan.

The environment here is a world of difference compared to being caged up like dogs back in Konoha.

"Captain Fugaku, don't take this matter too heavily; this is only the beginning."

"In this world, the Uchiha Clan won't be much safer than they were in the Shinobi World, all because of these eyes!"

"The power of these eyes will be exposed sooner or later, and they don't know that those who aren't of the Uchiha Clan suffer side effects from using them."

"They will only fixate on the power these eyes bring, and when that happens, the Uchiha will end up just like the main branch of the Hyuga Clan, targeted by others for their eyes."

Uchiha Tamaharu shattered Fugaku Uchiha's illusions quite bluntly.

The power of the Sharingan is enough to tempt many people.

The Four Emperors, or even the World Government, have the strength to deal with the Uchiha.

Keeping the Uchiha Clan penned up under his constant watch might prevent any trouble, but once they leave the range of his control, they will certainly be attacked.

This is not a situation that Uchiha Tamaharu wants to see.

"Hoo... I understand!"

"I will restrain the clansmen and make sure they don't wander off."

Fugaku Uchiha broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this explanation.

If the Uchiha Clan were to be targeted and have their eyes gouged out one by one, that is a reality he truly could not accept.

"This kind of risk will only disappear once the Uchiha possess absolute power, making everyone fear us to the point where even if they obtained these eyes, they wouldn't dare to use them."

"Regarding the issues with the Uchiha Clan's bloodline, I will clarify everything with everyone this time and find a way to resolve it."

Uchiha Tamaharu said to Fugaku Uchiha.

Thank you all for the recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

I've never written a book with so many people following during the new book phase; I feel a bit panicked.

Is someone botting the data by mistake? I'm not paying for that.