The Nature of the Sharingan Is Yin Release

"You're awake. The surgery was a success!"

Orochimaru's hoarse voice came from beside him. Uchiha Inabi opened his eyes in a daze, three black tomoe spinning rapidly in his pupils.

When did I awaken the Sharingan?

Uchiha Inabi tilted his head and saw Orochimaru, looking even paler beneath the surgical lamp, sinisterly storing a tube of blood in an ice pack.

My eyes are so dry. There are so many needle marks on my left hand. My back aches.

Inabi shook his head, trying not to guess what Orochimaru had done to him.

More importantly, he had Righty back again.

Uchiha Inabi sat up and used his left hand to support his new right hand, examining it carefully beneath the light.

The new hand was slender and long, yet full and fair. Its nails gleamed, and its skin was soft and smooth—at least three shades paler than his left hand.

However, on either side of the thumb and little finger were small bumps, each about the size of a fingernail. They marred the hand's beauty a little.

But that didn't matter.

Feeling his brand-new right hand, Inabi was overcome with delight. He bowed to Orochimaru and said:

"Lord Orochimaru, thank you for your help. I swear on the honor of the Uchiha Clan that I'll brave any danger and give my life for you."

At his words, Orochimaru's lips curled into a wide smile. His narrowed eyes turned toward Inabi's right hand.

Only he knew.

Half a day ago, this right hand had been the arm of a failed clone—a monstrous hand with seven fingers and fish scales covering its back.

But now, the scales had fallen off, and the two extra fingers had regressed into small lumps.

In a few days, once the lumps disappeared, the hand would be no different from a normal one.

The Sharingan? No. Even the clones of Uchiha who haven't awakened their eyes are grotesque.

I should say it's the power in the Uchiha Clan's bloodline. This power is regulating the Uchiha's gene expression!

Orochimaru's thoughts raced, but he kept his expression unreadable. With a sinister smile, he said to Uchiha Inabi:

"Inabi, no matter what the ninjutsu, secret technique, or kekkei genkai, none can escape the bounds of the seven attributes: Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. So, do you know which one the Uchiha's kekkei genkai falls under?"

Inabi raised an eyebrow. "Although the Uchiha Clan is best known for Fire Style, there's an old saying in the clan: 'The nature of the Sharingan is Yin Release.'"

"So, if you want to increase your Sharingan's Eye Power, you should work on Yin Release, then?"

Orochimaru's smile grew even more sinister.

He pulled a somewhat worn scroll from his robes and handed it to the bewildered Inabi.

"Artificial Tailed Beast: Zero-Tails Project?" Inabi cried in surprise.

"Indeed." Orochimaru raised his voice slightly, admiration filling his tone.

"The Second Hokage was undoubtedly a true genius.

"He developed countless ninjutsu and forbidden techniques, but many of his wildly imaginative ideas were shelved and sealed away in the end for being too unconventional.

"This Zero-Tails Project is one of those shelved, unfinished forbidden techniques. It gathers the darkness in people's hearts to amass Dark Chakra rich in Yin Release, eventually forming the 'Zero-Tails.'

"If it succeeds, the Zero-Tails' vast reserves of Dark Chakra will surely push your Eye Power to its peak. It might even let you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"But..."

At the mention of the Mangekyō, Uchiha Inabi was sorely tempted.

But he still had reservations. If he secretly learned a forbidden technique of this level and was discovered, his only option would be to defect.

"Don't worry!"

Orochimaru seemed to see right through Inabi's concerns.

"This forbidden technique was stolen once, several years ago. I know who took it—his name is Shinnō.

"Once you've mastered the technique, you can simply kill him and take the Zero-Tails he raised for your own use. You'll even clear yourself of suspicion."

Uchiha Inabi stared at Orochimaru, hope and anxiety mingling in his gaze. In the end, the lure of the Mangekyō overcame his reason.

He nodded firmly and opened the scroll.

At Uchiha Chen's residence, in the underground laboratory.

Uchiha Chen spread out the scroll, placed two glass jars inside the prepared sealing array, then casually picked up the documents on the table.

It was the report from a medical examination he'd had before going to the Eastern Front.

He'd always had this habit, so he could plan his training more scientifically and improve himself.

Height: 1.78 meters. Weight: 74 kilograms. Chakra: 3.5 cards.

Hm?

Uchiha Chen furrowed his brow.

His Chakra was now around 7.5 cards.

So much had happened over the past six months that he hadn't noticed this change quietly building day after day.

His Chakra had more than doubled in half a year. Even though Uchiha Chen was between twelve and eighteen, the age when Chakra should grow rapidly, this was nowhere near normal.

Under ordinary circumstances, he should have around five cards of Chakra by the time his growth period ended at eighteen. By the time he reached his prime as a ninja at thirty, his Chakra should have climbed to seven or eight cards.

Seven or eight cards of Chakra would put him solidly among the top twenty Konoha Ninja.

That was the prediction he'd made based on the other Three-Tomoe Uchiha in the clan and his own circumstances, but things had now veered completely off course.

If there's a reason my Chakra is growing so quickly, that's a good thing. But I should still get it checked.

Uchiha Chen covered his Prosthetic Eye with one hand.

Shadow Clone Technique!

Uchiha Chen lay down on the operating table and let his shadow clone help him switch eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, back in his long-missed original eyes, Uchiha Chen noticed the difference almost instantly.

"My Eye Power has grown a lot!"

Uchiha Chen let out a pleased breath and stood in front of the mirror.

The tomoe in his reflection's scarlet eyes hadn't changed shape, but the tips of all three had grown longer, almost joining together. The red at the bottom of his pupils had also grown more vivid.

If his Eye Power had been wood half a year ago, and the Prosthetic Eye's had been steel, then Uchiha Chen's Eye Power now was iron ore, somewhere between the two in strength.

What should I call this?

Peak Three-Tomoe, or the first step of the early Mangekyō stage?

Uchiha Chen had no interest in naming this stage of the Sharingan. Instead, he began thinking about what had caused his Eye Power to increase.

The Prosthetic Eye?

It had to be!

But why, exactly?

Uchiha Chen suddenly remembered a saying passed down in the clan: "The nature of the Sharingan is Yin Release."

This saying came from Uchiha Long Aotian, an unbelievably powerful Uchiha from several centuries ago, who was most likely one of Indra's reincarnations.

But only a very few people knew that the saying was only half complete. There was another line after it:

"The pinnacle of Yin Release is the power of the Sharingan!"

"It's Susanoo! It's Susanoo!"

Uchiha Chen laughed like a two-hundred-jin child.

Yin Release governed the power to "create form from nothing." And within the Uchiha bloodline, inherited from the Sage of Six Paths, lay a path to mastery over Yin Release:

Susanoo.

The Mangekyō Sharingan could only awaken Susanoo, and unlock its higher forms, through continuous development and use.

The reverse was true as well. Using Susanoo was also a way to develop and increase one's Yin Release and Eye Power!

"In other words..."

Uchiha Chen closed his Sharingan.

Yet he could still see his irises reflecting red in the mirror. It was a sign that his Eye Power was so strong it was spilling over.

"As long as I keep using the Susanoo of the Prosthetic Eye,

"one day, I'll be able to awaken my own Mangekyō Sharingan without needing any emotional trigger!"