Ryūchi Cave.
In the courtyard of the temple at its deepest point.
A gust of wind suddenly swept through the peaceful surroundings.
The half-asleep White Snake Sage was startled by the enormous chakra storm.
Who!?
One of her half-closed eyelids lifted, and she peered over with a glimpse of her slit pupil.
What happened?
This is...
Hiss!
How had the disciple the little Orochimaru had taken on been reduced to little more than his last breath!?
The White Snake Sage gaped in surprise. Her pipe fell to the ground, unnoticed.
She opened her eyes wide and glared toward a corner of the temple.
"What a vicious little brat. He's even more ruthless than that child Orochimaru!"
"He even dared to put his own body through such torment."
"Could he be certain I was watching from outside? If I'd fallen asleep... this boy would have died on the spot."
The White Snake Sage felt a little vexed. This was the first time she had ever been forced to act under such frustrating circumstances.
Being outmaneuvered felt terrible.
In over a thousand years, she had never experienced anything like it.
The White Snake Sage gently exhaled a puff of white smoke. It formed into a sword, pierced the paper-covered window, and slipped into the room, entering Uchiha Ao's body just as it was on the verge of collapse.
This unfamiliar force formed a third external power inside Ao's body.
As the rampaging power of the First Hokage Cells attacked the cells throughout his body, a certain force helped stabilize and temporarily protect his vital parts.
With the arrival of this entirely new force,
The Uchiha bloodline, which had been driven back at every turn, finally caught its breath after about half an hour.
The intense stimulation made Uchiha Ao's temples throb.
Under the constant stimulation, the power of his bloodline underwent a tremendous transformation.
Endless pain wracked his body.
That pain became the source of the Uchiha bloodline's power.
This was also the most crucial change.
It would help him understand the secrets hidden within the Uchiha bloodline!
"I did it..."
Ao abruptly opened his eyes. His dark gaze turned toward the shattered window, and he gave the White Snake Sage in the main hall a slight nod. His lips moved as he offered her his thanks.
"He still has his consciousness?"
"In a thousand years, this is the first time I've seen anyone forcibly fuse Asura's power with Indra's power after birth."
"Interesting... Very interesting!"
The White Snake Sage used mist to lift her pipe and put it back in her mouth. Her drowsiness had vanished, and her eyes were filled with keen interest.
A wisp of blue flame ignited by itself.
It lit the pipe.
A wisp of blue smoke rose from it.
She took a deep drag.
Her gaze on the person lying on his side now held a note of scrutiny and respect.
This was the first time she had seen someone remain conscious in such a critical state.
His spirit was resilient enough to let him practice Ryūchi Cave's most essential secret technique.
He was already capable of practicing Ryūchi Cave's most essential secret technique.
The White Snake Sage thoughtfully reached with her tail into the depths of the temple hall behind her and picked up an old snakeskin scroll. She sent it through the white mist, then hid it beneath herself on the chair.
There was no need for words.
She would wait to see what Uchiha Ao did next, and find out what kind of method this junior had that made him dare to forcibly fuse the bloodline powers of two opposing clans in the Ninja World.
At that moment, Ao was alert and wholly focused on "watching" the changes inside his body.
This new force had given his body a brief chance to catch its breath.
It had also given him the opportunity to glimpse the trigger behind the formation of Uchiha power.
In an instant.
The Uchiha bloodline cells that had been suppressed all along began to stir.
Ao's mental energy formed an internal image of his body, keenly caught the change, and immediately focused on it.
He saw it.
The Uchiha bloodline power surged out from cells throughout his body, rushing along the shattered blood vessels. It broke through the barriers formed by the First Hokage Cells and converged on the nerves around his eyes.
Ao's mind sharpened, and he focused all his attention on his eyes.
He carefully observed his chakra rampaging out of control in every direction.
The scene looked chaotic.
Yet within it, he saw traces of a formation resembling the Summoning Technique.
It was like some marvel formed during the process of biological evolution.
This power originated deep within the Uchiha bloodline.
It seemed...
As chakra washed over the nerve cells in his pupils, those cells generated an extremely special power from nothing.
His dark pupils slowly transformed, becoming a Sharingan with one Tomoe.
A summoning?
A call?
Or had the power of Indra hidden in the nerve cells of his pupils been activated?
Ao came up with many possibilities. After carefully observing the entire process of the Uchiha bloodline's transformation, he began to piece things together.
He committed every detail to memory without missing a thing, then used his mental energy to reproduce the same patterns.
He had to admit,
The mental energy in this world was incredibly useful.
It could form all kinds of things in his mind without any reason or explanation.
Perhaps this was a talent he had gained after his soul fused with another person's.
As this unusual force, possibly the power of Indra, surfaced in his visual cells and merged with his chakra, it transformed into a new power that surged out of his eyes and swiftly spread throughout his body.
He tried to suppress the power unleashed by the First Hokage Serum, which was fighting against the third external force.
But the Uchiha power, having only just transformed, was completely unable to resist the invasion of the First Hokage Cells, which occupied most of his body.
Transformation.
Another eruption.
The Tomoe that had been spinning continuously blurred, then became two.
Then three.
Three evenly spaced Tomoe spun around his pupils. The huge amount of Uchiha Chakra they released finally suppressed the rampage of the First Hokage Cells.
With the White Snake Sage's power bringing them into balance,
The three forces gradually formed a new equilibrium in his dantian.
As the power of the serum subsided,
Ao's body slowly stopped breaking down.
After enduring the serum's violent onslaught, a terrifying vitality followed, continually healing his damaged meridians in defiance of reason and mending their injuries.
In less than half a day, his paralyzed body, which had been lying on the ground, recovered its ability to move.
Three Tomoe appeared in Ao's pupils, and the whites of his eyes turned crimson. He slowly sat up and gently touched his still-aching eyes, then gave his condition a rough examination.
His injuries had not fully healed, but they no longer hindered his movement. He could slowly prop himself up.
"My body's natural talent is still too weak... Just awakening the Three Tomoe nearly killed me. This is only the simplest Yin Release and Yang Release Chakra, right? I never expected it to be so overbearing."
"I'll have to get a new body, like Teacher Orochimaru, especially in a world where bloodlines are passed down above all else."
"If only I could get my hands on a body with Otsutsuki blood."
Ao murmured to himself.
After experiencing the power of two Kekkei Genkai inherited from the strongest bloodline in this world—the Otsutsuki bloodline—diluted to the point where they were almost imperceptible,
He had a deeper appreciation of just how terrifying the power of bloodlines in this world could be.
His curiosity about the power of the Otsutsuki bloodline filled him.
As he examined his body, his attention couldn't help but turn to that new force.
The power of the White Snake Sage—
Could it be...
Natural Energy!?
A thought flashed through Ao's mind.
The Natural Energy Orochimaru had tamed in the Cursed Seal couldn't be seen in its entirety because of the seal's limitations.
This was the first time Ao had come into such close contact with Natural Energy.
He hadn't expected it to take this form. It gave him an intensely dangerous feeling.
As if touching this power would bring about an unpredictable disaster.
Just as Ao was momentarily stunned,
The White Snake Sage's aged voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
"Ao-kun, are you all right?"
"Once you've rested, come find me. I have something to give you."
The three Zuijinji sisters standing guard outside the temple widened their eyes at these words.
This was the first time they had heard their ancestor use an honorific toward a human.
What had happened!?
What had that brat called Uchiha Ao done!?
The three sisters exchanged glances, each seeing the astonishment in the others' eyes.
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