Sprout of Profanity's Germination

Ever since that successful "guidance" session with Kagami Uchiha in the training grounds, Uchiha Sou had focused even more on this low-risk, high-efficiency method of combining "Weaving Logic" with "Guidance."

He maintained his low profile, spending most of his time on "Inner Seeking," consolidating the harmonious fluctuations within him and polishing them until they were increasingly fluid and natural. His control over his own power grew more refined; although his total Chakra volume and mental strength grew slowly, their quality was constantly improving. Like steel tempered a hundred times, they possessed far more resilience and potency than the same amount of ordinary Chakra.

Occasionally, he would walk through the clan grounds, appearing aimless but actually observing the younger generation, exerting a subtle, imperceptible influence in highly covert ways. Kagami Uchiha's progress was particularly evident, his foundations becoming increasingly solid.

However, the overall atmosphere of the clan grounds did not ease due to these subtle, positive trends; instead, it grew increasingly oppressive. Uchiha Madara's injuries were recurring, and the pressure fell entirely upon Izuna Uchiha. The excessive use of the Mangekyou had caused his eyesight to deteriorate visibly, and his temperament had become increasingly irritable and resolute.

On this day, a high-level meeting was convened in a heavy atmosphere.

Izuna sat at the head of the table, deep shadows beneath his eyes, his voice cold: "The border patrol was hit hard again. It wasn't Tobirama Senju himself, but... a squad of Senju ninja who should have been confirmed dead in last month's battle."

The meeting room fell into a dead silence.

"The fallen... resurrected?" an elder muttered in disbelief.

"Not a true resurrection." Izuna tapped his fingers on the table, revealing his inner turmoil. "According to the survivors, those 'dead' had skin of an eerie, grayish-white, covered in cracks. They moved stiffly, felt no pain, and possessed a cold, bizarre Chakra. They could even use some of the techniques they knew in life. Most importantly—their eyes had no spark of life, as if they were merely puppets being manipulated!"

Puppets?! Manipulating the dead?!

A chill swept through the entire meeting room. This was more hair-raising than any known forbidden technique; it was the most thorough profanity against the boundary of life and death!

"It's Tobirama Senju!" another elite Jonin gritted his teeth. "Only that madman would research such an evil forbidden technique!"

"We must know what that is!" Izuna slammed his hand on the table, his Three Tomoe Sharingan appearing due to his agitation. His vision seemed to blur for a moment, but he forced himself to steady. "It's not just about destruction or defense! We must obtain detailed intelligence on that technique! Understand its principles, its weaknesses, and... what exactly Tobirama intends to do with it!"

He swept his gaze over the group with a resolve bordering on madness: "Dispatch the most elite reconnaissance squad. Target—Tobirama Senju's core laboratory! At all costs, obtain every piece of information regarding this forbidden technique of manipulating the dead! If possible... bring back a sample!"

The order was issued, carrying an unquestionable decisiveness and a bone-deep chill. Everyone understood that this mission was more dangerous than any before; they were likely to face a terrifying creation that transcended life and death.

Uchiha Sou listened in silence, a stormy sea raging in his heart.

Impure World Reincarnation! It was actually the prototype of the Impure World Reincarnation! At this point in time, Tobirama had already begun to dabble in this field?

He had originally thought Tobirama's research focus was still on the Flying Thunder God and the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. He hadn't expected that extreme fear of the Uchiha's power and a desperate craving for victory would lead Tobirama to touch this forbidden realm so early.

The appearance of this technique meant that the cruelty and the bottom line of the war would be lowered infinitely once again.

After the meeting, Tsang's mood was exceptionally heavy. The course of history seemed to have accelerated due to certain factors (perhaps including the chain reaction caused by his own tiny interference with "Causality"), becoming even darker.

A reconnaissance squad consisting of five elite Uchiha Jonin, carrying a death-defying conviction under the cover of night, silently infiltrated the heart of the Senju territory.

Meanwhile, deep within the Senju clan grounds, in an underground laboratory.

The atmosphere here was colder and more oppressive than in the Uchiha grounds. The air was thick with the pungent smell of antiseptic and a certain special clay. The surrounding walls were covered in complex sealing formulas, flickering with a ghostly blue light.

Tobirama Senju stood before a massive experimental table. On it lay not a living person, but the mangled corpse of an Uchiha ninja—a "harvest" from the last battle. The surface of the corpse was covered in a special, grayish-white clay mixed with Chakra-conductive materials; many areas were not yet smoothed over, appearing rough and eerie.

In the corner of the lab, several giant glass containers held other unrecognizable tissue samples, some even bearing the Uchiha fan crest. Most chilling of all, in the shadows on one side of the lab, two figures stood silently.

They wore the attire of the Senju clan, but their skin was a deathly grayish-white, their bodies covered in bizarre cracks, their eyes hollow and empty, devoid of any trace of life. They were the very "dead" who had previously attacked the Uchiha patrol!

Tobirama performed a complex hand seal, injecting cold Chakra into the corpse on the table while barking at a bound, dying Senju prisoner (a death-row inmate or a volunteer for testing?) beside him: "Forbidden Technique: Impure World Reincarnation - Modified!"

Hum!

A dark light flared. The prisoner let out a shrill scream as his soul seemed to be forcibly ripped away, turning into a blurred shadow that was struggled into the clay-covered Uchiha corpse!

The next moment, the "corpse" snapped its eyes open!

A pair of hollow, emotionless Sharingan, in which the Three Tomoe pattern slowly emerged!

"Roar—!" The Impure World Reincarnation body let out a roar that did not sound human, struggling violently to break free from the restraints of the table. Those Sharingan rotated mechanically, attempting to replicate the abilities of the deceased, but due to the incompatibility between the soul and the vessel, as well as the extreme imperfection of the technique, it appeared chaotic and twisted.

"The stability is still too poor... the soul rejection reaction is intense, the power of the Sharingan cannot be effectively reproduced, and only the most basic Taijutsu and partial attribute Chakra can be retained..." Tobirama observed calmly, recording data rapidly. There was no guilt in his eyes for the profanity against life, only the focus on technical challenges and the fanaticism to overcome them.

"I need better sacrifices... more powerful souls to act as a 'wedge'... and I need to further optimize the summoning contract and the binding runes..." he muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the two initial, relatively "successful" Impure World bodies in the corner (using the corpses of ordinary Senju ninja and weaker souls).

"Uchiha... the power of your cursed eyes will eventually become the tool I use to protect the Senju and eradicate you!" A cold, cruel arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

He seemed to see the future battlefield, where an army composed of dead Uchiha would tear their own kin apart.

This was his way of responding to the Sharingan!

What he did not know was that in the shadows outside the lab, the Uchiha reconnaissance squad, having infiltrated with the help of high-level stealth charms and extreme caution, was witnessing this soul-shaking, undead-profaning scene through a crack.

The Uchiha captain leading the squad dug his nails deep into his palms until blood seeped out, yet he felt nothing. In his Sharingan, the grayish-white, cracked body, the hollow Three Tomoe, and the cold, ruthless side profile of Tobirama Senju were reflected.

Extreme rage and a bone-chilling horror instantly engulfed him.

The message must be sent back!

No matter the cost!

Inside and outside the laboratory, the shadow war between the Uchiha and the Senju was pushed into an even more insane and desperate abyss because of this forbidden technique that touched upon the taboos of life and death.

Could the seed of faint light survive in this darkness where the Sprout of Profanity was spreading?

Could Uchiha Sou's "Weaving Logic" cope with this challenge that completely defied reason?

The storm had not yet arrived, but the chill was already bone-deep.