Mutated Sage Body

Seeing Nagato crying tears of joy, Fucheng contentedly activated the reward.

The reward made Fucheng hesitate.

Nagato was definitely an extremely important figure, worth investing more Recognition Points in. But this was still a game of chance. If he rolled a two, he would only get one of Nagato's personal belongings.

Maybe he'd get a frog costume Nagato owned.

After weighing his options, Fucheng invested ten times the standard amount: 200 points.

[Nagato's Fate Dice]

Roll!

The dice landed on five.

Fucheng let out a long breath. His luck had been pretty good this time.

[Obtained the Mutated Uzumaki Bloodline talent; chakra increased.]

Of all the fate rewards, this was the one Fucheng was most satisfied with.

An immense life force and a tremendous increase in chakra surged through Uchiha Fucheng's body.

The Mutated Uzumaki Sage Body truly lived up to its reputation.

Although he hadn't obtained the Rinnegan, the Mutated Uzumaki Sage Body was already among the very best of the second-tier rewards.

Looking back at the rewards Uchiha Fucheng had received,

the two strongest had undoubtedly come from Fugaku and Nawaki.

One was Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan power.

The other was the small amount of Senju bloodline talent he'd gained after changing Nawaki's fate.

These two rewards had strengthened Uchiha Fucheng's most essential combat abilities:

Sharingan prowess far beyond that of an ordinary Uchiha ninja, and a body with "chakra for days," far surpassing that of a typical jonin.

The two talents also complemented each other.

At their core, they were Uchiha Fucheng's Yin Release (spiritual energy) and Yang Release (cellular power).

The Mutated Uzumaki Bloodline Nagato had contributed this time also deeply fused with the small amount of Senju bloodline.

This fusion was a little like the Ōtsutsuki Clan's bloodline reverting to its origins.

Whether it was the Five Basic Nature Transformations or the balance between Yin Release and Yang Release in his body, the changes were clearly apparent.

In terms of total chakra, if an ordinary jonin had 100,

Fucheng now had more than 2,000.

His chakra recovery speed had also improved significantly.

As Uchiha Fucheng recalled, Nagato, a bloodline genius with the Mutated Uzumaki Sage Body, had been able to pour chakra into the Ten-Tails husk with such abandon that he was practically a "Tailed Beast-level existence."

With this bloodline ability fused into him, not only would the side effects of the Mangekyō Sharingan become less severe,

but his chakra would also undergo earth-shattering changes as it continued to grow.

That brought to mind [Multi-Shadow Clone], the special jutsu that let the protagonist cheat his way through everything.

It was a bug-exploiting technique that only someone with chakra to spare could use.

Maybe, as long as he had enough chakra, he could try creating dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of clones.

Could using a huge number of clones to train with chakra let him master changes in chakra form and nature as quickly as Naruto had?

The two medical ninjas at the battlefield hospital were also astonished by Uchiha Fucheng's mysterious eye technique.

Its powerful healing ability was beyond their comprehension.

It was even more shocking than watching Tsunade use a "forbidden-level" medical ninjutsu with their own eyes.

They remembered the things they'd heard back in Konoha.

First, during the last battle against the Sand Ninja, Uchiha Fugaku had been blown open by hundreds of wounds, yet this Lord Fucheng had still managed to save her life.

Second, Lord Konoha White Fang's wife had also been saved by Uchiha Fucheng's mysterious eye technique when she was gravely ill and on the brink of death.

Other Konoha ninjas were always looking down on the Uchiha Clan for being arrogant and conceited, creating the strange stereotype that "the Uchiha are hard to get along with."

But the medical ninjas scoffed at that idea.

"You lot are trash. What right do you have to talk smack about the Uchiha?"

The Uchiha Clan Head was simply amazing.

He could snatch people back from the Reaper. He was a mighty figure revered by everyone in the Shinobi World.

The medical ninjas resolved to speak with their families, young and old, as soon as they returned to the village.

They would make sure to get along with the Uchiha Clan.

As doctors, they understood all too well that one should never offend a miracle healer.

Everyone got sick or injured now and then. They could offend anyone, but they shouldn't offend someone who might save their life.

If one day they had to ask the Uchiha Clan for help, and their clans had been at odds or held a private grudge, it would be too late for any regrets.

With rescuing Nagato as a good start, dealing with Yahiko and Konan would be even easier.

The Land of Rain had become a major battlefield, making life increasingly difficult for its ordinary people.

Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had all been orphaned during this period.

They didn't know the exact location or when they would meet the three, but the window in which the three founders of Akatsuki lost their families or were displaced was roughly the same.

Judging by the timeline, they'd lost their parents and become orphans during the first phase of Konoha's invasion of the Land of Rain.

The fighting at the front was going smoothly. Jiraiya and the other two were cutting through the Land of Rain's forces without a hitch.

Salamander Hanzo, bogged down by the Sand Ninja, must have been wishing he could tear Chiyo apart.

This gave Jiraiya and his companions a major advantage on the battlefield.

Konoha had advanced from the Land of Fire's border deep into the Land of Rain. Aside from Salamander Doshin, whom Uchiha Fucheng had killed, they'd encountered almost no particularly formidable opponents.

As the occupied territory expanded, Uchiha Fucheng had no choice but to split up the Uchiha ninjas and send them to different occupied towns to root out the hidden remnants of the Rain Ninja.

The Misaka Sisters, now expanded to a group of twenty-seven, were also stationed across multiple towns.

They began searching methodically for the future founders of Akatsuki.

Under these circumstances, Mikoto's ninja squad was out on a mission alone.

They ran into the greatest danger to their lives since the team had been formed!

The one leading Uchiha Hezi and the other two this time was Misaka 0015, dispatched by Mikoto.

She was the Misaka Sister Fucheng had nicknamed "Moon."

0015 was almost fifteen centimeters taller than Mikoto herself.

She had broad shoulders, a large face, and arms nearly as thick as Mikoto's thighs.

Although 0015 looked very much like Mikoto, her overall presence was entirely different.

She even reminded Uchiha Fucheng of Biscuit before she transformed.

After spending so much time around Mikoto, the three members of her squad had long since learned about the Misaka Sisters.

They'd even seen the Misaka Sisters without their masks on.

Even Uchiha Hezi, who had always been Mikoto's biggest admirer, was astonished by these "clone ninjas" who looked so much like Big Sis Mikoto.

But Uchiha Fucheng had astonished them so many times that they didn't dare ask questions. They'd simply come up with all sorts of wild theories, like "the Mangekyō Sharingan can create ninja clones."

When they went on missions, Mikoto had to oversee the electromagnetic communications network, so she had Misaka 0015 lead the three of them.

Over time, they'd even started thinking of the Misaka Sisters, despite their different builds, as Mikoto's clones.

Their mission today was to capture Nagashima Ryosuke, the administrator of Sweet Water Town.

0015 quickly briefed them on the target:

"He's the former mayor of Sweet Water Town and controls nearly a quarter of the Land of Rain's production of Military Ration Pills and ninja medicines.

After Lady Tsunade captured Sweet Water Town, there was no sign of Nagashima Ryosuke.

Based on the information we have, he's still hiding somewhere near Sweet Water Town."

Uchiha Hezi asked, "What about him personally? Is he a ninja?"

0015 shook her head. "He probably isn't. Nagashima Ryosuke is a member of the branch of the famous Nagashima Trading Company based in the Land of Rain."

0015 glanced at the file and added, "He should have at least two ninja bodyguards.

The head of his guards is a former Mist Ninja defector named Taketori Eitaro.

His bounty on the black market has already surpassed ten million ryō."