Testing Izumi Uchiha

"First priority: The underlying techniques and construction principles of the Spring of Returning Light."

Although the method used by the Uchiha Clan upper echelons—treating their own kin as expendable materials to extract ocular power—is nauseating and devoid of conscience, if one sets aside the bloody facade, the core "Yin Release Chakra Transfer and Ocular Power Purification Technique" is an epoch-making, top-tier theory!

If he could obtain the original scroll of this formation, relying on the scientific mindset from his past life, it would be entirely possible to reverse-engineer it.

"Second priority: The Yin Release insights and secret techniques of Izumi Uchiha."

Thinking of the old woman who would bring them rice balls in the early morning, her eyes filled with compassion, a warmth couldn't help but stir in Yue's heart.

She was the peerless genius who created Izanami; her understanding of spiritual energy and the Sharingan was at a level that stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Uchiha throughout the Warring States period, or perhaps any era.

If he could receive her full instruction, it would not only drastically shorten the time needed to improve the Spring of Returning Light, but could even lead to a qualitative leap in his own use of the Mangekyo.

This would significantly enhance his strength.

"As for the third priority... the Five-Element Ninjutsu and sealing techniques of the Senju, Sarutobi, and other clans."

Yue curled his lip.

While he coveted these things—such as the Yang Release of the Senju or the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki—without first solving the fundamental problem of his own ocular power depletion, he would only be biting off more than he could chew.

These could be left for last, to be pursued only after his strength had recovered.

Having clarified his thoughts, Yue locked his gaze onto the most critical breakthrough point: Izumi Uchiha.

"Among the three targets, she is the only one who is both the easiest to approach and the most promising."

The Uchiha upper echelons were already completely rotten; stealing the scroll of the Spring of Returning Light from their camp would be no different than seeking his own death.

Even though, on the surface, the number of Mangekyo users within the Uchiha, including himself and Hikari, could be counted on one hand.

But Izumi was different; she loathed the current state of the clan and held goodwill toward the two juniors who were being treated as expendable materials.

However...

"One must always be on guard; this is the Warring States period, not the play-pretend Konoha."

A coldness and caution, entirely unbefitting his young age, surfaced on Yue's face.

Though Izumi was kind, she was, after all, an elder of the Uchiha. Her kindness was predicated on the overarching goal of "saving the clan."

If she were to find out that he and Hikari were not only alive but attempting to steal the clan's core secrets, who could guarantee that this old woman who created Izanami wouldn't suppress them in a heartbeat for the sake of Uchiha's stability?

"I cannot take Hikari to find her; that would be like delivering a weakness to someone else's blade. I must make her come to us, and... the initiative must remain in my hands."

Yue took a deep breath, his hands moving with lightning speed in front of his chest, forming an extremely subtle seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

With a soft "poof," a cloud of white smoke dissipated beside the campfire, and another perfectly unharmed Yue Uchiha appeared in place.

The original Yue tore a clean piece of cloth from his robe, bit his finger, and quickly wrote a line of highly cryptic code in blood, followed by a set of coordinates:

[Thirty miles south of Falling Cherry Valley, meet at Moon-Severing Cliff at the hour of the Rat tomorrow night. --The two students you once taught the Great Fireball]

After writing it, the original rolled up the blood-letter and handed it to the shadow clone.

"Deliver this to Izumi Uchiha. Remember, do not alert any hidden sentries in the camp. With her keen senses, she will naturally notice if you leave the item within ten paces of her tent. Once delivered, dispel yourself immediately," the original whispered.

"Understood. But if she actually keeps the appointment, how should we make contact?"

The shadow clone weighed the blood-letter in his hand and asked in return.

"At that time, I will manifest another version of you to meet her."

"I will wait here with Hikari. If she comes alone and is truly willing to cooperate with us, then you can present the conditions we require."

"And if she brings an ambush from the upper echelons, or tries to use genjutsu to control you?"

The shadow clone grinned, having already guessed the original's plan.

"Then dispel the technique immediately. Even if you are destroyed, the loss will only be a negligible amount of chakra. As for us, we will cut all ties immediately and fly far away," the original said coldly.

Until he possessed the absolute power to flip the board, caution was his only creed for survival.

"Leave it to me."

The shadow clone nodded and tucked the blood-letter into his clothes.

Then, like a black cat merging into the night, he slipped silently out of the Water Curtain Cave, using the cover of the dense Warring States forests to sprint rapidly toward the direction of the Uchiha Clan's frontline camp.

The original Yue sat by the campfire, listening to the murmuring water outside the cave, his gaze falling once again on the sleeping Uchiha Hikari beside him.

The little girl seemed to be having a good dream; the small face that was usually tense and covered in frost was now miraculously relaxed, and she even smacked her lips slightly, as if savoring the taste of grilled fish.

Yue couldn't help but chuckle softly, pulling the cloak over her a little higher.

"Sleep well, Hikari."

The night was deep, like a thick, indelible ink, pressing heavily upon the Uchiha Clan's frontline camp.

The cold, decisive words spoken within the Great Elder's tent had already reached the ears of Izumi Uchiha without a single detail missed.

At this moment, Izumi sat quietly cross-legged within her own unremarkable tent.

There was no lamp lit in the tent; only an ancient Uchiha short sword on the desk gleamed with a cold, chilling light under the faint moonlight filtering through the gaps.

"The Uchiha... have reached their limit."

Chiri slowly opened her eyes, and those once-gentle black pupils were now churning violently with terrifying ocular power.

The Three Tomoe spun frantically, stretching and morphing until they finally settled into the Mangekyo pattern, the symbol of the Uchiha's ultimate power and curse.

The Uchiha, that runaway war chariot, was accelerating toward the edge of an endless abyss, crushing the bloody flesh and bones of its own kin beneath its wheels.

"Since words and warmth can no longer awaken these demons consumed by power and strength, then there is no choice but to use that technique..."

Chiri's hand slowly brushed against her right eye, the only one that still held light, a look of resolute tragedy etched upon her aged face.

She intended to storm the high-ranking officers' tent right here, this very night!

She would risk the cost of that right eye going completely blind and falling into eternal darkness to unleash her self-created ultimate genjutsu upon the Great Elder and the other top leaders.

Izanami!

Even if it meant her immediate demise, she would not hesitate.

"Everything, for the sake of the true Uchiha..."

Just as the Yin Release chakra on Chiri's body was about to erupt like a volcano and she prepared to rise to her death—

"Thud."

A faint, muffled sound of a kunai embedding itself into a wooden pillar suddenly rang out from the blind spot about ten paces outside the tent.