"First priority: the underlying jutsu and principles behind the Spring of Returning Light."
Although the Uchiha leadership's method of treating their own clansmen as expendable fuel to extract their visual prowess was revolting and utterly vile, if one looked past the bloody surface, its core—the "Yin Release Chakra transfer and visual prowess refinement technique"—was an unparalleled theory far ahead of its time!
If he could get his hands on the original scroll for the formation, then with the scientific thinking he'd developed in his previous life, he might be able to reverse-engineer it completely.
"Second priority: Zhi Uchiha's insights into Yin Release and her secret techniques."
Thinking of the old woman who had brought them rice balls that morning, compassion shining in her eyes, Yue felt his heart warm slightly.
She was a peerless genius who had created Izanami. Her understanding of spiritual energy and the Sharingan was on a completely different level from that of any other Uchiha in the Warring States Period—or even any other era.
If she were willing to teach him everything she knew, it would not only greatly shorten the time he needed to improve the Spring of Returning Light, but might even bring a qualitative leap in his use of the Mangekyo.
This would greatly increase his strength.
"As for the third priority... the Five Basic Nature Transformations and Sealing Jutsu of the Senju, Sarutobi, and other clans."
Yue pursed his lips.
Although those things were tempting—like the Senju's Yang Release and the Uzumaki's Sealing Jutsu—trying to take on too much would only leave him unable to digest any of it before he solved the fundamental problem of his own visual prowess running dry.
He could put those off until last and pursue them once his strength had recovered.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Yue fixed his gaze on the most crucial opening: Zhi Uchiha.
"Of the three targets, she's the easiest to approach and the most promising."
The Uchiha leadership had rotted to the core. Sneaking into the leaders' tents to steal the Spring of Returning Light scroll would be tantamount to suicide.
Although, counting him and Hikari, there were fewer than five Mangekyo users among the Uchiha.
But Zhi was different. She detested the clan's current state and was kind toward the two younger clansmen who had been treated as expendable.
However...
"Better safe than sorry. This is the Warring States Period, not some make-believe game in Konoha."
A coldness and caution far beyond his years surfaced on Yue's youthful face.
Zhi was kind, but in the end, she was an Uchiha Elder. Her kindness was built on the premise of "saving the clan."
If she learned that he and Hikari were not only still alive but also trying to steal the clan's most important secrets, who could guarantee that the old woman who had created Izanami wouldn't turn around and suppress them for the sake of the Uchiha's stability?
"I can't take Hikari and go looking for her. That'd be like handing someone a knife and pointing out my weak spot. I need her to come to us, and... I have to keep the initiative."
Yue took a deep breath. His hands flashed through a series of signs at his chest, forming an extremely discreet seal.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
With a soft pop, a cloud of white smoke dissipated beside the fire, and another unharmed Yue Uchiha appeared where it had been.
The real Yue tore a clean strip of cloth from his clothes, bit his finger, and quickly wrote an extremely cryptic message in blood. Then he added a set of coordinates:
[Thirty li south of Falling Cherry Valley. Meet at Moon-Severing Cliff at midnight tomorrow. —The two students you taught the Great Fireball Technique]
When he finished, the real Yue rolled up the bloodstained note and handed it to the Shadow Clone.
"Deliver this to Zhi Uchiha. Remember, don't alert any of the hidden sentries in the camp. She's perceptive enough that she'll notice if you leave it within ten paces of her tent. Once you've delivered it, dispel yourself," the real Yue instructed in a low voice.
"Understood. But if she really does show up on time, how will we meet her?"
The Shadow Clone weighed the bloodstained note in his hand and asked.
"I'll make another clone to meet her when the time comes."
"I'll wait here with Hikari. If she comes alone and is genuinely willing to work with us, you can give her the conditions we need."
"What if she brings an ambush from the leadership, or tries to control you with genjutsu?"
The Shadow Clone grinned, already guessing what the real Yue had in mind.
"Then dispel the jutsu immediately. Even if you're blown to pieces, all we'll lose is a tiny amount of chakra. As for us, we'll cut off every trail and disappear," the real Yue said coldly.
Until he had the absolute power to flip the board, caution was his only rule for survival.
"Leave it to me."
The Shadow Clone nodded and tucked the bloodstained note into his clothes.
Then, like a black cat blending into the night, he slipped soundlessly out of Water Curtain Cave. Sheltered by the dense forests of the Warring States Period, he raced toward the Uchiha's forward camp.
The real Yue sat by the fire, listening to the water trickle outside the cave. His gaze fell once more on Uchiha Hikari, sleeping beside him.
The little girl seemed to be having a good dream. Her little face, usually tense and frosty, had miraculously relaxed. She even smacked her lips faintly, as if savoring the taste of the grilled fish.
Yue couldn't help chuckling. He pulled the coat draped over her up a little higher.
"Sleep well, Hikari."
The night was deep, like a mass of ink that would never dissolve, pressing heavily over the Uchiha's forward camp.
The Great Elder's ruthless decision in his tent had already reached Zhi Uchiha's ears, every word clear.
At that moment, Zhi sat cross-legged in her own unremarkable tent.
There was no lamp inside. Only an ancient Uchiha short blade on the table caught the faint moonlight filtering through the gaps, its edge gleaming with a chill.
"The Uchiha have... reached their limit."
Zhi slowly opened her eyes. Her once-gentle black eyes now roiled with terrifying visual prowess.
The Three Tomoe spun and stretched wildly, finally transforming into the Mangekyo pattern, a symbol of the Uchiha's ultimate power and curse.
The Uchiha's frenzied war chariot was accelerating along the edge of an endless abyss, its wheels crushing the bloody flesh and bones of its own clansmen.
"Since words and compassion can no longer awaken these demons, devoured by power and ambition, I have no choice but to use that technique..."
Zhi slowly raised a hand to her only remaining sighted eye, a resolute, tragic look appearing on her aged face.
She planned to charge straight into the leaders' tent, right here, tonight!
She would risk total blindness in her right eye and eternal darkness to unleash her self-created ultimate genjutsu on the Great Elder and the other highest-ranking leaders.
Izanami!
Even if it meant she would die on the spot, she would not hesitate.
"Everything, for a true Uchiha..."
Just as the Yin Release Chakra in Zhi's body was about to erupt like a volcano and she was preparing to rise and meet her death—
"Thunk."
A faint, muffled sound of a Kunai piercing a wooden post suddenly came from the blind spot about ten paces outside the tent.
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