Ming Seal Based on Pupil Power

Another few months passed; the snows of the Warring States period had completely melted, and the tender green of all things reviving climbed across the branches.

In a dilapidated laboratory hidden beneath the Dragon Vein, Yue Uchiha was conducting his final logical deductions based on the "Spring of Returning Light" manuscript left behind by Grandma Chiri.

The floor was covered in dense calculations and chakra flow diagrams, with several mice that had been drained of their chakra scattered to the side.

The so-called "Spring of Returning Light" was, in essence, neither a mysterious curse nor a sacrificial ritual.

It was an extremely crude and violent "high-pressure pump."

Simply put, a Tomoe Sharingan is like a water container, and ocular power is the water.

When a member of the Uchiha clan uses the Tomoe Sharingan in battle, the water flows out to attack the enemy.

During rest, the body slowly generates new water through the soul to replenish it.

However, the Mangekyō Sharingan is different.

There is a large hole at the bottom of its container, and the water quality is too high (the required quality of ocular power is too great for the soul to replenish).

Once activated, no matter how much you rest, that hole will continue to leak, making replenishment impossible until it runs dry—which leads to blindness.

The principle of the Spring of Returning Light is to forcibly crush the containers of other clansmen, funneling the water and even the shards of their containers through a pipe (the formation) and pouring it all into the Mangekyō.

But because the water quality is impure and contains too many shards, it causes inevitable mental damage to the Mangekyō user.

As for the results?

Although the water quality is impure, it makes up for it in sheer volume, which is barely enough for the Mangekyō Sharingan to use.

However, the power of the ocular techniques will ultimately be weaker than those inherent to the Mangekyō itself; for instance, one would be unable to use a Complete Body Susanoo, or would fall into a disadvantage during mental struggles when facing a legitimate Mangekyō Sharingan.

But being able to use it at all is the best news possible.

The entire principle is actually quite easy to understand.

Based on this principle, Yue also made improvements.

During these months of research, Yue combined his memories of the theory behind Tsunade's "Strength of a Hundred Seal: Yin Seal" from the future and finally found a relatively perfect alternative.

In simple terms, it was about building a reservoir, or rather, a battery.

Tsunade's Yin Seal accumulates excess chakra bit by bit in the forehead, gathering it over time to be unleashed at a critical moment.

The "Simplified Returning Light Seal" that Yue improved upon works on the exact same principle.

He gathers the ocular power that recovers naturally—the "water" obtained by the Tomoe Sharingan through rest—and stores it, allowing it to be injected into the Mangekyō when it is activated.

The quality of the water might not compare to the "pure water" that comes with the Mangekyō at the start, but the effect of using it is not much different from the ocular power replenished by the Spring of Returning Light—no, it should be said that it is superior, as it is, after all, ocular power generated by his own soul.

In other words, Tsunade's Yin Seal accumulates chakra, while Yue's seal accumulates ocular power.

"As expected, I am a genius." Yue smiled confidently.

In his subsequent conceptualization, this battery could theoretically be connected in parallel or series, meaning multiple people could act as batteries to supply power to a single person.

Therefore, he optimized the structure on this basis, leaving some space for modules that could be expanded in the future.

It could be considered the final obsession of his life as an architect.

The specific concepts still require experimentation in Rōran later; for now, he just wants to leave this era as quickly as possible.

Following this, he walked over to Hikari, gently cupping her small face and looking into those clear, black-and-white eyes.

"Watch me closely. I'm going to perform an experiment on my own body. If this experiment succeeds, our Mangekyō Sharingan will never lack ocular power again."

Hearing Yue's words, a rare flicker of nervousness appeared in the large, usually hollow eyes of Uchiha Hikari.

She obediently took half a step back, though her hands subconsciously gripped the corners of her clothes as she stared fixedly at Yue.

Yue took a deep breath, picked up a specially made brush, dipped it in ink mixed with his own blood and special herbs, and began to draw complex sealing formulas on his forehead, around his eyes, and across his cheeks.

These black runes looked like tiny, swimming snakes, eventually converging at the very center of his brow.

"I call this set of techniques the 'Ming Seal'."

Yue sat cross-legged and formed an extremely strange hand seal.

"Seal!"

Following Yue's low shout, the black runes on his face instantly lit up with a faint blue chakra glow, rushing and converging toward the center of his brow like a hundred rivers returning to the sea!

"Ugh!"

Yue let out a muffled groan.

Forcibly changing the flow of mental energy and ocular power brought a sharp, tearing pain deep within his brain.

But this intense pain lasted only a few seconds before receding like a tide.

When all the black runes had completely submerged into his brow, a tiny, faint, dark purple diamond-shaped mark remained.

This mark was now fully automated, capable of storing the "water"—that is, the ocular power—generated while he rested.

Judging by the result, it was a success.

However, Yue did not stop. He suddenly opened his right eye, his Mangekyō began to rotate, the ocular power within began to consume rapidly, and the dark purple diamond mark began to flicker with light.

Seeing that the time was right, Yue quickly formed hand seals.

"Release!"

The "reservoir" that had just been established instantly opened its floodgates!

That surge of pure, incomparable ocular power, belonging entirely to him, flowed along specific meridians like rain after a long drought, madly pouring back into his left eye, which had long since gone completely blind and dim.

Under Hikari's shocked gaze, the grey, deathly aura in Yue's left eye was instantly washed away.

A scarlet base color climbed back over the whites of his eyes, and three black tomoe slowly emerged. They then meshed together like gears, transforming into that deep and mysterious star-shaped pattern!

The Mangekyō Sharingan of his left eye had regained its light!

Meanwhile, his right eye quickly dimmed, its ocular power no longer what it once was, as if it might fade into darkness at any moment.

Yue covered his recovered left eye and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Although both of his eyes were still quite blind for now, as long as this technique existed, they had completely escaped the curse of blindness. It was equivalent to possessing the prototype of a sustainable "Eternal Mangekyō"!

"Yue... your eyes, they've lit up."

Hikari stared blankly at those eyes, which had reignited with a scarlet glow. Her tightly clenched little hands finally relaxed, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Come here, little girl, it's your turn."

In high spirits, Yue pulled Hikari in front of him, washed the brush clean with warm water, and dipped it into the specially prepared ink once more.

"Once your eyes are fixed too, it'll be time for us to go home."

Hikari let Yue paint on her fair, delicate face.

As the cold tip of the brush touched the corner of her eye, she asked softly, "Home... where is home? There is no place for us in the Uchiha clan anymore."

"Who said we were going back to the Uchiha?"

Yue finished the final stroke of the seal with practiced ease and placed his hands on Hikari's temples, guiding her chakra to converge at the center of her brow. "The place we are going has no Elders, no endless slaughter. There, a steel city towers into the clouds, there is all the grilled fish you can eat, and there is... absolute freedom."

As the seal solidified, a small diamond-shaped mark appeared on the center of Hikari's brow as well.

"Usually, as long as you rest more, it will store ocular power. Whenever you need to use the Mangekyō in the future, just use my hand signs to release it."

Hikari blinked her adorable eyes.

"Alright, pack your things, rest for the night, and we go home tomorrow."

Yue stood up and stretched his limbs. The last remaining attachment he had to the Warring States period had vanished along with Chiri's departure.

Tomorrow, it would be time to leave.