"Just as I thought. The Spirit Transformation Technique isn't Living Corpse Reincarnation. Although I can take over this body, I haven't truly changed bodies. I can still sense my original body."
"Even this specially made clone body, which has no soul, feels a little bit of rejection. Is that because of the Chakra?"
"That confirms it. The Spirit Transformation Technique must have a time limit, but if I increase the Chakra carried by my spirit body, the technique should last longer."
"What happens when the Chakra runs out?"
Ensei Uchiha controlled his Chakra consumption. Soon, when it ran out, he could feel his original body calling his soul back, along with a faint discomfort coming from inside the clone body.
Then, two forces of attraction appeared at once, as if demanding that Ensei Uchiha make a choice.
But Ensei Uchiha could tell that if he stayed in this body, he might achieve something like body possession, but the body would probably begin rejecting his soul after a while.
It was hard to describe this phenomenon in the Shinobi World.
But based on Ensei Uchiha's memories from his previous life, this was clearly a case of the soul and body being incompatible. He just needed to find a way to increase how well they fused.
He could also just leave things as they were and change bodies every few years.
Spirit Transformation Technique plus some kind of soul-devouring secret technique... That should be Living Corpse Reincarnation, right?
Ensei Uchiha made wild guesses without a care. It didn't matter if he was wrong.
After all, what he was doing now had already achieved an effect similar to Living Corpse Reincarnation. What's more, he could undo it at any time, and it wouldn't damage his soul.
But there was no need for Ensei Uchiha to abandon his original body anytime soon. So he tried it out, then returned to his own body.
After that, Ensei Uchiha used the Spirit Transformation Technique again and carefully analyzed the clone body's data.
After moving around a little, Ensei Uchiha activated the Byakugan. Sure enough, veins bulged at the sides of his eyes.
He could confirm that the reason he had been able to use the Byakugan without any warning before was that the Byakugan inside his body had borne the strain of opening his eyes.
But now...
Ensei Uchiha stared at his original body for a while, then placed a hand on the Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach and drew the Byakugan's ocular power from the seal to nourish his eyes.
In the original story, the Tenseigan was the path to power that Ensei Uchiha could imagine achieving, had the means to achieve, and could obtain most easily.
But unlike the Rinnegan, although the Tenseigan was powerful and granted a state similar to the Sage of Six Paths's, along with Truth-Seeking Orbs, it seemed to be an imperfect form at its core.
After Otsutsuki Toneri was defeated...
No, more accurately, after the Giant Byakugan was destroyed, the Tenseigan regressed to a Byakugan. It didn't remain in that state permanently like the Rinnegan.
Still, Ensei Uchiha only cared about power. The potential drawbacks didn't matter.
He had no intention of limiting himself to this. His future enemies would be powerful. He needed to reach at least the level of a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki to feel somewhat safe.
As for Kaguya Otsutsuki...
If Black Zetsu didn't stab her in the heart, she probably wouldn't become Kaguya Otsutsuki's vessel so easily, right?
His mind wandered through a jumble of thoughts until a slight swelling sensation in his eyes brought Ensei Uchiha back to his senses.
These Byakugan seemed to have begun evolving.
Over the next month, Ensei Uchiha waited for the Byakugan to evolve. But after the first pulse, their evolution slowed down.
"The Tenseigan evolved so quickly for Otsutsuki Toneri in the story. Is it a matter of talent, or is it because I'm missing the Chakra of Hamura Otsutsuki's lineage?"
If this had happened before, Ensei Uchiha might have had to go to some trouble. But now it was much simpler.
After ending the Spirit Transformation Technique, Ensei Uchiha returned to his original body.
He glanced at the corpse on the ground and slightly raised his hand. The body, identical to his own, climbed to its feet like an ordinary person.
Unlike those Artificial Humans, when Ensei Uchiha cloned this body, he had infused it with a great deal of his own Chakra. As a result, it lacked the faint soul found in other clones.
There was still a slight sense of discomfort, but it was probably caused by the spiritual energy contained in the Chakra.
The ability that let the body stand came from the Tenseigan's power to control puppets.
Ensei Uchiha didn't understand why partially awakening the Tenseigan in the clone body had instead given his original body some new abilities.
Perhaps it was because the hundred thousand Byakugan were sealed inside him. His original body hadn't possessed the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai, so it couldn't access the power of those hundred thousand eyes and could only use them as a giant Chakra reserve.
And now, the potential of those hundred thousand Byakugan had been unlocked?
Ignoring this minor matter, Ensei Uchiha spoke with the Mini Ten-Tails, which stood three meters tall behind him. Then he had the clone body gradually merge into the Mini Ten-Tails.
Next, Ensei Uchiha took out another pair of pure Byakugan and continued what he had been doing.
Once everything was done, Ensei Uchiha left the Laboratory, his heart tangled between happiness and misgivings.
He went to the place where the Ninja Cat Clan lived and spoke with Granny Cat about the latest intelligence. Then he asked her for a map of Sunagakure and left Cat Ninja Village with a huge scroll nearly half his height strapped to his back.
As for the Natural Energy research plan he had promised Chachamaru...
Maybe next time... He'd get to it next time!
Besides, the place Ensei Uchiha was going this time already held an abundance of Natural Energy. It wasn't as if he was breaking his promise.
Ensei Uchiha traveled quickly. Sunagakure was also hidden in a sparsely populated desert, so he didn't attract the attention of any White Zetsu.
He was a little disappointed by that.
The White Zetsu he had captured earlier had nearly all been used up. He still had a few samples left, but White Zetsu weren't really living beings, and ordinary cloning techniques had no effect on White Zetsu Cells.
So Ensei Uchiha still hoped to run into a few White Zetsu he could capture.
But it didn't matter. It was better that the White Zetsu hadn't discovered him. He didn't want anyone to know the exact location of the place he was heading to, or the route he took to get there.
With the Byakugan's powerful ability to observe his surroundings, Ensei Uchiha quickly found his final destination: Rōran.
Of course, the place had already become a ruin.
In fact, there were many such ruins in the Shinobi World.
For example, the Empty Zone, where the Ninja Cat Clan lived; the place where Yugito Nii was captured in the original story; and that place where the Gelel Stone was found. They were all ruins.
This showed that the Shinobi World could also give rise to powerful civilizations.
It was a pity that these native powers had become fragile and easily destroyed under the influence of Chakra, an outside force.
Though he felt a little wistful, Ensei Uchiha continued toward the Dragon Vein without hesitation.
Along the way, the Byakugan's ability to see through things made it easy for him to avoid the traps. In the end, he arrived in front of a Flying Thunder God Shuriken.
The Dragon Vein's seal lay beneath it.
"I wonder if this world still has the part where Naruto goes back in time."
Ensei Uchiha spoke with a hint of emotion, then used his understanding of Sealing Jutsu to make a small opening in the Dragon Vein's seal.
The Dragon Vein's power was incredibly strong. Once fully unleashed, it could even travel through time and space. Ensei Uchiha couldn't let something like that get out of control.
He took the enormous scroll off his back and released the Mini Ten-Tails.
The moment the huge white mass appeared, it eagerly wriggled toward the Dragon Vein's seal, like a white slime.
"Stop!"
Watching the Mini Ten-Tails do something like this for the first time, Ensei Uchiha suddenly called out.
He could sense the connection between himself and it, as well as his authority over it.
Still, Ensei Uchiha wanted to test it and see whether it would defy his will.
Sure enough, as soon as Ensei Uchiha spoke, the Mini Ten-Tails stopped moving.
A strong desire was then conveyed to Ensei Uchiha: it wanted to absorb the power leaking out of the Dragon Vein's seal.
"No!"
Ensei Uchiha refused flatly. Upon receiving the order, the Mini Ten-Tails wriggled back to its original position at the same speed and stayed perfectly still.
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