Indra + Shikotsumyaku = Otsutsuki?

"How could there be such a massive fluctuation of chakra, and what was that thunderous sound just now?"

The various ninja clans within Kirigakure had already sensed the combat fluctuations emanating from the Taketori clan's compound. From time to time, people would poke their heads out to inspect the situation, only to retreat back into their own compounds upon seeing the Kirigakure ninja squads patrolling the streets.

At this stage in Kirigakure, the authority of the Mizukage was not to be challenged.

Regardless of how the war on the front lines was progressing, Shisui Uchiha had already achieved part of his objective for this operation.

On the top floor of the Mizukage Building, in a heavily guarded secret room, six elites of the Taketori clan were bound before Shisui. Each of them possessed a Shikotsumyaku development rate of 50% or higher.

The ropes used to bind these six were no ordinary items; each one was plastered with chakra-sealing talismans, ensuring that those bound could not utilize the chakra within their bodies to break free.

Because, under normal circumstances, "Eye Technique: Yamata" could only be used on targets with a bloodline development rate lower than one's own, and coupled with the bloodline loss during the plundering process, Shisui could only effectively increase his own Shikotsumyaku development rate by plundering subjects with higher development rates.

"That pair of eyes... Sharingan. You are of the Uchiha clan; why would you appear here?"

"You are not that man who calls himself Uchiha Madara; you are much younger than him. Speak! What is your purpose in binding us here?"

Although they felt some fear—after all, anyone capable of appearing inside the Mizukage Building and kidnapping them must have a powerful force backing them—their assessment was correct. After all, the force backing Shisui was the entirety of Kirigakure.

"The more you know, the faster you die." Shisui had no interest in answering the questions of these dead men; his attention was entirely focused on his left eye.

[Target available for plundering detected: Taketori Sankyu, Shikotsumyaku development rate 50%]
[Target available for plundering detected: Taketori Ichibo, Shikotsumyaku development rate 55%]
[Target available for plundering detected: Taketori...]

Facing six plundering targets simultaneously, Shisui was under considerable pressure.

Even with one reagent developed by Orochimaru remaining to replenish his ocular power, he could not guarantee that no accidents would occur during the entire bloodline plundering process.

In the end, Shisui chose the safest method: starting from the one with the lowest bloodline development rate, he used "Eye Technique: Yamata" on them one by one.

"What are you doing? Ah, ah... ah!"

Under the powerful ocular power of Shisui's left Mangekyo, Taketori Sankyu's eyeballs were the first to rupture. The unidentified tissues within the eyeballs were decomposed and expelled from the body, leaving behind only the essence within the eyeballs that carried the power of the bloodline.

Next was Taketori Sankyu's entire head, followed by his neck, torso, and finally spreading to his limbs.

Taketori Sankyu was gradually skinned and dismantled from a complete human being. Beneath the shattered skin tissue, drops of blood containing the power of Shikotsumyaku were continuously purified after their impurities were removed.

The various internal organs were also broken down into tiny particles; the black particles were expelled, leaving only the purest red particles behind.

The purified essences then fused with one another, forming an even purer bloodline essence.

In the eyes of the other Taketori clan members, Taketori Sankyu was being decomposed alive.

Even when Sankyu's heart was being broken down, it was still beating vigorously.

This horrific scene shattered their strained nerves.

"What are you doing, you devil!"

"I don't know anything, please, let me go!"

"You actually ate Sankyu, you actually ate Sankyu, you evil god..."

In their view, the way Yamata decomposed flesh and organs was just like the legendary evil god devouring humans.

"I beg you, don't kill me in that way."

Sounds of terror, curses, and pleas for mercy filled the secret room.

To all of this, Shisui chose to turn a deaf ear.

[Shikotsumyaku development rate 11%, 12%, 13%...]

In the end, after "Eye Technique: Yamata" had finished, Shisui's Shikotsumyaku development rate settled at 22%.

"Only a 12% increase? This plundering efficiency is nowhere near the speed of increasing the Indra Bloodline..."

Shisui attempted to drive the Shikotsumyaku within his body, only to find with regret that a 22% bloodline development rate only allowed him to control the changes of some bones within his body; he still could not project bones externally as a means of attack.

"It seems that, aside from the Indra Bloodline I possess inherently, the difficulty of plundering other types of bloodlines through this eye technique is much higher."

The more frequently he used "Eye Technique: Yamata," the more limitations of the technique Shisui discovered; it was not as perfect as he had initially imagined.

"Even so, this is still a great asset for me." Shisui did not feel discouraged by this; he knew well that the improvement of strength was not a matter of a single day, especially given his defiance of the natural order.

Anything going from "0" to "1" is destined to face difficulties unimaginable to ordinary people.

Feeling the increased concentration of Shikotsumyaku in his body, Shisui was surprised to find that along with the increase in Shikotsumyaku development, not only did his physical strength begin to rise, but his body began to feed back a stream of pure chakra to his left eye. This chakra was actually repairing the damage to his left eye and restoring the ocular power within it at a perceptible speed!

"What is happening?!" Shisui was both shocked and delighted by this phenomenon. However, due to insufficient data at hand, he could not determine the true cause.

"But this might explain why, when using Yamata before, my body had such a strong craving for those bloodline essences." At the beginning, Shisui had even worried that fusing the bloodlines of others would have negative effects on himself.

Although the Uchiha clan's bloodline was strong in spiritual power, spiritual power also needed to rely on the physical body to exist; a person's spiritual power and physical body were an inseparable whole.

Spiritual power without a physical body has nowhere to reside, and a body without a soul is merely an empty shell.

The two are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

"Could it be that the increase in Shikotsumyaku development has made my physical body more complete, and this physical enhancement is feeding back into my spiritual power, thereby increasing my ocular power?" Following this line of thought, Shisui continued to deduce.

"In a sense, the source of all Kekkei Genkai in the ninja world traces back to the Otsutsuki Clan. This means that whether it is the Indra Bloodline or the Shikotsumyaku, their origin lies in the blood of the Otsutsuki Clan. As the development of the Shikotsumyaku within my body increases, combined with the pre-existing Indra Bloodline, is my internal lineage beginning to undergo atavism?"

Bloodline atavism—what a maddeningly wild hypothesis.

Shisui was astonished to discover that his deduction actually aligned with all basic logic.

If this hypothesis held true, Shisui feared he had stumbled upon a path that no predecessor had ever walked before.

Thinking of this, Shisui turned his burning gaze toward the remaining five members of the Kaguya Clan.

"Devil, don't come over here, no!"

"I don't want to die like that, someone save me!"

Unfortunately, the ninja world has always been a place where the weak are prey to the strong.

"Eye Technique: Yamata."