Kaleidoscope

"Uchiha Gen?! What are you trying to do?!" Jiraiya roared after grabbing Sasuke and retreating, yet he felt something was off. The expression on the man's face was too wooden—was this a frame-up? Or was he being controlled?

Deep within the consciousness, as the wounds multiplied, the soul of Ye Yuan became increasingly transparent...

Yet, facing this situation, the brow of Ye Yuan gradually smoothed out; he could even predict the direction and method of "Ye Yuan's" next attack.

With a faint smile on his face, he abandoned all defense, allowing "Ye Yuan" to strike at his vitals...

"The wounds are concentrated on the arms and thighs—deliberate openings. If I'm not mistaken, you cannot kill me, at least not before the time limit expires."

After Uchiha Gen ceased his defense, time seemed to freeze. "Ye Yuan's" movement, aimed at his forehead, stopped dead, as if he were a statue. The surrounding black space began to crack and collapse, turning into a void.

An electronic screen appeared before Uchiha Gen: You aren't afraid of death?

"I am already dead... and if you could act on your own to replace me, why bother with threats? Either the cost is too high, or you simply cannot do it." At the same time, Uchiha Gen checked his body; it hadn't become transparent. A dream within a dream? No, it must have recovered.

The text on the electronic screen flickered, deleted, and finally displayed four characters: Compromise and Compensation. (Subtext: Threats didn't work, so stop being stubborn.)

In reality, everyone gathered around Sasuke, protecting him and restricting "Ye Yuan's" movement. "Ye Yuan" dodged a Chidori with a body flicker, threw two kunai backhanded, and forced Kakashi to retreat.

However, taking advantage of that brief moment of suspension in mid-air, Jiraiya seized the opportunity. Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!

His white hair surged! With the old momentum spent and the new yet to be generated, "Ye Yuan," unable to dodge, was instantly bound and controlled by the hair, forced to his knees. Even in this state, no panic could be seen on "Ye Yuan's" face; his eyes darted around constantly, gathering intelligence in a way that looked eerie, like a puppet.

Jiraiya frowned. He was certain he had caught the main body, so why did he feel such unease? Just as Jiraiya finished the seal and was about to press his hand onto "Ye Yuan's" head, the body of "Ye Yuan" bent at an angle that defied normal anatomy, breaking free from the hair.

Jiraiya was startled, only to find "Ye Yuan" had appeared behind him, heading straight for Sasuke. Frowning, he stopped holding back. Blue chakra swirled in his hand, forming a sphere, and he charged at "Ye Yuan" with full force!

Unexpectedly, "Ye Yuan" abandoned all defense, completely ignoring the Rasengan Jiraiya was aiming at his back, and body-flickered directly toward Sasuke!

Is he crazy?! In that instant, that was the thought of everyone present, and Sasuke was even more terrified.

However, just a moment before "Ye Yuan" reached Sasuke, Uchiha Gen, having just returned from the consciousness space, felt his vision instantly clear.

Oh, hell, oh, hell!

What is going on?! Damn it, I can't stop! I don't have full control of the body yet.

He forced his left hand to move, retracting the chakra threads and bringing a kunai into his grip. Gritting his teeth, he pierced his own right hand—the one reaching for Sasuke—and pinned it to a tree.

At the same time, Jiraiya's Rasengan slammed into Ye Yuan's back. Ye Yuan was instantly smashed into the tree, creating a deep crater. Although he felt no pain, the continuous heavy damage made Ye Yuan feel something in his mouth. "Cough, cough..." He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood!

(Skin damage: 28%)

"..."

At this moment, Ye Yuan could only marvel at how strong this human skin disguise really was.

Having finally emerged from the consciousness space, he was fed a Rasengan the moment he stepped out. Suffering from soul-level trauma, Ye Yuan felt dizzy. He tried to force himself to stay alert, but the scenery before him grew increasingly blurry and swayed. Just a little longer, just a little... damn, I can't hold on.

The next moment, thud! He collapsed completely in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke: "..."

Naruto stood nearby with a stick, poking him cautiously. No reaction. Yep, definitely passed out.

Retracting his hand, Jiraiya was completely bewildered. Did Uchiha Gen hold back at the end?? But he had only managed to shift the blow away from the vitals. Whether he lived or died was now up to fate.

It was unknown how much time had passed. When Uchiha Gen opened his eyes again and tried to stand, he found his hands and feet were bound. He was wrapped in ropes like a rice dumpling, curled up like a caterpillar.

Looking on the bright side, they hadn't gagged him. Looking on the dark side, there were several explosive tags stuck to the ropes, and his chakra had been sealed.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a door opening. He looked up to see Sasuke walking in. Their eyes met, and Uchiha Gen's eyes instantly turned into dots: Aba-aba~

The roles were reversed; he had been caught red-handed and couldn't even pretend to be dead. At this moment, Uchiha Gen desperately wanted to hide back in the consciousness space. He silently averted his gaze to observe his surroundings. This is... an inn? At least it's not the Interrogation Department or a laboratory.

Seeing Uchiha Gen awake, Sasuke's emotions flickered for a moment, but instead of asking questions, he asked, "Do you want to eat?"

Uchiha Gen shook his head. He was tied up like a dumpling; if he wanted to eat, someone would have to feed him, and he couldn't taste anything anyway. Better not lose face like that.

"Itachi-san, what do you intend to do?" Kisame asked. According to intelligence gathered in Konoha, Sasuke had been rescued, and Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sasuke, and that Nine-Tails brat were all there.

Well... unintentionally, Uchiha Gen had spared Kakashi from the agony of being stabbed for three days.

"Proceed as planned," Itachi said without emotion. The addition of Kakashi didn't matter to him. Sasuke's growth was still too slow—was his hatred not enough...?

On this side, Uchiha Gen sat on one side, and Naruto and the others sat on the other. Since there was nothing for her to help with, Sakura had temporarily gone home to report that she was safe.

Seeing that Uchiha Gen was very inconvenienced, they changed the binding method so that only his hands were tied. The "rice dumpling" style had been Naruto's doing.

Uchiha Gen's eyelid twitched at the thought; he would have to get even for that sooner or later.

He glanced at the system panel. The notes had become much more detailed. His skin damage was slowly recovering, currently at 20%. If damage exceeded 50%, the skin would shrink, exposing parts of the Impure World Reincarnation body. If it exceeded 80%, the system would automatically reclaim him.

The mission remained: Obtain a pair of Sharingan, though the "failure results in erasure" text was gone.

The acquisition rule for skin had changed to a cost of 10 million ryo.

The system had finally compromised.

Jiraiya had previously wanted to find Tsunade to treat Uchiha Gen, but it seemed that wouldn't be necessary; this constitution was on par with Naruto's.

"Who are you now?" Jiraiya asked.

"Uchiha Gen."

"What happened before?"

"..."

"Why did you want to take Sasuke away?"

"..."

"Was that an order from Orochimaru?"

"..."

"What do you like to eat?"

"Grilled meat."

"..."

The communication yielded no results; every time the conversation touched on key points, the only response Jiraiya received was silence.

"...Fine, we'll talk when you've made up your mind. I hope you think it over carefully; the Interrogation Department is no place for fun." Jiraiya scratched his head in frustration and forcibly dragged Naruto away, leaving the room. This clan was nothing but a massive headache.

Kakashi stood outside the door, intending to give Sasuke some space to be alone while also providing protection.

"..." They looked at each other in silence.

Uchiha Gen sensed the seal on his body and was surprised to discover that as his skin repaired itself, it was slowly devouring the seal bit by bit. At this rate, his chakra would be fully restored in less than five minutes. Hmm... the treatment had improved quite a bit as well.

Seeing that Uchiha Gen wasn't even looking at him, Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but ultimately gave up on asking, walking out as well.

Kakashi was somewhat surprised to see Sasuke emerge. "Didn't you want to ask him those questions?"

"He won't say anything. Just as he said, I am too weak. Kakashi-sensei, is there a faster way for me to become stronger?" Sasuke said, his hands clenching into fists involuntarily, his eyes hiding a turbulent mix of emotions.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's expression turned serious at this. "I understand your desire to become stronger, but! There is no such thing as reaching the heavens in a single bound!"

Seeing that Sasuke remained unmoved and unresponsive, Kakashi suddenly sighed. "I will teach you everything you wish to learn, provided that you can master everything I teach you—without causing harm to yourself."

Sasuke's clenched fists loosened, and he nodded. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei..."

Inside the room, hearing these words, Uchiha Gen showed no reaction, simply waiting for the last bit of the seal to be devoured.

Suddenly, a massive commotion erupted on the other side of the inn. Sasuke instinctively looked toward the direction of the explosion, then suddenly thought of something and hurriedly turned back, only to find that Uchiha Gen was gone, leaving behind nothing but a pile of broken ropes on the floor.

"..."

Uchiha Gen intended to infiltrate Konoha, but he had no desire to do so in this current identity, so he hid outside. The Three-Tomoe spinning in his eyes suddenly connected.