A Helper, Speeding Up the Expansion of Shadow Space

Konoha and Obito both picked up the pace, each without the other's knowledge.

Uchiha Arashi had also realized where the problem lay. After a short rest, he asked,

"You've activated the Eye of God, right?"

"Mm, I have."

Izumi took off the Eye of God and held it in her hand, staring at it in astonishment. "Is this thing really real? I always thought it was just something from a story..."

Uchiha Arashi smiled and shook his head. "It's both a story and reality. Illusions are pretty amazing, aren't they?"

Izumi rolled her eyes at him. "Don't try to fool me. Illusions aren't this powerful, and that golden light you made earlier clearly had nothing to do with illusions either. Wearing this actually gave me the ability to control lightning. It's incredible... Here!"

As she spoke, she held out her hand to Uchiha Arashi.

"What for?"

Arashi froze, unsure what Izumi was doing.

"What do you mean, what for? I'm giving it back, of course. This is far too precious for me to keep."

Izumi said it as if it were obvious.

Arashi stared at her wide-eyed, then burst out laughing a few seconds later.

"Don't joke around. I gave it to you, so it's yours. Besides, I can't take it back. The Eye of God can only be bound to one person for their entire life. Only after you die and it reverts to its original form can someone else use it. Even if you give it to me now, I can't use it."

"Huh?"

Izumi was taken aback too. "How could that be? Then you definitely shouldn't have given it to me. It would clearly be more useful in your hands..."

"No, no, you've got that wrong."

Before she could finish, Arashi cut her off. "It's more useful for you to have it. Now that you're wearing it, you can sense Natural Energy, right?"

"I can, yes..."

Izumi nodded and answered without thinking.

"Exactly. Once your chakra is infused with Natural Energy, it'll become stronger. And starting now, you can also try to learn how to expand Shadow Space. If I do it alone, expanding Shadow Space will be too slow. Whether it's Konoha or that Masked Man, it's only a matter of time before they find Shadow Space. So before that happens, we need to open up new Shadow Space as quickly as possible. There's a lot to do and not much time, so it only makes sense for us to work together.

"And you didn't think there was only one Eye of God, did you?"

Arashi explained his reasoning, then looked at Izumi with an amused smile.

Izumi nodded. "Yeah, I always thought there was only one... Wait, don't tell me you can make a lot of these?"

Uchiha Arashi pushed himself up from the ground and brushed off the dust that wasn't there.

"It's not that simple, but it's not that difficult either. I'll put it plainly: I can turn things from stories into reality, but I need more people to hear my stories. The more readers and listeners I have, the more power I gain, and the faster I can make things. I can even create stronger things. But each reader gives me the most power the first time they hear a story. After that, they give me less and less, until they stop giving me any power at all."

"So that's why you opened a bookstore..."

Izumi murmured to herself.

Now she understood. She finally understood why Arashi had opened a bookstore.

"You're clever. That's the real reason. All right, come with me. I'll teach you how to expand Shadow Space. This time, we'll do it differently."

As he spoke, Uchiha Arashi headed forward.

"Wait, shouldn't you rest a little? You overused your Mangekyo just now, and your body..."

Izumi looked worried.

"I'm fine. I've mostly recovered, and this isn't the time to rest. We can take our time once we're safe."

Arashi spoke without looking back.

He led Izumi to the northeastern part of Shadow Space, which faced the center of Konoha.

Uchiha Arashi pressed his hand against the wall of air and began channeling his ocular power. At the same time, he drew Natural Energy from the air around them, fusing the two together. The wall of air, which had been harder than steel, began to soften. Arashi's hand slowly pierced through it, and once his entire arm was inside, he pulled hard in both directions.

Ripples appeared in the air and began to spread outward.

That was how Shadow Space was expanded. Usually, doing this enlarged the entire space, with all the other directions expanding at the same time.

This time, he planned to do things differently.

"Izumi, try fusing with Natural Energy!"

Arashi called without looking back.

"I've already done it!"

Uchiha Izumi's eyes widened. They were redder than usual, and the powerful energy was making her uncomfortable. Veins bulged on her forehead.

"See those ripples spreading out? Reinforce the spots where they're about to disappear!"

"H-how do I do that...?"

"Imagine your ocular power is an iron rod. Drive it hard into the invisible wall!"

"Okay, I'll try... I did it!"

Izumi was overjoyed.

"Good. Now the area of expansion is under control. Stay close to me from here on. I'll take one step, and you reinforce it. We need to open a passage as quickly as possible!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Arashi repeated the process, creating a passage that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

The passage was a little taller than a person, just wide enough for him to get through.

Uchiha Izumi was a head shorter than him, and his younger siblings were shorter still. If he could fit through, they all could.

All around them lay wide stretches of land and some broken things that looked like buildings. This was the world of shadows—in other words, a reflection of the real world. The two weren't exactly the same, though, and changing one wouldn't affect the other. So the shadow world they were seeing now was a reflection of the real world from who knew how many years ago.

The real world was now home to the largest village in the Ninja World. The two worlds had long since become completely different. They couldn't reach the places they could see with the naked eye unless they opened up Shadow Space all the way there.

Working together, one of them opening the way and the other reinforcing it, they quickly made their way nearly a hundred meters forward.

Then Arashi collapsed to the ground.

"How are you feeling?"

Izumi made sure the area around them was reinforced before running over to check on him.

Uchiha Arashi smiled. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. That's enough for today. Starting tomorrow, we'll open the way with everything we've got."

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say!"

Uchiha Izumi nodded, then helped Arashi to his feet and supported him back to his younger siblings.

During the meal, Uchiha Arashi didn't forget to keep telling stories and building up his Power of Recognition.

One Eye of God wasn't enough. It would be best if he and each of his younger siblings had one. Even though he already had a comprehensive plan, he couldn't afford to give up these gains that had accumulated over time.