Early Advancement (3)

Half a day passed quickly, at least for Shiraha, who had transplanted Nagato's other Rinnegan Nagato "Kodama".

For Black Zetsu and Obito, who were still waiting for news outside the Uzumaki Clan grounds, however, each day felt like an eternity.

"Why hasn't Kodama come out yet after so long? Did their negotiations break down?" White Zetsu Original couldn't help but ask, "Should I control White Zetsu launch a probing attack on the Uzumaki Clan grounds to put some pressure on them?"

Kodama is very strong, but if he enters the Uzumaki Clan grounds on his own initiative, he will probably be subdued before he can even make a significant commotion when facing an attack from Shiraha and Kushina.

Back then, before Kushina had fully mastered the power of the Kurama, she defeated Tobi and Old Madara with the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Now, she has even managed to capture Nagato, who has mastered the Rinnegan, making her an extremely troublesome opponent.

"No." Black Zetsu shook his head and refused, saying with some uncertainty, "It shouldn't be. Kodama and the Infinite Ring he's in are on good terms with Yagami Shiraha. Even if they can't reach an agreement, Yagami Shiraha shouldn't attack Kodama. Let's wait and see."

At this point, the initiative was basically in the hands of the Uzumaki Clan. In fact, even Obito didn't fully trust Black Zetsu Obito, let alone Kodama, a mysterious figure. However, there was no good way to rescue Nagato and retrieve the Rinnegan.

After all, neither he nor Obito dared to directly enter the Uzumaki Clan grounds's territory.

"There's no other way but to wait," Obito said in a deep voice. As long as Black Zetsu enters the Uzumaki Clan grounds, he will definitely not find out that Rin is still alive, and then Rin will naturally be safe. After this incident, he felt that Rin was safer staying in the Uzumaki Clan grounds than staying with him.

However, Obito couldn't help but want to tell Rin that he was still alive.

Unfortunately, the timing is not right.

At this moment, in the center of the Uzumaki, in the underground laboratory.

Shiraha was conducting the experiment in a calm and methodical manner.

He didn't care whether Black Zetsu and Obito were getting impatient; the initiative was entirely in his hands.

Obito and Black Zetsu's trump cards have been basically figured out by Shiraha, but they know nothing about Shiraha's trump cards.

Shiraha transferred his soul into the body of "Kodama" and also transplanted a Rinnegan. The impact and pressure on his soul in "Kodama" was much less than in "Uchiha Issei".

"As expected, the ' Kodama,' which incorporates a large number of First Hokage Cells, has a higher compatibility with the Rinnegan."

With his soul returning to his body, Shiraha had a basic understanding of the situation.

"It seems that Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were able to be extraordinary because their bloodlines were at their ancestral level, inheriting a portion of the power of their ancestor, the Sage of Six Paths, through the transmission of power via Chakra?"

Shiraha thought of the mysterious Chakra that wanted to enter Kushina's body when Kushina was giving birth, and suddenly he understood many things.

"It seems I can indirectly absorb the power within the Rinnegan, but I cannot transplant the Rinnegan into my body and perfectly integrate it with the Rinnegan."

Because advanced sorcerers can seize the bodies of their offspring through a part of their body—either their soul or the power of their bloodline—and use those bodies to resurrect themselves.

The Kekkei Genkai in this world is very similar to the bloodline inheritance of Bloodline Warlock. At the same time, Chakra can also hold the soul for a long time. If the Sage of Six Paths is not completely dead, then he may indeed be able to be resurrected through Chakra.

A lifespan of a thousand years is not an insurmountable barrier for Fourth-Level Lifeform.

Although the theoretical lifespan of Fourth-Level "Star Wizard" is 1,000 years, through Plane Exploration and various modifications and soul spells, their actual lifespan can exceed 1,000 years.

For Fourth-Level "Star Warlock," living for thousands of years is not difficult at all.

Because Fourth-Level Bloodline Warlock all use Fourth-Level Mythological Creature as their bloodline source, and some of these creatures can even live for more than ten thousand years.

"Currently, through the monitoring of the Defensive Wizardry Array and soul detection spell, the Eye Power is indirectly absorbed and then impurities are removed, so it will not affect my soul. It seems that this is a long process."

[Bloodline: World Tree Companion Serpent - Fourth-Level (White Phosphorus Serpent - Half Fourth-Level + Divine Tree - Half Fourth-Level); Bloodline Purity 80%, Quality "Excellent"]

Lifespan: 800-1000 years

Both the body of "Kodama" and Shiraha's soul absorbed the power of the Rinnegan, further enhancing the purity and quality of Shiraha's bloodline. As for the reduced lifespan, it was negligible for Shiraha.

"My soul feels bloated, like I've eaten too much. It seems this is my current limit."

Looking at "Kodama" lying in the Culture Dish, with one eye already having awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Shiraha took out the Katsuyu cells he had prepared. If he were to directly transplant the Katsuyu cells into "Kodama" and then transplant the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, the success rate should be greatly increased, since he could even adapt to the Rinnegan.

Unfortunately, transplanting cells from Kekkei Genkai and Katsuyu, which are Third Level organisms, takes a considerable amount of time and cannot be done immediately.

"Unfortunately, they can't adapt to both eyes at the same time." Shiraha looked at "Kodama" and "Uchiha Issei" with their single Rinnegan, removed the Rinnegan from Kodama's eye socket, replaced it with his original eye, and then let Kodama leave the underground laboratory to inform Black Zetsu and Obito of the results.

"The Eye Power has weakened considerably, but it is still extremely strong." Shiraha held the Rinnegan in his hand, sensing the weakened Energy Particles within it, as well as the still surging Energy Field.

After "Kodama" got up and left, Shiraha looked at "Uchiha Issei" on the other side. His right eye's Three-Tomoe Sharingan had reached the final moment of evolution, and its powerful Eye Power was about to undergo a qualitative change. He wondered just how strong his Mangekyō Sharingan would be.

Outside the Uzumaki Clan grounds.

Obito and Black Zetsu waited from day to night, and finally saw "Kodama" emerge from the gates of the Uzumaki Clan grounds.

"What was the result?"

Compared to the seemingly composed Black Zetsu and Obito, the White Zetsu Original appeared extremely eager to know the outcome of the negotiations.

"Mr. Kodama, what conditions does the Uzumaki Clan want to release Nagato?" Yahiko, who arrived a step later, could not remain calm and hurriedly stepped forward to ask.

"Yagami Shiraha demanded 1 billion ryo as compensation, as well as Nagato's pair of Rinnegan. Once these conditions were agreed upon, he was willing to release Nagato."

"Kodama" responded in a deep voice.

"That's absolutely impossible!" Black Zetsu refused outright.

What use is Nagato if he doesn't have the Rinnegan?

Black Zetsu was willing to let Yagami Shiraha take Nagato's life in exchange for a pair of Rinnegan.

In his mind, Nagato was an important Vessel for the Rinnegan, but not irreplaceable; there would always be someone who could adapt to the Rinnegan.

Yahiko saw that Black Zetsu resolutely refused, his face darkened, and he retorted, "It's not your place to speak here!"

Although he found Shiraha's demands unacceptable, he believed they were still negotiable. After all, Bai Yu was just a member of the Akatsuki and had no right to decide Nagato's fate.

"With our current strength, do we have a chance to break through the Uzumaki Clan's defenses by force and rescue Nagato?"

Konan, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but ask.

"It's highly unlikely. After Nagato adapted to the power of the Rinnegan, his strength has far surpassed mine. Even if all of us were combined, we probably wouldn't be much stronger than Nagato."

As far as I know, Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, was not injured at all when she defeated Nagato, which shows just how terrifying her true strength was.

Moreover, with Yagami Shiraha present, we have even less chance to resort to force.

As for these White Zetsu, they can only serve to seal off the Uzumaki Clan grounds's territory; a direct assault is unrealistic.

"Kodama" analyzed.

"Even if Madara joins the fight, it won't work?" Konan asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up. In the past, she had been very hostile towards Obito, but now, in order to save Nagato, she unconsciously began to use a respectful title for Obito.

"My current power is less than one-tenth of what it was at its peak. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to defeat the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki even if he were to fight me alone," Obito calmly, though his words still held back.

"So what do we do now? Without the Rinnegan, even if we rescue Nagato, what will we use to save the Shinobi World?" White Zetsu Original said excitedly. Of course, he didn't care about saving the Shinobi World; he just used a different approach.

Black Zetsu said in a deep voice, "I don't believe that Yagami Shiraha really wants to fight us to the death. Although these White Zetsu can't do anything to them, they can't do anything to the White Zetsu either."

Yahiko, uninterested in Black Zetsu's nonsense, looked earnestly at the silent "Kodama" beside him and said, "Mr. Kodama, do you have a solution? Isn't the Infinite Ring Organization very powerful? And they seem to have a good relationship with Yagami Shiraha. If we ask your organization's leader to put pressure on him, is there any chance that Yagami Shiraha might make a concession?"

Compared to Black Zetsu and Madara, Yahiko actually trusted Kodama, who had saved his life, more.

After all, although "Kodama" is backed by the mysterious Infinite Ring Organization, it has never done anything harmful to Akatsuki so far, unlike Black Zetsu and Madara, who always seem to have ulterior motives. Nagato's capture this time was also the result of Madara's instigation.

"That's probably difficult, but we can give it a try. Yagami Shiraha should give ' Dragon King ' face. However, ' Dragon King ' isn't on the Ninja Continent right now; he's deep in the Outer Sea. Even if he gets here at top speed, it'll probably take him ten to fifteen days. Until then, we'd better keep Yagami Shiraha calm." "Kodama" said, "How about this, we take a compromise as the bottom line for negotiations? What do you think?"

'Not in the Ninja Continent?'

Black Zetsu was startled. For hundreds of years, he had been lying low in the Shinobi World, waiting for the reincarnations of Indra and Asura to become geniuses, and then guiding their Chakra to merge into one, giving birth to the Rinnegan. So he had basically been waiting on the Ninja Continent.

Black Zetsu only knew that there were other lands besides the Ninja Continent; these other lands were barren and showed no signs of human habitation.

However, this planet is very large, and after being separated from the land, Black Zetsu doesn't have many means of crossing the sea, so Black Zetsu doesn't know exactly how many landmasses this planet has.

Anyway, it's enough that the reincarnations of Indra and Asura are always born on the Ninja Continent.

Even though he heard that there was a powerful being called "Dragon King" in the Infinite Ring, and not just a fabrication by "Kodama," Black Zetsu was still instinctively wary.

He didn't know who "Kodama" was in reality, and now that there was another "Dragon King," Black Zetsu felt he needed to spend more time investigating.

"What compromise?" Yahiko asked hastily, his greatest concern being Nagato's safety.

"We cannot lose Nagato, nor can we lose the Rinnegan. In that case, let's take back one Rinnegan and Nagato as the bottom line, and negotiate the other Rinnegan as the condition." "Kodama" explained. Just now, while he was silent, Shiraha's soul directly controlled "Kodama" through the connection of his Innate Spell. The condition he was now proposing was the condition he had anticipated.

One Rinnegan is enough for Shiraha at the moment.

Most importantly, Shiraha discovered a problem: a large amount of the Rinnegan's Eye Power is consumed at once and needs to be replenished to restore the Rinnegan's power, which requires absorbing the host's Chakra and life force.

This is why Nagato almost got drained when he Nagato Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and used the Human Path ability.

Shiraha had actually planned to cooperate with Nagato, but who knew he would be so arrogant, a hopeless case of chuunibyou, and really think of himself as a god.

Since that's the case, Shiraha also decided to change his approach and treat Nagato as a tool to support the Rinnegan.

He planned to take advantage of the negotiation time to absorb as Eye Power of one of the Rinnegan as possible, then keep the Rinnegan with less Eye Power consumption, and transplant the Rinnegan with a large amount of Eye Power consumption back into Nagato's eye socket.

Anyway, Nagato is only in his twenties and has a long time to reach his peak, so it's only a matter of time before he can nurture the Rinnegan back to its strongest state.

Shiraha has gained a breakthrough opportunity by absorbing the Eye Power of the Rinnegan. After his soul is strengthened, the Mental Power Crystallization, which originally would have taken three or four years of painstaking work, now feels like he only needs a few months of preparation time before he can begin to advance to the second level of "Spirit Summoning Warlock".

With his strength further enhanced, he would be able to easily manipulate Nagato, who only possessed one Rinnegan.

To be honest, if Black Zetsu really controlled tens of thousands of White Zetsu to surround the vicinity of the Uzumaki Clan grounds, he would really have a headache.

Because he and Kushina weren't afraid, the other clansmen also had to eat the food.

Shiraha can't carry a bunch of Storage Scroll every time he goes out for basic necessities, and he or Kushina can't personally escort him every time they buy food and vegetables, it's too much of a hassle.

If Akatsuki agrees to his conditions, Shiraha will have ample time to study the Rinnegan and find a way to deal with the massive number of White Zetsu.

"Speaking of which, this whole mess was brought on by Nagato himself. The Akatsuki originally had a chance to cooperate with the Uzumaki Clan, but who knew that Nagato would use force to injure the Uzumaki clansmen as soon as he arrived."

Kodama (Shiraha)'s words plunged everyone in the room into silence.

Black Zetsu and Obito naturally didn't want to lose a Rinnegan, but if they used force, they were definitely no match for it.

Now they have to reason with the Uzumaki Clan.

'It seems it's done.' Kodama (Shiraha) thought with certainty.