Shimizu's Choice

The Hatake Style Kenjutsu was a scroll; if Shimizu chose it, he wouldn't be able to master it immediately like the Fire Body Flicker, but would instead need to study it himself.

However, there was no telling how long it would take to learn.

In the Simulator, he had sparred with Kakashi many times before successfully stealing the technique, which proved that the difficulty was not low.

Furthermore, once he mastered the Hatake Style Kenjutsu, the development progress of the Fire Body Flicker would also accelerate significantly, effectively acting as a hidden bonus that sped up his research into the Fire Body Flicker.

"The Hatake Style Kenjutsu is very tempting, but Simulator, I choose the Byakugan."

Shimizu chose the Kekkei Genkai!

Whether it was the Fire Body Flicker or the Hatake Style Kenjutsu, both could be researched through acquired effort, costing at most a year of time.

But for a Kekkei Genkai like the Byakugan, the only way to obtain it was through transplantation.

If Shimizu were to transplant it, he would have to painfully remove one of his Sharingan.

Yet, only when both Sharingan were present could the true power of the eyes be unleashed: the Complete Body Susanoo.

Removing one would not only weaken the Susanoo, but he would also lose one of his Mangekyo ocular techniques.

[Byakugan has been granted...]

As the mechanical female voice faded, Shimizu felt streams of cool fluid flowing through his eyes.

His pitch-black pupils involuntarily shifted to a scarlet hue, forcing out two tomoe.

The Two-Tomoe Sharingan was something he had obtained through a reward selection during a simulation, half a year after he first awakened his One-Tomoe Sharingan.

"It stings."

As Shimizu watched the world slow down, he suddenly felt a wave of blurriness, much like someone with eight hundred degrees of myopia taking off their glasses; beyond ten meters, he couldn't distinguish between man and beast.

He couldn't help but lean one hand against the wall to steady himself so he wouldn't collapse.

"Coo!"

The White Dove, which had been dozing, noticed Shimizu's pained appearance and anxiously flapped its wings in front of him.

It quickly flew under the bed, and when it emerged, a small scroll was tied to its leg.

"I'm fine, don't go out to send word."

Shimizu stopped the White Dove.

He had trained the White Dove to automatically transmit information to the Uchiha clan should he ever encounter any danger.

"Coo."

The dove's eyes remained fixed on Shimizu.

Its limited intelligence was undergoing a brainstorm.

Clearly, its master was in pain, and according to their previous agreement, it should be heading out to deliver a message, yet its master was stopping it now.

"I'm just a little uncomfortable, I'll be fine in a moment."

A hint of white suddenly stained Shimizu's scarlet irises.

Gradually, the white grew, contending with the scarlet as the two colors intertwined.

The scarlet seemed dissatisfied with the white intruder and struggled to resist.

The two tomoe spun frantically, squeezing out a new one from within.

Three-Tomoe Sharingan!

The two colors overlapped and wove together, as if trying to gestate a new color.

Yet, as if something were missing, the two failed to successfully merge.

The white completely overwhelmed the scarlet, and when he looked again, Shimizu's eyes had turned a solid, pure white.

Shimizu's vision pierced through the courtyard wall, spotting Uchiha Tekka passing by.

Uchiha Tekka was happily eating a three-colored dango; Shimizu could see the chewed-up paste of the dango sliding slowly down his red throat and entering his stomach.

He could also see the countless thread-like vessels across Uchiha's body—that was the chakra meridian system!

For a ninja to release ninjutsu, they needed to allow chakra to flow through the meridian system.

In this world, everyone possessed a set of meridians, like naturally occurring blood vessels that wound through every corner of the body, containing a total of three hundred and sixty-one chakra acupoints.

These things, which were impossible to see before, were now being revealed one by one before Shimizu's eyes.

"The Byakugan is truly a wonderful thing."

Shimizu sighed.

With something like this, whether he was learning medical ninjutsu or helping to treat the wounded, his capabilities would be greatly enhanced.

One had to realize that even the immensely powerful insight of the Sharingan could, at most, only observe the flow of chakra.

It was impossible to see the internal structure of the human body; only the Byakugan possessed the function of X-ray vision.

"Let's try this."

Shimizu attempted to channel the Byakugan, trying to see if he could look past the clothing and see the skin beneath.

After some experimentation, he discovered that no matter what he did, he could only see the structure of the human body: muscle fibers, bones, nerves, internal organs, and so on.

"In the world of the Limited Tsukuyomi, Neji Hyuga is a pervert."

In the original movie Road to Ninja, Neji Hyuga had used his Byakugan to peep at women.

Unlike what Uchiha Shimizu had previously imagined, the Byakugan only revealed a pair of creepy human organs and meridian systems; for Neji Hyuga to be able to take an interest in that, he was truly a brave soul.

Uchiha Shimizu picked up a mirror and saw a pair of pure white eyes staring back from his handsome face.

When Uchiha Shimizu channeled his ocular power, the pure white eyes shifted into a scarlet hue, embedded with three tomoe.

"Can they only be used individually?"

Uchiha Shimizu deactivated the Sharingan and the Byakugan, his pupils returning to their normal black.

During the process just now, he had clearly felt that the power of the two seemed to have a tendency to fuse, as the Byakugan and the Sharingan originated from the same source.

Unfortunately, something was missing, preventing the two from successfully merging.

However, Uchiha Shimizu was not dissatisfied with this; if they could not fuse at the Three-Tomoe Sharingan stage, he would try with the Mangekyo, and if the Mangekyo failed, he would try with the Eternal Mangekyo.

There were many paths to take, and Uchiha Shimizu was in no rush.

For now, his Sharingan evolving from Two-Tomoe to Three-Tomoe was an unexpected delight.

Uchiha Shimizu could feel the ocular power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan changing his body, his limits and potential rising once again.

He did not know if it was because of the Three-Tomoe or the Byakugan.

Uchiha Shimizu felt that his normal vision had also improved; standing inside the eaves, he could see the veins on the leaves of a large tree.

"You're saying that Uchiha Shimizu is coming too?"

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Asuma Sarutobi standing at the doorway and asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, we can go find him now."

"Why did you suddenly want to treat us to a meal?"

"Uh... this..."

Asuma Sarutobi scratched the back of his head. He couldn't exactly say that his old man wanted him to fish for information to check on Uchiha Shimizu's Will of Fire, and that he himself wanted to have dinner with Kurenai Yuhi.

So, he chose to do both things at once, ensuring there would be no conflict.

Seeing Asuma Sarutobi stammering and unable to get a single word out, Kurenai Yuhi didn't press the matter further.

"I heard Uchiha Shimizu is applying for graduation."

A memory of her first spar with Uchiha Shimizu flashed through Kurenai Yuhi's mind.

That time, she had lost to Uchiha Shimizu, and if she wanted a rematch, she would have to wear a pink dress.

"How could anyone be embarrassed enough to do that?"

Kurenai Yuhi muttered to herself in a low voice.

"Hm? What's embarrassing?"

Asuma Sarutobi vaguely heard Kurenai Yuhi's self-talk, but it was too quiet, and he hadn't heard it clearly.

"It's nothing."

Kurenai Yuhi shook her head, wondering to herself whether she should go or not.