After Ōtsutsuki Kaguya stabbed him in the back,
he, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki,
had spent the past thousand years living with extreme caution.
Even though this body made him feel terribly constrained, he had never considered switching to another one.
After all,
a mortal body was only so useful.
Kaguya, that wretched servant, had fed him to the God Tree. His injuries weren't going to heal anytime soon.
So throughout those thousand years,
even though he'd had countless chances to stir up trouble and feed his Ten-Tails,
he'd stayed his hand,
simply biding his time until his injuries healed.
Then this planet would be his for the taking.
But plans never kept up with changes.
What had he just seen?
The wretched servant's descendant could actually use divine techniques?!
In that instant, only one thought came to mind...
A perfect vessel had appeared!
Unlike the reincarnated pair, whom he didn't dare touch,
compared to those descendants with diluted bloodlines,
this body could bear his power. All he had to do was possess it, and he'd regain his former strength.
Thinking this, he furrowed his brow
and murmured coldly,
"This Uchiha's power is not to be underestimated either. With this crippled body, I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to take him on."
After pondering for a moment,
he made up his mind.
He turned and headed toward the Land of Water.
The boy's Shadow Clone
absorbed Matatabi's chakra back into the Gourd.
Ignoring the little cat Matatabi's complaints, he rejoined Shrine Maiden Miko and the Sannin.
On the road back to the capital of the Land of Demons,
Yuan Ming and Miko walked in the middle, while the Sannin guarded them in formation about twenty meters away.
They had walked for a while and were nearly at their destination.
Sage Shima, perched on Jiraiya's shoulder,
couldn't hold back any longer.
She jumped down and walked over to the boy and the Shrine Maiden.
Coming up to them,
she asked the boy,
"You're Uchiha Yuan Ming, aren't you?"
Uchiha Yuan Ming looked at her in confusion
and replied calmly,
"That's right. May I ask what the Toad Sage wishes to discuss with me?"
Hearing his reply,
Shima eagerly asked,
"The traces of Natural Energy on you, young Yuan Ming—can you use Senjutsu?"
"Mm. I figured out this Sage Mode on my own." Yuan Ming nodded,
calmly answering Sage Shima's question.
At this, Shima's eyes lit up.
"A Sage Mode you figured out by yourself can be a little dangerous. Our Sage Mode at Mount Myoboku is very well-developed."
Hearing that, Yuan Ming stopped,
looking at her with interest.
"And?"
"So, would you like to sign a summoning..."
Before she could finish,
"No need!"
Yuan Ming's firm refusal rang in her ears.
She could hardly believe what she'd heard.
A shinobi had actually turned down an invitation from one of the Three Great Sage Regions—especially Mount Myoboku.
She asked in disbelief,
"Why? We're Mount Myoboku, one of the Three Great Sage Regions!"
"Because toads don't suit my tastes."
"What? Just because of that..." Sage Shima couldn't believe it.
But before she could finish,
Fukasaku noticed the boy's expression had turned cold.
As if he sensed something,
he quickly stopped his wife.
"That's enough, dear. Let's go back."
Turning to Uchiha Yuan Ming,
he said apologetically,
"I'm sorry. Shima only said that because she thinks so highly of you, Yuan Ming."
Then he nodded to Jiraiya
and pulled his wife along.
With a bang,
they returned to Mount Myoboku in a cloud of smoke.
Shrine Maiden Miko had been silent for a long while. Only after the Toad Sages disappeared
did she let out a cold laugh.
"Those demons... ahem... summoning beasts sure are getting ahead of themselves. Good thing Your Excellency didn't agree to their request."
Watching Miko,
Yuan Ming asked in puzzlement,
"What do you mean?"
She glanced at the Sannin, who had formed up in the distance, then shook her head.
"I'll explain in detail tomorrow, when I'm alone with Your Excellency."
Uchiha Yuan Ming seemed to understand.
He nodded in reply.
"All right. I'll be eager to hear what you have to say tomorrow."
A short while later,
they saw the city standing in the distance
and quickened their pace.
After parting ways with the others,
Uchiha Yuan Ming returned to the quarters assigned to him and sat cross-legged on the bed.
He began taking stock of his gains,
closing his eyes to carefully sense the Divine Rune.
He opened his eyes, delighted.
"So this is what it does! Amazing!"
Ame no Oshiho-mimi had been an honest sort and hadn't tampered with anything.
The information contained in the rune told him it had been formed from divinity.
It had three functions.
First,
having been permeated by divinity, he was now immortal and ageless, with no need to worry about his lifespan.
Second,
he could use the Divine Rune to create followers.
Just as Hidan had done, he could grant his followers immortality.
And that wasn't all.
Because Ame no Oshiho-mimi had successfully completed his transformation at the very end,
his followers would not only become immortal, but would also stop aging.
For now, he had only three slots.
He had already decided that governing Heguang was a must.
Regardless of their relationship,
just considering their talent, the two of them were already
the greatest geniuses in Uchiha history aside from Indra's reincarnations.
As for the last slot, he'd see what happened later.
Besides, three was only the current limit.
The Divine Rune's information told him that he could use an enormous amount of Natural Energy
or a certain amount of faith
to repair the divine power consumed
when
Ame no Oshiho-mimi had been defeated and killed.
Once restored to its full strength, it would grant him twelve slots for followers.
Finally,
he could use divine power to sever a stretch of land twenty li across
and form it into a separate space under his control. This was a privilege granted by the planet.
"Too bad creating a separate space also requires a huge amount of energy. I can't think about that for now."
"I'll deal with the followers first, then consider that."
After a brief sigh, he shifted his gaze to the panel.
Uchiha Yuan Ming
Lifeform Level: LV5 (Super Kage)
Talents:
Divine Rune (description omitted)
Sharingan-LV5
Dojutsu: Right Eye—Amaterasu; Left Eye—Amaterasu-Omikami
Susanoo (Spirit Weapons—Tsumugari Great Blade, Divine Sake Gourd, Yasakani no Magatama)
Energy Affinities: Fire, Yin, Lightning
Skills: Sage Mode (Human)
Onmyodo Cursed Speech (the power humans on this land used in the past; it can amplify techniques)
Phantom Body Lucid Lightning Fire Chakra Mode (Fire + Lightning + Yin)
Various standard Fire Release Ninjutsu and genjutsu
Uchiha Style Shurikenjutsu
Summoning Technique (Meow~! Matatabi contract.)
Aura: 264 wisps
The information on the panel gave him pause.
The two people from the Land of Demons were Super Kage-level powerhouses, earning him fifty each.
"The gap between Super Kage-level fighters is way too huge. The strong ones are Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara, and Ame no Oshiho-mimi."
"The weak ones are like the Third Raikage. Tens of thousands can swarm them for a few days and kill them."
After muttering to himself, Uchiha Yuan Ming
looked at his Aura balance.
264 wisps...
He needed to think carefully
about how to use this Aura.
He also needed to think about his clan.
He'd start there.
Before you continue