The Three Spirit Swords, Shisui Under Surveillance

"Wait! Mo..."

Uchiha Mo paused slightly at the sound and turned around. It was Kurenai Yuhi.

She looked away, twirling a lock of hair by her temple around her right index finger as she slowly asked,

"Mo, you haven't forgotten our agreement, have you?"

"No."

With that, Mo turned away and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.

He quickly returned to the Uchiha Clan compound, but after knocking on his front door, he received no response for a long time.

Mo frowned slightly. "Still training?"

He glanced at the darkening sky, then raised a hand and took out a key from his Ninja Tool Pouch to unlock the door.

"Creak~"

The wooden door swung open. Mo strode inside, casually put away his things, and headed into the courtyard.

"Summoning Technique!"

Mo bit his thumb and pressed a palm against the ground. A black-patterned seal instantly spread outward from beneath his hand.

Then, with a bang, smoke rose around him, and a Ninja Cat with sleek, soft fur appeared at his side.

"Lord Mo, what is it this time? Meow."

Mo stood up. "Summon me to see Cat Granny. The mission is complete."

The Ninja Cat nodded her round little head. "Understood, meow."

As soon as she spoke, the Ninja Cat vanished into smoke with a bang. Before long, Uchiha Mo sensed a summons.

Without a second thought, Mo accepted it. The next moment, he too disappeared from the courtyard in a puff of smoke.

Empty District.

Mo lifted the curtain at the entrance and stepped inside, entering the inner room.

"So Mo has arrived..."

Hearing the movement, Cat Granny raised her head. She looked at Uchiha Mo, took a drag from her pipe, and slowly said,

"Since you're here, I suppose the matter in the Land of Birds has been settled?"

Mo nodded. His clear eyes looked at the old woman as he calmly said,

"The one responsible was Kakuzu. Several ministers and black-market merchants in the Land of Birds grew greedy for his secret technique. Their trap failed, and they were all killed instead."

When that name was mentioned, Cat Granny's arm stiffened slightly around her pipe. Only after Mo finished speaking did she let out a long sigh.

"Ah—young people really don't know whether they're ignorant or simply too bold... Back in our day..."

Halfway through her sentence, Cat Granny suddenly stopped as she looked at Uchiha Mo before shaking her head with a smile.

"My apologies. When an old woman gets to my age, she tends to reminisce."

"Grandma, you know Kakuzu?" Mo did not dwell on it and instead asked another question.

Cat Granny nodded. "Know him? More than that! He may not be famous enough to shake the world, but among those with any sense who made it big in the underground black market, who wouldn't know him? I just didn't expect those unlucky fools from the Land of Birds to dare provoke him..."

A nearly imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Mo's lips.

"Do you know which underground black markets or Bounty Exchanges he usually frequents? Last time, I destroyed four of his hearts, but he got away."

Cat Granny's right hand trembled, scattering sparks from the bowl of her pipe.

"..."

Her cloudy old eyes stared straight into Uchiha Mo's. Mo's gaze remained calm and steady.

"You really nearly killed him?"

Mo said nothing. Instead, he suddenly pulled out four battered, ruined masks from nowhere and casually tossed them onto the floor in front of him.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

"..."

"Ha..." The wrinkles on Cat Granny's face relaxed as she shook her head with a bitter smile.

"I really am old. I can't keep up with the times anymore. I never expected you to become this strong, Mo. If you don't mind, this old woman would like to know how you obtained Kakuzu's information. I mean nothing by it. It's just that there have been skilled people who tried to go after him before, but his abilities... give him an overwhelming advantage in intelligence."

At her words, Mo slightly activated his eye power. His black eyes instantly turned crimson, leaving three black tomoe slowly rotating within them.

"There is nothing these eyes cannot see through."

Cat Granny froze for a moment, though she did not become wary. She stared directly into Mo's eyes.

"Three Tomoe already... I understand. Later, I'll mark on a map how often Kakuzu has visited black markets across various places in recent years. I won't charge you for this intelligence. Consider it payment for venting my anger on behalf of those people."

As she spoke, Cat Granny raised a hand to extinguish her pipe and shouted toward the inner room,

"Huan! Bring Mo that Kusanagi Sword!"

A somewhat youthful girl's voice immediately came from inside. "Got it, Grandma!"

Not long after, a girl about Shisui's age came hurrying out, carrying a black ninja sword longer than she was tall.

She looked up at Mo, and a blush immediately rose to her cheeks.

"Here, Brother Mo."

Huan handed over the ninja sword, and Mo reached out to take it.

The straight sword still felt perfectly suited to his hand. His previous ninja sword had been destroyed during his battle with Kakuzu, so this would make for a seamless replacement.

Mo drew the sword and examined it. "Does this ninja sword have a name?"

Certain special Kusanagi Swords possessed unique names, such as the Totsuka Blade and the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword...

Mo seemed to be asking for the Kusanagi Sword's name, but what he truly wanted to know was whether this sword was one of those exceptional specimens.

At his question, Cat Granny unusually broke into a wide grin and laughed. It was the smile of someone who had finally met a customer who knew quality.

"Ha ha ha ha! Just as expected of you. Of course this sword has a name. You can call it the Futsunomitama, or you can call it the Futsunomitama Sword. Whichever you prefer. Besides that... try infusing it with attribute chakra..."

Mo raised his eyes and glanced at Cat Granny before lowering his gaze to the sword's gleaming blade.

Three Spirit Swords, Shisui Under Surveillance

Futsunomitama, also known as the Futsunomitama Sword. It was the god-slaying sword of myth and legend, the sword formed from Takemikazuchi's true body! Legend said that during the war for the transfer of Izumo Province, the Thunder God wielded this sword to intimidate Okuninushi.

Furthermore, Futsunomitama, the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword, and the Totsuka Blade, also known as Ama-no-Habakiri, were collectively called the Three Spirit Swords.

Among them, the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword was in Orochimaru's hands, while the Totsuka Blade later fell into Itachi's possession...

When Orochimaru transformed into Yamata no Orochi and fought Itachi, both Black Zetsu and Orochimaru revealed one piece of information: Orochimaru had always been searching for the Totsuka Blade. Combined with the fact that he already possessed the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword, it showed that Orochimaru was exceptionally certain of the Three Spirit Swords' existence.

And since two of the Three Spirit Swords were divine artifacts that could be found in the Naruto world, there was no reason Futsunomitama would not exist.

Uchiha Mo looked at the crimson eyes reflected in the gleaming blade, and a faint smile curled his lips.

Swish—click!

The straight sword slid back into its sheath. Mo's eyes returned to their clear black color, and he raised a hand to hang Futsunomitama from the belt at his waist.

"No need. I trust Grandma's judgment."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Once you've organized Kakuzu's information, just have Mai deliver it to me."

Mai was the name of the white Ninja Cat that had summoned Mo. Kakuzu alone had contributed a great deal of proficiency to Mo through his Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, so Mo naturally would not let such a renewable resource go. Once the time was right and his strength had matured, Mo would definitely seek Kakuzu out again.

As soon as he spoke, Uchiha Mo vanished from the spot in an exploding cloud of smoke.

When he returned to his own courtyard once more, he discovered that Shisui had already come home.

What made Mo reach that conclusion immediately was nothing else but the familiar aroma of food.

Mo stepped through the open door into the house. Shisui immediately heard the movement in the living room and turned around to call out,

"Big brother, dinner will be ready soon. Just wait a moment."

When Shisui returned home and saw the Ninja Tool Pouch and arm guards on the cabinet, he realized Mo had already come back, so he immediately began preparing dinner.

Mo removed his robe and hung it on the rack by the entrance before sitting down at the dining table.

(Uchiha high-collared combat robe. P.S.: This was also what Obito wore during the Shinobi War.)

"No rush."

As he spoke, a thought crossed his mind, and an illusory panel immediately appeared in his field of vision.

Red Child Fusion Rate: 8.91% (Unlock Innate Divine Strength at 10%)

Orange Child Fusion Rate: 20.57% (Ability unlocked: Clairvoyance. Unlock the next-stage ability, Wind Ear, at 30%)

Yellow Child Fusion Rate: 8.91% + 16.39% (Unlock Impervious to Blades and Spears when both reach 10%)

Green Child Fusion Rate: 20.31% + 22.65% (Abilities unlocked: Blazing Fire, Thunderstorm. Unlock the next ability, Heavenly Fire, when both reach 50% and the second-stage abilities of Yellow and Orange Child are unlocked)

Cyan Child Fusion Rate: 10.85% (Unlock Water Control at 20%)

Blue Baby Fusion Rate: 20.57% + 10.74% (Ability unlocked: Invisibility. Unlock No Trace when both reach 30%)

Purple Child Fusion Rate: 0.01% (Unlock Universe in the Sleeve at 50%)

Red Child's and Yellow Child's first-stage abilities were only about one percent of Yang Release proficiency away from unlocking. However, Yang Release differed from the other attributes. If it had been one of the conventional five attributes, Mo could have quickly accumulated that little proficiency through training alone.

If it had been Yin Release, Mo could also rapidly improve it through the Sharingan. But Yang Release was the one thing Mo had almost no way to deal with right now. At most, he could slowly grind it up through physical development and exercise.

"Looks like I can start with the Land of Lightning during the Third Shinobi World War."

The ninjas of Kumogakure were all tall and powerfully built, and most possessed a certain level of Yang Release mastery.

Besides Yang Release, his second and third targets would be Yin Release and Water Release. However, according to the panel's feedback, the difficulty of improving after reaching twenty percent was several times greater than before, so Water Release would be the better second target.

After setting his short-term goals, Mo turned his attention to Green Child.

Green Child Fusion Rate: 20.31% + 22.65% (Abilities unlocked: Blazing Fire, Thunderstorm. Unlock the next ability, Heavenly Fire, when both reach 50% and the second-stage abilities of Yellow and Orange Child are unlocked)

Thunderstorm was a new Lightning Release ability corresponding to Blazing Fire. Its primary functions were the same as Blazing Fire's: first, enhancing the power of Lightning Release; second, serving as the core ability corresponding to Water Control—Lightning Manipulation!

With this ability, Uchiha Mo could manipulate the shape transformation of Lightning Release chakra as easily as moving his own limbs.

However, this was not where Uchiha Mo's attention lay. Instead, it was on the two pieces of information revealed afterward.

"Fifty percent... and I also need to unlock Red Child's and Yellow Child's second-stage abilities..."

Neither of those requirements would be easy to fulfill, which was enough to show just how demanding the conditions for unlocking Heavenly Fire were.

But generally speaking, harsh requirements meant powerful abilities.

"It seems the requirements for unlocking third-stage abilities may involve synergy with other abilities. Or does Heavenly Fire require a foundation in Yin-Yang Release to activate?"

Mo frowned, unable to make sense of it for the moment.

"Heavenly Fire..."

It sounded like a name somehow connected to natural flames...

As he pondered, movement suddenly came from the table, snapping Mo back to his senses.

Shisui had already filled the table with dishes, and a steaming bowl of rice sat before Mo.

"Big brother, it's time to eat."

Mo nodded and picked up his bowl and chopsticks.

About a quarter of an hour later, only a few leftovers remained on the table. As Shisui cleaned up the messy dining table, he said,

"Big brother, whenever I've been training recently, I've always felt like someone was watching me."

Mo had just raised his foot to return to his room when he paused slightly at those words, frowning as he thought for a while.

"I understand. Come train with me tomorrow."