Turning Point of Fate

The wild joy after successfully injecting the first dose of the genetic serum—if that faint emotional fluctuation could even be called wild joy—was swiftly suppressed by absolute rationality. Uchiha Kyohaku knew full well that this was merely the first step of a journey of a thousand miles. Stably, safely, and completely integrating foreign genes into his body, especially those involving the internal organs, skeleton, and most crucially, the brain, required an exceedingly slow and cautious process. Rushing for quick results would only lead to unpredictable mutation or collapse.

He drew up a rigorous integration plan. Over the next six months, he became his own strictest test subject and supervisor.

He no longer administered direct injections of any dosage. Instead, he used subsequently developed, more refined and gentler serums, applying them to specific bodily systems at an extremely slow pace through specialized chakra guidance and minimally invasive permeation techniques.

During the first month, the focus was on strengthening muscle tissue and the peripheral nervous system. The effects were mild yet continuous. He could feel his strength growing in subtle but steady increments, while his control over his body—especially over his perpetually inconvenient right leg—improved significantly. His once thin, withered limbs gradually became supple and strong.

During the second and third months, the target shifted to the internal organs. His heart beat more powerfully and efficiently, his lung capacity quietly increased, and the metabolic functions of his liver and kidneys improved markedly. This transformation from the inside out brought an unprecedented sense of "ease," as though he had cast off some heavy shackle he had been born with.

The fourth and fifth months were the most critical and dangerous stage—the integration of the skeletal system and central nervous system. He reduced the dosage to the minimum and slowed the pace to its lowest point, spending long hours every day inspecting himself internally with chakra and monitoring every minute change. His bone marrow's hematopoietic function improved, his bone density increased, and his bones became tougher. The optimization of his nervous system further enhanced his speed of thought and doubled the sharpness of his senses. The entire process was like treading on thin ice, but thanks to precise control and the stability of the serum, he made it through without incident.

The sixth month was for the final touches and overall harmonization. The serum's energy was allowed to completely permeate every cell in his body, completing the final coordination and balance.

When the final day of the sixth month ended, Kyohaku slowly opened his eyes from deep meditation.

The transformation was complete.

He lightly clenched his fist, and a sense of strength far surpassing anything he had possessed before naturally welled up within him. It was not explosive brute force, but a deep, restrained power as heavy and solid as the earth. At a mere shift of thought, chakra flowed endlessly through his body like a surging river, circulating with unprecedented speed and volume. It easily broke through his previous bottleneck and stabilized at—the level of a jonin!

He instinctively moved his right ankle. The stiffness, soreness, swelling, and weakness that had plagued him for six full years had vanished without a trace. He slowly tried placing his full weight onto his right leg, then straightened up bit by bit...

Steady as a rock.

He even lightly stomped his foot, feeling the solid, dependable contact between his sole and the ground. His Achilles tendon was strong and powerful, while the atrophied meridians had been completely repaired and strengthened beyond all expectation! His disability—the nightmare that had troubled him, limited him, and defined the first six years of his ninja life—had become history.

The tremendous changes also manifested outwardly. He walked over to the water mirror in the laboratory. The youth reflected within was slightly taller than others his age and no longer frail. Yet the most striking feature was his skin—it possessed an exceedingly unnatural, bloodless pallor, delicate to the point of being almost eerie, faintly radiating a cold sheen similar to White Zetsu's. It truly... resembled the pallor of a corpse. This was the outward manifestation of White Zetsu traits being integrated at the cellular level.

At the same time, perhaps due to the breaking of his body's shackles and the mental feedback brought by his elevated life force, he felt a familiar burning sensation in his eyes. In the depths of his clear black-and-white eyes in the water mirror, two pitch-black tomoe slowly emerged, then... silently split, becoming three!?

No. Looking closely, the two tomoe had merely become more complex, their forms slightly elongated, with tiny forks at their tips. They seemed to be transitioning toward three tomoe, but had not fully completed the change. He had not directly advanced to three tomoe; rather, he had reached the limit of two tomoe, with one foot already over the threshold of three! His dynamic vision, insight, and genjutsu capabilities had all undergone a qualitative leap.

He carefully sensed the other changes in his body. He had not gained the anticipated Wood Release ability—though this was within expectations. Wood Release required purer Yang Release and the power of the Divine Tree. White Zetsu's perfect disguise and transformation ability had not appeared either—perhaps because his serum had removed the relevant gene fragments, or perhaps because the direction of integration was different.

However, an unexpected yet immensely practical ability naturally surfaced in his mind.

At a shift of thought, his body seemed to lose all tangible weight as he slowly sank into the laboratory floor. Soil and rock parted before him like flowing water, then silently closed behind him. He traveled underground at an incredible speed, feeling almost no resistance. The chakra consumption was negligible, as though this were an ability he had been born knowing.

The Mayfly Technique! Though it was a low-level version—he could not pass through dense networks of tree roots, nor could he reach White Zetsu's highest state of fully melding in and leaving no trace—within the earth, he had gained unparalleled mobility and concealment!

He swiftly circled the underground laboratory several times, then silently emerged from the ground without a speck of dust on him.

Standing in the center of the laboratory, Uchiha Kyohaku felt the surging power within his body, his agile and powerful right foot, the stronger ocular power in his eyes, and this newly acquired ability to travel through the earth.

He knew that the turning point of his life had truly arrived.

Six years of endurance, planning, pain, and perseverance had finally been exchanged for a complete rebirth. The shackles of disability had been shattered, and the gates to the path of the strong had burst open before him.

The road ahead remained strewn with thorns, but at this moment, he possessed the most basic qualification to set foot upon it—a complete, healthy body with boundless potential.

He slowly raised his head. There was still no exaggerated expression on his pale face, but within those nearly three-tomoe Sharingan gleamed a cold, confident light.

From this day onward, fate would be different.