Turning Point of Fate

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

He devised 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 the 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, he focused on strengthening his muscle tissue and peripheral nervous system. The effects were mild yet sustained. He could feel his strength increasing in subtle but steady increments, while his control over his body—especially his previously troublesome right leg—improved significantly. His once skinny limbs gradually became supple and powerful.

During the second and third months, the focus shifted to his internal organs. His heart beat with greater strength and efficiency, his lung capacity quietly increased, and the metabolic functions of his liver and kidneys improved noticeably. This transformation from within brought an unprecedented sense of ease, as if he had cast off some heavy shackle that had bound him since birth.

The fourth and fifth months were the most critical and dangerous stage—the integration of his skeletal system and central nervous system. He kept the dosage at its minimum and slowed the process to its lowest pace, spending vast amounts of time every day using chakra to examine himself internally and monitor every minute change. His bone marrow's blood-producing function improved, while his bones grew denser and tougher. The optimization of his nervous system further increased his thinking speed and doubled the sharpness of his senses. The entire process was like treading on thin ice, but thanks to precise control and the serum's stability, he passed through it without incident.

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

When the final day of the sixth month came to an end, Kyohaku slowly opened his eyes from deep meditation.

The transformation was complete.

He lightly clenched his fist, and a sense of strength far beyond anything he had possessed before naturally welled up within him. It was not explosive brute force, but a deep, restrained power as weighty as the earth. With a thought, the chakra in his body flowed endlessly like a surging river, circulating with unprecedented speed and volume. It effortlessly shattered his previous bottleneck and stabilized at the level of a Jonin!

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

Steady as a rock.

He even tried lightly stamping his foot, feeling the solid, reliable contact between the sole of his foot and the ground. His Achilles tendon was strong and resilient, while his atrophied chakra pathways had been completely repaired and strengthened beyond all expectation! His disability—the nightmare that had tormented, restricted, and defined the first six years of his ninja life—had become history.

Such enormous changes naturally came with outward signs. He walked to the water mirror in the laboratory. The youth reflected within was slightly taller than others his age and no longer frail. Yet what drew the eye most was his skin—it was an extremely unnatural, bloodless pallor, delicate to an almost eerie degree, faintly carrying a cold sheen similar to that of White Zetsu. It truly... resembled the pallor of a corpse. This was the external manifestation of integrating White Zetsu's traits at the cellular level.

At the same time, perhaps because the shackles upon his body had been broken, or perhaps due to the mental feedback brought by his elevated life force, he felt a familiar burning sensation in his eyes. In the depths of those distinct black-and-white eyes reflected in the water mirror, two black tomoe slowly emerged, then... silently split into three!?

No, upon closer inspection, the two tomoe had become more complex. Their forms were slightly elongated, their tips bearing subtle forks, as though they were transitioning toward Three-Tomoe, but the transformation was not yet complete. He had not directly advanced to Three-Tomoe. Rather, he had reached the very limit of Two-Tomoe, with one foot already across the threshold of Three-Tomoe! His dynamic vision, insight, and Genjutsu abilities had all undergone a qualitative leap.

He carefully sensed the other changes in his body. He had not gained the anticipated Wood Release ability—which was within expectations. Wood Release required purer Yang Release and the power of the God 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 exceedingly practical ability naturally surfaced in his mind.

With a thought, his body seemed to lose all tangible weight as he slowly sank into the laboratory floor. Soil and stone parted before him like flowing water, then silently closed behind him. He traveled underground at an unbelievable speed, feeling almost no resistance, while consuming a negligible amount of chakra, as if this had been an ability he possessed from birth.

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 ultimate realm of complete integration without leaving a trace—within the earth, he had already gained unparalleled mobility and concealment!

He rapidly moved around the underground laboratory several times before silently emerging from the ground, without a speck of dust on his body.

Standing in the center of the laboratory, Kyohaku Uchiha felt the surging power within him, 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 persistence had finally brought him 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 was still strewn with thorns, but at this moment, he possessed the most fundamental qualification to set foot upon it—a complete, healthy body with limitless potential.

He slowly raised his head. There was still no exaggerated expression on his pale face, but his almost Three-Tomoe Sharingan gleamed with cold confidence.

From this day onward, fate would be different.