Chapter 36

Although Uchiha Yi bore the Uchiha name, the bloodline within him was simply too weak.

The clan's higher-ups had long concluded that it would be difficult for him to awaken his eyes in this lifetime.

Even if he got lucky and awakened them, it would only happen after he came of age.

His current Mangekyo Sharingan and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan had both been forcibly built up through the Extreme Sharingan.

Without the system, the best he could ever have amounted to in this life was a Chunin.

Even if luck let him barely awaken his eyes, he could at most become a Special Jonin.

Chakra had always been his weakness.

If not for the enhanced Eight Gates supporting him, then even with some strength, he would not have become all that powerful.

Once the Eight Gates were opened, his chakra, which had barely reached Kage level, would be amplified a hundredfold, unleashing terrifying energy.

But the problem was that even with a considerable amount of chakra, he could not sustain too many Shadow Clones with their Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan activated at once.

He could barely even maintain the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Using Shadow Clones to grind Extreme Sharingan proficiency was basically no longer feasible.

Still, he could continue using Shadow Clones to grind skills like the Eight Gates.

As for Extreme Sharingan proficiency, he would have to find another way.

The system's method was simple and brutal.

One word: eat.

He had to specifically eat special eyes and devour their ocular power.

That way, his proficiency could surge by a huge amount directly.

The system had even said that if he could swallow two or three pairs of Rinnegan, he could advance on the spot.

Of course, a Rinnegan built up that way would at most reach the level of a tomoe Rinnegan.

But where was he supposed to find two or three pairs of Rinnegan?

Then again, after giving it some serious thought, it did not seem entirely impossible.

Leaving Madara Uchiha aside for now, Momoshiki Otsutsuki was a certainty, Urashiki Otsutsuki might be around too, and then there was Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Counting them up, there really were several pairs of Rinnegan.

According to the system, the Rinnegan possessed by the Otsutsuki Clan were the genuine article.

Their bloodlines were pure enough.

And those people all had Byakugan too. If he managed to catch one of them, then wouldn't that mean...

Just imagining the scene made Uchiha Yi's heart stir restlessly.

He could not help looking up at the moon hanging in the sky. Ahem, forget it. Going after Kaguya Otsutsuki now would probably be suicidal.

He shook his head and quickly suppressed the thought.

Just now, he had tested the chakra mode of his Rinnegan.

To put it plainly, both the Rinnegan and Tenseigan had this kind of chakra mode.

Even gathering all nine tailed beasts and adding that bit of power granted by the Sage of Six Paths could produce the Six Paths Sage Mode.

Once this mode was activated, one's combat strength would soar by several tiers.

But the problem now was that Uchiha Yi had not properly mastered his chakra mode at all.

He could sustain it for three minutes at most.

One reason was that the chakra inside him was insufficient.

The other, and more important reason, was that he had never touched senjutsu.

In other words, he had not absorbed even a trace of natural energy.

Come to think of it, Madara Uchiha had the Rinnegan too, and his strength was undoubtedly at the Six Paths level.

But he was probably the weakest among the Six Paths-level fighters.

Because he had not even crossed the threshold of senjutsu, much less touched natural energy.

So Madara did not have a chakra mode at all.

Uchiha Yi understood clearly—whether it was the Rinnegan or Tenseigan, both possessed something called a chakra mode.

Even if the nine tailed beasts were gathered together and combined with the power given by the Sage of Six Paths, they could produce the Six Paths Sage Mode.

Once this mode was activated, combat strength would shoot straight upward. It was practically no different from cheating.

But Uchiha Yi's chakra mode was still incomplete.

At the absolute most, it lasted only three minutes. It was pitifully short.

There were two reasons. First, he did not have enough chakra to burn. Second, and more importantly, he had never figured out senjutsu.

To put it bluntly, it was all about natural energy.

On closer thought, Madara Uchiha had the Rinnegan too, and his strength was unquestionably at the Six Paths level.

But perhaps he was bottom-tier among the Six Paths—Madara had never touched senjutsu either, and knew nothing at all about natural energy.

So he simply did not have a chakra mode.

Without using that ability, relying solely on the Rinnegan's powers, Uchiha Yi dared to guarantee that no one below the Six Paths level could gain an advantage against him.

His pair of Rinnegan could both push things away and pull them closer.

More specifically, that was the ability of Almighty Push.

With Almighty Push and Planetary Devastation combined, he could freely manipulate repulsive and attractive forces.

He also had powerful techniques like Planetary Devastation and Heaven-Shaking Star in his grasp.

He could produce two Truth-Seeking Orbs as well, but that was the limit.

The space-time ocular technique Hand of Heaven had appeared for some inexplicable reason too.

But Uchiha Yi already possessed Kamui and the Flying Thunder God Technique, so Hand of Heaven was utterly useless to him. It was nothing more than decoration.

In short, after obtaining the Rinnegan, Uchiha Yi's strength had risen tremendously.

Below the Six Paths level, there was probably no one who could suppress him.

Even if he encountered a fierce Six Paths-level opponent, someone like Six Paths Madara, Uchiha Yi felt that he would not lose.

But he had never met one in person or fought one for real, so without anything to compare against, he had no confidence—he had no idea just how powerful the Six Paths level truly was. I have no plans to touch Kaguya Otsutsuki on the moon for now. But the Otsutsuki Clan inside the moon? Paying them a visit now shouldn't be a problem.

He dismissed the Rinnegan, and a glint flashed through Uchiha Yi's eyes.

Still, that matter could wait a few days.

After all, tomorrow was his engagement banquet with Hinata.

Early the next morning, Uchiha Yi got up.

His current residence was the largest mansion that had once belonged to the Uchiha Clan.

The Third Hokage had arranged it specially for him.

Furthermore, the assets that had previously been divided off from the Uchiha Clan were gradually returning to his hands.

Though not all of them had been returned, this was enough to make Uchiha Yi one of Konoha's wealthy people.

The engagement banquet itself was not overwhelmingly lively.

But every attendee was an important figure in Konoha. Even the daimyo of the Land of Fire had sent a trusted high-ranking official.

Every one of Konoha's major clans was present.

There were also quite a few merchants and nobles with close ties to Konoha.

I'm just getting engaged. Did it really have to be this extravagant?

Uchiha Yi muttered inwardly, thoroughly baffled.

What he did not know was that the Hyuga Clan had been working behind the scenes.

They were terrified that Uchiha Yi might change his mind at the last moment, so they had deliberately made the event as grand as possible.

That way, it would be difficult for him to back out later without embarrassment.

But they had never imagined that Uchiha Yi had never once considered going back on it.

Still, one guest left Uchiha Yi completely stunned, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead—

Koyuki!

She had actually come!

As he watched Koyuki smile at him, an absurd thought suddenly popped into Uchiha Yi's head.

Does this count as being caught red-handed?

"Hey, kid. You're getting engaged today?"

The moment Koyuki saw Uchiha Yi, that was the first thing she said.

Uchiha Yi froze. "Uh... well... why did you come here?"

"Enough." Koyuki rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. "I know there's a huge age gap between us. I know about your engagement, and I won't get any strange ideas."

"I just hope you won't forget me in the future."

After saying that, Koyuki headed straight toward Hinata.

Before long, the two of them were chatting and laughing together.

Uchiha Yi watched in utter confusion.

What was going on?

"Not bad, you little brat!"

Tsunade appeared out of nowhere.

Uchiha Yi's heart skipped a beat. Could that old woman have found out about what happened between Koyuki and me?

But Tsunade's next words made him breathe a sigh of relief. "I heard that your last Chunin promotion mission was only supposed to be an escort job, but you ended up putting down a rebellion. Pretty capable, aren't you?"

"Ahem... I just happened to do it. I was mainly after that stone tablet."

"But they don't see it that way. The Snow Country daimyo came to Konoha this time to discuss something important. In a way, it's all thanks to you."

Something important?

Uchiha Yi could not quite process it.

Tsunade did not keep him guessing and told him directly—Koyuki had come this time to represent the Land of Snow in a deal with Konoha, specifically concerning Chakra Armor.

Both Tsunade and the Third Hokage took this matter very seriously.

Ninja certainly could not rely too heavily on external tools, but if they could suffer fewer injuries in battle and gain another layer of protection, no one would turn that down.

Chakra Armor could directly increase combat strength. For Konoha's ninja, it was undoubtedly a good thing.

Not to mention that the stone tablet Uchiha Yi had brought back had left behind a specific warning—if someone began collecting tailed beasts in the shinobi world, then the revival of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the ancestor of chakra, would not be far off.

Now, the organization known as Akatsuki was secretly targeting the tailed beasts.

Jiraiya had gone out to investigate and returned with a fair amount of information about Akatsuki.

That organization was dangerous.

Unfortunately, Jiraiya had not managed to uncover all of Akatsuki's secrets.

Koyuki had come this time, bluntly speaking, to discuss business with Konoha. The item involved in the deal was Chakra Armor.

Tsunade and the Third Hokage both attached great importance to it.

Ninja could not depend too much on external tools; everyone understood that. But if it meant taking fewer blows in a life-or-death battle and having one more safeguard to stay alive, no one would complain.

Chakra Armor could raise combat strength, and its benefits to Konoha's ninja were obvious.

Furthermore, the stone tablet Uchiha Yi had brought back clearly bore a sentence—once someone in the shinobi world began collecting tailed beasts, the resurrection of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the ancestor of chakra, would not be far away.

This organization called Akatsuki looked every bit like it had its sights on the tailed beasts.

Jiraiya had gone to investigate and returned with some understanding of Akatsuki.

He had said only one thing: Akatsuki was dangerous.

But as for thoroughly uncovering Akatsuki's background, he was still far from it.

The reason Jiraiya believed so firmly in what was written on the stone tablet was that he had made a trip to Mount Myoboku and personally asked the Great Toad Sage about the Sage of Six Paths.

The result spoke for itself.

The Great Toad Sage personally admitted that he knew the Sage of Six Paths. Only then did Jiraiya feel assured, and he no longer had the slightest doubt about the tablet's words.

The engagement ceremony dragged on from early morning until nightfall, and Uchiha Yi felt more exhausted than after fighting a hard battle.

A few days later, Konoha and Tsunade finally settled the deal regarding the Chakra Armor, and Koyuki was due to return to the Land of Snow.