Deep underground, in a secret laboratory temporarily constructed by Crystal Release ninjutsu, the air was cold.
This is Uchiha Xuan's private dissecting table.
Lying on the central restraint table was the Otsutsuki Cleaner that had been drained of all its inventory.
Its abdomen is bulging, and under its pale exoskeleton, one can see that its internal organs are being eroded by chakra crystals, emitting a faint blue light.
Chiyo Saori stood aside with a focused expression.
Countless puppet threads that were difficult to discern with the naked eye extended from her fingers and carefully penetrated into the scavenger's spinal ganglia.
A simple screen composed of scrolls and chakra circuits was displaying the alien creature's vital signs data in real time.
"Sir, its cell activity is picking up." Chiyo Saori's voice was full of surprise, "We cut off its energy connection with the outside world, but it seems to be digesting itself, accelerating cell regeneration by devouring those soul crystals."
Uchiha Xuan's silver eyes did not waver, he just stared at the soaring energy curve on the screen.
His Myriad Phenomena Devouring System is computing in the background, analyzing changes in data.
Suddenly, the area on the screen representing mental fluctuations flashed red.
Chiyo Saori's face changed. "Its brain activity is very active! High-density chakra condensation was detected in the subcutaneous tissue of the forehead, forming a spot?"
"Reincarnation Mark." Uchiha Xuan said lightly.
This is the information he got from the memory fragments of the Otsutsuki Clan, a prototype similar to Rinnegan, which is an atavism phenomenon that occurs with a small probability after low-level servants swallow high-quality souls.
"Ignore it." Xuan's instructions were cold, "I decided to change the way of playing."
He wants to turn this scavenger into his own external processor and translator.
"Saori, prepare to inject." Xuan stretched out his right hand, and a wisp of silver chakra condensed on his fingertips.
This is the product of the fusion of his original soul and Six Paths Power, and contains the original agreement of his own existence.
Chiyo Saori's heart tightened, she understood the risks of this experiment.
Once the remnants of the opponent's consciousness backfire, even a trace of it may flow upstream along with this strand of chakra, contaminating the origin of Master Xuan's soul.
But there was no hesitation on her face. She manipulated the puppet strings and accurately cut open the scavenger's neck bone armor, exposing the bone marrow cavity underneath.
"Preparations are complete, sir."
Xuan flicked his finger, and the silver chakra quietly penetrated into the scavenger's bone marrow.
The experiment begins.
On the third day, late at night.
"Ho--!"
A piercing roar exploded in the laboratory.
The restrained scavenger's body armor exploded, and countless twisted flesh sprouts grew from the cracks.
Its single eye flashing data light went out, and the "Reincarnation Mark" on its forehead opened, turning into an incomplete pale golden Tenseigan.
Powerful pupil power swept out, Chiyo Saori felt that her soul was about to be torn apart, she immediately Hand Seals, ready to detonate the Explosive Tag preset in the scavenger's body.
"Stop."
Uchiha Xuan's voice sounded, and instead of retreating, he took a step forward, letting the force of his eyes make his robes rustle.
His silver eyes reflected the rotating Tenseigan, and the corners of his mouth curved.
Xuan just wants to wait for this moment, waiting for this insect to push the borrowed power to its peak.
"It's done." He said softly.
At the moment when Tenseigan's light reached its peak, Uchiha Xuan moved.
He didn't Hand Seals, he just slowly raised his eyes and stared at the rampaging monster with his silver eyes indifferently.
His will, through the buried silver chakra, turned into a command.
"Did I ask you to open your eyes?"
A cold spiritual thought descended on the scavenger's core of consciousness.
"Did you open your eyes or your tomb?"
Buzz--!
The Tenseigan trembled violently.
The golden light dimmed, and the Tomoe pattern in the pupils began to collapse.
Chiyo Saori watched in horror as the eye collapsed on its own without the operator, turning into a pool of black liquid and flowing back into the scavenger's brain.
[Ding! High-order energy escape is detected and the system automatically captures it successfully...]
[Successfully captured 'Otsutsuki Minor Godhead Fragment', 'Fruit Coding Sequence' analysis progress: 12%!]
The system prompt sounded in Xuan's mind.
"Very good." The corners of Xuan's mouth curved deeper. He ignored the valueless scavenger and ordered Chiyo Saori, "Take it to me."
Half an hour later, in the laboratory, a flesh-and-blood grafting cabin was opened.
Uchiha Xuan lay down naked and expressionless.
He picked up a bone dagger born from his own bones and cut open his left arm.
The skin and flesh rolled up, revealing not flesh and blood, but crystallized muscle tissue.
Chiyo Saori controlled the robotic arm to peel off the main nerve cord in the scavenger's body from the spine, and then carefully inserted it into the wound on Xuan's left arm.
"Zila--!"
The moment the nerves connected, a flow of information and negative energy rushed into Xuan's body.
Severe pain came, as if countless steel needles were piercing his brain and soul.
The veins on Xuan's forehead popped out, the scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan patterns in his eyes rotated, and he almost instinctively activated the Susanoo to block the pain.
But he used his willpower to forcefully suppress it and guide his own chakra to analyze, devour, and assimilate this foreign energy.
As the integration deepened, he "heard" some sounds.
Some intermittent low-frequency communication signals.
The source of the signal is the Otsutsuki Altar on the back of the moon.
Seven days later, the experiment ended.
The grafting cabin opened, and Uchiha Xuan slowly walked out.
That Otsutsuki Cleaner has turned into a shriveled corpse.
On Xuan's right shoulder, there was a special-shaped bone bulging out, shaped like the base of a wing, covered with silver lines.
He stood up and raised his right hand casually. A dark golden flame ignited in his palm.
This is a pure and domineering "Divine Erosion Flame".
This is the flame that comes from devouring and analyzing the fragments of the godhead Otsutsuki Clan, and is specially used to corrode the power of the gods.
Chiyo Saori knelt on one knee and lowered his head in awe, not daring to look directly at Uchiha Xuan.
She could feel that the man in front of her was transforming into a realm that she could not understand.
Xuan's gaze penetrated the dome of the laboratory and looked toward the sky.
"Before, they came to pick fruits." He said softly, with a hint of smile in his voice, "Now, it's my turn to pick the trees."
The moment the words fell, he was on a scarlet planet deep in the star sea.
In an ancient temple, a copper bell rang loudly without warning.
The sound of the bell penetrates time and space and echoes in the divine realm.
On the era stone tablet in the center of the temple that records the fate of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, a line of golden inscriptions slowly emerged:
[Devourer... wake up.]
[Gods... be afraid.]
Shinobi World, Fire Country, Naka River Shrine.
In the secret room at the bottom of the shrine, Uchiha Xuan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.
He was surrounded by silver energy currents, and the new alien-shaped bone on his right shoulder was pulsing with his heartbeat.
It's as if something is about to be born in it.