It Turned Out Kotoamatsukami Had Been Used

[Itachi Uchiha has left]

The system delivered a message while A Luo was returning to his room to sleep.

System, why did you suddenly become so diligent?

A Luo had just taken a bath. Now, lying in bed and hugging his blanket as he rolled around twice, he felt a little unaccustomed to the system's sudden enthusiasm.

Wasn't it supposed to be lazy? You're being this diligent—I'm a little worried!

[The host is too weak. Too many people want to make a move against the host.]

The system's reply remained as concise and clear as ever.

If the weak host died because he had not paid enough attention to his surroundings, it would be very embarrassing for the system.

Though the system did not actually need any dignity...

So at times like this, the system would issue a warning whenever anyone who might harbor ill intent toward A Luo approached.

So you're saying Itachi Uchiha still wants to come back and kill me?

A Luo was not sure what Itachi Uchiha was really thinking.

He had already come, yet he had not even given him a Tsukuyomi or anything. What exactly was he here for?

[Itachi Uchiha currently cares about only two things: Konoha's safety and Sasuke Uchiha's growth.]

The system reminded its host once again not to imagine everything so beautifully.

Actually, I've been thinking about something. Back then, although Itachi Uchiha wanted to maintain peace, his family was the most important thing to him. Even a child hated by both parents—so long as that child was his younger brother, he would do everything he could to care for and protect him. How could he possibly raise a blade against his own parents at a time like that? Could it be that Shisui Uchiha used Kotoamatsukami on him before he died...

Lying beneath the blankets, the more A Luo thought about it, the more something felt wrong.

Although this world had been created, perhaps its creator had left behind some bug that caused contradictions in a certain person's before-and-after characterization...

But to them, this world was real. Naturally, changes in certain aspects would fill in some of the past that had never been described.

So was Itachi Uchiha's sudden transformation really caused by Kotoamatsukami?

[Shisui Uchiha is dead. This exceeds the scope of answerable questions.]

For information the system did not want to reveal, or was unable to reveal, it would reply in this manner.

Fine, fine. That question is beyond the syllabus. Then let me ask another one. Is Shisui's left eye currently on cooldown?

A Luo understood and no longer dwelled on the earlier question.

Besides, the understanding between him and the system was that if something could not be said outright, he could probe indirectly by asking for other information.

[Shisui Uchiha's left eye is currently in a cooldown state and cannot be used again in the short term.]

This time, the system's answer was quite normal.

Cooldown meant it had been used before.

It was used by the Naka River, wasn't it...

A Luo asked the question, but this time he had not expected the system to answer. Hugging his blanket, he turned over and fell asleep.

[Based on the time of use, it was indeed then.]

After a while, the system gave its answer.

And the supposedly "asleep" A Luo's lips curved up slightly.

It really was Kotoamatsukami!

The Uchiha clan's ocular techniques were truly fascinating. He was extremely, extremely interested now!

Next, he just had to work hard. Once his body had recovered, he would also get to try the power of that bloodline.

It was just that...

System, I can't sleep.

After a while, A Luo started chatting with the system again.

[...Speak.]

The system felt that when its host no longer needed it in the future, it could give itself a disguise, switch identities, and become an old father raising a child.

Day after day, the patience it had been tempered into by its host, along with this child-coaxing state of mind, was becoming more natural and practiced.

My body has the Uchiha clan's bloodline after the fusion as well, so once it recovers its health, I should be able to awaken the Uchiha clan's bloodline. Am I right?

A Luo knew that his body had been fused by the system based on materials before being placed into this world.

He had a face ninety percent similar to Sasuke's, except he was a little shorter, thinner, and paler because of his frailty...

But there was no denying that his body truly possessed the Uchiha clan's bloodline genes. He was a life-form produced by the fusion of the two.

[The materials the host purchased in the cultivation world surpass the Uchiha bloodline. The bloodline genes can be awakened, but the host is not advised to cultivate chakra. It would be too wasteful.]

The system displayed a comparison chart. The Uchiha clan bloodline's cultivation potential was far below the upper limit for cultivation growth created from the materials A Luo had previously purchased.

Is this the probability of cultivation growth in this world?

Looking at the comparison chart, A Luo roughly examined it. Even its strongest limit only reached the same level as the Sage of Six Paths.

Seeing it that way, he truly had little interest in this direction of growth.

[Once the host begins cultivating and enters the Qi Refining stage, a free-switching mode between spiritual energy and chakra will be activated for the host.]

The system gave him a rough stage restriction.

Once he entered the Qi Refining stage, the spiritual energy he cultivated would count as the system giving A Luo a cheat.

But this was not something it was activating as an extra feature. With a dual constitution, this was a mode that naturally existed.

For now, it was merely informing the host in advance. That did not count as violating any of the system's restrictive rules.

I understand. Qi Refining... I can't rush it. My meridians and dantian have to be properly adjusted before I begin...

Although A Luo looked forward to trying the Sharingan and cultivating chakra, the prerequisite for everything was that his body had to first be adjusted to its optimal condition.

He had received quite a lot of information that night, and A Luo finally fell asleep in a good mood.

In the blanket beside him, Sasuke had a dream after falling asleep. In it, he stood in a mass of fog, running forward without pause, yet he could not remember what he was looking for.

When he suddenly woke from the dream, Sasuke sat upright and tilted his head to look beside him.

Not far away, a small bundle was curled up inside the blanket. Because A Luo had the habit of hugging half the blanket while sleeping, the blanket had already been rolled into his arms.

"..."

Seeing how obedient his little brother looked while asleep, Sasuke carefully moved closer, slowly pulled out the blanket that had been tortured into a mess, and gently covered A Luo properly.

Only after confirming that his little brother was sleeping peacefully did Sasuke lie back down beneath his own blanket. He lay on his side watching his brother beside him, and before long, he fell asleep again.

After sleeping until dawn, Sasuke got up early and first cut up some meat and vegetables, mixed them with seasoning, then spread them over the rice to continue steaming.

Breakfast and lunch could be made in one pot. After preparing the meal, he went to do his daily early-morning training.

By the time A Luo woke up, Sasuke was already washing his face in the courtyard, while the fragrance of food drifted out from the kitchen.