Otogakure's Arrangements

In the end, Itachi only had blood, skin, and bone marrow samples taken.

"Senior Natsuki said that Itachi's body is already developing problems. If left untreated, it will deteriorate quickly."

"Oh?" Orochimaru took Itachi's cell samples for testing.

He picked up the materials Natsuki had specially prepared for him.

Orochimaru flipped through page after page of densely written documents.

His eyes shifted from initial indifference to complete focus, and his expression gradually grew feverish.

"Remarkable, remarkable. I never even considered these things. How did Natsuki know?"

[On the Negative Mental Effects of Soul Split]

[Basic Analysis of Yin Release and Yang Release Chakra]

[The Evolution and Speculations of the Sharingan]

[On Sage Eyes, Sage Body, Sage Blood, and Kekkei Genkai]

[Speculations on Senjutsu and Its Relationship with Cursed Seals]

Those papers were filled with Natsuki's accumulated knowledge, along with some of his reasonable conjectures.

When Natsuki had given this knowledge to Shisui, he had instructed him—

If Kotoamatsukami succeeded, he could directly tell Orochimaru that he could foresee the future.

When Orochimaru heard that the Mangekyō Sharingan could actually foresee the future, he was utterly stunned.

After that, he took the materials in his hands even more seriously.

"Beep... beep..."

At that moment, the testing machine had finished examining Itachi's cell samples.

Orochimaru casually picked up the results, and his brow immediately furrowed.

"What is this?"

He discovered that Itachi's cells were abnormally active, with a small number of them mutating into an abnormal state. It was a pathological change at the cellular level.

If Natsuki had been there, he would have recognized Itachi's symptoms as leukemia.

Although Orochimaru did not know the name of the disease,

that did not hinder his superb medical skills.

He quickly determined that Itachi's illness was caused by the Yin Release Chakra eroding his body every time he used the Mangekyō Sharingan.

As long as Itachi stopped using the Mangekyō Sharingan, Orochimaru could suppress the diseased cells.

Once Itachi grew older or his body became stronger, he would be able to resist the erosion of the Mangekyō Sharingan's Yin Release Chakra.

Then Itachi's illness would heal without medicine.

"That's great, Itachi!" Shisui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since he had heard Natsuki say that Itachi would only live to twenty, he had worried day and night.

Fortunately, Senior Natsuki's plan had not gone wrong. Shisui touched his eyes. Both of them would now need many years before they could use Kotoamatsukami again.

Fortunately, it had worked both times.

"Don't celebrate too soon." Orochimaru's voice pulled Shisui's thoughts back to the present.

"The Mangekyō Sharingan of your Uchiha Clan was never a stable creation to begin with."

"If you abuse it without restraint, it won't just lead to declining eyesight or blindness. It will cause unpredictable pathological changes in your bodies."

Orochimaru looked through [The Evolution and Speculations of the Sharingan].

Then he compared it with [On Sage Eyes, Sage Body, Sage Blood, and Kekkei Genkai].

In the second volume, Orochimaru found

an introduction to the Otsutsuki Clan, as well as the influence of Otsutsuki bloodlines on the many Kekkei Genkai of the ninja world.

"Kekkei Genkai are a blessing, but also a curse."

Orochimaru sighed.

"The next experiments will require both of your full cooperation."

Natsuki had also proposed a theory for stabilizing the Mangekyō Sharingan. Even if Itachi could transplant the Mangekyō Sharingan of a blood relative,

Shisui was now alone and had no blood relatives. He would need to take the second route: injecting Hashirama's cells.

But Orochimaru had his own ideas. He wanted to attempt directly injecting Yang Release Chakra and see what effect it would have on the Mangekyō Sharingan.

However, injecting Chakra was something that had never been experimented with before.

There were only two living test subjects now, so Orochimaru still had to make a new plan for how to begin.

All of his previous plans and research projects were overturned.

Growing stronger was no longer simply about obtaining the Sharingan.

His plans had become far more ambitious.

Orochimaru quickly became busy, throwing all matters concerning Otogakure to Kabuto.

But Kabuto was often needed to assist Orochimaru with experiments and could not spare the time.

After all, Shadow Clone Technique could not be used for such delicate work as research.

When a Shadow Clone disappeared, the vast amount of medical data would make your entire brain crash.

You would instead need several days of rest before you could sort it all out.

The Uchiha Clan Members brought by Itachi and Shisui quickly filled Otogakure's manpower shortage.

Third Elder Takuya quickly took over Kabuto's administrative duties in Otogakure, allowing Kabuto to cooperate with Orochimaru for extended periods.

Third Elder Uchiha Takuya had finally fulfilled his long-held wish.

Although Otogakure was still small, it was enough for him to indulge his craving for power.

Kabuto had no interest in power whatsoever. He was in Otogakure to help Orochimaru.

To him, Orochimaru was his superior, his brother, and his family.

As long as he could help Lord Orochimaru, he was more than willing to do anything.

Meanwhile, Itachi and Shisui cooperated with Orochimaru every day, treating themselves as living materials.

If they had not had faith in Kotoamatsukami, Itachi and Shisui would truly have worried that Orochimaru would dissect them alive.

The new Uchiha Clan compound.

"My lord, there is news from the Ninja Cats."

Keimei entered with the message.

Keimei's Older Brother, Yōya, had also contracted Ninja Cats as his summons.

Through the Summoning Technique, Yōya, who had followed Itachi, could rapidly exchange messages with Keimei.

Natsuki opened the scroll and saw that Orochimaru had already begun researching Itachi's body.

Itachi's condition should have stabilized.

Next came development.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for significantly changing Kabuto Yakushi's life trajectory.]

Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Mystical Palm Technique x1

Natsuki raised an eyebrow. It wasn't Sage Mode?

"Lord Natsuki!"

At that moment, another Uchiha Clan Member entered.

"There is news from the Third Hokage."

What news could the Third Hokage have?

Natsuki opened it in confusion, then let out a soft laugh.

Danzo really was not behaving himself. Previously, because of digging out Shisui's eye, he had become Konoha's public enemy.

He could only hide in his own clan compound or Root, not even daring to go to the Hokage Building.

Yet he still refused to give up. Now he was setting his sights on the Uchiha Clan again.

But the Third Hokage was no good thing either. On the surface, he was extending goodwill toward the Uchiha Clan, but in truth, he was shifting disaster elsewhere.

Danzo had grown increasingly powerful, and the Third Hokage had already been finding it difficult to control him.

Meanwhile, the Uchiha Clan had become even more divided from the village. More importantly, the Third Hokage had no way to contend with the combat power of the Uchiha Clan's two Mangekyō Sharingan users.

So if Danzo and the Uchiha Clan clashed, whichever side suffered losses would be good news to the Third Hokage.

The Uchiha Clan could now gradually ignore Konoha's reactions. As long as the Land of Rice developed,

the Uchiha Clan's ordinary civilians would no longer need to rely on Konoha.

"Pass down the order: all Uchiha Guard Team security patrols are to be conducted by two standard squads at the same time."

"All clan members who have Awakened Sharingan are forbidden from leaving the clan compound alone. Temporarily suspend accepting Konoha Village's missions, and have everyone return to the compound to rest."

Fugaku had already delegated these powers to Natsuki and was fully grooming him as his successor.

Natsuki stood up and patted Keimei on the shoulder.

"Danzo is still eyeing our Sharingan. If you need more people, ask Fugaku for them. Expedite the Barrier Team's work."

"Yes, Captain!"

Keimei's eyes were filled with determination.

I must protect the clan!