Lying Low and Biding Time, Yaksha Emerges

Under the Four Violet Flames Formation's seal, Ye's icy voice lingered for a long time, carrying through the entire valley.

Nonō's pale face was illuminated by the violet barrier. Leaning in Kabuto's arms, her breathing gradually steadied, and the wound on her neck had stopped bleeding.

Kabuto reached out with his still-trembling right hand and picked up the white handkerchief from the ground. He did not wipe the blood and grime from his face, only carefully brushed the dirt from the corner of Nonō's eyes.

His round-framed glasses had shattered in the earlier battle. He narrowed his slender eyes and stared directly at the black-clad youth ahead, who radiated overwhelming pressure.

Before them lay a deathtrap arranged by Konoha's higher-ups. Blood dripped steadily from the chains, and the corpses of two Root shinobi still hung from the golden chakra chains.

The word Konoha no longer held any weight in Kabuto's heart. Every trace of belonging had vanished beneath the fury of deception, leaving only the desire to seize a chance at survival.

Kabuto slowly lowered Nonō onto the flat sand. Then he bent both knees, and the bloodstained earth bore the weight of his heavily dropped knees.

He lowered his body as far as it could go, bowed his head, and laid his hands flat at his sides.

Nonō, gritting her teeth, watched her adopted son's actions. The proud head of Konoha's ace spy had bowed. Enduring the dizziness from blood loss, she turned over and supported herself with one hand on the ground.

Ye, who had remained where he was, made no unnecessary movement. The Mangekyō Sharingan patterns lingering in his eyes gradually faded as he merely looked down at the two people submitting at his feet.

These two no longer had any reason to betray him. Konoha had completely destroyed everything they possessed, and now it had given them the chance to destroy Konoha with their own hands.

A third faction known as Yaksha began to take shape in this blood-reeking valley.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

An abandoned air-raid shelter left over from the Second Shinobi World War had been forcibly widened with senjutsu chakra and transformed into a massive underground base deep within a mountain hundreds of meters high at the border between the Land of Earth and the Grass Land.

The entire underground space was brightly lit by cool-toned chakra lamps embedded along the tops of the rock walls.

All kinds of sophisticated experimental equipment filled the hall, all of it purchased at great expense from the black market through secret channels Nonō had left behind.

A row of enormous glass cultivation tanks stood against the walls. Fine bubbles churned through pale-green nutrient solution, continuously rising to the tops of the tanks.

Ye, seated in a high-backed chair at the center of the hall, casually tossed a heavy research scroll onto the laboratory table.

Dense cell sequence analysis charts were revealed as the scroll unfurled across the tabletop.

Kabuto had changed into a brand-new white lab coat. As he walked toward the laboratory table, he adjusted the rimless glasses on his nose.

"Hey, starting today, you're in charge of the research."

Ye raised a hand, his fingertip resting on the unfurled scroll.

"Figure out the rejection reaction of that First Hokage stuff, along with Yin–Yang Release fusion."

His gaze settled on Kabuto, his finger stopping over one of the cellular diagrams.

"I want the data as quickly as possible—the chakra wavelength produced when Hashirama Cells resonate with the Sharingan."

His voice clearly reached everyone present, traveling through the empty underground hall.

Kabuto rapidly scanned the research materials, which surpassed the current Shinobi World by several eras. Once he picked up the scroll, his hands quickly began trembling beyond his control.

For a medical shinobi who was also a spy, nothing was more tempting than knowledge that touched upon the origin of life.

He clutched the scroll tightly to his chest, his fingers curling ever tighter. Then he bent at the waist in a bow and did not rise for a long while.

Nonō stood on the other side of the laboratory table, dressed in a sharp black combat uniform, with a pouch full of ninja tools hanging from her waist.

Ye tapped the edge of the table twice with his finger, then turned to look at her.

"Get the intelligence network rebuilt quickly."

Nonō raised her eyes to meet his gaze.

"I need to see news from the entire Shinobi World. Whatever those old bastards in Konoha are doing, get it to me immediately."

The orphanage director's former concessions toward Konoha were nowhere to be seen. She nodded, and her once-gentle features had been overtaken by cold severity.

Infiltrating Konoha's outer intelligence posts in reverse posed no difficulty for her, because Root's methods and habits had long been etched into her memory.

The fifty-ninth year of Konoha passed, its days spent within the sealed underground base. The Shinobi World officially entered Konoha's sixtieth year.

The forces hidden in the shadows of every nation never ceased their activities, though no drastic changes appeared on the surface of the Shinobi World that year.

Ye devoted all his energy to developing his own strength and never once stepped outside the base.

The toll left behind by one dangerous attempt after another was bearable, thanks to the immense vitality and recovery ability granted by the Sage Body.

Sealing formulas used to reinforce the mountain covered all four rock walls, while a massive training ground had been constructed in the deepest part of the base.

Fine grinding sounds came from between his bones. Ye stood in the center of the training ground with his eyes shut, chakra surging at high speed through his meridians.

The complex black patterns within his scarlet eyes spun rapidly. A low shout burst from his throat as he opened his eyes.

Yin Release chakra was drawn by his powerful ocular power and rapidly manifested outside his body.

His body was completely protected at the center as a dark-blue chakra skeleton rose from the ground.

Yang Release chakra poured entirely into the skeleton. Ye did not stop, and the vitality accumulated by his Sage Body continued to surge forth.

A heavy giant's body gradually took shape. Dense chakra meridians swiftly grew, while layers of dark-blue muscle fibers coiled around one another.

The Susanoo was pushed into its Semi-Complete Body form, and chakra armor finally covered its body.

The surrounding air was sliced into chaotic currents. A giant dozens of meters tall stood within the underground space, and the chakra greatsword in its hand flashed with light.

Even the cells throughout the body would suffer backlash from ocular power. For an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan wielder, merely maintaining the skeletal form would make their eyes ache with agony.

Not a single drop of blood seeped from the corners of Ye's eyes as he maintained the Semi-Complete Body Susanoo.

The risk of Mangekyō blindness had been completely erased. The Sage Body's cellular activity continuously repaired damage to his optic nerves, keeping his vision at its peak.

Ye had saved up quite a few scattered rewards, while the system occasionally issued daily missions throughout the year.

One crucial clue concerning bloodline evolution was the most important reward among them.

It pointed toward the threshold of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan: an incomplete equation recording methods to fuse different bloodlines and break the Gene Lock.

Kabuto had taken over the research into completing the missing portions of the equation and spent every day immersed in the laboratory.

The low hum of the base's ventilation fans continued through a late autumn night.

The heavy metal door was pushed open. Hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor outside the laboratory as Kabuto clutched a scroll stamped with a red top-secret seal.

Several machines continued operating. The temperature in the hall was astonishingly high, and the scent left behind by intense chakra combustion filled the air.

Sweat slid down the lines of Ye's toned muscles as he stood with his back to the entrance before a chakra testing device.

"Lord Ye!"

Kabuto stopped at the doorway.

"Nonō just sent a highest-level alert!"

Ye casually wiped the sweat from his face, turned around, and pulled off the towel.

The scroll flew directly into his hand as he extended his right hand toward Kabuto, generating a pulling force.

The sealing formula attached to the scroll's surface shattered on the spot as his fingers closed.

The scroll, containing only a few short lines, unfurled.

Uchiha Itachi had already left the village and headed for an abandoned shrine downstream of the Naka River to meet someone. Konoha ANBU had been mobilized on a large scale, and Root members had entered first-level combat readiness.

The time of the Uchiha Coup had been locked in.

It was tonight.

The plot had finally advanced to this point after an entire year of waiting.

Fine powder fell through his fingers with a soft rustle as Ye closed his hand and crushed the top-secret scroll made of special material.

Immense pressure slammed into the surrounding walls layer by layer. The vast chakra he had restrained for an entire year erupted from his body, and deep-blue currents shot toward the hall's ceiling.

Green liquid splashed across the entire table before dripping from its edges onto the floor. Several test tubes full of nutrient solution shattered on the spot, while glassware on the laboratory table cracked in succession.

Heavy bases gouged deep furrows into the ground. Several specially made metal dummies in the corner, originally used to test physical strikes, were all shoved backward by the air currents.

Kabuto stood where he was, the lenses of his glasses gleaming with feverish light as the oncoming currents snapped his white lab coat.

His hands trembled slightly and his scalp went numb. After swiftly calculating the level of this chakra in his mind, he reached a shocking conclusion.

This level of chakra, sufficient to confront any renowned top-tier expert in the current Shinobi World head-on, had already surpassed the conventional level of the Five Kage.

The scattered fragments stopped rolling, and the deep-blue currents in the hall gradually withdrew back into Ye's body.

Ye took down a brand-new black robe and walked to the clothes rack.

The symbol of Yaksha was three dark-red tomoe embroidered on its back, with golden thread sewn along the robe's collar and cuffs.

He draped the robe over himself and looked toward Konoha.

Unconcealed bloodlust and anticipation appeared on his lips, while his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan lit up once more beneath the dim lights.

"Kabuto, take that newly made recording scroll and come with me."

Crisp footsteps echoed through the long passage as Ye headed toward the base exit, his leather boots striking the metal floor.

"Tonight, we're taking a stroll back to the village."

Kabuto hurried after him and immediately gathered up the scrolls on the table.

"We're giving that old bastard the Third Hokage, along with those Uchiha filial sons, a big gift that'll scare the piss out of the entire Shinobi World."