Uchiha Ensei's appearance had suddenly regressed from what seemed to be the Mangekyō Sharingan state back to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. At first glance, it looked as though his strength had diminished.
But in reality, Uchiha Ensei's combat power had grown stronger, and his control over the ocular power of the hundred thousand Byakugan sealed within his body had also improved.
The most obvious change was that Uchiha Ensei now possessed an ability similar to the Byakugan's vision, one that allowed him to see through things.
And it was not in black and white, but in color.
No, calling it color was not quite accurate. It would be more accurate to say that he could perceive the colors inherent to things themselves.
When seeing through a human body... it was not that intelligent. He had to distinguish for himself how many layers of clothing he wanted to see through. Unless someone wore only a single layer of clothing, he probably could not see them naked.
The Hyuga Clan—no wonder they used such strict clan rules to restrain their members. It was likely not merely to prevent the Byakugan from being stolen, but also to stop their clansmen from drawing hostility from outsiders.
Neji, who had been so arrogant during the monthly exams, had not been beaten to death only because Konoha was far too peaceful!
"Ensei? What's wrong?"
Kushina Uzumaki watched Uchiha Ensei stare blankly at her again and found it rather strange.
"Uh... nothing. I just didn't expect modifying the seal to cause such enormous changes to my body."
Uchiha Ensei gave her a brief evasive answer, then continued asking Kushina Uzumaki about the Flying Thunder God.
Fortunately, when these eyes activated their penetrating vision, the veins around his eyes did not bulge.
Even members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan developed bulging veins around their eyes when using the Byakugan to see through things, and they could not maintain it for long.
Yet for some reason, he did not possess that trait, and maintaining it did not seem to put much strain on him either.
Could it be that all that strain had been transferred onto the hundred thousand Byakugan sealed inside his body?
Uchiha Ensei was excited. Though he instinctively felt it was merely speculation, this unprecedented state made him unable to stop himself from coming up with more ideas.
After all, if it turned out to be true...
It would be an achievement that surpassed the Ōtsutsuki Clan!
Kushina Uzumaki, who had been speaking beside him, noticed that Uchiha Ensei had drifted off again. She immediately realized that today was truly not a good opportunity to continue teaching.
"Ensei, don't be too impatient when learning Sealing Jutsu. Especially with unknown sealing techniques—you must not try to meddle with them, because they can easily cause huge trouble."
"Let's stop here for today. Go familiarize yourself with the Eight Trigrams Seal inside you first. If you have any questions, come find me anytime."
Hearing Kushina Uzumaki's words, Uchiha Ensei knew she was right. Besides, he truly had many experiments he wanted to try, so he decisively took his leave.
Before leaving, Uchiha Ensei happened to run into Naruto Uzumaki, who had just returned from school. After exchanging a simple greeting, he prepared to depart.
But after walking a short distance, he heard Naruto Uzumaki talking to Kushina about trivial matters from the Ninja Academy.
For some reason, Uchiha Ensei's mood suddenly brightened considerably, and the pressure that had lingered in his heart all this time quietly dissipated.
"Peace, huh? It really does seem pretty nice."
At the same time Uchiha Ensei was rewriting the seal within his body, a figure was frantically practicing something inside an abandoned Root laboratory in Konoha.
Before him lay not only an unconscious Kirigakure ninja, but also a small chunk of flesh that had already begun to rot.
"Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu..."
At last, after an unknown number of attempts, this diehard loyalist of Danzo successfully performed the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
Countless particles of dust rose from the ground and wrapped around the unconscious Kirigakure ninja lying there.
Though he was already deeply unconscious, the Kirigakure ninja still let out a shrill scream at that moment.
Unfortunately, this was the lowest level of the Root base, and the base itself had long since been abandoned. No one could possibly notice what was happening here.
Before long, Shimura Danzō's figure replaced that of the Kirigakure ninja.
The moment he opened his eyes, Shimura Danzō understood his current situation.
"Impure World Reincarnation? Well done, Shinraku Tanuki."
After sensing his current strength, Shimura Danzō suddenly reached out without warning and tightly grasped Shinraku Tanuki's throat.
"Thank you for your contribution. Konoha will remember you."
As Shimura Danzō tightened his grip, Shinraku Tanuki—the last diehard loyalist still devoted to Danzo—was effortlessly killed by his hand.
As he looked at Shinraku Tanuki's corpse, Shimura Danzō's Impure World Reincarnation eyes held an indescribably complicated emotion.
"I'm sorry. The caster is the only flaw of the Impure World Reincarnation. For Konoha's sake, I had no choice but to do this."
"That monkey is too weak. Without me, Konoha would surely..."
Within the dark abandoned base, Shimura Danzō's guilt-ridden voice echoed.
Not long afterward, Shimura Danzō toured the abandoned base alone and tested his own strength. He discovered that it had fallen severely, leaving him with less than a third of what he had possessed in life.
He was somewhat disappointed, but quickly adapted. Afterward, Shimura Danzō hid in the shadows and quietly observed Konoha.
When he found that Konoha was the same as always, an indescribable grievance welled up in his heart.
Yet in the next instant, Shimura Danzō's gaze became resolute once more.
Next, Shimura Danzō began gathering some of Root's former members.
But because Hiruzen Sarutobi had broken up Root's personnel and reintegrated them throughout Konoha, only a small number of diehard loyalists were found by Shimura Danzō.
After learning about the situation from those former subordinates he had gathered, the fury in Shimura Danzō's eyes could no longer be concealed.
Yet for some reason, he did not act immediately. Instead, he secretly went to Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence and found him.
"Danzo... weren't you dead?"
Upon seeing Shimura Danzō, Hiruzen Sarutobi failed to react for a moment. But he soon recognized the distinctive eyes of the Impure World Reincarnation.
"Impure World Reincarnation? How could you..."
He remembered those eyes because, during Konoha's most difficult period, he too had researched the Impure World Reincarnation.
But in the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi had abandoned it.
He had simply never expected that the forbidden technique he gave up would be used on Danzo himself.
Although only Konoha possessed records of the Impure World Reincarnation, Hiruzen Sarutobi still prepared himself to fight at any moment.
As an old partner who had worked alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi for decades, Shimura Danzō naturally understood what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking.
"Don't worry, Monkey. I'm not being controlled. The person who used the Impure World Reincarnation on me is already dead."
Shimura Danzō's explanation only made Hiruzen Sarutobi even more nervous.
"What exactly did you do? Explain yourself clearly!"
Afraid of waking Sarutobi Biwako, who was sleeping, Hiruzen Sarutobi kept his voice low, but it was filled with intense anger.
Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly angry, Shimura Danzō straightforwardly told him everything he had done.
Under normal circumstances, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have stopped listening halfway through and told Shimura Danzō to deal with it himself.
But now... there was no helping it. Danzo was already dead, and he could not possibly allow him to act recklessly.
Who knew whether death might have changed him somehow?
Before you continue