The Price of X-Ray Vision

After Black Zetsu fled, Shimura Danzō chose to surrender voluntarily.

As for Shisui Uchiha, after several Sealing Jutsu had been placed on him, he collapsed headfirst onto the ground. He had likely fallen unconscious.

"Ensei, are your eyes all right?!"

Although Fugaku Uchiha had arrived late, he had still clearly witnessed that unbelievable scene and immediately understood that it had been Izanagi at work.

As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku Uchiha naturally did not want a genius of the Uchiha Clan to damage one of his own eyes because of an outsider.

That had been a Mangekyō Sharingan!

Hearing Fugaku Uchiha's question, Uchiha Ensei quietly opened his palm. Resting there was a lump of white, clay-like matter: replicated Hashirama Cells.

Wrapped within those Hashirama Cells was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan that had lost its luster and turned somewhat pale.

Perhaps because of the Hashirama Cells, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan that had used Izanagi had not completely turned white. Instead, traces of white tomoe remained.

This method of using the Sharingan as a tool made Fugaku Uchiha's heart tighten as a series of consequences involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

But when he saw Uchiha Ensei close his hand again without saying anything, he showed a trace of understanding.

That was right. This technique absolutely could not be leaked.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful the Uchiha Clan was, it would become a treasure coveted by the entire Ninja World.

The cleanup naturally had to be left to the clan head. After checking Kushina Uzumaki's condition, Uchiha Ensei brought the unconscious Shisui Uchiha back to the laboratory.

This was a rare opportunity, so Uchiha Ensei naturally intended to use it to study what special changes occurred in the brain of someone who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

While he was at it, he would check whether any hidden tricks had been left inside Shisui Uchiha's body. It would be even better if he could find a piece of Black Zetsu for research.

Hmm... the conclusion was that there was no difference whatsoever from ordinary clan members.

The Black Zetsu fragments Uchiha Ensei had hoped for did not appear either. There were only things like Cursed Seals, which should be easy enough to remove.

It seemed that the evolution of the Mangekyō Sharingan only caused special changes during that single instant.

After working for several hours, Uchiha Ensei deactivated the x-ray vision of his eyes. The moment he did, his vision went black, and he nearly collapsed.

At the same time, a feeling of ocular power being both abundant and depleted washed over him.

So using the power of the Byakugan was not without a price. After all, his eyes were Sharingan. Drawing upon the Byakugan's ocular power would naturally have some effect on his Sharingan.

Whether that effect was good or bad, however, was difficult to say.

After all, the origin of the Sharingan was the Byakugan. And who could say how today's Byakugan differed from the Byakugan of the Ōtsutsuki Clan?

He closed his eyes to rest for a while. When he opened them again, that same feeling of abundance and depletion remained.

After recording the specific signs of deteriorating vision he had observed in Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Ensei went to rest.

By then, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

When Uchiha Ensei woke up, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kushina Uzumaki had already been waiting outside for a long time.

The first reason they had come was to tell him Danzo's fate, while the second was because of the unconscious Shisui Uchiha.

Even without being told, Uchiha Ensei could guess that Danzo had long since died. What existed now was merely a remnant created through Impure World Reincarnation.

Sure enough, Danzo's Impure World Reincarnation had been released, and his soul had returned to the Pure Land.

As for Shisui Uchiha...

After being unconscious for some time, Shisui Uchiha had now awakened, though the seals on his body had yet to be removed.

Under the watch of several Ninja Cats, Shisui Uchiha obediently remained in Uchiha Ensei's laboratory and was forbidden from touching anything inside.

Whenever Shisui Uchiha looked toward somewhere he should not, the Ninja Cats' claws would immediately rake across him.

Ever since Uchiha Ensei began researching Natural Energy, the entire Ninja Cat Clan had become his personal dependents and obeyed every one of his commands without condition.

"Looks like you've recovered pretty well."

Without any wariness, Uchiha Ensei led Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kushina Uzumaki into his laboratory and spoke to Shisui Uchiha, who had not dared move all morning.

The moment he entered the laboratory, Hiruzen Sarutobi quietly surveyed everything within it.

Though he had only seen the surface of the laboratory, there were death-row prisoners soaking in nutrient solution, Hashirama Cells in the corners, and all kinds of grotesque chunks of flesh floating in the solution...

"Eh? Ensei, the equipment in here is quite advanced. It could already serve as the finest medical equipment."

"If Konoha Hospital had this top-tier equipment, some patients could probably recover several times faster."

Kushina Uzumaki, on the other hand, did not care about those test subjects.

Although she was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, as an adult, she understood well that this Ninja World had never been some glorious fairy-tale world.

"They're expensive. I doubt that so-called daimyo would allow ninja to spend this much money."

Uchiha Ensei spoke casually.

His complete lack of respect for the daimyo made Hiruzen Sarutobi frown.

The Ninja World was not a place where strength alone reigned supreme.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to offer a few words of advice, but after considering it for a moment, he ultimately chose to let it go.

"Ensei, can you make them stop staring at me like that?"

After noticing Uchiha Ensei, Shisui Uchiha finally raised the head he had kept lowered, revealing a face marked with more than a dozen cat scratches.

"Pfft~"

Kushina Uzumaki could not hold it in and burst out laughing on the spot.

Shisui Uchiha answered her with a resentful look.

It could not be helped. Kushina Uzumaki's Sealing Jutsu was truly powerful. At the moment, Shisui Uchiha did not have even a trace of strength left in his body.

Not only could he not use chakra, but he could not even use some of the Sharingan's ocular techniques. He had completely become an ordinary person.

And Shisui Uchiha's Jonin-level physical abilities were utterly insignificant before the Ninja Cat Clan, which Uchiha Ensei had strengthened.

"Sorry, sorry. You were captured by the enemy, after all. Being able to come back alive is already a great blessing."

Kushina Uzumaki reminded him of that. Just as she was about to remove the Sealing Jutsu on Shisui Uchiha, she suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Uchiha Ensei.

Uchiha Ensei did not stop her. He even thoughtfully pointed out several hidden tricks that had been left on Shisui Uchiha.

Very soon, with the help of Kushina Uzumaki, a master of Sealing Jutsu, Shisui Uchiha successfully recovered his original strength.

The instant he regained his strength, Shisui Uchiha fled Uchiha Ensei's laboratory as though escaping for his life.

Of course, he did not go far. He simply did not want to enter that laboratory again.