Intelligence Summary: Alchemy and Artifact Refinement

On the windowsill, Kuromai elegantly licked his paw, his emerald-like cat eyes glinting with cunning in the morning light.

The intelligence he had brought was far more detailed than Uchiha Hara had expected, thoroughly exposing the ugly faces of Uchiha Amano and his family.

"Uchiha's Third Elder is named Uchiha Jiang. He is seventy-five this year, a figure from the same generation as the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and Uchiha Madara!"

Uchiha Hara quietly repeated the name, his gaze icy.

The Uchiha clan had four branches. The clan head and the second, third, and fourth elders each led one branch, standing in mutual rivalry.

The Third Elder's branch was led by Uchiha Jiang, while Uchiha Amano was his third son.

It was precisely because he had his father behind him that Uchiha Amano could act so recklessly.

The intelligence showed that Uchiha Jiang had one daughter and two sons.

His eldest daughter, Uchiha Chiri, had married the legendary Uchiha Kagami and borne him a son.

His second son, Uchiha Diye, had died in battle.

And Uchiha Amano, the third-ranked son, a mediocre fellow with only a Two-Tomoe Sharingan and strength estimated to be somewhere between Special Jonin and Jonin, had become a maggot gnawing at the clan's wounds.

"Uchiha Chiri?" Seeing that name, Uchiha Hara was somewhat surprised. She was the one who had developed Izanami and resolved the rebellion caused by the Uchiha clan's use of Izanagi.

He had not expected her to still be alive.

And she had actually married Uchiha Kagami. Did that make her Uchiha Shisui's grandmother?

No wonder Uchiha Shisui had such talent for Genjutsu. With a grandmother like that, how could his talent possibly be poor?

To be fair, there had not been many powerful women in the Uchiha clan, but every one of them had been formidable, from the early Uchiha Hikari to Uchiha Chiri.

Later, there was Uchiha Izumi, who awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at thirteen, and Uchiha Sarada, who awakened the Sharingan because of love.

Honestly, since the Uchiha clan's Sharingan required emotional stimulation to awaken, perhaps women, who tended to be more emotionally sensitive, were better suited for this Kekkei Genkai?

He was getting off track. He continued reading.

Uchiha Amano had no mission records because he had received clan training from childhood before later joining the Uchiha Police Force.

Ten years ago, he had married Uchiha Shuang. Uchiha Osamu was born the following year, while Uchiha Shuang died of postpartum hemorrhaging at the age of fifteen.

"What a beast!" Uchiha Hara cursed. So Uchiha Shuang had only been fourteen when he married her?

No wonder she had died in childbirth. For such a young girl, it would have been strange if she had not suffered a difficult delivery.

"Seems like many shinobi in the Ninja World had no mothers. Might Guy and Kakashi were like that too. Could it be that their mothers were all teenage girls as well?"

Then it was not merely Uchiha Amano's problem. It was a problem with this era.

After Uchiha Osamu was born, Uchiha Amano left the Security Force and instead began "assisting" the Third Elder in managing the pensions for the clan's orphans and widows.

After that, Uchiha Amano began his career of skimming pension money.

According to Kuromai's investigation, the Third Elder's branch currently had seventeen surviving orphans and twenty-six widows.

Their pensions were all withheld by Uchiha Amano under the pretext of "the clan facing financial difficulties."

And Uchiha Amano's crimes did not end there. Even the savings left behind by their fathers and husbands had been swindled away by him under all kinds of high-sounding excuses.

The original owner's family was a typical example. After Uchiha Hara's parents died in battle, their pension and inheritance had been swallowed up in the name of "handling the funeral arrangements," leaving behind only an empty house and a few basic cultivation methods.

Uchiha Hara had only been three at the time. He understood nothing and had no power to resist.

Did he think that was the end of it?

It was only the beginning!

Even more infuriatingly, Uchiha Amano used "taking care of them" as an excuse to prey upon widows.

Over the past nine years, he had repeatedly used excuses such as "giving orphans opportunities" and "helping orphans grow" to manipulate and bully the widows. Of the twenty-six widows, only those who were unattractive or older had escaped his clutches. The remaining dozen or so had all become Uchiha Amano's playthings.

If he had cared for the orphans properly after abusing their mothers, that might at least have counted for something.

But the truth was that over these nine years, the number of orphans had decreased instead of increased. Six had died in total!

If he had not transmigrated here and replaced Uchiha Hara, that number would likely have been seven!

"Beast!" Murderous intent surged within Uchiha Hara. This was no longer mere embezzlement. It was callously taking lives and trampling the most basic boundaries between clan members.

With a father like that, Uchiha Osamu was naturally no better.

Relying on his father's power, he often bullied the orphans. He even repeatedly demanded that they help him train, and beating them until they were injured or crippled was commonplace.

Of the six dead orphans, three had been beaten seriously by him, then died because they had no money for treatment!

No one cared when ordinary orphans died. Meanwhile, he had joined the Security Force. As the Third Elder's grandson, his future was exceptionally bright.

"Damn it, all crows are black!" Uchiha Hara cursed. He had initially felt that killing someone merely because they had withheld his pension was somewhat extreme.

Now, he only felt that he had transmigrated too late.

He could even somewhat understand Uchiha Itachi now. With an Uchiha clan like this, what was there to wait for if not its destruction?

Uchiha Hara continued reading. Below were the behavioral patterns Kuromai had investigated for the two men:

Uchiha Amano: His work was incredibly easy. He only handed out pensions once a month, so he lived a very carefree life, sleeping during the day and going out at night.

He slept during the day, then after nine in the evening began "visiting" widows one household at a time. His life was more comfortable than an emperor's.

As for training, Uchiha Amano was one of the privileged. He never had any chance to fight, so why would he need to train?

At any rate, Kuromai had watched him for several days and had never once seen him train.

With habits like that, how much strength could he possibly retain?

Uchiha Osamu was exactly like his father. He was equally lax in his training and only worked hard when bullying others.

He currently served in the Security Force. He got off work at six in the evening, often ate at Jiecheng Ramen Shop, then followed a fixed route home at around six-thirty.

As for his strength, Uchiha Hara had heard that he had awakened the Sharingan, but during the days Kuromai watched him, he had never seen Uchiha Osamu activate it.

Thinking carefully, Uchiha Osamu had grown up entirely within the clan, and no one in his family had died recently. He should not have encountered anything that would cause him such heart-wrenching grief.

In that mental state, what right did he have to awaken the Sharingan?

Perhaps that rumor really was only a rumor, used to fool people and raise his own status.

Uchiha Hara was a transmigrator. He had seen far too many similar rumors and would not be fooled by Uchiha Osamu.

With the intelligence in hand and his intent to kill decided, Uchiha Hara quickly began studying an assassination plan.

He rapidly calculated in his mind, I must kill Uchiha Amano first. If I move against Uchiha Osamu first, I'll alert the enemy and put Uchiha Amano on guard. I'll strike while he returns home after "taking care of" the widows at night, around ten o'clock. Once I succeed, I'll immediately infiltrate his home and deal with Uchiha Osamu. Finally, there's the Third Elder, Uchiha Jiang...

Uchiha Jiang was seventy-five this year and had not participated in Uchiha Amano's withholding of pension money, but he still had to die.

After all, if a son was not taught properly, it was the father's fault.

Furthermore, if Uchiha Jiang remained alive, once Uchiha Amano died, he would surely use every resource at his disposal to investigate the deaths of his son and grandson. That would bring Uchiha Hara endless trouble.

But if he died, the Third Elder's branch would be leaderless. They would be too busy fighting over power among themselves. Who would sincerely investigate the "accidents" of Uchiha Amano and his son?

Even when killing a seventy-five-year-old man whose strength might have already declined, Uchiha Hara did not dare let down his guard. A starved camel was still bigger than a horse, and the foundation of a former Elite Jonin could not be underestimated.

Besides, Sarutobi Hiruzen could still take Orochimaru's arms at sixty-nine, while Ōnoki could still fight in the Fourth Shinobi World War at seventy-nine. Who knew whether seventy-five-year-old Uchiha Jiang might undergo one final burst of brilliance and take him down with him?

So assassination required strategy. He could not simply force his way through.

The assassination order had been decided. Next came the preparations.

Weapons were essential.

Kunai and shuriken? Uchiha Jiang, Uchiha Amano, and Uchiha Osamu were all shinobi and very familiar with those two weapons. Using weapons the enemy understood to assassinate them would make things considerably harder.

So he needed a weapon that was difficult to trace, unfamiliar to his enemies, and whose use they would not understand.

Poison was also necessary.

Against potential surprises, especially Uchiha Jiang, that old man who might suddenly undergo one final burst of strength, poison was the safest supplementary method.

But that raised a problem.

Where could he get weapons and poison?

Buy weapons himself? The Uchiha Police Force was no joke. They had a professional forensic department, and any record of purchasing unconventional weapons could become evidence in the future.

Poison was even more sensitive. Buying it privately carried enormous risks.

"If I can't buy them, then... I'll make them myself!"

A thought flashed through Uchiha Hara's mind like lightning.

The Demon Refining Pot! Since it could refine all things and extract their essence, then...

"If I put iron ore into it and only command it to refine away the impurities while preserving the purest metal, would that count as... artifact refinement?"

"Likewise, if I put herbs into it and only command it to refine away the useless parts while retaining and concentrating the medicinal essence, would that count as... pill refinement?"

Since the Demon Refining Pot contained the Law of Refinement, there was no reason it could only refine demons!

Pill refinement, artifact refinement, refining—weren't they all forms of refinement?

Uchiha Hara believed that Nüwa's development of the Demon Refining Pot's functions might not have reached even one ten-thousandth of its potential.

It was not that Nüwa was unimpressive, but that she had too many magical treasures: the Red Embroidered Ball, the Mountains and Rivers State-Society Map, and so on.

Among all those treasures, the Demon Refining Pot did not even rank highly. Naturally, she would not have specifically developed its uses.

But the Demon Refining Pot was Uchiha Hara's only treasure, so he could not use it by following Nüwa's methods.

Poor children grew up early, and small companies cultivated versatile talents. In a household with only one spirit treasure, the Demon Refining Pot naturally had to serve multiple purposes and develop more functions.

The thought made his heart race. If it worked, he would not only possess unique, untraceable weapons and poison, but also open an entirely new door in developing the Demon Refining Pot!

He immediately took action.

First, he needed materials.

After glancing around his home, Uchiha Hara found a pot.

There were many pots in his home: pots for cooking rice, making soup, and frying flatbreads. It seemed that the original owner's mother or father might have enjoyed cooking.

But Uchiha Hara was not that picky. To him, two pots were enough: one for soup and steamed rice, and one for stir-frying.

The rest were unnecessary.

He put a large pot into the Demon Refining Pot, then activated it to begin refining.

"First, refine away all the soot and rust from the pot."

In an instant, the originally pitch-black pot became gleaming and bright.

"Second, remove every impurity from the pot except carbon!"

Uchiha Hara did not actually know how to extract them specifically. He could only choose to trust the Demon Refining Pot.

After all, the Demon Refining Pot was a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure. Its grade far surpassed things like artificial intelligence, supreme intelligence, or AI goddesses. There was no way it could fail to understand his words, right?

As for whether the Demon Refining Pot could distinguish carbon from iron—

The same answer applied. As a dignified Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure, there was no way it could not tell carbon from iron.

Besides, he himself possessed knowledge of carbon and iron. Since the spirit treasure was bound to his soul, his knowledge naturally equaled the spirit treasure's knowledge.

The moment he gave the command, the pot within the Demon Refining Pot became several degrees brighter.

"It really works!" Uchiha Hara's eyes lit up as he continued issuing commands. "Adjust the carbon content to 0.07%, then distribute the carbon molecules evenly among the iron molecules. Also, forge the pot into a sword for me. It should be fifty centimeters long and one centimeter wide. I've already imagined the shape in my mind!"

With a thought, the pot before him was shaped into a short sword. A silver serpent coiled around its hilt, while the entire weapon gleamed with silver light and metallic luster, its blade flashing with chilling radiance.

As the saying went, appearance was combat power. This sword was so beautiful that it was obviously powerful at a glance!

In truth, the sword was far stronger than Uchiha Hara had imagined, because even the highest industrial standards found it difficult to distribute iron and carbon molecules evenly.

But the sword forged by the Demon Refining Pot could achieve that.

That was only natural. The Demon Refining Pot had its own say in the matter: What did it normally refine? Golden Immortals, Taiyi Golden Immortals, Grand Luo Immortals! The bones of those demons were harder than divine metal, and it still refined them all the same!

What level was this sword that he was asking it to refine? It was merely a mortal weapon. How could it possibly produce a defective product?

"As expected of a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure. This Demon Refining Pot is ridiculously useful. Not only can it be controlled by voice and guided by commands, I can even draw in my mind. And the sword design in my head was only a vague concept, yet the short sword you created perfectly matches what I wanted!"

What could Uchiha Hara say? All he could say was that it truly deserved to be a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure.

Thinking about it carefully, that was actually normal. Spirit treasures generally had the power to fulfill one's wishes, much less a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure.

This made refining weapons and poison much simpler.

What he did not know was that because a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure was simply too high-end, the praise he offered sounded like mockery to the Demon Refining Pot.

It was like wishing someone an income of one million a month. On Lei Jun, that would become a curse.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Hara had absolutely no awareness of being the master of a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure and was still excitedly celebrating.

"It really is Heaven's will that you die!"