Into the Darkness, the Darkness of the Uchiha

Into the Darkness, the Darkness of the Uchiha

In the end, Senju Hashirama was wounded. Several elder Senju Clan members held Uchiha Madara back, buying the Senju Clan a chance to retreat.

Intense emotional stimulation could strengthen the Sharingan. The fiercer the emotional turmoil, the more astonishing the ocular power—especially upon seeing beloved family or friends injured or killed, when there was a high chance of instantly awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.

However, using Susanoo immediately upon awakening his eyes for the first time, even with a body stronger than that of ordinary Uchiha Clan members, had severely drained Uchiha Madara from maintaining such an intense battle.

All that could be said was that it was fortunate the battle had ended.

Otherwise...

What followed was cleaning up the battlefield and recovering ninja tools that could still be used.

The next day.

Uchiha Ancestral Shrine.

Uchiha Madara sat in the seat of honor. Uchiha elders of extremely high standing sat on both sides, arranged according to status and strength. At the very bottom were the newly risen powerhouses of the clan, all of whom possessed Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Uchiha Madara said, "Everyone is here. Let's begin."

On the battlefield, he had charged through the ranks clad in grim white bones, like a runaway war chariot. No one could confront Uchiha Jobu head-on, so many had witnessed with their own eyes exactly how he used the Dead Bone Pulse and Sharingan to completely transform himself into a killing weapon on the battlefield.

If...

Many Uchiha with Three-Tomoe Sharingan secretly frowned in thought.

Uchiha Jobu nodded. "Ying, come out and show them the power you gained."

Ying.

A refugee with no value whatsoever.

But due to good fortune, she had been assigned by the Uchiha Clan to serve as Uchiha Jobu's maid, escaping her lowly status as a refugee.

Only after receiving permission did Ying slowly step forward. Before the Uchiha Clan's upper ranks, she displayed the Kekkei Genkai that only Kaguya Clan ninjas could possess—the Dead Bone Pulse.

A bone as thick as a bamboo shoot pierced out through her palm.

Seeing that it truly was the Dead Bone Pulse—and that it had appeared in a refugee with no ninja status—

An Uchiha Jonin with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan said, "I examined this girl before. She had no talent whatsoever as a ninja. I only chose her because Jobu was still young and would need a maid to attend to his daily life."

"In that case, does the Dead Bone Pulse she displayed really count as power acquired after birth?"

"Lord Jobu also possesses the Dead Bone Pulse. Does that mean we can obtain this power too?"

"Hmph! Even the Kaguya Clan is no match for us Uchiha. Could the Dead Bone Pulse possibly compare to the Sharingan?"

"Exactly! The Sharingan is the strongest!"

Only a small number of clear-headed people realized what kind of power the Uchiha would possess if they could gain one or two more Kekkei Genkai on top of the Sharingan they already had.

Most Uchiha Clan members looked down on the other ninja clans from the bottom of their hearts. They believed that even if they could obtain different Kekkei Genkai, none could compare to the Sharingan the Uchiha Clan already possessed.

Uchiha Jobu clapped his hands. "That's enough. You may leave now."

"Yes, my lord."

The girl Ying departed.

Uchiha Madara said, "Jobu, you said before that the success rate was not high. Aside from you, she should be the only one who obtained this power, correct?"

Not to mention that this was still the Warring States Era—even after the ninja village era was established and two or three Ninja World Wars had taken place, the success rate for fusing different types of Kekkei Genkai was still horrifyingly low.

Even the great scientist known as the number one scientist in the Ninja World, who aspired to thoroughly research every ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai in the Ninja World, had only developed a secret technique for seizing bodies. There was simply no way to stuff more Kekkei Genkai into a single body.

The main reason Uchiha Jobu had Ying display the Dead Bone Pulse was that he did not want to become a monster in everyone else's eyes.

"Yes. Of the refugees gathered in, I gradually selected a total of fifty people. Very few survived."

"Ying and I gained the Dead Bone Pulse, while several of my other subordinates obtained other powers."

"If we want every Uchiha to possess a second Kekkei Genkai, that still isn't possible for now."

After hearing Uchiha Jobu's answer and explanation, the group of Jonin with Three-Tomoe Sharingan all revealed disdainful expressions. They were likely thinking, As expected, the Uchiha Sharingan is still the strongest.

Outside the ancestral shrine, Uchiha Jobu asked in surprise, "Izuna, were you waiting for me?"

Izuna Uchiha said in a low voice, "Tobirama destroyed my eye. It's highly likely that I can no longer advance to the Mangekyo Sharingan. So I want to find a way to gain power from you. I must personally kill Tobirama Senju and avenge the eye he took from me!"

They had originally agreed to end the battle, provided Tobirama Senju returned the Sharingan he had taken. But unexpectedly, when returning it, Tobirama Senju played a trick and destroyed the Sharingan with a kunai. The eye returned to him was already dead.

Izuna Uchiha naturally did not want a Sharingan that could no longer be used, so he had to find a way to gain new power.

The half of Izuna Uchiha's face where his Sharingan had been gouged out was wrapped in several layers of bandages. His entire body exuded a cold, sinister aura, as though he stood within darkness itself. It gave people a very unpleasant feeling.

"The roots that sustain a flourishing tree..."

For a moment, it seemed as though he saw a figure standing in the shadows, single-handedly creating more than seventy percent of a village's darkness.

Uchiha Jobu nodded. "Fine. Come with me. I'll place all of my current experiments in your hands."

"As for how far you can take them, that will depend on you."

Izuna Uchiha said nothing, but the aura emanating from him grew ever colder.

Only when he saw a crude, dilapidated laboratory, with corpses still lying on the operating tables and only a few refugees with barely enough talent for research working busily inside, did Izuna Uchiha's expression finally change. Tugging at the corner of his mouth, he said, "This?"

Uchiha Jobu nodded matter-of-factly. "Don't let this rundown place fool you. What you want is here. If you can master everything here, you will gain power beyond your imagination."

Izuna Uchiha said, "If that's the case, then this place will be under my management from now on. I'll apply to my brother."

Before leaving, Uchiha Jobu stopped and looked at the stairs leading upward. "Above is a world bathed in dazzling sunlight. Here is a dark place untouched by the sun. Here, you must be prepared to descend into the darkness."

"I will. If the Uchiha are a towering tree, then I am willing to become the roots that provide its nourishment. Roots buried beneath the tree, where sunlight can never reach."