Light was but a fleeting instant; darkness was the ultimate eternity.
Yet it was precisely that short-lived, vanishing light that gave birth to hope deep within. All those awakened from darkness were destined to spend their lives searching for light.
Ryūchi Cave's laboratory seemed to have undergone no great changes. Kato Osamu could no longer remember when he had last come here.
Yet the familiar gloom and chill gave him an inexplicably contradictory sense of comfort, as though only here was he safe.
"Sharingan..."
Orochimaru slowly retrieved a scroll from the corner of the research table. Kato Osamu took it, and the moment he unsealed it, the storage scroll vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind several eyeballs soaking in green liquid atop the table.
The scarlet eyes were as gorgeous as rubies, floating and bobbing in nutrient fluid. Bloodshot veins and dangling optic nerves clung to the eyeballs, reflecting Kato Osamu's figure. In the dim Ryūchi Cave, they carried an indescribable eeriness.
A cold sensation surfaced within Kato Osamu's perception, making him frown.
"One Three-Tomoe Sharingan, two Two-Tomoe Sharingan, five One-Tomoe Sharingan..."
"I think that should be enough for Osamu-kun's research..."
Kato Osamu did not know where Orochimaru had obtained so many Sharingan. As far as he knew, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan had never been passed outside the clan, and he had scarcely heard of anyone else transplanting Uchiha Clan Sharingan.
"If I remember correctly, there seems to be an Uchiha Clan member in Osamu-kun's team as well..."
"His name was... Obito Uchiha?"
Kato Osamu slightly raised his eyes, unable to understand why Orochimaru had brought him up now.
"Osamu-kun probably hasn't left the laboratory these past few days... Perhaps you'll receive a big 'surprise'..."
"If it was Danzo's mission, even I have to praise Osamu-kun for completing