The sudden sound of the system's voice made Uchiha Sora pause in surprise.
Come to think of it, he had not heard its voice in quite a while.
What did it want now?
Nothing seemed to have provoked me, did it?
But the system soon gave him an answer.
"Ding! After your intense battle with a Tailed Beast, your chakra sensed the immense tailed beast chakra and became deeply aware of its own insignificance. It has resolved to train twice as hard! Your Chakra Extraction Technique's automatic training speed has doubled!" "Ding! Spurred on by your Chakra Extraction Technique, your physical training refuses to fall behind. Its automatic training speed has doubled!" "Ding! Spurred on by your Chakra Extraction Technique, your mental energy refuses to slack off. Its automatic training speed has doubled!"
Hearing this series of notifications, Uchiha Sora was delighted!
Great! My chakra really knows how to take initiative!
He had just been thinking that his chakra reserves were still rather small compared to a Tailed Beast's, worrying that he would have to be more frugal in future battles. He had never expected the system to be so considerate and immediately send him these notifications!
Faster Chakra Extraction Technique training, faster physical training, and faster mental energy training-together, these meant both faster chakra recovery and greater maximum reserves.
At his previous automatic training speed, Uchiha Sora would probably have needed at least two or three years to reach Tailed Beast-level chakra reserves. With this acceleration, it would only take about a year!
He could even feel the effects right away, his mind, body, and chakra recovery improving at a visibly noticeable pace.
Although he had just expended well over half his chakra, he now felt full of energy, without a trace of fatigue.
Quietly rejoicing, Uchiha Sora did not forget what he needed to do next.
He crouched down, pulled open the Fourth Mizukage's eyelids, and aimed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan at the man's eyes. His ocular power surged out, instantly entering the Mizukage's mind.
For someone unfamiliar with genjutsu, breaking the spell on the Fourth Mizukage would have been difficult. But Uchiha Sora possessed the Sharingan, had learned a great deal about genjutsu from Shisui, and was immune to it himself. His proficiency was certainly not an issue.
The Fourth Mizukage's manipulation might have remained unnoticed, but once the cause became clear, undoing that control posed no problem for Uchiha Sora.
Within the genjutsu space, Uchiha Sora entered the Fourth Mizukage's mind.
He clearly saw a concealed fluctuation of ocular power in the Fourth Mizukage's brain, subtly altering how it functioned.
These changes were imperceptible even to the target himself.
"Control that even the victim can't detect... This is just like Shisui's Kotoamatsukami!" Uchiha Sora murmured.
He tried to dispel that unusual ocular power with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, but found it rather difficult. It would likely take quite some time.
"Looks like I'll have to use the Mangekyo's ocular power after all!" Frowning, Uchiha Sora activated his Six-Pointed Star Mangekyo. Its power instantly amplified his efforts many times over. Combined with his proficiency in genjutsu, that formidable ocular power swept away the strange force entwined around the Fourth Mizukage's brain.
The control was broken!
Uchiha Sora let out a small breath of relief and deactivated his Mangekyo.
His Mangekyo eyes were precious. Since they were not eternal, the more he used them, the greater the risk of going blind.
He therefore had to be careful every time he used them. That was also why he had not activated his Mangekyo against the Three-Tails.
Of course, there was another reason: he had been guarding against Obito Uchiha's arrival.
After all, the spatial ability of his Mangekyo was his best counter to Obito.
He needed to let his eyes rest and conserve their strength whenever possible.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Amegakure, Obito Uchiha was meeting with Nagato and Konan when he suddenly sensed that the genjutsu he had placed on the Fourth Mizukage had been broken.
His expression darkened.
He raised a hand to touch the left eye beneath his mask-the special Sharingan Madara Uchiha had given him before his death.
Who was it? Who could actually dispel Kagami Uchiha's dōjutsu power? Dark thoughts filled Obito Uchiha's mind.
"We'll stop here for today. I have something to take care of!" he told Nagato and Konan. Then he activated Kamui in his right eye and vanished before them in an instant.
Within the genjutsu space, after Uchiha Sora dispelled that ocular power, the Fourth Mizukage's consciousness awakened. He appeared before Sora and slowly said, "To think that I, a Perfect Jinchuriki, was being controlled all this time without even knowing!"
"And I fought you so fiercely just now. I'm truly sorry for the trouble!"
Although the Fourth Mizukage had been conscious throughout his battle with Uchiha Sora, once Sora freed him from the genjutsu's control, he naturally understood everything.
"I was careless too. I never noticed that someone was controlling you," the Three-Tails, Isobu, said in a deep voice as he appeared in the genjutsu space after the Fourth Mizukage. "Fortunately, this human helped us. Though his beating did hurt."
Seeing Isobu's disgruntled expression, the Fourth Mizukage shook his head. "You're just too slow on the uptake! You need to work on your intelligence!"
"We Tailed Beasts aren't very intelligent to begin with," Isobu replied.
"Still, anyone who could slip past both our senses and cast genjutsu on me must have used something far beyond ordinary genjutsu!" the Fourth Mizukage said with a sigh.
Uchiha Sora nodded. "He's also from the Uchiha Clan. It should be some special Mangekyo dōjutsu. You'll need to be careful in the future."
"Thank you for the warning," the Fourth Mizukage said gratefully.
Suddenly, Uchiha Sora frowned. "Someone seems to be coming!"
He immediately left the genjutsu space and returned to reality.
The Fourth Mizukage opened his eyes at the same time. Still weak, he struggled to his feet. Before he could greet Mei Terumi and the others, he looked toward a spot in the air a short distance ahead.
A swirling ripple appeared there, and a masked figure emerged before them.
It was Obito Uchiha, who had hurried over after sensing that his genjutsu had been broken.
"It's you!" The Fourth Mizukage recognized him immediately.
He had interacted with Obito Uchiha often while under his control, so he naturally recognized him.
However, the Fourth Mizukage did not know his identity.
Obito Uchiha ignored the Fourth Mizukage. His gaze flickered as he stared at Uchiha Sora, his expression shifting behind his mask.
"Uchiha Sora. So this was your doing!" he said coldly, forcing out each word through gritted teeth.
Uchiha Sora activated the Mangekyō Sharingan in both eyes and looked at Obito Uchiha with a soft chuckle. "I told you I'd take my time playing with you. This is only the beginning. I hope you don't lose your composure."
"Fine! Very good, Uchiha Sora! I'll make you regret opposing me!" Obito Uchiha snorted angrily, activated Kamui, and disappeared again.
"He's vanished again! There's no trace of his chakra anywhere nearby!" Ao said, anxiously scanning their surroundings.
"He's gone," Uchiha Sora said.
As things stood, Obito Uchiha had no secrets from him, so naturally, he dared not act rashly.
"Who exactly is that man? His mask can actually block the Byakugan. I couldn't see his face at all!" Ao said gravely.
Uchiha Sora shook his head and chuckled. "Just a member of our Uchiha Clan who can't let go of his obsession."
After a pause, he beckoned to Zabuza. "All right, we should be leaving too. Farewell, everyone!"
Zabuza nodded, then grinned at the Fourth Mizukage and the others. "My fellow villagers, we'll meet again someday."
The two turned and left.
Behind them, the Fourth Mizukage called out, "On behalf of Kirigakure, I thank you! If you ever need help, Kirigakure will be ready to offer it!"
Two days later.
In a snow-covered village, Uchiha Sora found Yuki Haku at the end of a bridge.
Yuki Haku looked terribly frail and seemed to be only six or seven years old. His thin clothes offered little protection, and he shivered in the heavy snow.
An ordinary person should have frozen to death long ago, yet he had stubbornly survived.
Uchiha Sora walked up, stopped before Yuki Haku, and silently looked at him.
Seeming to notice that someone had stopped nearby, Yuki Haku raised his head. He froze when he saw a handsome young man, then quickly lowered his head again, too ashamed to keep looking.
"Lift your head," Uchiha Sora said gently.
Yuki Haku froze, hardly believing his ears. Was this young man speaking to him?
Hesitantly, he raised his head and looked at the young man before him again.
In that moment, he seemed to see himself in the young man's eyes.
"Big brother, your eyes are a lot like mine!" he blurted out.
Uchiha Sora paused, then smiled. "How are they alike?"
"Your eyes are lonely, just like mine!" Yuki Haku replied.
"Lonely?" Uchiha Sora paused again, then shook his head with a rueful chuckle.
Perhaps he was. As someone who had crossed into the world of Naruto alone, his very existence here was a kind of loneliness.
But Uchiha Sora had never considered himself lonely. He had goals of his own, as well as people who mattered to him.
He reached out and patted Haku's head, smiling. "Since we're the same kind of person, why don't you come with me from now on?"
"W-why?" Yuki Haku looked confused.
In this world full of danger, a little beggar like him probably was not even worth killing. Who could possibly need him?
"Because I need you!"
Yuki Haku trembled, and tears spilled from his eyes.
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