Do you want to become a ninja?

"This... so strong! This power is incredible!"

Hiruko was ecstatic. "Orochimaru really does have some tricks up his sleeve. He actually managed to get his hands on a kekkei genkai like this. What a bargain!"

Most of his bandages tore apart, exposing Hiruko's upper body. His skin was deathly pale, immediately reminding Uchiha Yi of White Zetsu. Had he really fused with it so perfectly?

Uchiha Yi was a little surprised, and Hiruko caught that flicker of surprise.

"Hahaha! Uchiha Yi, surprised, aren't you? Scared?"

A note of superiority crept into Hiruko's voice. "I'll tell you the truth. What I just devoured was a body cultured from the First's cells. Now I have the power to counter your Uchiha Clan!"

"The power to counter the Uchiha?"

Uchiha Yi froze.

Hiruko raised his chin high and proudly thumped his chest. "That's right! This is the First's kekkei genkai-Wood Release!" He waved his bandage-wrapped arm. "Your Uchiha Clan's kekkei genkai is naturally countered by Wood Release! That's what brought down Madara Uchiha back then, making him lose to the First."

"And now you've run into me. This is fate!" He glared at Uchiha Yi, sounding like a swaggering nouveau riche. "Destiny has decreed that you'll lose to me!"

Uchiha Yi's mouth twitched as a thousand curses stampeded through his mind. So Wood Release was the Sharingan's natural enemy now? In all his life, this was the first time he'd heard that claim. Still, there was no point arguing with this idiot right now. He let it slide.

Seeing him remain silent, Hiruko assumed his strength had frightened him, and his ego swelled even further. He raised a hand and declared arrogantly, "Uchiha Yi, surrender now!"

"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"

Uchiha Yi scoffed and raised a hand to unleash a Fire Release technique. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" The fireball slammed straight into the wooden vines, burning them to nothing in an instant.

Hiruko's expression darkened when his technique was broken, and he went straight for a major attack. "Hmph, still refusing to give up? Fine, let me show you the First's strongest Wood Release!" He roared, "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Countless trees burst out of the ground, growing into a forest in the blink of an eye.

Uchiha Yi shook his head and sighed. "This is the First's strongest Wood Release? Looks more like a cheap knockoff to me. I'm sick of seeing tricks like this!"

He gave a sharp cry as chakra surged into his Rinnegan. "Universal Pull!" A tremendous repulsive force erupted instantly. With a thunderous boom, the ground collapsed into a crater a kilometer across, leaving not even a scrap of the forest behind.

In a flash, Uchiha Yi took a step and landed at the crater's edge, looking down inside.

That Universal Pull had battered Hiruko badly, leaving several splits in his body.

Uchiha Yi saw through it at once. This idiot hadn't perfectly fused with the First's cells at all. Orochimaru must have kept something in reserve that allowed him to stabilize them temporarily. That blow from Universal Pull had fully exposed the weakness, and his body was already breaking down.

"How is this possible? How can I die?" He struggled to turn his head, his eyes filled with bitter refusal. "Damn it, I was so close. Just a little more, and I could have..." His head slumped to one side, and he stopped breathing.

Tch. What a boring little act. Disdain flashed through Uchiha Yi's eyes. Without sparing him another look, he turned and left.

Quite a while later, a small snake leisurely slithered over. It opened its mouth, and Kabuto Yakushi emerged. He adjusted his glasses, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably even as he tried to sound composed.

"He's too strong! That Uchiha Yi is an absolute monster!" "Hiruko was utterly useless. He couldn't even touch a hair on his head. How was he supposed to collect a blood sample? Still, this data is useful. We might be able to refine the Chimera Technique further. Lord Orochimaru should be pleased."

Kabuto Yakushi worked quickly. Once he had collected everything he needed, he turned and slipped away.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Yi had already returned to the Land of Snow's party. The moment Kazahana Koyuki saw him return, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you all right?"

"Heh, how could anything happen to me?" Uchiha Yi's tone was outrageously cocky. "I was just testing out a new ability. I could deal with small fry like that with one wave of my hand."

Looking at his utterly fearless expression, Kazahana Koyuki knew he was telling the truth.

In the queen's bedchamber at the Land of Snow's Daimyo's Mansion, Uchiha Yi sat by the window, deep in thought. Kazahana Koyuki had been tired enough to fall asleep, but seeing him like that, she couldn't help asking.

"What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"

"Do you want to become a ninja?" Uchiha Yi suddenly turned to look at her.

"Become a ninja?" Kazahana Koyuki paused. "Why ask that all of a sudden?"

"What, are you worried about my safety?" Kazahana Koyuki wasn't stupid. Thinking back to the day's battle, she guessed immediately.

"Yes." Uchiha Yi nodded. He really was worried.

Kazahana Koyuki was an ordinary person who had never even trained her chakra. It was too late to start now. But that wasn't a problem for him. He currently had five familiar slots. As long as he made her his familiar, he could grant her one of his abilities.

Although Uchiha Yi had plenty of abilities he could give his familiars, choosing one proved difficult.

He couldn't casually hand out the Sharingan, but ninjutsu like Lightning Release, Fire Release, and Flying Thunder God could at least give Kazahana Koyuki a trump card. Besides, a familiar's skill would only be one level below his own. Whenever he leveled up, that skill would rise along with it.

He had no intention of hiding this from Kazahana Koyuki. He simply said he had a special method, never mentioning the system. After hearing him out, however, Kazahana Koyuki waved her hands, wiggling her fingertips. "That ability of yours is impressive, but I'm not a ninja. Just having ninjutsu won't let me use it, will it?"

She had a point. Uchiha Yi nearly slapped his forehead. He had almost forgotten that Kazahana Koyuki was a completely ordinary person who hadn't even begun learning to use chakra. But her words also gave him an idea. Wasn't Eight Gates the best fit for an ordinary person?

Eight Gates could strengthen the body, squeezing its latent potential to the absolute limit, though the exact results depended on the person's foundation. Before long, Uchiha Yi had secured his first familiar.

His Eight Gates was level five, capable of amplifying chakra a hundredfold. When he gave it to Kazahana Koyuki, it became level four, with a fortyfold boost. Kazahana Koyuki hadn't possessed so much as half a drop of chakra before, since she had never trained properly, but after receiving Enhanced Eight Gates, she actually gained chakra.

Although it was only at an ordinary level, the fortyfold boost sent her chakra reserves straight up to Elite Jonin level. That was when Uchiha Yi pulled a crafty stunt: he used Kazahana Koyuki's chakra to create a Shadow Clone of himself.

The clone wasn't exceptionally powerful, but it was still at Kage Level. It was sustained entirely by Kazahana Koyuki's chakra, and as long as she didn't exhaust it all at once, it wouldn't disperse. That effectively gave the Land of Snow an additional Kage Level fighter out of nowhere. But Uchiha Yi thought its appearance would feel awkward, so he specifically shaped it to look like Kazahana Koyuki.

Kazahana Koyuki laughed herself silly over that, even teasing him for being jealous of his own clone. Yet the very next day after giving her Eight Gates, Uchiha Yi found himself thoroughly frustrated.

A Shadow Clone suddenly appeared before him-the one he had originally created using a little source chakra extracted from Shukaku. He had previously wondered whether he could cultivate that bit of Shukaku's chakra into something worthwhile. Put simply, he wanted to create a miniature Shukaku.

It had only been a spur-of-the-moment idea, but he hadn't expected it to actually succeed. The chakra this clone now emitted had reached tailed beast levels. Although it was only a clone, it was special. It carried some of his main body's power, and whenever his main body leveled up, the clone grew stronger too.

In plain terms, this clone could maintain ninety-five percent of his main body's combat strength. That little bit of Shukaku's chakra seemed to have changed after he awakened the Rinnegan. Tailed beasts were unusual creatures formed from chakra in the first place. With Shukaku's source chakra as a seed, naturally it had grown under the influence of his power.

Now it had actually taken shape as a new Shukaku! It could even be sealed directly inside someone to make them a jinchūriki. Once he realized that, the first thought that popped into Uchiha Yi's mind was that he might be able to mass-produce jinchūriki!

Mass-produce jinchūriki? The idea sounded outrageous and frightening, but now it seemed genuinely possible. Moreover, the Shukaku he had created had no consciousness. It was simply a mass of tailed beast chakra.

"System, does this thing count as a tailed beast?" Even with the facts right before his eyes, Uchiha Yi couldn't resist asking. This time, the system obliged and actually answered.

"Analysis confirms that the Shukaku chakra within the host's Shadow Clone has evolved independently, entirely due to the influence of the host's Limit Sharingan."

Isn't that just saying you deserve the credit? Uchiha Yi inwardly rolled his eyes, but aloud he asked, "So that means there's nothing wrong with this Shukaku chakra, and it can keep evolving?"

"There is nothing wrong with the chakra, and it can indeed be classified as a tailed beast. However, its evolution is restricted by its source. At most, it can reach Shukaku's level. To break through that limit, the host must upgrade the Limit Sharingan by another level."

Only Shukaku's level? That's still a damn tailed beast! Mass-producing tailed beasts really does seem possible! Wait, if I can mass-produce tailed beasts, could I make a Ten-Tails?

Uchiha Yi's eyes lit up, but the system seemed to see through his thoughts and immediately threw cold water on them.

The system promptly snuffed out that newly kindled spark, producing four notifications in a row:

"If the host intends to create a Ten-Tails, abandon that idea now."

"The Ten-Tails is the source of all chakra. With your current strength, you cannot possibly create one."

"Even if you create the Nine Tailed Beasts, you will not be able to fuse them into a Ten-Tails."

"Rather than dwell on useless ideas, upgrade the Limit Sharingan as soon as possible. Once it is powerful enough, never mind a hundred Ten-Tails-you can create as many as you want."

After those four notifications appeared, Uchiha Yi nearly rolled his eyes. So the system wouldn't even let him keep a little hope alive?

He couldn't help swearing. He already had the Rinnegan, yet the system still thought he wasn't strong enough?

But he didn't dwell on it for long. If the Ten-Tails was out of reach, he might as well create a few more tailed beasts first.

The first place that came to mind was Konoha. The strongest tailed beast was still there.

He figured that since the tailed beasts he created had no consciousness and were merely masses of chakra, using them to make jinchūriki would be completely safe.

Soon, though, he put that little bit of frustration behind him. If he had known it would turn out like this, he would have made Kazahana Koyuki a jinchūriki in the first place.

In that case, perhaps Koyuki could have used that chakra to train herself up to Kage Level?

But on second thought, he dismissed the idea. He couldn't bear to let his woman go around fighting and killing.

Besides, it wasn't as if he couldn't support her. Wouldn't living as a queenly beauty be far more comfortable than fighting and killing?