Tch, how boring!

Itachi fell silent for a moment, inwardly pitying Orochimaru. The man couldn't even beat Yi, yet he still dared to court death.

Yi could tell from Itachi's expression that he had figured it out, and continued, "I wasn't lying. Fugaku's eyes are perfectly intact, with plenty of eye power."

Itachi looked up at Yi, his voice calm but decisive. "Give me my father's eyes. I'll use Shisui's eyes to protect Konoha. You don't need to worry about that."

Yi nodded, scooped up the eyes, and pressed them against Itachi's face with utter nonchalance. "Sure, these it is."

With a squelch, he fitted the eyes using a method that required no skill whatsoever. It was downright reckless.

Yet within the soft glow, Itachi's eyes had already been successfully replaced. Out with the old, in with the new, without the slightest problem.

Itachi adjusted for a moment, then opened his eyes, feeling an abundance of eye power. He touched his eyes and asked in confusion, "These eyes..."

Yi smiled. "Orochimaru specially cultivated them, and I added a little something myself. As long as you aren't using Susanoo every other day, you won't go blind."

Itachi nodded and walked out the door, casually asking, "Where is this...?"

Following Uchiha Yi into the grounds of the Moon Palace, Itachi surveyed the scenery beyond the courtyard. The first thing he noticed was a blazing sun suspended in the air, bright enough to make his head spin.

Yi scratched his head and pointed in that direction. "This place is called the Moon Palace. I'm in charge here."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting to find himself somewhere like this, but he immediately nodded to show he was willing to stay.

Though the Land of Snow was small, it was wealthy and had attracted many displaced people, considerably increasing its population. There had been some trouble before, but things had changed after the Moon Palace was built.

Itachi watched the people coming and going through the Moon Palace. Everyone lived in peace and contentment, without conflict or war. This was precisely the life he longed for, and he immediately told Yi he wanted to live here. Even guarding the gates without pay would be fine. To him, this place was already the best home he could hope for.

Over the following days, Yi casually sent a Shadow Clone to Konoha while settling down in the Moon Palace himself.

Hanabi fell in love with the Moon Palace as soon as she arrived and had no intention of returning to Konoha. Yi had thought she would get bored after a few days, but the girl turned out to be quite a troublemaker.

Every night, Yi either spent time with Hinata or met with Kazahana Koyuki, but he always felt someone was peeping at them. Even when she concealed her presence, he could still sense her.

Yi even suspected that the whole reason the girl refused to return to Konoha was to spy on what he was doing. He didn't really mind being watched, though it left him rather exasperated.

After she successfully peeked at him the first time, Yi set up a barrier. It worked once or twice, but Hanabi grew increasingly brazen afterward, actually smashing through the barrier by force. Despite knowing Yi would notice, she went ahead without hesitation, then continued peeping.

That wasn't peeping at all. It was blatant surveillance. Yi felt Hanabi was growing bolder by the day.

Yi had specifically built a large hot spring in the Moon Palace. Not only was it comfortable to soak in, but he could also bring Hinata, Kazahana Koyuki, and Sara together so they could bare everything to one another. He had planned this even before building the Moon Palace.

When they had bathed together before, he had only managed a little fondling at most. When it came to actually doing it, all three women were shy, especially Hinata and Sara. Kazahana Koyuki didn't mind, but with the other two too embarrassed, Yi had let it go. Even so, it was enjoyable enough.

After Hanabi arrived, she joined them in the hot spring too, which made life difficult for Yi. None of the three women would let him get handsy, so he could only behave himself when they bathed together. Several times, Yi ended up soaking alone.

Today was no different. Yi soaked alone in the hot spring, wondering whether he should strengthen the barrier that night. But if he strengthened it too much, he wasn't sure whether Hanabi would still break through by force. The resulting commotion would be far too loud, which worried him a little.

After finishing his bath, Yi immediately returned to Konoha. Yet the moment he stepped into Konoha's territory, both his eyes suddenly trembled, as though breaking free of some invisible shackles.

The evolution of his Transmigration Rinnegan had finally completed. Yi could clearly sense that his chakra and natural energy, which had previously merged only partially, were now fully united, with his eye power mixed in as well. Only one kind of power remained within him. It was chakra, natural energy, and eye power all at once-a new power formed from all three, far superior to what he had possessed before.

Using this new power to perform his Ninjutsu and various techniques not only reduced their cost, but also greatly increased their strength. Yi couldn't help muttering, "Does this mean I have six paths power now?"

No sooner had he said it than the system's voice suddenly rang out. "No, host. You have acquired the preliminary form of ultimate Dao power!"

Yi froze for a moment. "Ultimate Dao power?"

The system continued, "Correct. This is a stage your Limit Sharingan must pass through."

Yi felt rather annoyed. "System, don't tell me I've only just met the power requirements for the Limit Sharingan?"

The system answered bluntly. "Congratulations, host. You guessed correctly. As a Sharingan system named after the limit, its power is naturally extraordinary."

Everything he had done before hadn't even brought him close. Only after acquiring the embryonic form of ultimate Dao power had he barely reached the threshold. In other words, his current power could, at most, be considered limit power.

Uchiha Yi was utterly bewildered. However, the system soon explained that there were countless planes across the myriad worlds, each with different laws. The same power could make someone a god here, yet fail to defeat even a foot soldier somewhere else. After all, every world's laws imposed their own restrictions. A power that reigned supreme here might not even be able to unleash seventy percent of its strength elsewhere.

Ultimate Dao power, however, was different. It was a power unique to his Limit Sharingan, capable of ignoring the constraints of the laws across the myriad worlds. Although it hadn't fully formed yet, its embryonic form was already there.

This shouldn't have happened, but the system surmised that by merging the Tenseigan and Rinnegan, two of the greatest powers in the Naruto world, he had effectively touched this world's laws ahead of time. That was why he had obtained the embryonic form of ultimate Dao power early. Even incomplete, it was considerably stronger than limit power.

Of course, he could also actively advance his limit power into ultimate Dao power before his Sharingan evolved. He only needed to train the Eight Gates to its final stage. While his Transmigration Rinnegan was evolving a while ago, he had happened to open the last of the Eight Gates.

His Eight Gates was now level 8, with a proficiency of 106,500/1 billion. Enhanced by the Limit Sharingan, it allowed him to keep all eight gates permanently open without damaging his body, increasing his chakra a thousandfold. Simply put, he owed his current limit power entirely to the buff from keeping all eight gates permanently open.

If the Eight Gates reached level 9, the final stage the system had mentioned, he would transcend the limitations of a human body and evolve toward godhood. At that point, his limit power would transform into Dao realm power, and his body would become a genuine ultimate Dao body.

But the sight of that one-billion proficiency requirement made Uchiha Yi wince. He might as well wait for his Sharingan to evolve instead. After all, the system had said that absorbing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Rinne Sharingan would more or less let it reach level 8. Failing that, he could train using Shadow Clones.

He was considering building up proficiency first, then leveling up directly after absorbing Kaguya's Rinne Sharingan, when he suddenly sensed a trace of unusual power-spatial power! Immediately afterward, he felt familiar fluctuations of chakra and Dōjutsu. The Rinnegan! Had Nagato arrived?

The corner of Uchiha Yi's mouth twitched. Heh, I was just looking to test this Transmigration Rinnegan's power, and now a target has delivered himself right to my door.

Meanwhile, far away from Konoha, Obito and Black Zetsu were watching in its direction.

Black Zetsu asked, "Hey, Obito, is this really a good idea?"

Obito shook his head. "We have no choice. That Uchiha Yi is too strange. Let Nagato test his capabilities. If he can kill him, all the better."

Black Zetsu frowned. "But what if Nagato fails? If we lose the Rinnegan, we'll be in serious trouble."

Obito waved a hand. "It's fine. Nagato isn't that stupid. He's only deploying the Six Paths of Pain, so his real body will definitely be safe. At worst, he'll lose six corpses."

Black Zetsu nodded and said nothing more, though a strange gleam flashed in his eyes. In truth, he also supported Obito's plan. The unknown was the most frightening thing. After all his years of planning, he was only one step away from success. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong. Any uncertain factors were best eliminated outright.

Having just received news from his clone, Black Zetsu suddenly said, "By the way, Sasuke has started moving too." He paused, then added with some concern, "Will he be all right?"

Obito smiled. "Don't treat him like a little kid. He has the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and the people with him are no pushovers either. With Kisame accompanying him too, he'll be fine even taking on the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails simultaneously."

Black Zetsu nodded. "True. Oh, the battle has started."

As soon as he finished speaking, an explosion rang out from Konoha, and he immediately shut his mouth.

Before long, the Animal Path was summoned, and the remaining members of the Six Paths of Pain landed as well. Chaos erupted. But only a few breaths after Pain scattered, a figure flashed into view before the Animal Path.

Uchiha Yi leaned against a tree with an amused smile. "Well, well. Isn't this Nagato?"

The Animal Path paused. This was merely a puppet controlled by Nagato's chakra, without a trace of a living person's emotions.

Yet that momentary pause made every one of the Six Paths of Pain freeze as well. In short, it was all Nagato's own will at work.

Nagato gave a low shout. "Summoning Technique!"

Although Uchiha Yi had already exposed his identity, he couldn't even be bothered to ask a single unnecessary question.

The Animal Path immediately made his move.

With a muffled bang, a crab waving its claws was summoned. The instant it landed, it unleashed Water Release at Uchiha Yi. The technique was Water Release: Foam Wave.

"Tch, how boring!" Uchiha Yi shrugged, his gaze suddenly sharpening. "Since you don't intend to talk, I won't waste my breath either."

He raised his right hand into the air and clenched his fist, shifted his left foot back half a step, then threw a punch. "Evening Elephant: First Speed!"

The power of that punch was enough to terrify anyone. It was comparable to a punch from Guy with all Eight Gates open, yet Uchiha Yi delivered it as effortlessly as swatting a mosquito.

Once his Rinnegan had finished evolving, his Eight Gates had been locked permanently into a state with all eight gates open. His physical capabilities had long since become absurdly monstrous.

Simply put, his raw physical strength now surpassed even Might Guy with all Eight Gates open, and without any side effects!