Ancestors Above

Uchiha Yuan could feel his body weakening, his chakra draining away like the tide, while the exposed skin on his body visibly turned pale.

Yet the Demonic Statue Fragment in his palm showed no sign of satisfaction. Instead, it sucked even more greedily, like a bloodthirsty banshee.

The degraded White Zetsu leaned its laughing face close to Uchiha Yuan.

"Hehehe, you really are easy to fool! I may not have any combat ability, but I'm still pretty smart!"

"Now all the credit for guarding the place will go to me alone! When Obito comes back, his eyes are definitely going to pop out!"

But in the next breath, the weak and listless Uchiha Yuan before it vanished with a bang, while the real body hidden in the shadows silently emerged and seized the degraded White Zetsu by the throat.

"Of course I know the Demonic Statue Fragment can absorb chakra. But can you resist it?"

The reversal happened so quickly that the root-like Demonic Statue Fragment was shoved into White Zetsu's mouth. Before the white creature could even struggle, it shriveled into a pale lump of flesh.

After absorbing all the degraded White Zetsu's chakra, the Demonic Statue Fragment even drained half of Uchiha Yuan's own chakra before finally settling down.

Only then did Uchiha Yuan gasp for breath and force himself to calm down.

He swiftly took out a scroll and sealed away the jerky-like White Zetsu corpse before examining his own condition.

Including the Transformation Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, Sealing Scroll, and the portion absorbed by the Demonic Statue Fragment, he had only about one-eighth of his chakra left.

What made things worse was that Obito, who had turned Hidden Leaf Village upside down, could return at any moment.

Even at full strength, he would not have been Obito's match.

Time was short, but Madara's inheritance for Obito was definitely not limited to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!

Uchiha Yuan knew very well that during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara could not only use the jutsu of the Hashirama brothers, but could also become the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki.

After Madara was revived, he had merely left a Shadow Clone behind at Tobirama Senju's base to impersonate a corpse. Even the later Hokage had never realized that Madara had not died in the battle at the Valley of the End.

All those clues proved that, besides the Gunbai and Death God Scythe, this base definitely contained an astonishing number of jutsu and secret techniques.

Madara had taken them from Tobirama's research base after his revival.

In this era of Hidden Leaf Village, it was nearly impossible to exchange missions and achievements for advanced jutsu. To someone like me, who lacks resources, the value of those techniques is no less than the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Having thought this through, Uchiha Yuan's gaze burned.

He absolutely could not waste this one and only chance to steal from them!

Half an hour later, "Obito," clad in crimson armor and carrying the Gunbai and Death God Scythe, hurried along.

At the exit of the underground plaza, Tobi spread his arms to block the way.

"Obito! Obito! This is bad! White Zetsu is gone. Do you know where it went? Could it have gone off to take a dump behind my back?"

Looking at the foolish fellow, Uchiha Yuan pondered.

Should I tell it, 'Your good brother is inside the Sealing Scroll. Why don't you go keep him company?'

That would be far too dark a joke.

Just as he was about to make an excuse and leave, the spiral ripples in the air beside him subsided, and Obito appeared, clutching his severed left arm.

The two identically dressed Obitos met each other's gaze in the silent air.

Obito with the severed arm instantly understood. While he had been fighting desperately in Konoha Hidden Village, someone had impersonated him and infiltrated the base.

That damned thief!

But before he could act, a violent explosion erupted from deep within the stone chamber, and the other "him" vanished into a cloud of white smoke with a bang.

Scrolls and ninja tools that had been passed down for a thousand years clattered across the ground.

"A Shadow Clone and Transformation Technique?"

Beneath the tiger-striped mask, Obito's face twisted with fury.

Black Zetsu, who had returned half a step too late, silently emerged from the ceiling and happened to witness the scene.

"Only those who have awakened the Mangekyo are qualified to glimpse a corner of Lord Madara's plan. That person has not gone far. Obito, I'll hunt him down. You're injured, so quickly find out exactly what was taken."

As Black Zetsu disappeared into the ceiling once more, the underground base fell silent.

After a long while, a suppressed, resentful roar echoed between the stone walls.

"Who was it? An Uchiha from Hidden Leaf Village? Or Kakashi?"

"Only Infinite Tsukuyomi can create a world where Rin is alive. I absolutely cannot make any mistakes!"

Three days later, in a primeval forest along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

In a damp, freezing underground cave, humming electronic equipment flickered with symbols representing genetic fragments.

This was the laboratory hideout Uchiha Yuan had specially prepared for this operation.

After processing part of the Demonic Statue Fragment and feeding it into the machine, he finally had time to consider what he had gained from this operation.

"Whew! Ancestor Madara above, your wealth has made this haul far greater than I ever imagined!"

As he took stock of everything, Uchiha Yuan nearly grinned from ear to ear.

That day, after obtaining the fragment of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, his real body had immediately left the base while Tobi was searching for White Zetsu. The Shadow Clone he left behind had then successfully found the Secret Chamber where the jutsu scrolls were stored.

Good lord, the sheer size of that collection had given Uchiha Yuan an enormous shock.

Even the Book of Sealing personally kept by generations of Hokage was probably not as richly stocked with jutsu as Old Madara's collection.

Besides the Wood Release and Water Release jutsu possessed by the Hashirama brothers, it also contained the Uchiha Clan's inherited Fire Release techniques and a great number of related secret techniques.

Uchiha Yuan had not only seen Sealing Techniques and Forbidden Jutsu such as Uchiha Flame Formation, Izanagi, and Izanami, but also notes on the development and use of Susanoo.

There were even several S-rank Forbidden Jutsu developed later by Old Madara's mortal enemy, Tobirama Senju, including Multiple Shadow Clone, Spiritualisation Technique, Impure World Reincarnation, and Eight Branches Technique.

At the time, the Shadow Clone Uchiha Yuan had arranged had unceremoniously read through every one of those jutsu and secret techniques.

Once the clone disappeared, the enormous amount of jutsu knowledge transferred into Uchiha Yuan's mind, leaving him dizzy with happiness.

With this stockpile of jutsu, even learning just two or three Forbidden Jutsu would be enough to establish myself in the Ninja World.

But this still isn't enough!

Once he had digested that happiness, Uchiha Yuan's little face tightened again.

He had studied under Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. Most of what he had learned in the past was research-related knowledge. As for jutsu, he had only mastered the Ninja Academy graduate-level Three Body Technique and the Uchiha Clan's inherited Great Fireball Technique.

That meant that even if he learned the jutsu and Forbidden Jutsu above, he could not casually use them in front of Hidden Leaf Village ninja.

At the very least, unless his life was in danger, he had to restrain himself.

Uchiha Yuan understood that perfectly. He still had a sense of secrecy.

What was more, he had now made an enemy of Obito, a future Six Paths-level powerhouse.

Although he had been cautious from beginning to end and had not left behind any flaws.

Uchiha Yuan did not believe he had succeeded merely because Obito had been careless and incompetent.

He looked toward the humming instrument, which had finished its work.

The Demonic Statue genetic solution was complete.

In Uchiha Yuan's plan, this was the greatest reward from taking the risk to intercept them.