Chapter 223: Ten Days

Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Ten Days

Inside the cave.

Uchiha Ryota stared at the mottled trail of blood left on the ground as Uchiha Hideki’s clone was dragged out of the cave, and his face gradually twisted with rage.

Blood vessels spread across the whites of his eyes, and his pitch-black pupils transformed into a pair of scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan.

Deep inside, he roared:

"Brother, I’ll avenge you!"

Before long, a week passed.

During these days, Hyuga Kagami would occasionally enter the cave to observe Uchiha Ryota. And according to his observations, Ryota really was secretly wearing away at the sealing formulas of the Four Symbols Seal, attempting to break free.

Kagami turned a blind eye to it, acting as though he hadn’t noticed a thing.

The problem was that Uchiha Ryota was simply too cautious. Every day, he would only wear away a tiny, limited portion of the seal. His progress was so painfully slow that even Kagami was beginning to grow impatient.

Looking at Uchiha Ryota, whose expression remained indifferent on the surface as though he had already resigned himself to his fate, Kagami rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

At the rate Uchiha Ryota was going, it would take him at least two or three months to wear away the few most crucial sealing formulas and undo the Four Symbols Seal.

During this period, the situation in the village was changing rapidly.

No one could predict what direction things in the village would take two or three months from now, so Kagami couldn’t allow Uchiha Ryota to waste that much time.

After thinking it over for a moment, Kagami came up with an idea and said to Uchiha Ryota, "Something came up, and I’ll need to leave for about ten days. During that time, the puppet will replace your nutrient solution for you."

Uchiha Ryota seemed not to have heard him. There wasn’t the slightest reaction on his face—not even a blink.

But there was no doubt that this was merely an act.

Within Kagami’s Tenseigan vision, the moment he finished speaking, he clearly saw a change in the rhythm of Uchiha Ryota’s heartbeat.

Kagami didn’t expose him. Instead, he continued pretending to be completely unaware and said, "Once I return, I’ll be able to decide whether you live or die. So there’s no need to be so anxious. You’ll be free soon enough, and then you can reunite with your brother."

Uchiha Ryota’s eyes flickered slightly, but he still said nothing.

Kagami didn’t say anything more and simply left the cave.

Glancing at Kagami’s departing figure, Uchiha Ryota’s expression darkened slightly.

"Only ten days left..."

......

After returning to his office, Kagami sat down at his desk and went over his plan once more.

Only after repeatedly confirming that there were no obvious flaws did he slowly rise and begin tidying up the office.

In the final experiment ten days from now, the entire secret prison would become part of the experiment itself, so Kagami needed to begin preparing the site and props immediately.

Regardless of whether the final experiment yielded any results, the secret prison would be abandoned afterward. Therefore, he also needed to carefully erase every trace he had left behind, lest someone follow the clues back to him.

After completing the necessary preparations in the secret prison, Kagami didn’t remain idle. He quietly made his way to the secret laboratory located within the Forest of Death.

He stopped in front of a row of large nutrient tanks.

At this moment, two clones were being cultivated inside the tanks lined up before him.

Both were clones of Kagami himself.

However, they weren’t the clone bodies intended for his clone-body project. Instead, they were ordinary clones containing no cells or tissue from anyone else, cultivated solely from Kagami’s own cells.

Kagami stepped forward and checked the data displayed on the nutrient tanks’ monitors. Seeing that all the readings for both clones were normal, he silently calculated the remaining time.

With Kagami’s current technology, cultivating a single clone required at least half a month.

These two clones had already begun cultivation a week ago. Judging by the timing, barring any unforeseen circumstances, both should be ready in time for the final stimulation experiment ten days from now.

Seeing that everything was proceeding according to plan, Kagami breathed a sigh of relief before returning to the village.

Throughout the past week, the village’s operation to hunt down Kamigami had continued without pause.

Yet despite the constant investment of manpower and resources, they had gained absolutely nothing.

It was as though the so-called Kamigami had never existed at all.

And this was beginning to make more and more people in the village realize that something wasn’t right.

All the signs indicated that Kamigami had no substantial connections whatsoever with the underground black markets scattered throughout the shinobi world, nor with any other shinobi organizations.

It was as though Kamigami had suddenly appeared in the shinobi world, only to vanish just as abruptly, leaving everyone completely unable to make sense of it.

And precisely because the search had yielded nothing, the rumors Danzo had previously spread began attracting more and more attention.

People secretly began to speculate whether Shisui—the only member of the Uchiha clan currently in the village who was publicly known to possess the Mangekyo Sharingan—might truly be Kamigami’s Homura!

And whether the so-called Kamigami might actually be hiding within the village itself!

As the rumors continued to spread and intensify, even the Third Hokage could no longer sit back and ignore them.

Before long, Kagami received a summons from the Third.

Upon arriving at the Hokage’s office, Kagami frowned slightly.

At this moment, not only was the Third Hokage present, but Danzo and the other two elders of the advisory council were there as well. In addition, there was Hyuga Hiashi, head of the Hyuga clan, and Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.

What surprised Kagami most, however, was the small, elderly toad crouching atop the table beside Jiraiya, with white hair and whiskers and a thin, diminutive frame.

From what Kagami remembered, this toad was no ordinary figure.

He should be Fukasaku, one of the sages of Mount Myoboku—one of the Three Great Sage Regions—whose status there was second only to the Great Toad Sage himself.

"Tch, is there really a need for this kind of lineup...?"

After grumbling inwardly, Kagami stepped forward and reported to the Third Hokage, "Lord Hokage, Hyuga Kagami of ANBU Team 11, reporting as ordered."

The Third removed the pipe from his mouth—something he had found himself increasingly unable to do without lately—and said, "I’ve summoned you here because there are some things we need to ask you. You are to answer truthfully, without concealing anything!"

Kagami’s expression remained perfectly calm as he nodded. "Yes!"

The Third asked, "On the night the leader of the Kumo delegation was attacked, what exactly did you and Shisui do? And how did you encounter the members of Kamigami?"

Kagami and Shisui had prepared their story for this long ago, so without the slightest hesitation, Kagami immediately recounted their fabricated version of events in full detail.

After hearing his account, everyone in the office silently fell into thought, seemingly searching for any holes in Kagami’s story.

Only Hyuga Hiashi kept his eyes fixed on Kagami, a trace of concern visible in his gaze.

To this day, the only people who knew that the leader of the Kumo delegation had actually died at Hyuga Hiashi’s hands were Kagami, Shisui, and a mere handful of members of the Hyuga clan.

Because of that, Hiashi was deeply worried that the rumors surrounding Shisui might end up implicating Kagami as well...