Chapter 262: Developing a New Kekkei Genkai

Chapter 262: Chapter 262: Developing a New Kekkei Genkai

When Obito asked about the guards accompanying the Fourth Mizukage, Zetsu gave a sinister chuckle.

"They’re all our people!"

Back when Uchiha Madara was still alive, he had already begun secretly infiltrating Kirigakure. Quite a few members of Kirigakure’s upper ranks had unknowingly become Madara’s puppets.

This was also why Madara had been able to manipulate Kirigakure into sealing the Three-Tails, Isobu, inside Nohara Rin, forcibly turning her into the Three-Tails’ jinchūriki and ultimately driving her to die by Kakashi’s hand—all to successfully provoke Obito into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.

As for why Madara had chosen Kirigakure as the target of his infiltration, there were two reasons.

First, Kirigakure’s war potential was second only to Konoha’s. The village possessed an exceptionally large number of Kekkei Genkai clans, including the Kaguya Clan with their Shikotsumyaku, the Yuki Clan with their Ice Release, the Hōzuki Clan who specialized in secret Water Style techniques, as well as shinobi possessing Lava Release, Boil Release, and other Kekkei Genkai.

Second, Kirigakure was located on the edge of the continent. Transportation was inconvenient and information traveled slowly, making it much easier to suppress news and keep events hidden from the outside world.

It was precisely because of Madara’s infiltration that Kirigakure had become plagued by internal conflicts and endless infighting. Not long ago, the village had even suffered the largest rebellion by its Kekkei Genkai clans since Kirigakure’s founding.

The rebellion directly resulted in the extermination of several Kekkei Genkai clans.

The Yuki Clan, wielders of Ice Release, was one of them.

However, after the new Three-Tails jinchūriki, Yagura Karatachi, succeeded to the position of Fourth Mizukage, he adopted a policy of tolerance and gradually began resolving the internal conflicts within Kirigakure. There were even faint signs that the once-fractured village was beginning to unite once again.

If the Fourth Mizukage were allowed to continue ruling, then the more than ten years Madara had spent infiltrating Kirigakure would all go to waste.

Therefore, Obito had to act and prevent Kirigakure from recovering its strength.

Obito chuckled softly. "So that means we only need to deal with the Fourth Mizukage himself?"

Yagura Karatachi had managed to become the Fourth Mizukage at such a young age because of the strength he possessed as a perfect jinchūriki.

Others might have been wary of a jinchūriki, but Obito, who possessed both the Sharingan and Wood Release, did not think particularly highly of them.

When it came to dealing with Tailed Beasts, there were simply no more convenient methods in the shinobi world than the Sharingan and Wood Release.

Zetsu chuckled as well. "This is an opportunity. Since all of the Fourth Mizukage’s guards are our people anyway, we can make our move halfway there. No one will ever know."

Obito nodded lightly.

"Let’s go!"

......

One week later, at Hyuga Kagami’s home.

Poof...

Amid a cloud of white smoke, the tiger-striped Shozaimaru emerged, swaggering along as though he were an actual tiger, before handing Hyuga Kagami a scroll.

Hyuga Kagami opened the scroll and took a look, thinking to himself, "At the end of next month, an aurora will descend as a celestial phenomenon...?"

Shinichi’s intelligence had arrived at just the right time. He had discovered that Hiruko planned to use the power of an aurora phenomenon at the end of next month to complete the final stage of his Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual.

"Today is the beginning of this month. If I calculate the time... there should be a little over fifty days left."

The instant Hyuga Kagami learned when Hiruko would perform his Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual, the first thought that crossed his mind was to personally go to the site and carefully observe the entire fusion ritual from beginning to end.

However, Hiruko was no longer the lone wolf he had been in the original timeline.

The entire Akatsuki stood behind him.

Since Akatsuki had already gone through the trouble of capturing Kekkei Genkai shinobi for him, they would undoubtedly be responsible for protecting him during the fusion ritual as well.

So barging in by force was obviously out of the question.

"How can I infiltrate the ritual site?"

Hyuga Kagami rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Suddenly, an idea came to him.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

During this period, Hyuga Kagami had been working on adapting to the female clone. Although he had not had much time, the results were remarkably significant.

Perhaps part of the reason was that he already had experience adapting to his Water Release clone.

However, he had also discovered quite a few problems.

The most troublesome among them was that this female clone, which had been fused with Shisui’s cellular tissue, possessed chakra affinities primarily toward Fire, with Lightning as its secondary affinity.

Yet as far as Hyuga Kagami knew, there did not seem to be any Kekkei Genkai in the shinobi world formed by fusing Fire-nature chakra and Lightning-nature chakra.

The only thing that came even remotely close was the Blaze Release Sasuke had developed himself in the original timeline.

But whether Blaze Release was truly a new Kekkei Genkai created by fusing Fire-nature and Lightning-nature chakra, or merely an alternative application Sasuke had developed from his Mangekyō Sharingan ability, Amaterasu, was something Hyuga Kagami currently had no way of knowing.

Therefore, if he wanted to fully develop the potential of this female clone, Hyuga Kagami might have no choice but to feel his way forward blindly and develop an entirely new Kekkei Genkai—one that had never before appeared in the shinobi world.

After finishing his training for the day, Hyuga Kagami arrived at the secret laboratory.

Looking at Uchiha Ryota lying on the operating table, Hyuga Kagami’s gaze gradually turned cold.

At present, although the eyeballs inside Uchiha Ryota’s sockets had returned to their normal shape, each eye still possessed two pupils. It was obvious that the final absorption of ocular power had yet to be completed.

Nearly two months had passed since the fusion began, yet it remained stubbornly stuck at the final step, leaving Hyuga Kagami incredibly frustrated.

After weighing his options, Hyuga Kagami decided to expose Uchiha Ryota’s act.

He said coldly, "Stop pretending. I know you’re already conscious."

In fact, Hyuga Kagami had noticed several days ago that Uchiha Ryota had regained consciousness.

Considering that the fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan might require the will of Uchiha Ryota—the host body—to actively drive the process, Hyuga Kagami had pretended not to notice. His plan was to wait until Uchiha Ryota completed the fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, then seize an opportunity to suddenly make his move.

After all, Uchiha Ryota’s body was still paralyzed, and while his eyes remained in the middle of the fusion process, he could not use his Sharingan either.

As such, he posed absolutely no threat to Hyuga Kagami.

But having already been fooled once, Uchiha Ryota had clearly learned his lesson.

He was actually deliberately suppressing the fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, leaving Hyuga Kagami caught in an awkward stalemate.

At this moment, Uchiha Ryota, whose eyes were still wrapped in sterile cloth, gave a weak chuckle.

"As expected, I couldn’t hide it from you after all. But your voice... why does it sound... You... you’re a woman?"

Hyuga Kagami ignored Uchiha Ryota’s confusion over his gender and instead asked, "You’re deliberately preventing the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan from completing its fusion?"

Uchiha Ryota calmly replied, "That’s right. Without my will driving the process, these two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan will never truly fuse into one!"

Hyuga Kagami frowned.

"Don’t force me to use inhumane methods. You’ll only make yourself suffer more."

Uchiha Ryota laughed.

"You’re welcome to try!"

After a moment of silence, Hyuga Kagami said, "Since you’ve chosen to speak with me, that means there’s something you want. Tell me. What exactly do you want?"

The smile disappeared from Uchiha Ryota’s face as he lay on the operating table.

"I want a fair fight with you! If you want me, Uchiha Ryota, to submit, then you’ll have to defeat me fair and square. We Uchiha only bow our heads to those who are truly strong!"