Chapter 310: New Member

Chapter 310: Chapter 310: New Member

Gathering his thoughts, Hyuga Kagami asked, "Who else knows that you awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Itachi calmly replied, "Only you, Senpai."

Kagami was somewhat surprised. "You didn’t even tell Shisui?"

"During the assessment, I’m not allowed to mention anything related to it to Brother Shisui. Otherwise, it would be considered cheating. En-senpai said that was a rule you established." After a brief pause, Itachi continued, "And awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan is the minimum requirement for taking part in the assessment, so for now, I haven’t mentioned it to Brother Shisui."

Kagami smiled faintly. "Then why didn’t you tell your father? He’s the clan head of the Uchiha Clan. Don’t you even trust him?"

Itachi calmly analyzed the situation. "Right now, the Uchiha and the village happen to be in a position where they depend on each other. This situation can greatly ease the tensions between the two sides, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for another Mangekyo Sharingan wielder to emerge within the clan at the moment."

Clearly, the meticulous Itachi had also noticed the delicate relationship currently existing between the Uchiha Clan and the village.

Both Kamigami and Akatsuki had successively displayed terrifying levels of power. As a result, the internal conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village had been overshadowed by the enormous external threats they now faced.

The two sides had no choice but to join forces and huddle together for warmth!

If the Uchiha’s strength were to grow even further at a time like this, it could very well shatter the hard-won balance and cause the conflicts that had been temporarily buried to resurface once again.

Kagami said, "You made the right choice."

Itachi replied, "En-senpai was forced to reveal her identity in order to repel Shinno. If I were to reveal my Mangekyo Sharingan as well, even if the Hokage could tolerate it, the clansmen might not be willing to remain content. After all, the rift between the Uchiha and the village runs far too deep. It isn’t something that can be mended in just a year or two."

At this point, Itachi asked curiously, "Senpai, is En-senpai really a clan elite that my father secretly cultivated?"

"Ahem..." Kagami cleared his throat twice before saying, "Uchiha En is actually an orphan from outside the village. She grew up outside the village from a young age. She isn’t a clan elite secretly cultivated by your father."

Itachi nodded. "No wonder I’ve never heard of En-senpai within the clan."

Itachi’s words actually gave Kagami a rather good idea. Smiling, he said, "Still, giving Uchiha En an identity like that wouldn’t be a bad idea."

Itachi said somewhat worriedly, "But wouldn’t that make the Hokage think that we Uchiha are plotting something?"

"You Uchiha are plotting something. Is there even any need to suspect it?" Kagami chuckled before continuing, "Making the Hokage a little more wary of you isn’t necessarily a bad thing either."

Itachi fell into thought.

Kagami continued, "All right. Since you now possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, I hereby declare that you are officially a member of Kamigami. Your codename will be ’Homura.’"

Itachi’s face lit up with joy. "I passed?"

Kagami nodded. "You’ve awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. Naturally, you’re qualified."

Itachi asked again, "What about En-senpai?"

Kagami waved a hand. "She passed as well. Her codename is the same as yours—’Homura.’"

...

Inside the Root base.

Danzo stared intently at the two severed feet preserved inside a glass container.

His previous sneak attack on Shisui could be said to have been the closest Danzo had ever come to obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Just a little more.

He had been that close to possessing Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan—and with it, Kotoamatsukami, the power to manipulate another person’s will.

Unfortunately, at the very last moment, all his efforts had ended in failure.

Still, there was one thing Danzo could consider fortunate. His attack on Shisui had at least been somewhat justified. After all, at the time, Shisui really had been suspected of attempting to assassinate the Third Hokage.

As a result, Danzo had merely received a reprimand from the Third afterward and suffered no substantial punishment. His authority and position within the village had also remained largely unaffected.

At that moment, a researcher dressed in a white robe walked over and said, "Lord Danzo, here is the examination report you requested."

Taking the report, Danzo briefly skimmed through it before furrowing his brow.

"These values are all wrong. What are you people doing? How could you make a mistake on such a simple examination?"

The researcher wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and explained, "Lord Danzo, we’ve checked the results repeatedly. There are no errors in these values. The cellular tissue we extracted from these severed feet... they aren’t human cells at all. They’re practically..."

The researcher opened his mouth, but even after a long moment, he couldn’t think of an adjective that could accurately describe them.

Danzo’s expression darkened. He carefully read through the examination report once more before muttering to himself, "With values like these, the cells shouldn’t even be able to survive. How did he do it?"

When Danzo heard that Hiruko had completed a forbidden technique capable of stealing the Kekkei Genkai of others and now possessed five different Kekkei Genkai—including the Sharingan—he had nearly gone mad with jealousy.

In his eyes, allowing a worthless fool like Hiruko to obtain such an ability was nothing short of a colossal waste.

So he had immediately used his connections to acquire the severed limbs Hiruko had left behind in the village and assembled a team of researchers to study them.

However, the data in the examination report left him completely at a loss.

These simply weren’t values that normal cells should possess.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Just then, an alarm suddenly sounded throughout the laboratory.

Danzo showed no trace of panic, because he immediately realized that the source of the alarm was none other than the glass container holding Hiruko’s severed limbs right in front of him.

Through the glass wall, he could clearly see the two severed feet suddenly begin to swell.

In just a few breaths, they had expanded to four or five times their original size—and they were still growing.

Boom!

Moments later, the two swollen masses of flesh exploded inside the glass container.

Watching the only clues Hiruko had left behind explode into charred remains right before his eyes, Danzo’s face turned livid.

With a furious sweep of his cane, he smashed the entire glass container in front of him to pieces.

The researchers standing nearby were all deathly silent, not daring to utter a word.

After a long while, Danzo waved his hand and dismissed all the researchers from the laboratory. He then summoned a Root ninja and ordered, "I want to know Hiruko’s whereabouts!"

The Root ninja replied, "Lord Danzo, we’re already investigating. The moment we discover his whereabouts, we’ll immediately arrange an assassination!"

Danzo roared, "Who said I wanted him assassinated?! What I want is his technology! I don’t care what methods you use—even if you have to buy it from him, get that technology for me!"

The Root ninja froze for a moment before quickly answering, "Yes! We’ll make the arrangements immediately."

Danzo then roared, "And what about Orochimaru?! Why hasn’t he finished the task I gave him yet?!"