Chapter 597: The Restless Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan

Chapter 597: Chapter 597: The Restless Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan

Under the restraints of the fuinjutsu, the 1,500 Konoha shinobi bound within the chakra transmission array had been reduced to nothing more than human chakra batteries.

Some of the jonin and chunin with stronger constitutions could still barely endure the strain for the time being. However, without exception, every genin had begun exhibiting severe adverse reactions.

The essence of chakra was actually the fusion of a shinobi’s spiritual energy and physical energy.

Because shinobi could extract more chakra at the expense of their own health and lives, chakra could, to a certain extent, be considered equivalent to their life force.

Therefore, excessively extracting a shinobi’s chakra was essentially the same as draining their life force!

Thud...

Thud...

Amid a succession of muffled thuds, the Konoha shinobi within the chakra transmission array began collapsing to the ground one after another, losing consciousness from sheer exhaustion.

Kakashi, who was hiding in the distance and observing the chakra transmission array, naturally noticed this sudden abnormality. He immediately exclaimed in shock, "What’s going on? Why are so many shinobi suddenly collapsing? What exactly is happening inside the volcanic cavern?"

...

Inside the volcanic cavern.

"Not enough! It’s still not enough! Give me chakra! More chakra!"

Still undergoing the fusion ritual, Danzo knelt at the center of the altar, his expression contorted in unbearable agony.

Snot and saliva streamed uncontrollably down his twisted face. He seemed to have partially lost control of his facial muscles and could only roar incoherently, resembling a wild beast driven into a desperate corner!

Below the altar, the Root chief research officer looked utterly horrified. Wiping the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, he stammered, "L-Lord Hokage, this is already... already our limit..."

At this moment, the chakra emanating from Danzo’s body had become so dense that it was almost tangible, clearly visible to the naked eye.

The sheer volume of chakra was unlike anything the chief research officer had ever witnessed in his life. Having personally experienced the Nine-Tails’ attack, he even felt that the amount of chakra Danzo possessed at this moment had already surpassed that of the Nine-Tails that had once rampaged through the village.

Yet even with such an enormous amount of chakra, Danzo remained unsatisfied. He still demanded more, leaving the chief research officer both shocked and terrified.

Danzo roared in agony, "Quick! Increase the power!"

"Increase it even further?!"

The Root chief research officer’s expression stiffened.

If they continued increasing the power, the question would no longer be how many of the thousand-plus Konoha shinobi outside would die or be injured. It would be whether any of them would survive at all!

A full 1,500 shinobi from his own village—even someone as accustomed to killing as he was did not dare make such a decision lightly.

After all, those thousand-plus shinobi outside all had friends and family in the village. If he deliberately sent them to their deaths, it would practically amount to making an enemy of the entire village.

And after committing such a crime, even if Danzo ultimately survived the ritual, the chief research officer was certain that Danzo would have him executed as a scapegoat.

After all, someone had to take responsibility for such an atrocity.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had become completely engrossed in the fusion ritual.

The newly awakened Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Danzo’s eye sockets seemed like a black hole, firmly drawing in his attention and making it impossible for him to look away.

Compared to Orochimaru’s obsession, however, Kagami was considerably calmer.

That was because he had suddenly realized that he seemed to have overlooked an important issue.

The chakra requirements of the Bloodline Fusion Ritual had completely exceeded his previous expectations!

Logically speaking, after undergoing Orochimaru’s body modification surgery and integrating the First Hokage’s cells, Danzo’s own chakra reserves were already among the very highest in the shinobi world.

Adding the chakra transmission array composed of 1,500 Konoha shinobi outside the volcanic cavern, his chakra reserves should have been more than sufficient by any reasonable calculation.

And indeed, when his Sharingan evolved, and even when they advanced into the Mangekyo Sharingan, the chakra Danzo had prepared had been sufficient.

However, as the fusion of chakra natures within Danzo’s body advanced further and his eyes evolved from the Mangekyo Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the ritual’s chakra requirements suddenly increased severalfold.

As a result, the chakra reserves that had previously seemed abundant suddenly became woefully insufficient.

"This is merely the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which represents the ultimate form of Yin Release chakra. Beyond this lies the Rinnegan, which combines the Yin and Yang chakra natures, and then Kekkei Mora, which combines all seven chakra natures—Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements..."

At this thought, Kagami’s brows furrowed even more deeply.

If the amount of chakra required increased alongside the degree of chakra nature fusion, then Danzo, who was currently undergoing the ritual, still had at least two major hurdles to overcome: the Rinnegan and Kekkei Mora!

And from analyzing the ritual’s progress thus far, one could easily arrive at a conclusion.

Every time another hurdle was crossed, the chakra requirements would increase exponentially. Yet Danzo’s prepared chakra reserves had already approached their limit at the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan stage.

"We were all wrong... The real difficulty isn’t soul fusion. It’s the amount of chakra we overlooked all along..."

Only now did Kagami finally abandon his last shred of wishful thinking.

He was now certain that Danzo would never be able to attain Kekkei Mora.

As for whether Danzo could survive the Bloodline Fusion Ritual and become a defective product, that would depend entirely on his own luck.

This realization also brought an extremely serious problem to Kagami’s attention.

If drawing chakra from over a thousand shinobi was still nowhere near enough to carry the Bloodline Fusion Ritual through to completion, didn’t that mean he would need to draw chakra from ten thousand, or perhaps even tens of thousands of shinobi, just to have a chance of making the final breakthrough to Kekkei Mora?!

"No wonder it was only by resurrecting the Ten-Tails, activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and gathering the chakra of every shinobi in the world that Kaguya, who had already attained Kekkei Mora, could truly be freed...

"So, when it comes to attaining Kekkei Mora, the sheer amount of chakra required is an obstacle that simply cannot be avoided..."

Watching Danzo roar in agony atop the altar, desperately demanding more chakra, Kagami actually felt a trace of sympathy for him.

This trial run of the attempt to attain Kekkei Mora had first given Kagami hope, only to reveal the cruelest side of reality right before his eyes.

Just then, seeing that the Root chief research officer below the altar had still not taken action, Danzo forcibly turned his head and, with great difficulty, glared at him.

"M-My body..."

The moment his eyes met Danzo’s, the Root chief research officer lost control of his own body. Against his will, he turned the chakra transmission array’s power up to its maximum!

In an instant, with the support of even more chakra, the newly awakened Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Danzo’s eye sockets began undergoing another transformation.

The gear-shaped patterns within his crimson pupils started twisting and deforming.

"Could there be an even more powerful form of the Sharingan?!"

Orochimaru was so shocked by the sight that he blurted out the question.

Beside him, Kagami suddenly raised a hand to cover his own eyes.

For some inexplicable reason, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his own eye sockets had also begun stirring restlessly...