He walked leisurely into the Mizukage building. At that moment, Kirigakure was at its most humid. Sea breezes blew thick waves of fog across
He walked leisurely into the Mizukage building.
At that moment, Kirigakure was at its most humid. Sea breezes blew thick waves of fog across the village. The sunlight filtered through the sky, but instead of bringing warmth, it only cast a dreary gray over the village, making the atmosphere even more gloomy and oppressive.
Swaying slightly, the Second Mizukage casually pushed open the door leading to the underground and stepped inside.
In the darkness, a pair of light purple eyes suddenly snapped open, locking onto the idiot standing at the entrance, glancing around like a clueless fool.
"Hōzuki Gengetsu? A dead man?
No... Impure World Reincarnation?!"
At the same time, Hōzuki Gengetsu spotted the faint purple eyes in the shadows and let out a strange cry.
"Holy hell! Rinnegan?!"
As a former Mizukage of one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, there was no way Hōzuki Gengetsu wouldn't recognize the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.
But today, he was truly stunned. First, he'd parted ways with Mu—his eternal arguing partner. Then, he'd experienced a forbidden technique capable of summoning the dead. And now, he was staring at a pair of Rinnegan—right in his own basement.
"Let me study those eyes!"
With a shout, Hōzuki Gengetsu quickly formed a hand seal with one hand.
But just as he did, his body suddenly froze in place. At the same time, his true form flickered into view in a corner of the room.
"Heh~ A mere Second Mizukage, and you dare to come looking for me alone?"
The voice was arrogant and unruly.
For some reason, even though Gengetsu's body was paralyzed, a sly smirk crept across his face.
"I knew something felt off in here. So this creepy place was home to a big rat!"
"You're asking for death."
With a cold snort, Hōzuki Gengetsu was suddenly forced to his knees as if pinned down by several strong men.
From the darkness came a fit of coughing.
As the cough echoed, Gengetsu fell silent. Then, his body began to expand slowly, straining with resistance.
Steam Explosion!
Gengetsu's signature technique—using the oil and water in his body to create a child-like clone that could self-destruct endlessly.
Just as the clone began bulking up, another round of coughing echoed, followed by a cold, irritated voice.
"What a troublesome guy... cough cough
Shinra Tensei!"
Shit!
Hiding in an apartment and eavesdropping via his sensory technique, Reiji suddenly felt a chill scalp to toe.
He's coughing like that and can still use Shinra Tensei?
Figures... the sons of the Sage Ōtsutsuki never played by the ninja rulebook!
As that thought passed, an immense repulsive force erupted, blowing straight through everything and flipping the entire Mizukage building into the air.
At the same time, a thunderous explosion rang out—Hōzuki Gengetsu's bloated baby clone had detonated!
In an instant, chaos erupted throughout the village.
Panicked villagers rushed out of their homes, gazing toward the village center.
But the thick fog of early morning completely obscured their view.
...
In the rubble of the Mizukage building, the Third Mizukage crawled out, clutching his bleeding forehead, swearing under his breath.
Talk about unlucky.
He'd stayed up late into the night, working overtime to fulfill the task Madara had given him. He'd barely closed his eyes in his office for a quick nap before the entire building got blown sky-high.
Among the wreckage, Madara Uchiha also emerged.
His black, high-collared robe cinched at the waist fluttered in the cold morning wind, making him look almost dashing.
But much of his hair had already turned white, and his once-straight posture was now slightly hunched.
At that moment, Gengetsu's fat baby clone, revived and agile again after the explosion, charged at Madara once more, swinging a massive blade.
"Enough! You're seriously annoying!"
With a low shout, Madara Uchiha used Shinra Tensei to blast him away, then soared into the air.
No doubt about it—the Rinnegan was absurdly powerful. It could fly when it wanted, go where it pleased.
In the shadows, Reiji frowned as he watched Madara's identical eyes.
He remembered it clearly: back when Madara faked his death, didn't he use Izanagi at the cost of permanently blinding one eye?
So how did he have two perfect eyes now?
Could Hashirama's cells really be that freakishly powerful—borderline immortal, like Reiji himself?
Or... were the eyes just equipment?
That thought sparked a memory of something Fugaku had once said.
Was it really the Uchiha Clan's eyes that were special, or was it the unique chakra generated by their brains?
As someone completely outside the clan, Reiji had naturally assumed it was those flashy eyes that held the real power.
But Fugaku insisted—what truly made the Uchiha special was the chakra of love they carried within.
That reminded Reiji of something from his past life—a theory on how the Rinnegan was awakened.
Supposedly, only the reincarnation of Indra's chakra could awaken the Rinnegan by transplanting the body or cells of Ashura's reincarnation.
And now, he had three theories in front of him.
First, that Madara awakened one Rinnegan and somehow used it to create another.
The Rinnegan, after all, was called the Eye of Creation—bringing peace to the world—and the Eye of Destruction—returning all to nothing. But the idea of creating one Rinnegan with another? That theory had a glaring flaw.
If that were possible, why did Madara go through the trouble during the Fourth Great Ninja War to steal Kakashi's eye and enter Kamui's dimension just to retrieve his other Rinnegan?
Why not just make a new one?
Unless... creating a pair of Rinnegan was too time- and energy-consuming?
Second theory—Hashirama's cells.
Their regenerative ability was so insane, they could supposedly restore sight to a fully blind Sharingan.
But even that theory had holes. After Obito received Madara's cells, his eyes became durable—but not unbreakable.
By that logic, Danzō's Sharingan-filled arm would've gone from a disposable umbrella to an inflatable girlfriend.
Washable, even...
Ahem—yeah, not exactly airtight logic.
Then there was the third theory.
Given the Sharingan's plug-and-play nature, Reiji found himself siding with Fugaku's take.
If Indra's chakra reincarnate could awaken the Rinnegan by transplanting Ashura's body or cells, then maybe the special factor wasn't the eyes—it was Indra's chakra itself.
Sure, Indra inherited the Sage's eyes, and Ashura inherited his body...
But in strict terms, Indra received Yin Release—spiritual energy—while Ashura inherited Yang Release—the physical.
Which raised the question: if an Ashura reincarnate transplanted Indra's brain... could they awaken the Rinnegan too?
Now it's just turning into a chakra Matryoshka doll.
Still, it wasn't completely outlandish.
The Uchiha Clan had already proven this idea. To evolve their Mangekyō into Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, they didn't use their own eyes—they used their brother's.
That alone suggested that while the Sharingan mattered, what mattered more was the spiritual energy in the mind.
Right now, all three theories were still in play.
Setting the question aside for now, Reiji quickly formed a hand seal and dispelled the Impure World Reincarnation binding Hōzuki Gengetsu.
With that, he'd confirmed Madara Uchiha's condition.
His combat strength? Still top-tier.
But he'd aged significantly.
Which meant... time was on Reiji's side.