It was rare to see Orochimaru in such a chatty mood—he even put his ninjutsu research aside for now.
Akaba had originally intended to leave earlier but ended up sitting down patiently since the other insisted on talking.
"Hey Akaba, I recently finished my sound detection research and finally had some time to read your manga updates. Though it portrays me in a rather strange way, I still had some questions after reading it."
Orochimaru dragged over his Record Page. "If both humans and beasts possess souls, then what exactly is the essence of a soul? And do souls have gender distinctions?"
What a great question! One I've wondered about myself!
This question was extremely philosophical—similar ones could fill an entire book.
Like, if you transformed into someone else and dated a girlfriend, would that count as same-sex or heterosexual romance?
Or what if your girlfriend's soul and your mother's swapped?
Ahem!
Akaba stopped daydreaming and started carefully considering how to respond.
"When a person is first born, their soul is like a blank slate—it's only through later education and experience that they come to understand gender differences. So I believe souls themselves have no gender; what determines gender is the individual's own mind and memories."
But before Akaba could reply, Orochimaru answered his own question, then stood up and walked to the lab table.
There were two boxes on it, one containing a rat and the other a cat.
"If I swap the souls of the cat and mouse and exchange their memories, they'll quickly adapt to their new identities. Humans are no different."
He kept talking nonstop.
Akaba shut up and just listened.
It finally clicked for him.
Orochimaru didn't actually need answers—he just needed a listener who wouldn't look at these inquiries and research with strange eyes.
After speaking, Orochimaru shut the boxes and sat back down. "Also, I've been thinking—if I implant fabricated memories of characters like Iruka or Mizuki into someone else, might they come to believe themselves truly *are* Iruka or Mizuki, living out their lives accordingly?"
Akaba felt he could respond to everything except this last point—that's exactly what separates a top student from an average one.
When even an excellent student couldn't answer something, they could still cite many references, politely finding ways to express uncertainty.
An average student simply couldn't do that.
Orochimaru spoke all his thoughts about souls in one go, then sighed helplessly in conclusion.
The field of souls was vast and boundless. Even the Second himself had no clear understanding of it—let alone someone like Akaba.
Sitting back down again, he pulled another notebook from beneath the table.
Another round of soul interrogation?
Akaba involuntarily tensed. After all, he was considered a genius by others—it would be really awkward if he couldn't answer every single question!
Fortunately, this time Orochimaru didn't make things difficult for him.
This small notebook contained design plans clearly illustrating a combined ninjutsu technique.
Using Earth Release Barrier Technique as the cannon barrel, Wind Release as propulsion power, then employing oil and Fire Release techniques as projectiles for long-range attacks.
To put it simply—
"So… you're making a cannon?"
"Precisely. Based on ideas from your manga, I created this jutsu. However, for now, I haven't thought of who'd be suitable to use such a technique."
Orochimaru himself doesn't wield Fire Release.
He had now developed two types of chakra nature transformation—one was wind, the other earth.
With no Fire Release, he was left with no choice but to use combined chakra natures.
"This is still just an early concept. The ultimate goal is to create ninja tools, not combined ninjutsu techniques."
Orochimaru explained his own jutsu.
"Very good, very good."
Who knows, in my lifetime I might even get to see an actual naval battle.
Akaba grew increasingly confident in Orochimaru's vision of a Pirate King nation. Perhaps one day the Land of River could really be transformed into something like what he imagined from the tales of the Pirate King.
By then though, the name "Land of River" would seem slightly awkward.
The two continued chatting for a while before Akaba finally took the letter and left the laboratory.
He'd been away for four or five days—time to go back and let everyone know he was safe.
It was already evening by then.
Konoha became relatively lively at night, with people still walking around the streets. When he returned home, both his parents were still awake.
When Sakuma Chiaki saw that Akaba had returned safely, he visibly relaxed.
Akaba briefly mentioned the things he could talk about, then shifted to little Kyoyuki's situation.
The Land of Whirlpools was probably destroyed beyond recovery.
Akaba could more or less guess the contents of Uzumaki Shuhai's letter, as could little Kyoyuki herself.
Though she seemed quiet and reserved, the girl was actually quite clever.
Regarding adoption and changing her surname, Sakuma Saiki wholeheartedly supported the idea.
As for Sakuma Chiaki, he followed Saiki's lead.
With both family elders and the future clan leader in agreement, the Sakuma clan wouldn't possibly oppose it.
Since Akaba had been away for several days, he didn't know the current situation.
Now within the clan, he was basically treated just like the next clan leader. Everyone who spoke of him showed praise and respect—his reputation had become outstanding.
Of course,
His laziness was also widely known—for example, the moment he got home tonight, he took a shower and hit the sack right away.
Izumi Yamano understood this well. That morning, he specially sent over more than a hundred volumes, but due to limited personnel, this shipment had fewer guards. With help from nearby villagers, they managed to get all the boxes unloaded quickly and head back.
Although manga shipments arrived regularly, Sakuma Yunlang already knew Akaba had returned to the clan. But having worked together for so long, he also thoroughly understood Akaba's personality.
After coming back from a trip, Akaba would usually knock out for at least half a day.
Whoever disturbed him during this time would definitely suffer his wrath unless it was a life-or-death matter—like being urgently summoned by the Third or Mito Uzumaki. Otherwise, everything waited until Akaba woke naturally.
This time, someone did come looking for him.
However, it was just a kid from the Uchiha clan. Thus, Sakuma Yunlang decided not to wake Akaba immediately, waiting instead until he woke on his own.
After Akaba finally came out of the house and headed to the manga shop, Sakuma Yunlang told him all about it.
The person looking for him was Uchiha Ryo, but that guy was merely a messenger. The one who truly wanted to meet Akaba must have been Uchiha Motonami.
Akaba left behind a shadow clone, then leisurely made his way toward the Military Police Force headquarters.
But here, something unexpected happened.
It had been a while since he last came by. He originally thought the Military Police were still stationed at their old location, but when he arrived at Uchiha territory, he learned that during his absence, the entire force had relocated to a remote suburb of the village.
Judging from the geography along the way, this must be the location where the Uchiha clan settled after being exiled.
After locating the Military Police compound, he walked straight through its main entrance and arrived at the lake where Sasuke later became known for training his Powerful Fireball Jutsu.
The lake's outer perimeter once housed an abandoned training field, now rebuilt and expanded into a large training facility. As Akaba entered, he could see many ninjas actively training inside.
As he approached the gate, he saw Motonami Uchiha standing in the center of the training ground like a classroom teacher, eyes scanning back and forth to monitor everyone's progress.
It seemed he hadn't used his Kaleidoscope Sharingan too often, so his vision remained sharp.
Akaba thought quietly to himself. As he walked closer, he noticed that Motonami's gaze was actually fixed on one particular child.
The boy looked about four or five years old. Judging by his talent, he already possessed enough strength to accurately throw kunai to hit the center of targets ten meters away—a clear inheritance of the Uchiha bloodline.
"Your child?"
Akaba quietly asked.
"Mm, his name is Fugaku."
Motonami replied proudly. With how well he was doing now, it was obvious Fugaku would become a prodigy in the future.
"I see."
Akaba glanced at the child.
In terms of appearance, the boy slightly resembled both Itachi and Sasuke, though not very closely. It seemed that Itachi and Sasuke inherited more of Mikoto Uchiha's looks.
When Motonami noticed Akaba's arrival, he stole a few more glances at Fugaku before turning around and walking with Akaba in another direction.
He pointed at the training area and said, "I suppose The Third appointed you as our Training Instructor for a reason. Therefore, I've invited you here mainly to seek your advice regarding training methods."
"Training? Well, there's honestly not much to say—my primary method involves using the Sakuma clan's bloodline genjutsu techniques to simulate real battlefield scenarios with maximum sensory realism, thus achieving the goal of preparatory training."
Akaba explained.
"I had guessed something like that. However, recently Shinku Yuhi has apparently developed a technique capable of freely manipulating illusions. Though lacking full sensory realism, it should still have some effect, right?"
Akaba froze.
So the system successfully implemented?
But then again, thinking further, Shinku Yuhi had become quite prominent within the Military Police lately. That didn't really concern him much anymore.
Akaba immediately felt disheartened.
He sighed inwardly, then slowly nodded gravely. "Yes, it does have effects, although there might be some differences in certain aspects."
"For example?"
Motonami Uchiha tensed up and stopped walking immediately.
Although the Uchiha clan certainly understood genjutsu well, clearly in this matter, Akaba was the true expert.
"Well, after all, illusions are just illusions. In many strategies, one can sacrifice expendable assets to complete missions or achieve strategic goals. Without full sensory realism, ninjas might adopt techniques involving trading injuries with opponents and such."
Akaba thoroughly explained.
He had discussed these issues with Danzo long ago. Now, he was just repeating them.
Motonami listened attentively to every detail. With each sentence Akaba spoke, he gave a solemn nod.
In the end, he sighed and said, "After hearing your analysis, it indeed seems that way. After all, illusions are just illusions—they can never truly compare to real battlefields, no matter how realistic they seem."
Akaba nodded thoughtfully before adding, "But I have a plan. The Military Police—the internal security force of the village—has many newly recruited genin, and our Preparatory Division consists entirely of new recruits as well. Once our division starts training for a while, we could arrange a joint illusion drill between both sides."
"A joint illusion drill? Now that's an idea worth trying."
Motonami Uchiha immediately agreed to this plan. As they walked forward a few more steps, he glanced around cautiously. Confirming nobody else was nearby, he pulled out a small booklet from within his robe and handed it to Akaba.
Akaba took one glance at it, then his eyes widened.
Kaleidoscope Sharingan?
He shot a look of disbelief at Motonami Uchiha.
"Don't worry, it's nothing classified," Motonami Uchiha sighed lightly.
Opening the booklet, Akaba found exactly what he had been told—nothing particularly classified. It recorded testing data showing the differences before and after Motonami used his dojutsu.
The decline in vision wasn't significant, but for an elite jonin, even the smallest changes were noticeable.
Then he added, "The Eye that Sees Through Souls — the more hatred and suffering it witnesses, the greater its power becomes. I believe you've probably figured this point already, otherwise you wouldn't have portrayed Itachi the way you did."
"Mm, my guess is that the Uchiha eye somehow correlates with mental mutation—negative emotions trigger heightened spiritual energy, eventually forming a unique energy form different from regular chakra."
He carefully chose what to reveal, strategically holding back the complete truth.
What a fitting name for it—truly, the Eye that Sees Through Souls!
Although fragmented records about these traits existed within the Uchiha clan, Motonami Uchiha silently nodded in agreement without pointing out any inaccuracies.
He felt some sentimentality instead.
Did Akaba figure this out on his own, or had Nidaime and Anbu conducted prior research on the Uchiha?
Previously, Motonami might've been bothered, eager to find the truth. But now, he didn't really care anymore.
It no longer mattered whether he knew the truth or not.
What mattered most was that his clansmen remained alive and safe, peacefully living their lives—that meant more than anything else.
Moreover, he was confident enough in his leadership abilities to ensure the Uchiha wouldn't resort to mutual destruction as a means to awaken the Sharingan. Should anyone emerge attempting such acts, he would eliminate them without hesitation!
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