In the end, Itachi only had his blood, skin, and bone marrow sampled.
"Senior Natsuki said that Itachi's body is already showing problems. If left untreated, it'll worsen quickly."
"Oh?" Orochimaru took Itachi's tissue samples for testing, then picked up the documents Natsuki had specially prepared for him.
He flipped through page after page, words filling the sheets. His gaze shifted from casual indifference to complete concentration, his expression gradually turning feverish.
"Amazing… amazing. I never would've thought of these things. How could Natsuki know all this?"
[On the Negative Mental Effects of Soul Splitting]
[Basic Analysis of Yin–Yang Release Chakra]
[The Evolution of the Sharingan and Speculation]
[On the Sage's Eyes, Sage's Body, Sage's Blood, and Bloodline Limits]
[Speculations on Sage Arts and Their Relation to Cursed Seals]
Each page was filled with Natsuki's stored knowledge and reasonable conjectures.
When he handed this knowledge to Shisui, Natsuki had explained: if Kotoamatsukami succeeded, they could directly tell Orochimaru that he had the ability to foresee the future.
When Orochimaru heard that the Mangekyō Sharingan could foresee the future, he was stunned—and became even more obsessed with the documents in hand.
"Beep… beep…"
At that moment, the testing machine finished analyzing Itachi's tissue.
Orochimaru picked up the results and frowned.
He found Itachi's cells unnaturally active, with some beginning to mutate abnormally—a pathological, cellular-level degeneration.
If Natsuki were here, he'd have immediately recognized it: this was a form of leukemia.
Although Orochimaru didn't know the name of the disease, his advanced medical expertise was enough.
He quickly deduced that Itachi's condition came from the Yin Release chakra of the Mangekyō eroding his body each time he used it.
As long as the Mangekyō's use was halted, Orochimaru could suppress the mutated cells. Once Itachi grew older and his body strengthened, he'd be able to resist the Yin chakra's corrosion—and recover without medicine.
"That's a relief, Itachi!" Shisui finally breathed out.
When Natsuki had said Itachi would only live to twenty, he had been plagued with worry day and night.
Thankfully, Natsuki's plan had worked. Shisui rubbed his eyes—both of which now needed years to recover before he could use Kotoamatsukami again.
At least the two times he'd used it already had made a difference.
"Don't celebrate too soon," Orochimaru's voice pulled Shisui back.
"Your clan's Mangekyō Sharingan was never a stable power to begin with. Reckless overuse won't just lead to blindness, but unpredictable degenerations in your bodies."
He compared the notes [Evolution of the Sharingan] with [On the Sage's Eyes, Sage's Body, Sage's Blood, and Bloodline Limits].
Inside the second, he found records on the Ōtsutsuki clan and the influence their bloodline had on many of the shinobi world's kekkei genkai.
"Bloodline limits are both a blessing and a curse," Orochimaru sighed.
"The next experiments will require your full cooperation."
Natsuki had theorized possible ways to stabilize the Mangekyō: for Itachi, transplanting a blood relative's Mangekyō. But Shisui had no kin left, meaning he'd have to take the second path—infusing Hashirama's chakra.
But Orochimaru had his own idea: directly injecting Yang Release chakra into them, to see its effect on the Mangekyō.
The problem was, no such experiment had ever been done. With only two living test subjects, he'd need to reorganize everything from scratch.
His old plans, his past research projects—all scrapped. His pursuit of power was no longer limited to the Sharingan. His ambitions had grown far grander.
Orochimaru soon buried himself in work, leaving the Sound Village's management entirely to Kabuto.
But Kabuto was often too occupied assisting in experiments. Scientific research required precision—Shadow Clones couldn't be used. When they dispersed, the flood of medical data could crash your brain, forcing days of rest just to recover.
The Uchiha clansmen brought by Itachi and Shisui quickly filled the manpower gap in the Sound Village.
The elder Uchiha Takuya soon took over Kabuto's role in handling village affairs, letting Kabuto focus on Orochimaru.
For Elder Takuya, this fulfilled a lifelong dream. Even though the Sound Village was small, it gave him a taste of real power.
Kabuto had no interest in politics. For him, Orochimaru was his superior, his brother, his family. Helping him was all that mattered.
Meanwhile, Itachi and Shisui spent every day cooperating with Orochimaru, treating themselves as living material. Were it not for the confidence they had in Kotoamatsukami, they would've worried he'd dissect them alive.
—
In the new Uchiha compound:
"Lord Natsuki, a message from the ninja cats," Akira said as he entered.
His older brother Yoruya, who had followed Itachi, had also signed a summoning contract with the cats, allowing them to send quick reports.
Natsuki unrolled the scroll: Orochimaru had begun researching Itachi's body. It seemed Itachi's condition was stabilized.
Next came development.
"Lord Natsuki!"
Another Uchiha hurried in.
"There's word from the Third Hokage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Natsuki frowned, then chuckled after reading.
Danzo still hadn't given up. Ever since the incident of trying to steal Shisui's eye, he had become a rat everyone in Konoha hated, skulking only within his clan or Root, never setting foot in the Hokage's office.
Yet he still lusted after the Uchiha.
Hiruzen, for his part, wasn't any better. Outwardly, he acted friendly toward the Uchiha, but in truth, he was diverting trouble eastward.
With Danzo growing too powerful, Hiruzen could barely keep him in check. Now with the Uchiha estranged from the village, and with two Mangekyō wielders in their ranks, the Hokage couldn't hope to control them.
Thus, letting Danzo and the Uchiha clash was convenient—whoever suffered losses, Hiruzen benefitted.
For the Uchiha, Konoha's reaction mattered less and less. Once the Land of Rice was developed, their civilians wouldn't need to rely on the Leaf.
"Pass down my orders: Uchiha Police Force patrols will now operate in pairs of full squads."
"No clansman with awakened eyes is allowed to travel alone outside the compound. Suspend all Konoha mission assignments for now. Everyone is to return home and rest."
Fugaku had already delegated these powers to Natsuki, grooming him as successor.
Natsuki stood, patting Akira on the shoulder. "Danzo still covets our Sharingan. If manpower runs short, go to Fugaku. And hurry up with the barrier corps."
"Yes, Captain!"
Akira's eyes shone with determination.
The clan must be protected—by me!
---
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