At this moment—
No one noticed.
Within Akira Ren's eyes, both pupils had turned crimson red.
And within each eye, three black tomoe slowly revolved.
The Sharingan.
If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would have been stunned speechless.
Because Akira Ren possessed no Uchiha bloodline, yet he had awakened the Sharingan.
Moreover—
It was the three-tomoe form, something even pure-blooded members of the Uchiha clan rarely managed to awaken.
Even more astonishing—
Unlike Hatake Kakashi, who had obtained his Sharingan through the transplantation of his friend Uchiha Obito's eye, Ren's Sharingan functioned just like that of a true Uchiha.
He could freely activate and deactivate it at will.
"Three tomoe… I wonder when it will evolve into a true Mangekyō Sharingan."
With his head lowered, Akira Ren gently rubbed his eyes as he murmured to himself.
This was the most terrifying aspect of the mutated Mori Mori Fruit ability after combining with chakra.
Two years ago, one evening—
He had been catching fish by the Naka River, using them to practice medical ninjutsu.
By sheer coincidence, he discovered Uchiha Shisui's corpse.
Both of Shisui's eyes were already gone.
But the chakra within his body still remained.
Using his sensory abilities, Ren confirmed that there was no one nearby watching.
Without hesitation, he seized the opportunity and devoured the massive and unique chakra that had yet to dissipate from Shisui's body.
But during the process—
He had inadvertently consumed part of Shisui's flesh, which was converted into nutrients and fused into his own body.
That very night, after waking up in the middle of the night—
He found that his eyes felt burning hot, and his vision had suddenly improved dramatically.
Everything around him appeared incomparably clear.
When he looked into a mirror—
He discovered that he had awakened the Sharingan.
And it had skipped directly to the three-tomoe stage.
It was only then that Akira Ren realized something.
His Mori Mori Fruit ability could devour the flesh and chakra of those possessing a Bloodline Limit, converting them into nutrients that merged perfectly with his body—
Allowing him to directly obtain their Bloodline Limit.
Moreover, due to the influence of Uchiha Shisui's enormous chakra, he had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan right from the start.
"Still… the Uchiha clan…"
Deactivating his Sharingan, Akira Ren looked toward the direction of the Uchiha clan district, feeling a faint sense of melancholy.
As a transmigrator, he knew the fate of the Uchiha clan all too well.
Ever since the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha eight years ago, the Konoha leadership—who already harbored suspicions toward the Uchiha—had continuously suppressed the clan.
As a result, dissatisfaction among the Uchiha grew stronger day by day.
Two years ago, the radical faction within the clan had already been unable to endure it any longer and attempted to seize power through civil war.
But the death of Uchiha Shisui—
The prodigy who had earned the title "Shisui of the Body Flicker" at a young age—
Caught the clan completely off guard.
They had originally intended to rely on him as a key combat force in the rebellion.
Because of his sudden death, the Uchiha had no choice but to delay their uprising by two years.
And now—
The conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha's leadership had escalated to the point of irreconcilable hostility.
If nothing unexpected happened, the destruction of the Uchiha clan would occur within the next few days.
"Whatever… everyone sweeps the snow from their own doorstep."
Looking at the gradually rising sun, Akira Ren stretched his limbs.
"Fortunately, the academy will be on holiday in a couple of days. I won't need to attend classes… I'll have time to slowly experiment and see if I can refine Sage Chakra."
After all—
He wasn't an Uchiha.
There was nothing for him to worry about.
Besides, those Uchiha who remained immersed in their clan's past glory—arrogant and stubborn as they were—weren't exactly likable.
"Whoosh—"
With a light leap, he retrieved several books that had been placed earlier on a tree branch and headed toward the Ninja Academy.
Aside from the textbooks issued by the school, there were three additional books he had borrowed from the library:
Introduction to Puppet TechniquesFundamental Skills of a PuppeteerPuppet Design and Construction
Puppet techniques were said to have been pioneered by the Second Kazekage of the Land of Wind.
During the previous Three Great Ninja Wars, Sunagakure's intricate puppet techniques and unpredictable puppet mechanisms had caused heavy casualties for Konoha.
Because of that, Konoha had specifically researched Sunagakure's puppet arts.
However—
Due to their relative lack of expertise in the field, the puppets Konoha produced were far inferior to Sunagakure's in both precision and flexibility.
In battles against Suna ninja, trying to fight their puppets using such half-baked puppet techniques was no different from showing off one's meager skills before a master.
Over time, the puppet discipline never truly developed within Konoha.
Akira Ren indeed had some interest in puppet techniques and intended to spend some time studying them.
Of course—
He had no intention of actually becoming some sort of puppet master.
After all, as a Logia-type Mori Mori Fruit user, devoting himself entirely to becoming a puppeteer would be putting the cart before the horse.
The real reason was simple.
For now, he didn't want to expose his Wood Release too early, lest it attract the greed and suspicion of certain people.
Among the ninjutsu scrolls left behind by his father, Akira Daichi—
Aside from the more advanced Shadow Clone Technique and Body Flicker Technique—
There were only a few low-level Fire Release techniques.
There were no other particularly powerful ninjutsu.
So purely out of personal curiosity, he planned to do a little research into puppet techniques.
Besides—
Practicing puppet control would also help train his chakra control.
…