Ch.150 Artificial Tailed Beast

After completing Karin's eye replacement surgery, Uchiha Shinji did not return to his apartment. Instead, he used Jikibi to contact Haku and informed him of Karin's condition, instructing him to deliver food to her regularly.

Haku also took the opportunity to report to Shinji the mission assigned to him by the Hidden Mist.

After hearing Haku's report, Shinji immediately realized that the open and hidden struggle for control over the upcoming operations between the Five Great Shinobi Villages was about to unfold.

To compete for command of the operation, the Five Great Shinobi Villages would certainly take action against the Akatsuki.

At that time, the conflict between the Five Great Shinobi Villages and the Akatsuki would intensify further, and the future of the shinobi world might diverge into a path completely different from the original timeline.

"Sigh..."

Shinji let out a sigh.

What he lacked most now was time to grow, but conflicts and disputes kept following him closely, making him feel suffocated.

His current strength mainly lay in his pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

Furthermore, he was only a little over eight years old, and his body had not yet grown to its peak. Compared to adults like Nagato and Obito, he was at a significant natural disadvantage.

Additionally, he had very little experience in high-level battles.

Activating "Susanoo Tomoshibi" to crush weaker opponents was fine, but when faced with someone like Nagato with the Rinnegan, or Obito with space-time ninjutsu and Wood Release, or Itachi with the sacred treasures like the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror, his chances of winning were slim.

This was already the result of his effort to grow stronger.

If it had been a few months earlier and he had encountered these people, he would have had a 100% chance of dying—forget about winning; he wouldn't even have had a chance to escape.

"Improving my strength cannot stop!"

With this thought, Shinji's expression darkened.

During the confrontation with Obito and the others, he had sensed danger. If Obito had attacked recklessly, he would have undoubtedly been defeated.

Luckily, at that time, his imposing aura had intimidated Obito, allowing him to escape calmly.

Reflecting on the shortcomings of that battle, Shinji began thinking about how to further enhance his strength.

The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was already the ultimate state of the Sharingan. The only way to improve further was to aim for the Rinnegan.

But that was not an easy step to take!

Back then, Uchiha Madara, with his extraordinary luck, had gathered the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the cells of the First Hokage, the chakra of Ōtsutsuki Indra, and the chakra of Ōtsutsuki Asura, and even then, he barely awakened the Rinnegan in his old age.

Shinji had only just obtained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and immediately aiming for the Rinnegan was neither realistic nor wise.

Therefore, he soon turned his attention to cultivating his subordinates.

Currently, Karin's potential was already quite strong. With any random pair of Mangekyō Sharingan, she could exhibit Kage-level strength.

Her biggest problem now was her lack of experience.

When dealing with ordinary shinobi, this might not be an issue, but if she were to face a strong opponent, they could easily discern her true state from subtle details and devise tactics accordingly.

However, this couldn't be helped. After all, she was only seven years old, a year younger than Shinji. If he couldn't solve this problem himself, she certainly couldn't either.

Combat experience and battle wisdom could not be gained easily. You either had an innate talent, like the Fourth Hokage or Uchiha Itachi, with an extraordinary combat intuition capable of spotting flaws in an instant, or you had to sharpen yourself through battle after battle.

Neither Shinji nor Karin possessed that kind of exceptional combat intuition, so they had no choice but to accumulate battle experience and wisdom slowly through repeated fights.

Currently, Shinji had, aside from his own pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, three other pairs of Mangekyō, including the fully damaged pair in Karin's eye sockets.

In other words, he could still attempt to fuse a second pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan while keeping Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō intact.

Previously, he had planned to use Susanoo Tomoshibi to fuse this second pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

But now, he had a new idea.

If everything went smoothly and Karin successfully restored the damaged pair of Mangekyō Sharingan, he planned to have her try fusing the Mangekyō Sharingan that contained the dojutsu Susanoo no Mikoto.

This was a risky move.

However, if it succeeded and resulted in a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Karin would essentially become the original owner of this pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

At that point, she would truly have the foundational conditions to aim for the Rinnegan, and her growth potential would once again soar!

By comparison, Haku's strength was more average.

But among his peers, Haku was undoubtedly a standout, and there weren't many who could defeat him in a serious fight.

Even among the Jonin of the village, not many could beat him one-on-one.

However, the enemies Shinji had to face were not ordinary. Besides the various ambitious figures in the shinobi world, there were also formidable enemies from beyond.

This was why Haku's strength seemed to be falling behind.

Fortunately, Shinji had "Jikibi" and "Wazunagi." At critical moments, he could use "Jikibi" to transmit messages and "Wazunagi" to transfer chakra, which greatly compensated for Haku's chakra deficiency.

Aside from Karin and Haku, his two "attendants," Shinji felt he still needed to recruit more people.

Right now, he had his eye on Neji.

First, as a genius of the Hyūga Clan, Neji had considerable potential. Additionally, according to Shinji's research, the Hyūga and Kaguya clans were complementary.

In other words, if Neji successfully merged with Kimimaro's cells, he would likely undergo a significant enhancement.

Second, as a member of the Hyūga Branch family, the Caged Bird Seal was Neji's greatest obsession and weakness. As long as Shinji seized upon this, Neji would have no choice but to cooperate.

Third, Neji was also a stepping stone to the Moon.

Especially regarding the giant Tenseigan on the Moon—without Byakugan chakra, it was impossible to control. So, in his plan to target the Tenseigan, Neji's cooperation was essential.

For these three reasons, Neji was Shinji's next target for recruitment.

Simultaneously, Shinji also decided to lie low for a while and stop appearing openly in the shinobi world because, in the foreseeable future, the conflict between the Akatsuki and the Five Great Shinobi Villages would become increasingly fierce and bloody.

If he continued to show himself as a member of the Akatsuki, he would end up in a difficult position between both sides.

Rather than that, it would be better to hide and secretly develop.

...

At the Hyūga Main House.

Swoosh.

In a light whistling wind, a shadow darted into the estate.

The shadow seemed familiar with the layout of the house. After a few quick movements, it easily avoided the layers of guards and reached the inner courtyard.

Gently opening the sliding door, the shadow slipped inside like a breeze, landing silently in the room.

After scanning the room, the shadow moved toward a wall, feeling around it with both hands.

Click!

Suddenly, as if triggering a mechanism, there was a faint sound from the wall, and a hidden compartment popped out.

The shadow froze for a moment before showing a delighted expression, reaching into the compartment and pulling out a scroll.

Eagerly unrolling the scroll, the shadow read it carefully, then closed it again, a contemplative look on its face.

After a moment, the shadow returned the scroll to its original place and restored the hidden compartment, slowly exiting the house.

Back at his residence, the shadow finally lit the candle on the table. In the flickering light, his conflicted yet hopeful face was revealed—it was none other than Hyūga Neji.

After some hesitation, Neji ultimately decided to first find the clues leading to the Moon and then consider whether to cooperate with the Akatsuki.

This time, Sasuke's departure from the village had fully exposed the reckless behavior of the Akatsuki, making the principled Neji feel extremely uncomfortable and resistant.

But at the same time, the Akatsuki's formidable power had also left a deep impression on him.

If he wanted to resist the "Caged Bird" and the Main House and avenge his father, it would be impossible with just his strength alone.

Eventually, he would either have to compromise like the other branch members or be killed by the Main House. There was almost no third option.

Thus, the Akatsuki's appearance gave him a new choice.

"My only enemy is the Main House. If the Akatsuki wants me to betray the village's interests, I would rather lose the chance for revenge than cooperate with them," Neji thought to himself. "But if the Akatsuki only wants my help to reach the Moon..."

...

Inside Shinnō's secret base.

Looking at the massive cocoon-like object pulsing like a heartbeat in the giant cultivation chamber, Obito frowned slightly. "Is this the secret weapon you mentioned?"

Shinnō was excited. "That's right! It's the artificial tailed beast, Zero-Tails!"

"An artificial tailed beast?" Obito smirked and asked, "Why are you so interested in this kind of thing?"

"Uh..."

Shinnō didn't know how to answer for a moment.

In his mind, tailed beasts were weapons of war, treasures that even the Five Great Shinobi Villages coveted, so he couldn't understand why Obito would ask such a question.

Nearby, Mōryō chuckled. "This thing does have some merit."

Obito glanced at Mōryō.

As someone who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan and could control the Nine-Tails, it was hard for Obito to appreciate the significance of tailed beasts to other shinobi in the world.

In fact, even Mōryō, a demonic entity, became interested in Shinnō's Zero-Tails after learning about the basic theory behind artificial tailed beasts.

As a demonic creature, Mōryō had an abundance of chakra.

The undead army that once ravaged the shinobi world was created from the vast chakra nurtured by Mōryō.

So, if Mōryō wanted, he could easily support Shinnō in cultivating a fully realized Zero-Tails.

Seeing that Obito was still hesitant, Shinnō quickly urged, "Once I become the Zero-Tails Jinchūriki, my strength will skyrocket. At that point, I could even modify myself using dark medical ninjutsu to maintain a permanent 'Death Gate' state from the Eight Gates Release!"

Although Obito still looked down on artificial tailed beasts, he was in dire need of additional manpower, so he didn't reject Shinnō's request this time. Instead, he asked, "How long will it take you to complete Zero-Tails?"

Shinnō calculated for a moment and said, "If the organization fully supports me, I can have the Zero-Tails born within two months!"

"Two months..."

Obito began to ponder.

According to the latest intel from Zetsu, Nagato had already adjusted his plans based on the current situation in the shinobi world. It wouldn't be long before the Akatsuki would fully start capturing tailed beasts.

And once they collected all the tailed beasts and resurrected the Ten-Tails, his partnership with Nagato would come to an end.

So, he had to prepare in advance for the final battle.

"Controlling Uchiha Sasuke means controlling Uchiha Itachi. Plus, with Mōryō and Shinnō wielding the Zero-Tails, if I launch a surprise attack, my chances of winning aren't bad!"

At this moment, he thought of the three Akatsuki members in hooded red cloud robes.

Nagato's other subordinates, such as Konan, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Hidan, didn't concern Obito much.

But the three mysterious Akatsuki members, who had repeatedly interfered with his actions, made him very wary.

Because only an Uchiha truly understands an Uchiha.

Among those three mysterious Akatsuki members, at least two possessed Mangekyō Sharingan. Without knowing what Mangekyō dojutsu they had, Obito couldn't rest easy.

He suddenly realized that Mōryō and Shinnō were the best candidates to test those two Uchiha's Mangekyō abilities, so he said to Shinnō, "Alright, list the supplies you need, and the organization will do its best to gather them for you!"

"Yes!" Shinnō was overjoyed.

After dealing with Shinnō's request, Obito left the secret base and encountered Zetsu, who had come specifically to find him.

Obito asked, "What news?"

Zetsu replied, "The Five Great Shinobi Villages have already reached a consensus: whoever first obtains core intel from within our organization will gain command authority."

"Hmph, the same old trick!"

Obito snorted disdainfully, his eyes full of scorn.

After three shinobi world wars, the Five Great Shinobi Villages had gained nothing but endless bloodshed. Obito was long tired of this endless cycle of conflict.

Zetsu shrugged. "This time, they seem serious. We might need to make preparations. If they capture one or two of our members, our plans could be affected."

Obito smiled. "This could be our opportunity! Let's go see Nagato. It's time to have a talk with him!"

Since they knew the plans of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, they could lay a trap to capture a few Jinchūriki, reducing the difficulty of collecting tailed beasts later.

But before all that, the Akatsuki had to remain united until the Ten-Tails was revived. There could be no more internal strife.