Ch.68 Jikibi and Wazunagi

Without a doubt, this pair of Mangekyō Sharingan belonged to Shinji's grandmother, Uchiha Naori!

The connection through blood was unmistakable. When Shinji activated Susanoo Tomoshibi to wield this pair of Mangekyō, there was almost no resistance. It was far easier than when he wielded Fugaku's Mangekyō before.

"I found it!"

Shinji was thrilled!

Not only had he found his grandmother's Mangekyō, but he also discovered that this pair was in far better condition than the previous two.

This further confirmed his theory:

The state of the Mangekyō itself influenced how much it would decay.

The previous two Mangekyō owners had clearly exhausted their dojutsu heavily while they were alive. But Uchiha Naori's Mangekyō had far less wear on their power, so their condition had been preserved better.

After calming down from his excitement, Shinji began to ponder.

Out of the ten jars, three pairs of Mangekyō had been found. Although one pair had decayed beyond use, the harvest far exceeded his expectations.

But now a new problem had arisen!

Both usable pairs of Mangekyō had been used to cast forbidden techniques, permanently draining the power of one eye.

They were in a damaged state.

Shinji had sensed through Susanoo Tomoshibi that even Uchiha Naori's pair couldn't be directly fused due to incomplete power.

"How do I restore these two pairs of Mangekyō?"

Shinji stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Restoring permanently blinded Mangekyō wasn't impossible—Uchiha Madara had done it.

His legendary battle with the First Hokage ended with him using Izanagi to fake his death.

Later, by studying the First Hokage's cells, he combined Yin and Yang Release and, before his death, unlocked the Shinra Banshō (All-Creation Power), which not only restored his permanently blind Eternal Mangekyō but also evolved them into the Rinnegan.

So, it was clear that the key to restoring a permanently blinded Mangekyō lay in the Shinra Banshō, the power of the combination of Yin and Yang.

But acquiring the Shinra Banshō wasn't easy—it involved the First Hokage's cells.

After the First Hokage's death, the Second Hokage conducted a large-scale cell transplantation experiment in the Hidden Leaf to bring back Wood Release, but it ended in failure with heavy casualties.

Even volunteers with Senju blood couldn't withstand the overpowering nature of the First Hokage's cells.

Many years later, Danzo and Orochimaru secretly restarted the experiment, using dozens of children for another round of cell transplants. In the end, only Yamato survived by chance.

So, Shinji wasn't eager to risk messing with the First Hokage's cells.

Even Danzo, who had the cells implanted, faced the risk of uncontrollable Wood Release.

And even Madara, with the Eternal Mangekyō and as the reincarnation of Indra, couldn't fully resist the cells' corrosive power, leading to a grotesque face of the First Hokage forming on his chest.

Just the thought of it sent chills down Shinji's spine!

By comparison, the special White Zetsu cells that Madara cultivated using the Divine Tree and the First Hokage's cells were much safer.

When transplanted into Obito, they left almost no side effects.

"White Zetsu cells…"

Thinking of this, Shinji recalled the time he had crossed paths with Deidara:

"I wonder if he's joined the Akatsuki yet. If he has, maybe I can get some White Zetsu cells through him!"

White Zetsu cells had proven their value.

Obito, with only one Mangekyō, could use Kamui as casually as someone using a Fireball Jutsu, thanks to White Zetsu's regenerative power.

Pulling his thoughts back, Shinji focused once more on the jars containing the Mangekyō.

In addition to the White Zetsu cells, he had another potential method:

He could take the left eye of one Mangekyō, which still had power, and pair it with Uchiha Naori's right eye, which still had its own power.

Then, using his own Mangekyō to activate Susanoo Tomoshibi, he could forcefully fuse these two eyes together.

Although the success rate would be lower, there was still a significant chance of successfully creating an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

The drawback was that it would permanently cost him a pair of Mangekyō.

After all, a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan has a special synergy between the two eyes.

For example, Obito and Kakashi's Sharingan, even when in different people, still evolved into Mangekyō due to their connected power.

So, if he fused two Mangekyō eyes with power remaining, the other blind ones would be completely useless.

Conversely, as long as one Mangekyō eye still had power, there was always the possibility of restoring the other blind eye.

After weighing his options, Shinji decided to abandon this extravagant method.

With the Uchiha Clan almost wiped out, Mangekyō Sharingan had become an irreplaceable resource. He didn't want to waste any if he had other choices.

Right now, aside from his own Mangekyō, he had four other Mangekyō in varying conditions.

If he could find a way to restore the permanently blind Mangekyō, even the decayed pair might regain their power. At that point, he could fuse two pairs of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and still have one Mangekyō left over.

But if he gave up on finding a restoration method and fused the eyes now, he would effectively be losing a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

"There's no need to rush. My current pair of Mangekyō, Fugaku's, still has enough power to last for a while."

As long as he continued to wield two pairs of Mangekyō, his power would be sustainable.

If, later on, his power began to fade and he still hadn't found a way to restore the blind Mangekyō, he could always fuse the remaining eyes.

Letting go of the dilemma for now, Shinji focused on sensing the power within his grandmother Uchiha Naori's Mangekyō.

The left eye, which had gone blind, once held a dojutsu called "Wazunagi." But since the eye had lost its power, Shinji didn't know what the technique did.

Her right eye, however, held a dojutsu called "Jikibi," meaning "the eye that connects hearts."

Any soul that had been marked by its power, as long as they were within a hundred kilometers of Shinji, could communicate with him on a spiritual level using Jikibi.

This dojutsu... it's a bit like the Rinnegan's Magic Lantern Body Technique. Does this mean I can hold remote meetings from now on?

As Shinji's thoughts wandered, he found himself puzzled by something else.

Why had his grandmother Uchiha Naori chosen to preserve this supportive dojutsu in her right eye?

What, then, was the effect of the Wazunagi technique she had sacrificed in her left eye?