576. Sasuke’s Awakening

A/N:- I haven't been in good health these past few days. High fever, headache, nausea, and other symptoms. Went to doctor for a checkup and apparently, the reason for all this is my sore tooth from earlier. The teeth with the cavity. I thought they filled it properly but it wasn't. And now I have a sudden toothache and its affecting the muscles and nerves around my face. I have an appointment with doctor on Monday. Hopefully, it's properly treated this time.

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Izuna cracks his neck and withdraws the Sacred relic of the Otsutsuki clan.

RUMBLE… RUMBLE…

Without the stabilization of the sacred relic, the entire dimension crumbles into space debris and disappears into a small wormhole.

"Damn it! I just lost another dimension to these psychopathic bastards!" Izuna laments the loss of another personal dimension.

The light in Izuna's eyes dims down and they return to normal.

"Time to return to the shinobi world!"

Izuna slashes the space in front of him with his arm, opening a Yomotsu Hirasaka portal to the shinobi world.

-------

Back on the battlefield,

Shua…

A pitch-black portal appears in front of the Kage group, startling them.

Rasa, Onoki, and others quickly raise their guards.

"There is no need to panic, it's me!" Izuna walks out of the portal in his standard black shinobi garb that he wore four years ago.

A crescent moon earring with a star in the center hangs on his left earlobe. Two long bangs of hairs hangs loosely on either side of his face.

"IZUNA!"

Mei jumps into Izuna's embrace and sheds a few tears of joy.

"Izuna!" Tsunade also holds herself back and wipes the tears from his eyes.

"You are back, brat!"

Hiruzen glances at Izuna and sighs in relief. Izuna glances at the group of shinobis and opens his mouth.

"I know you have lots of questions, but now isn't the time. There are lots of important things to do right now."

Izuna ignores them and walks towards the Edo body of Tobirama. The latter is still screaming in pain from the torture Madara inflicted on him. None of the other shinobi, including Tsunade and Minato, had a way to free him from the torture.

"I have to say that old man is very petty, but then again, I can't blame him. I would also do such a thing, or even worse, to someone who dares touch my family."

Izuna extends his palm and absorbs all the purple flames.

Snap… snap… snap…

The restrictions on Tobirama's body snap one after another, freeing him from Madara's torture.

Shiing…

A blue light flashes past Izuna's right eye and Tobirama's soul returns to its previous state. He wipes out the memory of torture from Tobirama's soul.

Shua…

Gray-black ash particles swirl around Tobirama, restoring his Edo body.

Tobirama stands up with his signature frown and nods at Izuna in gratitude.

"You have my thanks, kid! As my appreciation, I will later support you against Big Brother about your affair…"

Snap…

Izuna quickly snaps his finger, silencing Tobirama.

"On second thoughts, it would be better if I return you to your previous condition."

Tobirama immediately shuts his mouth at Izuna's threat.

"Now then…" Izuna turns his attention to Sasuke.

Hashirama and Mito are sitting beside him, tending to his unconscious body.

"Leave him to me!"

Izuna places his hand on Hashirama's shoulder, dispelling the curse on his body.

"I feel a lot lighter now!" Hashirama clenches his fists.

"Other than stealing your chakra, Madara also planted a curse on your body. It's only because of your strength that you didn't feel the effect of the curse that much."

Izuna turns to Sasuke and places his hand on top of Sasuke's body.

"I didn't expect you to transplant your cells in Sasuke's body." Izuna turns to Hashirama with curiosity.

"I just wanted to heal him, and the fastest method to do so was to transplant my cells." Hashirama shrugs his shoulder.

"I can feel my chakra spread everywhere on this battlefield. So, I took the liberty of extracting a few of my cells."

Izuna glances at the dried-up bodies of a few White Zetsu.

"I wanted to stop him since directly transplanting cells like that carries several risks. However, this method surprisingly worked, so I had no choice but to see it through." Tsunade walks beside him.

"But even after everything we have done, we cannot wake him up. His body is functioning normally, but his consciousness is somewhere else," Mito remarks.

Earlier she used her secret technique to pry into Sasuke's mindscape but was blocked out by Sasuke's strong mental defense.

'It's that old geezer, Hagoromo!'

Izuna easily peeks into Sasuke's consciousness where Sasuke is conversing with the Sage of Six Paths while receiving powers from him.

"Old man, you can keep that weak-ass power of yours. I need Sasuke to do something now!"

Izuna's figure suddenly materializes in the special mental domain of Hagoromo and Sasuke.

"Wait… let me!"

Before Hagoromo could speak another word, Izuna grab Sasuke's body and drags him out, while waving his other hand at Hagoromo.

"Sigh… this brat!" Hagoromo sighs.

"He is as rude as ever," Hagoromo complains but relief appears on his face.

'With this kid's presence, I can rest assured!'

"DONE!"

Izuna removes his hand from Sasuke's forehead and stands up.

SHOOM…

Suddenly, a large amount of nature energy seeps into Sasuke's body.

Sasuke's blue chakra manifests around him and engulfs his entire body.

Mm…

Sasuke slowly opens his eyes, and the chakra disappears.

"Ugh…"

Sasuke places his hand on his left eye.

"My left eye feels so itchy!"

"This is a gift from me, you brat! So, don't complain!" Izuna ruffles Sasuke's hair.

"Nii-san! Izuna Nii-san!"

Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise. He hugs Izuna with tears in his eyes.

AAH…

The rest of the shinobis suddenly gasp in shock. They point fingers at Sasuke with trembling hands.

"That's… that's… Rinnegan!"

Onoki is the first person to open his mouth.

"Sasuke's left eye turned into a Rinnegan!" The sudden change shocks even Fugaku and other members of the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke also notices the commotion. He holds his Katana in front of his eye and notices the change in his left eye.

His left eye is replaced with a purple eight-tomoe Rinnegan, with several concentric circles.

"That's… that's a Rinnegan!" Sasuke mutters.

"How did I…"

He subconsciously touches his left eye.

"Didn't I tell you? It's a gift from me." Izuna smiles at him.

A gust of wind blows, revealing Izuna's Rinne-Sharingan in his left eye.

"Nii-san, you also have a Rinnegan?!"

This time, others aren't as surprised as before.

"My Rinnegan differs from yours." Izuna chuckles but doesn't elaborate.

"Since it's a gift! Can I get one too?"

Izumi, who was standing beside Itachi, asks in excitement.

"Hehe… who do you think I am?" Izuna flicks Izumi's forehead.

"A caring and doting brother who gifts Rinnegan!" Izumi holds her head and pouts.

Ah…

Izuna is stunned to hear her answer.

Haha…

Tsunade and others chuckle in laughter.

"Well… it's not that easy!" Izuna shakes his head.

"I just awakened Sasuke's latent potential. Just like Madara, Sasuke also had the potential to awaken Rinnegan on his own in the later years of his life. However, I just accelerated the process by several times, by catalyzing the process with my chakra. Now, do you understand?" Izuna raises an eyebrow.

"So, does that mean your potential is even higher than Madara and Sasuke?" Izumi asks.

"Well… not to toot my horn, but that's a fact!" Izuna smugly raises his head, to which he hears a few snorts.

"So, Nii-san, do I have the potential?" Izumi asks again with anticipation.

"NO!" Izuna cuts her off.

"You don't have to dash my hopes like that." Izumi gloomily hangs her head. Itachi gently pats her head.

Through this conversation, the rest of the people also understood the process of Izuna's gifting.

'Well, I left several other things in my explanation.' Izuna shrugs his shoulder.

'Since I have changed my bloodline, the people closest to me now have a chance to awaken Rinnegan. But I can't disclose that yet.'

Izuna smiles at them.

"Well, my job here is done!"

Izuna turns in Konoha's direction.

"Naruto also needs my help."

Fwoosh…

The next instant, Izuna disappears from the battlefield.

"Sasuke, how do you feel?" Itachi asks him.

"Stronger than ever!"

Sasuke clenches his fist and glances toward Madara and Gai's battle.

"Now, it's time for round two."

Bzzt…

Sasuke's body turns into lightning and darts forward at an extremely fast speed.

Sigh…

"Now, even the youngsters have surpassed us!" Onoki sighs in melancholy.

"Then why don't you retire, old man, and give your position to me?" Kurotsuchi throws a jab at him.

"Over my dead body!" Onoki harrumphs and crosses his arms and straightens his back.

Shing…

A flash of pain jolts down his spine.

"Argh… My back!" Onoki leans forward while holding his back.

"See. I told you!" Kurotsuchi shakes her head.