Shisui’s sentiments left Itachi deep in thought.
He had naturally noticed the undercurrents within the clan. Despite his young age, he could vaguely sense the growing tensions between the Uchiha and the village. Yet, he felt powerless to change anything.
After a moment of contemplation, Itachi hesitated before saying, “Shisui, if news spreads that you lost to Kyo-senpai, I’m afraid…”
The Uchiha clan being ostracized by the village wasn’t a coincidence. Most Uchiha weren’t particularly likable. This stemmed from the fact that once a Uchiha awakened their Sharingan, their power would increase dramatically, making it almost inevitable for them to become Jonin.
With little effort required to gain such power, it was natural for a sense of superiority to develop over time.
Thus, Itachi worried that if news of Shisui’s loss to Hyuga Kyo spread, the more arrogant members of the clan might trouble Hyuga Kyo, a scenario not without precedent.
Shisui smiled, “I know what you’re worried about, but rest assured, Kyo-senpai is even stronger than you think!”
Understanding Shisui’s intention, Itachi became more curious about their match and eagerly asked, “Tell me about your match with Kyo-senpai!”
Recalling his match with Hyuga Kyo, Shisui said slowly, “I didn’t expect the once quiet Kyo-senpai to have dojutsu even stronger than mine. Whenever I think about such a talented person being so low-key while I am pushed as the clan’s number one genius, enjoying the admiration and praise of my peers in the village, I feel quite embarrassed.”
After shaking his head and sighing, Shisui described the match.
“Genjutsu and taijutsu were ineffective against Kyo-senpai?” Itachi muttered to himself, then said, “Kyo-senpai’s strength is greater than I imagined. I suppose my worries were unfounded.”
Shisui, lost in thought, said, “I have a feeling…”
Itachi asked, “What feeling?”
“Kyo-senpai seems to know that I didn’t use my full strength. It seems like he…”
Shisui wanted to say that Hyuga Kyo seemed to sense he had a Mangekyo Sharingan but quickly shook his head, dismissing the ridiculous notion.
Currently, only Shisui and Itachi knew he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, and he trusted that Itachi would not reveal this secret.
At the Izakaya
After discussing Sasori, Hyuga Kyo pondered a bit before tentatively asking, “Orochimaru-sama, do you know much about tailed beasts?”
Orochimaru looked surprised, “Are you interested in tailed beasts because of your encounter with the Two-Tails Jinchuriki?”
Hyuga Kyo did not hide his intentions and nodded naturally, “Due to my lack of innate talent, my chakra reserves have always been insufficient. To solve this problem, I’ve consulted many books and materials, but they all point to tailed beasts as the solution.”
Orochimaru chuckled, “You and I are alike, willing to go to any lengths for answers. But here’s a piece of advice: don’t meddle with tailed beasts. They’re more troublesome than you think.”
Hyuga Kyo quickly added, “Tailed beasts are the forbidden secrets of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. I wouldn’t recklessly target them. My idea is whether it’s possible to create an artificial tailed beast?”
Hyuga Kyo then laid out his concept of creating an artificial-tailed beast for Orochimaru.
With his current technical expertise, Hyuga Kyo knew he couldn’t create an artificial-tailed beast on his own. To bring something like the Zero-Tails to fruition ahead of time, he would need Orochimaru’s assistance.
Surprised by Hyuga Kyo’s idea, Orochimaru paused before replying in his raspy voice, “Kyo, you’re indeed different from others, full of ideas.”
Hyuga Kyo eagerly asked, “Is it possible to realize my concept?”
After contemplating for a while, Orochimaru answered, “Actually, the village has been researching tailed beasts since the First Hokage’s era. The project continued through the Second Hokage’s rule but was suddenly halted, and all related data was sealed. The tailed beast research project was completely suspended.”
Hearing this, Hyuga Kyo thought, “So the village did research tailed beasts.”
Since his encounter with Shinnō, Hyuga Kyo had been analyzing where Shinnō might have stolen the technology to create the Zero-Tails.
Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kirigakure and Sunagakure had unstable political situations and weaker capabilities, so they were unlikely to have conducted in-depth tailed beast research. Thus, they were ruled out first.
Although Iwagakure and Kumogakure were strong, Iwagakure focused on Earth Release research while Kumogakure specialized in Lightning Release and taijutsu development. Neither seemed to have made significant progress in tailed beast research.
Considering all this, Konoha, with the First Hokage’s ability to completely suppress tailed beasts, seemed to be the only village capable of conducting deep-tailed beast research.
Clearing his mind of these thoughts, Hyuga Kyo asked, “Why was the project stopped?”
Orochimaru replied, “I’m not entirely sure, but I speculate it was due to instability. I’ve reviewed some of the data. The probability of an artificial tailed beast going berserk is high, and once that happens, it’s a complete disaster.”
Hyuga Kyo proposed another idea, “What if we forgo the offensive capabilities of the artificial tailed beast and merely use it as a ‘battery’? Would that increase its stability?”
Orochimaru glanced at Hyuga Kyo and said in a guiding tone, “A large mass of chakra is inherently destructive. There’s no such thing as giving up offensive power. Years ago, I had a similar idea. If we want to improve stability, there’s only one way: the chakra source for the artificial tailed beast must be singular, and the chakra nature must not be too violent.”
Hyuga Kyo frowned, “Besides tailed beasts, who can provide enough chakra on their own to sustain an artificial tailed beast?”
“Indeed, in the shinobi world, perhaps only the First Hokage could provide enough chakra alone for an artificial tailed beast. Others, even the Second Hokage, likely couldn’t manage that.” Orochimaru paused and then continued, “If we use the violent chakra of tailed beasts as the source, the artificial tailed beast would likely go berserk immediately. That’s probably why the project was halted.”
Hyuga Kyo racked his brain, recalling everything from his past life, hoping to find an answer to this seemingly unsolvable problem.
In his hazy memories of the past, there were a few individuals with massive chakra reserves. However, these individuals were all top-tier shinobi, none of whom would work for Hyuga Kyo as a chakra supplier.
Excluding those strong shinobi, Hyuga Kyo vaguely remembered two mysterious places with large amounts of chakra.
One was the “Ryūmyaku” in the ancient city of Roran within the Land of Wind. The other was the demon “Mōryō” sealed by the shrine maidens of the Land of Demons…
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