As the days passed, Uchiha Shinji remained busy.
Though he was simultaneously advancing the Rinnegan Plan and the Tenseigan Plan, he didn't dare neglect his training.
Almost daily, he trained under 50 kilograms of weights, pushing his taijutsu to its limits.
His progress was visibly remarkable.
Shinji was never a genius, especially in taijutsu, where his talent was merely average. In ordinary training, this might not be apparent, but in life-or-death situations, the gap between him and true taijutsu prodigies became glaring.
Because he was acutely aware of his limitations, he avoided putting himself in desperate situations. When facing tough opponents, he often opted to unleash Susanoo without hesitation, crushing them with overwhelming dojutsu power.
But he knew that Susanoo's dominance was effective only up to the Kage level.
Beyond that, its crushing effect diminished significantly. At the Six Paths level, even a complete Susanoo was just an ordinary technique.
At that tier, most ninjutsu and genjutsu lost their edge, and battles often came down to raw, direct taijutsu!
Thus, he could skimp on ninjutsu or genjutsu training, but taijutsu was non-negotiable.
Besides training, he frequently visited Orochimaru's secret base to exchange insights on human experimentation.
The half biological exoskeleton implanted in Kimimaro couldn't be hidden from Orochimaru.
However, once implanted, it couldn't be removed, leaving Orochimaru with no recourse.
Of course, given Orochimaru's nature, he wouldn't accept this loss quietly. To placate him and prevent him from targeting Kimimaro's exoskeleton—thus jeopardizing the Tenseigan Plan—Shinji offered up White Zetsu cells.
Orochimaru, thrilled by the acquisition, dove into a new frenzy of research.
Watching the excited glint in Orochimaru's eyes, Shinji felt a chill, momentarily questioning whether his decision was right or wrong.
Hidden Leaf Village.
An office building.
A shinobi in Anbu attire was meticulously reporting Shinji's every move at the Ninja Academy to a figure behind a desk.
After a moment, the Anbu concluded, "That's everything regarding Uchiha Shinji's activities these past few days!"
The figure behind the desk sounded puzzled. "What about the feedback I asked for?"
The Anbu lowered their head. "Lord, we couldn't gather any feedback from Uchiha Shinji. He… he seems completely unfazed by the rumors we spread."
"What an intriguing Uchiha," the figure chuckled, then said, "Uchiha rarely hide their thoughts. Either Shinji genuinely doesn't care, or he cares so much he's forcing himself to act indifferent. Which do you think it is?"
The Anbu pondered briefly before replying, "Lord, I believe no one could be indifferent to this, especially not a sensitive Uchiha. So, Shinji is likely the latter—he's pretending."
The figure stood. "It's time!"
The next day.
As usual, Shinji observed Karin, Kimimaro, and Neji from the Ninja Academy's training field.
Karin remained consistent, her body continuously generating All Creation Power, steadily enhancing the dojutsu power of her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan day by day.
By tracking Karin's condition, Shinji confirmed that evolving the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan into the Rinnegan required not only specific conditions but also sufficient accumulation.
Karin was currently in this accumulation phase, awaiting the quantitative shift that would trigger a qualitative leap!
Kimimaro and Neji's conditions were relatively stable.
The "relatively" was due to Shinji's miscalculation—the biological exoskeleton improved their physiques far more than expected. In just a week, both saw significant strength gains, drawing attention from others.
However, there were differences between them.
Kimimaro's improvement was noticeably greater, while Neji's, though substantial, paled in comparison.
This was evident in the chakra collected by their respective exoskeletons.
In just over a week, Kimimaro's exoskeleton amassed 70% more chakra than Neji's.
The exoskeleton collected chakra proportional to the host's chakra refinement level. Kimimaro's 70% surplus highlighted his clear superiority over Neji.
This likely explained why, in the original timeline, a sickly Kimimaro could reach Kage-level strength, while Neji, until his death, peaked as an elite jonin.
The gap between them was undeniable!
"A miscalculation!"
Shinji shook his head inwardly, troubled.
He'd considered this possibility but hadn't realized the disparity would be so stark, to the point of threatening his Tenseigan Plan.
"I need to find a way to boost Neji's strength…"
Kimimaro's chakra was already far more potent than Neji's, and with the exoskeleton collecting 70% more of it, fusing the two would likely result in Kimimaro's chakra overwhelming Neji's instantly.
That was not what Shinji wanted.
As he pondered solutions, Iruka approached. "Shinji, come with me!"
Shinji asked, "What's up, Iruka-sensei?"
"It's not a big deal. You'll see when we get there," Iruka said with a smile, not elaborating, and led the way, his expression suggesting something positive awaited Shinji.
Shinji followed.
Soon, he trailed Iruka to an office in the academy's teaching building.
Knock, knock.
After lightly tapping the door, Iruka said, "Lord, I've brought Shinji."
"Let him in," a voice replied from inside.
Iruka stepped aside, smiling at Shinji. "Go on in!"
"Strange… why does she want to see me?"
Glancing at Iruka's cheerful expression, Shinji felt puzzled.
From the voice, he'd already identified the person waiting to meet him.