Chapter 540: Entering the Kamui Dimension
Yuran Kawasoe blinked, swallowed, and asked cautiously, "Why does that sound so familiar?"
"Ishiro-sensei, I remember the last time you said that, you were talking about something 'many times stronger than the three-tomoe Sharingan's perception.' Now we know that above the three-tomoe Sharingan is the Mangekyō Sharingan, and our village even has two Uchiha with it."
"Now you're bringing up a dōjutsu 'many times stronger than the Byakugan.' You're not about to spring a 'Mangekyō Byakugan' on us, are you?"
This time, Ishiro was genuinely surprised. He sighed, "A disciple who's too smart is also a problem. I might have to consider silencing you."
Yumi Uzumaki and Yuran Kawasoe both giggled. Yuran then said seriously, "The barrier that shields the Byakugan definitely has room for improvement. But... how do I put this... trying to fool a dōjutsu that is many times stronger than the Byakugan is impossible."
"For example, let's take your Mind's Eye, Ishiro-sensei."
"As you said, the Mind's Eye should be classified as a super S-rank jutsu. Even if the village's defensive and shielding barriers are at full power, they can't block your perception."
"By the same token, the Byakugan is already at the pinnacle of insight; calling it S-rank isn't an exaggeration. A dōjutsu many times stronger than that would absolutely be super S-rank."
"So..."
Yuran Kawasoe didn't finish, but her meaning was clear. Unless they could invent a super S-rank barrier specifically designed to block insight, it was just empty talk.
Ishiro thought for a moment and said, "Then just do your best. The stronger the shielding effect, the better."
Yuran flashed an "OK" gesture. "Three days. I'll have the blueprints for you in three days."
Ishiro considered it and said, "Alright."
With that, Ishiro left the two of them and departed from the Barrier Team.
The next day, Ishiro and Akino Atsumi once again entered the Kamui dimension. This time, however, they teleported directly from the ANBU headquarters.
After entering the dimension, Ishiro flew with Akino straight toward the border of the Land of Bears and the Land of Demons—the location where Obito Uchiha had died.
As they were flying, Ishiro suddenly made a sound of surprise.
Akino Atsumi asked curiously, "What is it, Ishiro-sensei?"
Ishiro said, "Just as I thought. There are still people alive."
"Back then, Obito Uchiha transferred several children into this space, planning to move them out later."
"But he didn't expect to die at the hands of me and Izumi. So, those children were left behind in this Kamui dimension."
"There was a significant number of them, but only two have survived. It seems a lot has happened between these children."
Akino Atsumi's eyes lit up. "They're still alive after all this time? That means the warehouse is there, and we're about to find the treasure?"
Ishiro paused, then said, "Treasure? What treasure?"
Before Akino could answer, Ishiro smiled. "That's right, treasure. Obito Uchiha moved all of Uchiha Madara's belongings in here. I came here specifically for that stuff."
After flying for a long time, the two finally arrived at the survivors' location.
The two survivors had already spotted Ishiro and Akino. The little boy immediately hid behind the older girl.
The girl, in turn, quickly grabbed two weapons from their room.
Ishiro recognized them on sight and blurted out, "The Kiba?"
Ishiro waved his hand, and a large amount of mud surged forward, sealing the two children instantly.
The girl tried to fight back with the Thunder Swords, but she didn't last a single exchange. Both she and the swords were sealed.
During the process, Ishiro noticed the little boy possessed the Ketsuryūgan.
Ishiro muttered to himself, "Red Eyes? No wonder he spotted me early. Are you Ranmaru? With your personality... how did you manage to survive? Strange."
However, Ishiro wasn't interested in their story. He tossed them aside and created several shadow clones, which began to search the area.
This storage area wasn't small, but it wasn't huge either. It held a massive amount of Obito Uchiha's supplies. If no one else ever entered this dimension, these two children could have lived for generations.
Ishiro paid that no mind. The shadow clones rummaged around and quickly found what he was looking for.
A massive pile of scrolls, stacked neatly together. If this were back in the village, it would easily fill an entire data room.
A shadow clone picked up a few and flipped through them.
Just as he thought—they were all Uchiha Madara's treasures.
Ishiro collected the items. The shadow clones searched again and found a few other miscellaneous things.
Ishiro wasn't interested in most of it, but two items caught his eye: Hashirama Cells and Sharingan.
Uchiha Madara's collection was truly vast. Ishiro couldn't imagine how much effort it took to cultivate it, but the amount of Hashirama cells in the Kamui dimension was enough for Danzō to conduct several hundred transplant experiments.
What shocked him even more were the rows upon rows of nutrient jars, each containing a Sharingan.
Akino Atsumi's jaw dropped, and she felt goosebumps all over.
She stammered, "This... this... how many Uchiha did these come from?"
Ishiro mused, "This is likely the Uchiha clan's thousand-year accumulation. When Uchiha Madara defected, he must have taken all of it with him."
Before packing the eyes away, Ishiro called Ranmaru and the girl over. "Did you touch any of this stuff?"
Ishiro had loosened their seals so they could talk.
Ranmaru was too terrified of Ishiro to say a word.
The girl, however, said bravely, "That was the forbidden area 'that adult' told us about. We never went over there. We were afraid he might come back, so we never went near it."
Ishiro nodded, not bothering to verify her story.
He looked at the arrangement of the jars and selected several bottles that had been placed in special positions. They were all three-tomoe, but what if some were Mangekyō?
After collecting the Sharingan and Hashirama cells, Ishiro said to Akino, "Let's go back."
Akino pointed at the two children. "Ishiro-sensei, what about them?"
Ishiro said, "Bring them with us. The Red Eyes are a rare bloodline. The village might have a use for them someday."
With that, Ishiro took Akino, Ranmaru, and the girl and flew back toward Iwagakure.
After returning to the village, Ishiro said to Akino, "For the next few days, I want you to research how to repair that space-time passage. When you've figured it out, I'll take you to plug that hole."
"I hope you can use this experience to further improve your space-time ninjutsu. I have another important mission for you after this."
Akino Atsumi nodded. "Don't worry, Ishiro-sensei. I'll work hard."
After Akino left, Ishiro handed Ranmaru and the girl over to the ANBU. He didn't particularly value these two, so he let the village handle them. Besides, he figured that for them to have survived, their minds were already set. There was no hope of "re-educating" them.
After handling these matters, Ishiro immediately convened a high-level meeting.
Because the matter was so significant, he even called back Sōkai, Uchiha Izumi, and Shinya Matsutani, who had already returned to the Land of Snow.
Once everyone had gathered, Ōnoki spoke. "Ishiro, is this meeting related to the two trips you've taken out of the village these past few days?"
Everyone: "..."
You just came out of seclusion... and you've already been out 'on the town' twice?
Ishiro coughed, ignoring the comment. "First, an intelligence update: It is confirmed that Black Zetsu, White Zetsu, and Orochimaru are working together."
"This is not good news for us. We all know what kind of person Orochimaru is. Dealing with this group will not be as easy as it was dealing with Obito Uchiha."
"I'm saying this to remind everyone that from now on, Orochimaru is likely our greatest enemy. He was a potential ally before; we need to adjust our stance."
Everyone nodded, taking a moment to digest this.
Saka then asked, "Ishiro, should we inform the other great villages?"
Ishiro shook his head. "It's pointless. We are the number one village now. No matter how dangerous we make them out to be, it won't work. To Konoha and the others, we are the ambitious ones, the biggest threat. Orochimaru, Obito... in their eyes, they're just rats hiding in the shadows."
"Besides, although Orochimaru is a rogue-nin, he's spent all these years doing research. He's not like Obito, who racked up a huge body count in just a few years."
"So, exposing Orochimaru is meaningless. It won't trigger a multi-village siege like it did with Obito. Therefore, it's better to keep this information to ourselves and let Konoha and the others misjudge the situation."
Seeing no objections, Ishiro continued, "One more thing. Akino Atsumi has figured out how to get in and out of Obito Uchiha's alternate dimension."
Before he could continue, Bella stood up and interjected, "Did you find what Uchiha Madara left behind?"
Ishiro nodded. "That's right. We entered that space and found the 'things' you mentioned, Bella-senpai. We also found two children from Kirigakure. One of them is Ranmaru, the one with the Red Eye bloodline. The other is a young girl who can somehow wield the Thunder Swords."
"I've brought the people and the items back. The people are with the ANBU, and the items are in ANBU storage."
Bella asked quickly, "What things were there?"
It wasn't just Bella; everyone was curious. This was the entire legacy of a man who had surpassed Kage-level.
Ishiro said, "Uchiha Madara left behind a lot of Sharingan. Enough jars to fill this entire office."
Ishiro gestured at the Tsuchikage's office as he spoke.
Everyone couldn't help but suck in a cold breath. Sōkai and Uchiha Izumi looked at Ishiro in disbelief.
Ishiro looked at them. "After the meeting, you two go take a look. You're going to be busy. I've separated a few jars that might contain Mangekyō Sharingan. Sōkai, you'll need to transplant them one by one to see what they are."
"Also, Sōkai, you are the new head of the Uchiha clan. I'm putting you in charge of all these Sharingan. But until you figure out what to do with them, they stay in the ANBU vault for safety."
Sōkai nodded numbly, still trying to process the concept of an entire room filled with Sharingan.
Ishiro waited for everyone to recover, then said, "Besides the Sharingan, I also recovered a massive amount of Hashirama cells."
"Before, we didn't have pure Hashirama cells, only White Zetsu clones and the properties found in the Gedo Mazo's body. As of today, we can begin our own Hashirama cell experiments."
"I am setting one guideline: the village's research on these cells will be primarily for medical purposes. Transplant experiments are permitted, but not at the expense of medical research progress."
"Furthermore, there will be no human experimentation on any village ninja, Land of Earth civilians, or civilians in our occupied territories."
Ishiro's tone was grave as he said this last part. The room responded in unison, "Yes, sir."
He nodded, his tone lightening. "There's one more harvest: a massive collection of research scrolls. This is Uchiha Madara's true treasure."
"Effective immediately, all research, including the White Sphere project, is to be halted."
"All specialists, both combat and research ninja, are to report to the ANBU vault to memorize the scrolls relevant to their field. But remember: no one is to take any written material out of that vault. A seal must be placed on everyone's mind."
"Lord Third, you will be in charge of this."
Ōnoki nodded with extreme gravity.
Then, Ishiro smiled. "Alright, the serious business is over."
"Let's all go take a look. The variety of Madara's training scrolls is vast. Basically, everyone will be able to learn something."
The group followed Ishiro to a newly cleared-out data room in the ANBU vault.
Ishiro said to the group, "There's a lot of stuff, so I'll need you all to pitch in and categorize it. Sōkai, Izumi, let's go look at the Sharingan."
With that, Ishiro quickly left the data room.
Ōnoki and the others looked at each other, then at the mountain of scrolls. Damn it, we've been conned. This is why he insisted on bringing us all to the vault... to use us as manual labor!
Ishiro had no choice. This matter was too important to entrust to anyone else, so the high command would have to do it.
By the time Ishiro, Sōkai, and Izumi returned from inspecting the eyes, Ōnoki and the others had finished sorting.
Ishiro looked at the neatly categorized shelves and nodded in satisfaction. He walked over to the Yin Release section.
Looking at the shelves, which were full and accounted for almost half the total collection, Ishiro sighed. "As expected. The most is Yin Release."
"It's a shame. If the village had this much Yin Release data twenty years ago, I definitely would have taken that path instead of five-nature fusion."
Ōnoki knew Ishiro's greatest aptitude was for Yin Release. Hearing this, he forgot about being used as a laborer.
"You're right. In the early years, the village was so lacking in this area. In the First and Second's time, we had limited manpower and funds. We could only focus on one thing, and we chose to develop Kekkai Genkai."
Saka agreed. "Yes, for decades, we've envied Konoha. They advanced on all fronts simultaneously, churning out one forbidden jutsu after another."
Bella smiled, running her hand over one scroll, then another. "Alright, alright, that's all in the past. With these scrolls, we can now say that our village has completely surpassed Konoha."
Ishiro, having successfully changed the subject, said, "Well, since we're here, everyone take a look. See if there's anything you want to read."
With that, Ishiro himself picked up a Yin Release scroll and began to read. He had coveted this for a long time. Obito Uchiha had only been willing to trade Wood Release data, stubbornly refusing to part with anything related to Yin Release.
Uchiha Madara had been a master of Yin Release. This was the most valuable part of the collection.
Seeing their leader's example, the others immediately walked over to the scrolls they had been eyeing and began to read.
The next day, Ishiro requested a detailed list of the graduating class from the Ninja Academy.
The news spread through the school quickly, and all the students were in an uproar.
Normally, Ishiro picked disciples every two years, which meant they would have missed out.
But Ishiro had skipped last year due to his seclusion! Instead, many of his older disciples had chosen students, including Kawakita, Megumi, Kajiyama Sato, Ogura Saki, and Takumi.
Of his first two squads, only Shinya Matsutani, that lazy bum, hadn't taken an apprentice.
From Squad 4 and 5, Takuhiro Uchiyama and Ishize Jōsei had also taken students.
Yuran Kawasoe and Katsumata, the researchers, had also taken apprentices.
Akino Atsumi had wanted to, but she couldn't find any students with an aptitude for space-time ninjutsu.
It was said that on the day Akino went to look, even Riori Uzumaki had tagged along, wanting to pick a few disciples to "play" with. Akino had to talk her down and convince her to wait another year.
It was a good thing Iwagakure didn't have a "Hokage Lineage" like Konoha. If it did, the "Tsuchikage Lineage" would be astronomically large, dwarfing Konoha's.
Everyone had been guessing that Lord Tsuchikage was done taking disciples.
But this year, he was back!
This sent the graduating class into a frenzy of excitement.
Last year's graduates and next year's students, however, were all grumbling about their bad timing.
The Academy was buzzing.
Although the teachers had also suspected Ishiro was done, they had prepared detailed student files just in case.
Ishiro sat in his office, carefully reviewing the files.
Iwagakure wasn't lacking for talent in any particular field now. If a genius appeared, one of his disciples would snatch them up. For example, even though Kawakita had just taken students, he would still pick any promising new kenjutsu talents.
So, Ishiro wasn't looking for a prodigy in one specific area. His disciples had taken over that duty.
This time, Ishiro wanted to pick a few disciples with outstanding intellect, to train them as battlefield commanders.
He had been deeply impressed by Shikaku Nara's performance in the last war. His command of the army, his seamless transitions between offense and defense, his endless tactics and contingency plans...
He had anticipated everything, and his preparations were flawless. Shikaku's command had been worth at least three extra Kage to Konoha's army.
So, Ishiro focused on the students' academic scores and intellectual hobbies. He was looking for students who came up with strange tactics in ninja games, or who were good at shogi (Japanese chess).
Ishiro didn't play shogi, so he couldn't use it to judge their thinking.
But Ishiro did play xiangqi (Chinese chess). He had several xiangqi sets made, wrote down the rules, and sent them to the Academy.
He announced that in three days, there would be two tournaments—one for shogi, one for xiangqi. The winners of each would become his disciples.
The school exploded. The shogi players were ecstatic. Those who had only focused on physical training were miserable.
But despite the complaints, no one questioned his selection criteria. Ishiro had long since proven he was the number one teacher in the shinobi world.
His disciples included Kage-level shinobi like Kawakita, Shinya Matsutani, and Sōkai, not to mention countless Elite Jonin.
Everyone had noticed: the "floor" for one of Ishiro's disciples was Elite Jonin. Not one had remained a mere Jonin for long. Even those without combat talent were promoted through other channels.
It was said that Deidara, who had just recently been acknowledged as Kage-level, had only reached that rank thanks to Ishiro's "pointers."
The most exaggerated rumor—which Ishiro himself had planted in the Iwagakure Bi-Weekly—was that the current Mizukage and Hokage had also become Kage-level after receiving his guidance.
People might doubt the paper's claims that he was the "strongest ninja in the world," but no one doubted Ishiro's eye for talent.
Everyone knew shogi, but xiangqi was new. Those who were bad at shogi pinned all their hopes on this new game, hoping to come out on top and become his disciple.
Three days later, more than half the graduating class had signed up. Some of the skilled players had even signed up for both tournaments, since the school had deliberately staggered the times. Many were aiming to win both.
(End of Chapter)
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