Chapter 154: Hair Turned White Overnight
While the impact of the final battle continued to spread, throwing the ninja world into chaos, Izayoi, one of the protagonists of that battle and now widely recognized as the strongest in the Five Great Ninja Villages, experienced a peculiar bodily change.
The day after upgrading his Otsutsuki Bloodline to a Rainbow entry, Izayoi woke up in his villa on Cherry Blossom Street, preparing to complete his secret Jonin assessment mission after washing up.
When he looked at himself in the mirror, he was slightly stunned.
In the mirror, Izayoi's black hair, which covered his ears and forehead, had turned white overnight.
Before going to sleep, his hair was black, without a single white strand.
Yet, he woke up to a head full of white hair.
However, Izayoi wasn't surprised. Instead, he slightly raised the corners of his mouth, chuckling to himself, "It's just as I thought… the Rainbow-level Otsutsuki Bloodline is modifying my genes, changing my bloodline from mixed to pure."
Three years ago, when Izayoi first copied Otsutsuki Toneri's Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red), he underwent several profound changes that defied destiny, even awakening the Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan. This led to a question:
Since he had awakened the Byakugan, why hadn't his hair turned the white color of the Otsutsuki clan, remaining black instead?
Now, the answer was clear: incomplete genes.
Otsutsuki Toneri himself was born without the Byakugan due to incomplete genes.
His atavism wasn't strong enough, so he didn't have horns.
However, he did have white hair.
When Izayoi copied his red entry, because Izayoi already had eyes, the change occurred in his eyes, not his hair color.
Now, the Otsutsuki Bloodline (Rainbow) was modifying and completing Izayoi's genes, transforming his body from mixed-blooded to pure-blooded.
Thus, Izayoi had gained another characteristic of a pure-blooded Otsutsuki.
"White hair, Byakugan, horns… now that I have the Byakugan and white hair, what about the horns?"
Izayoi raked his fingers through his hair, pushing it up. His fingertips soon felt two small bumps.
Lifting his bangs, Izayoi leaned closer to the mirror, staring at his forehead.
Just above his hairline, within his hair, his scalp had formed two small bumps, like mosquito bites, perfectly symmetrical.
Despite the two bumps on his head, Izayoi felt no soreness or itching whatsoever.
However, his eyes could see the future: these two small bumps would eventually crack open like cocoons, giving rise to horns of an unknown shape.
And that day shouldn't be too far off.
"Once the horns grow out, I'll have all three major characteristics of the Otsutsuki clan, and my bloodline will be that of a pure-blooded Otsutsuki," Izayoi murmured, gently touching the bumps on his head and staring into his eyes in the mirror. "What abilities will my body or eyes derive then? Ultimate ocular techniques, divine techniques, or Kekkei Mōra and Karma?"
Izayoi was very excited about the upcoming changes.
The three major characteristics were just the beginning.
The strongest aspect of the pure-blooded Otsutsuki clan was their god-like power to traverse the cosmos.
Ultimate ocular techniques, Kekkei Mōra, divine techniques… each of these abilities was a dimension-shattering force against the ninja world. Only an Otsutsuki could fight an Otsutsuki.
Izayoi was very curious whether his pure bloodline would be like that of Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, or Otsutsuki Kaguya, or even the extraterrestrial Otsutsuki clan.
This purity determined the different abilities he would awaken in the future.
If it were like Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, Izayoi would awaken ultimate ocular techniques.
If it were Otsutsuki Kaguya, it might be Karma or Kekkei Mōra.
If it were the extraterrestrial Otsutsuki clan, then the possibilities would be infinite.
"The chakra in the ninja world all comes from the Divine Tree, equivalent to sharing the Chakra Fruit. Now that my bloodline has become that of a pure-blooded Otsutsuki, it's possible for me to awaken any ability," Izayoi continued to analyze in his mind.
However, since the horns hadn't grown yet, it would likely take a long time to defy destiny to that extent.
Furthermore, his body would only enter its true growth period next year. Izayoi could only suppress his anticipation, then simply wash up, use the Wood Transformation Technique to change his hair back to its original color, and then leave for breakfast before teleporting to execute his mission.
The Aftermath and New Plans
In order to observe the changes in his body, Izayoi spent five days completing his Jonin assessment mission.
During this time, the ninja world was still discussing the final battle.
The smaller nations watched from the sidelines, feeling it was none of their business.
The Five Kage, however, gathered in the Land of Iron for another Five Kage Summit, the main topic being how to deal with Uchiha Madara, Nagato, and Amegakure, which had been rebuilt using Wood Release.
This time, Tsunade's personal escorts were no longer Izayoi and Kakashi Hatake, but Hinata and Karin.
Izayoi had left them both with permanent Flying Thunder God Technique formulas.
If anything were to happen at the Five Kage Summit, Tsunade and the two girls believed that Izayoi would arrive as quickly as possible.
"Lord Madara, the Five Great Ninja Villages have held a Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron. They might be discussing how to deal with you."
Black and White Zetsu immediately reported to Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Madara showed some interest and asked, "Is that brat named Izayoi there too?"
"He's not," Black Zetsu's expression was a bit strange. "As far as I know, he's currently on a secret Jonin assessment mission."
"Huh?"
Uchiha Madara was slightly taken aback, looking somewhat bewildered. "At a time like this, he's on a mission to be promoted to Jonin?"
"If the White Zetsu clone's intelligence is correct, then yes," White Zetsu replied.
"Interesting…"
Uchiha Madara became more intrigued, chuckling, "Is this brat playing mind games, or is he simply confident?"
"Lord Madara, do you think he might have allied with Otsutsuki Toneri?" Black Zetsu asked, somewhat worried.
He never doubted Uchiha Madara's strength. This reincarnation of Indra's chakra had now surpassed Indra himself and even surpassed Hashirama Senju, who was superior to Asura.
His current strength was only a Six Paths Sage Mode and Truth-Seeking Orbs away from the Sage of Six Paths when he wasn't the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, as well as a more powerful Yin-Yang Release.
Uchiha Madara would instantly gain these things once he became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and he would also unlock the Kekkei Mōra that came with the Ten-Tails.
However, currently, Uchiha Madara's strength had only just touched the threshold of the Six Paths level.
The only place where he was stronger than Hashirama Senju was his Limbo: Border Jail shadows, which Six Paths level powerhouses could not perceive or see.
If Hashirama Senju could see the Limbo shadows, Uchiha Madara's advantage would be greatly reduced.
Furthermore, Uchiha Madara didn't have the infinite chakra of the Impure World Reincarnation state or the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. If his opponents were the spontaneously evolving Tenseigan user and an authentic Wood Release user working together, he might not gain any advantage.
"It doesn't matter. Even if they ally, our opponent is only Otsutsuki Toneri," Uchiha Madara suddenly analyzed calmly. "If the Tenseigan cannot see Limbo, then those two brats are insignificant. Therefore, we must quickly find the spatial passage connecting to the moon. That Tenseigan brat didn't appear that day, likely because his Tenseigan hasn't completed its final evolution and hasn't derived its exclusive ocular technique."
"Lord Madara, Otsutsuki Toneri can read lips. Our conversation might have been overheard by him," Black Zetsu quickly reminded him.
"Heh… let him," Uchiha Madara said dismissively, with an arrogant look. "If the Tenseigan is truly on the same level as the Rinnegan, then its evolution should be similar to my Rinnegan: it must possess the three-tomoe Sharingan, then evolve into the Mangekyo Sharingan and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, eventually unifying the two poles to awaken the Rinnegan."
"At his age, he's probably at most at the 'Mangekyo Sharingan' or 'Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan' stage. The final stage is the test of transcending dimensions." Black Zetsu didn't speak, but his worry didn't diminish in the slightest.
As the third child of Otsutsuki Kaguya, he knew his own family's affairs best.
The reason why Indra and Asura needed to unify the two poles to awaken the Rinnegan was because their bloodlines were impure; they were descendants born from the union of Otsutsuki Hagoromo and 'mortals.'
Uchiha Madara only awakened the Rinnegan when he was nearing death because he only obtained a small piece of Hashirama Senju's flesh, only a very small amount of Asura's chakra, which fused with Indra's chakra. That's why it took decades to derive the power of all creation.
Otsutsuki Toneri, on the other hand, was a member of the Otsutsuki clan, and that lineage's bloodline had not been diluted. His ability to awaken the Tenseigan indicated that his bloodline had regressed to a very high degree.
The way and speed at which Otsutsuki Toneri's Tenseigan awakened were definitely far superior to the Rinnegan's.
Otsutsuki Toneri appeared to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. When he first appeared at the beginning of the year, he already controlled gravity and repulsion. After evolving, he even gained control over an alternative Six Paths Technique and Yin-Yang Release.
He should be just one step away from deriving the power of all creation.
This meant that the evolution of these eyes had reached 99%, and he could take that step at any moment.
At that time, the only difference between Otsutsuki Toneri and Uchiha Madara would be the development of their ultimate ocular techniques.
Thinking this, Black Zetsu's heart sank.
He couldn't drag this out any longer…
He had to find the spatial passage to the moon as quickly as possible; he absolutely could not let Otsutsuki Toneri complete his final evolution.
So, Black Zetsu immediately attached himself to Uchiha Madara, communicating through Yin-Yang Release: Spiritual Possession: "Lord Madara, the moon passage is very likely a Tenseigan ability, and the seal might also be a power of that level. If the Tenseigan is an ultimate ocular technique on the same level as the Rinnegan, perhaps only your eye power, Lord Madara, can see that seal's chakra."
Hearing this, Uchiha Madara's eyes lit up. "You have a point. Then I'll create some Wood Clones to assist you and the White Zetsu army in finding that spatial passage. If you can't find it, we'll use a more extreme method: absorb enough Tailed Beast chakra and fly directly to the moon using Complete Body Susanoo."
"Let me try first, Lord Madara," Black Zetsu didn't try to persuade him this time, showing the depth of his determination to eliminate Otsutsuki Toneri.
After making the decision, Black Zetsu changed the subject, "Lord Madara, do you want to go say hello to the Five Kage of this era?"
"No interest. I don't want to play ninja games with children right now," Uchiha Madara said with a disgusted expression, while also communicating through spiritual possession, "The way to stop me from becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki is simple: just kill a few Jinchuriki. But that Otsutsuki Toneri, he only thinks about retrieving the Rinnegan, which means his generation probably doesn't know the secret of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, nor the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
"Or, as he said, he despises the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. Even if he knows the secret of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, he wouldn't be interested in the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
"There's also a possibility that the reason he wants to retrieve the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki himself."
"Regardless of which it is, the current situation is very favorable to us. For now, don't reveal the secret of the Ten-Tails and let the Five Great Ninja Villages guess."
"Understood," Black Zetsu quickly responded.
After silently channeling Wood Release chakra into Black Zetsu, sending him and the White Zetsu army to search for the spatial passage to the moon, Uchiha Madara went into a wooden house.
Looking at Nagato, who sat in a wheelchair, his eyes bandaged with white cloth, with Konan standing behind him, Uchiha Madara said with some regret, "Are you really not going to transplant a pair of eyes? With your bloodline and Hashirama cells, even if the Sharingan can't be deactivated, you could use the Uchiha clan's power freely like Obito. Even if you don't care for the Sharingan, you could transplant a pair of ordinary eyes. With the help of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and Yin-Yang Release, there would definitely be no rejection."
"No need. I want to see this world anew with my mind's eye," Nagato shook his head, smiling calmly. "I once thought that, being born with the Sage Eyes, I was the savior chosen by heaven, the Child of Prophecy Jiraiya-sensei spoke of. But I have no dreams or ambitions, I just wanted to help Yahiko realize his dream."
"Now that the dream is over, I am not the Child of Prophecy, nor can I become the God of the New World in Yahiko's name."
"Since that's the case, let me witness the end of this new era as a spectator."
Uchiha Madara asked, "Are you leaving?"
"Yes, Konan and I are going back to the place where our childhood memories reside, and the time we spent with Jiraiya-sensei," Nagato nodded, took off the Zero Ring from his hand, and threw it to Uchiha Madara, saying, "From now on, Amegakure and Akatsuki are yours."
"What a pity. I still wanted to take you with me to sever the cause and effect of the world," Uchiha Madara said with some regret, his eyes filled with admiration and pity for Nagato.
In his eyes, Nagato was countless times more excellent than Obito Uchiha.
In the era of the Second Great Ninja War, among the descendants of the Uzumaki and Senju clans, no one's bloodline was superior to Nagato's, including Hashirama's granddaughter and grandson.
It was precisely for this reason that Uchiha Madara transplanted the Rinnegan onto him.
And only Nagato could survive after performing the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
From beginning to end, Uchiha Madara never intended to discard him after using him. Instead, he wanted to reward Nagato, allowing him to immerse himself in the beautiful dream of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
If possible, he even wanted to take Nagato with him to sever the cause and effect of the world, to prove to him that this method was correct.
However, seeing that Nagato had no intention of continuing as a ninja, communicating through this action that he still did not approve of the Eye of the Moon Plan, Uchiha Madara did not force him.
He still held great admiration for the strong-willed Nagato, as if seeing a shadow of Hashirama Senju.
Thus, Uchiha Madara personally escorted Nagato and Konan out of Amegakure.
After seeing off the Akatsuki leader and his deputy, Uchiha Madara went to a wooden house and sat in a meeting room with only a wooden table, using his ring to notify the Akatsuki members to come for a meeting.
Except for Black and White Zetsu, the Deva Path of Pain, and Konan, the thought forms of the other members appeared in the underground base.
Looking at Uchiha Madara sitting at the wooden table, these colorful thought forms maintained a tacit silence.
Uchiha Madara didn't speak immediately but observed these S-rank rogue ninjas from various countries, Browse through their information from Black Zetsu's transmitted data.
His gaze lingered longest on Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Itachi Uchiha.
Among these individuals, he was most interested in these three.
Seeing that Uchiha Madara wasn't speaking but rather observing them like monkeys, Sasori of the Red Sand, who had little patience, was the first to speak up, "Where are the leader and White Tiger? Why is his Rinnegan on you? Did you kill them?"
These three questions were what everyone else was most concerned about.
"Nagato and Konan have left Akatsuki; they're no longer ninjas," Uchiha Madara said, resting his hand on his face, a playful smile on his lips. "And… it's not why his Rinnegan is on me, but rather that I've taken back my own eyes."
"What?!"
The Akatsuki members' expressions suddenly changed in shock, including the two idiots Deidara and Hidan.
"What do you mean?" Sasori of the Red Sand felt as if he had touched upon a truth about the world. He quickly asked, "Isn't the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai the Sharingan? Why do you say the Rinnegan is your eye?"
Itachi Uchiha remained silent, but a stormy sea raged in his heart.
He had once thought that the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was the ultimate secret of the Sharingan.
Now, it seemed the Rinnegan was the ultimate secret of the Sharingan.
"I can tell you this secret, but only if you remain in Akatsuki," Uchiha Madara said. "As long as your main bodies come here and allow me to place a curse mark on you that prevents you from revealing information, I will tell you why Akatsuki collects Tailed Beasts and the secret of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. All your dreams will also be fulfilled."
Hearing this, the Akatsuki members fell silent again.
After a moment, Kakuzu finally asked, "If we don't come, will you hunt us down?"
"You're Kakuzu from Takigakure, right? You can endure the side effects of Earth Grudge Fear; no wonder you've lived this long," Uchiha Madara clicked his tongue in wonder, then scoffed, "With your strength, you're not worth my time to hunt down. I also know the Impure World Reincarnation Technique, and the corpses of those resurrected dead are now in my hands. The reason I'm keeping you around is just because I don't want to waste Nagato's efforts."
"If you don't want to stay in Akatsuki, you just need to destroy that ring."
After speaking, Uchiha Madara waved his hand dismissively. "I can't be bothered talking to you illusions. I'll give you three days. If you want to stay, bring your main bodies to see me. If you don't come, I'll consider you to have left Akatsuki… Meeting adjourned."
Uchiha Madara voluntarily severed the chakra connection, and all the thought forms dissipated.
....
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