It had to be said that within the world of Naruto, the Sharingan was easily one of the most mesmerizing things in existence, if not the absolute peak of allure.
Diarmuid had coveted this power for a very long time.
Thus, the moment Orochimaru's words left his mouth, a wave of delight washed over his features, drawing out a broad smile.
However, the smile quickly faltered slightly before Diarmuid's brow knit together. "Success is success. What exactly do you mean by basically successful?"
Orochimaru paid no mind to Diarmuid's momentary suspicion. Maintaining his smooth smile, he explained, "According to the joint research Sasori and I conducted, the power of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan has indeed successfully fused with your bodily cells. As a result, it matches the exact criteria you requested from the start: there is no longer any need for a surgical eye transplant. We can directly trigger and fuse a pair of Sharingan that belong uniquely to you..."
"I see. That is an undeniable success. Is there still some underlying issue then?" Diarmuid probed.
At that point, Sasori chimed in to clarify, "The issue is that this pair of custom Sharingan might demand a staggering amount of chakra during active use. Of course, this is merely our current deduction based on the prototype. It is entirely possible that your body will master the power flawlessly upon integration, leaving it completely identical to the biological Uchiha with zero hidden risks. In fact, given your monstrous physical constitution, you likely won't ever need to hunt down a matching pair of eyes to unlock the so-called Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."
The evolutionary track of the Sharingan could generally be categorized into three distinct phases.
The first phase was the standard Tomoe Sharingan. Whether it manifested as a single tomoe or fully matured into three tomoe, it fell under this basic umbrella. This was the fundamental Kekkei Genkai power commonly awakened across the Uchiha clan.
The second phase could be summarized as the Mangekyo Sharingan. This was an exalted tier of power that only a rare handful of Uchiha prodigies and elites could ever hope to unlock. Once the Mangekyo Sharingan awakened, it granted the wielder bizarre, reality-bending abilities and specialized techniques.
Examples included legendary ocular powers like Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.
The third phase involved the devastating toll of using those eyes. Overusing the Mangekyo's power introduced a violent backlash that progressively eroded the user's vision, ultimately terminating in absolute blindness, along with the complete loss of the Mangekyo's visual powers.
However, there existed an even higher tier of power capable of bypassing this catastrophic degradation entirely: the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
By surgically implanting and fusing a matching pair of Mangekyo Sharingan from a blood relative, a brand-new ocular power would be forged. This was the true zenith of the Sharingan's evolution.
Broadly speaking, the Sharingan's progression capped out at these three tiers.
While one could theoretically ascend further to unlock things like the Rinnegan or the Rinne Sharingan, those could no longer be classified as pure Sharingan.
Furthermore, it was fundamentally impossible for an ordinary human to evolve their eyes to such a divine threshold.
Under normal circumstances, any shinobi who possessed the power of the Mangekyo had to constantly calculate a strategy to avoid going blind.
The most absolute, reliable method was to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo.
Yet, there existed an alternative method to nullify this visual degradation entirely: possessing an overwhelming abundance of life force.
Take Obito, for example. The man constantly treated his Kamui like a disposable toy, utilizing his Mangekyo's power so flagrantly that it felt completely commonplace. Yet, he never suffered from a decline in visual prowess, let alone the risk of blindness.
Why?
The answer lay entirely in the fact that his body was saturated with a massive quantity of Hashirama cells. The immense, near-limitless life force inherent to Hashirama was more than capable of completely neutralizing the corrosive backlash of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Diarmuid's own life force was not a single shred inferior to that of Hashirama; if anything, it was subtly superior.
Consequently, neither Orochimaru nor Sasori had ever factored the Mangekyo's blindness backlash as a legitimate threat to Diarmuid. That was the exact reason behind their confident assessment.
As soon as Sasori finished speaking, Orochimaru chuckled again and added, "Indeed, there is no cause for concern. Even if your ocular power does experience a temporary decline, it is completely trivial. Since we possess the blueprint to synthesize a custom pair of Sharingan from your own cells, we can simply manufacture another identical set to force your ascension to the Eternal Mangekyo threshold. Therefore, you do not need to overthink these matters."
It was a cold fact. Forcing the awakening of the Eternal Mangekyo required the fusion of two highly compatible pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan.
In conventional history, this required stealing the eyes of a close biological relative, such as a sibling.
But Orochimaru could artificially grow custom Sharingan tailored perfectly to Diarmuid's specific DNA. What lineage could possibly offer a more flawless genetic match than an eye grown from his own cells?
Thus, even if his vision did begin to fail, he could leap straight to the Eternal Mangekyo anyway.
Hearing the full breakdown, Diarmuid pondered for a brief moment before a grin broke across his face. "In that case, you can absolutely call this a definitive success. There is no need for you two to be modest with terms like 'basically successful'... So, when exactly can I inherit this power?"
"Right this second, if you wish," Orochimaru stated casually.
However, after a brief pause, his tone turned measured as he continued, "But your current physical state appears somewhat volatile. I cannot guarantee whether this anomaly will interfere with our integration process... There were too many eyes on us earlier, so I refrained from asking. How exactly is your body holding up?"
Indeed, precisely because the room had been crowded with their subordinates, Diarmuid had intentionally kept his explanations brief.
Now, only Sasori and Orochimaru remained in the chamber.
Given their histories, both men were essentially fanatical, cold-blooded research scientists. By all conventional logic, Diarmuid should never extend absolute, unreserved trust to them.
Particularly to a calculating viper like Orochimaru...
Yet, after weighing the variables in his mind, Diarmuid ultimately decided that he could afford to trust these two.
This trust was built partly on the mutual understanding and genuine camaraderie they had forged over the years spent working alongside one another.
On the other hand, it stemmed purely from Diarmuid's own infallible instinct.
With that thought, Diarmuid fell silent for a beat before opening up, "To be completely blunt, the impact is massive, well beyond my initial calculations. Just as Tobirama noted in his research logs, Spiritualization is a deeply perilous state. For instance..."
At this point, Diarmuid lifted his partially translucent arm and continued, "The sections of this arm that have undergone Spiritualization are currently completely incapable of channeling any form of energy, save for pure spiritual power."
The moment those words left his lips, both Orochimaru and Sasori gasped, their expressions shifting to sheer shock.
Orochimaru was the first to speak, his words tumbling out rapidly, "This is an incredibly dangerous development. Meaning, as this spiritualization trend spreads and intensifies across your vessel, you will progressively be stripped of the vast majority of your arsenal? Including, but not limited to, your dark powers, ninjutsu, senjutsu, and chakra? In fact, because your form is phasing out, will you even lose the ability to execute taijutsu entirely?"
Diarmuid gave a slow nod, seemingly validating the grim theory.
In reality, while he had chosen to extend his trust, he still masterfully kept his ultimate trump cards close to his chest. The powers granted by the Dark-Dark Fruit, the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, and his Haki were all completely operational.
He simply had zero intention of laying those facts bare before Orochimaru and Sasori.
Trust was fine, but a total lack of reservation was sheer foolishness, especially when dealing with a character like Orochimaru.
It was undeniable that they shared a common ambition and possessed a deep, ironclad foundation of friendship. Orochimaru would almost certainly never betray him or plot his demise.
Even so, Diarmuid chose to retain a hidden hand.
"Is this the catastrophic price of Spiritualization? This is a dreadful trade-off," Sasori muttered, his brow furrowing deeply.
Diarmuid caught the puppet master's distress and let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. "It is not a permanent eradication of these powers, but rather a temporary lockdown. I can distinctly feel that the energies still dwell within me. It is merely that due to the onset of this Spiritualization, I cannot actively channel them for the time being."
Orochimaru sank into deep thought for a moment before analyzing, "I see. Based on this parameter, I can formulate two distinct hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that under the active state of Spiritualization, you are fundamentally converting into a pure soul, rendering you biologically incapable of executing material techniques. The second hypothesis is that during this spiritualizing process, your physical vessel is undergoing an abstruse mutation and adaptation, essentially a complete 'reconstruction.' Consequently, your non-spiritual powers have simply not yet integrated into this newly 'reconstructed' framework. Thus, you are locked out temporarily, but once this Spiritualization reaches total completion, your full arsenal should theoretically restore itself..."
"Precisely. For the time being, I am also leaning toward these two possibilities," Diarmuid agreed with a nod.
"If it turns out to be the second hypothesis, then it is merely a minor setback. At worst, you suffer a temporary dip in power during the transition phase, but you will ultimately reclaim your full strength. But if it proves to be the first hypothesis... we are looking at a massive problem," Sasori pointed out grimly.
"Correct. After all, no one can predict what your final state will look like once this Spiritualization fully settles. Will it unlock a toggleable secondary form, or... will it permanently dissolve your body of flesh and blood? No one can give an absolute guarantee," Orochimaru noted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
If his physical body was permanently annihilated, leaving him as a pure spiritual entity, and the first hypothesis held true, it meant Diarmuid would never again be able to wield the physical powers he had spent a lifetime mastering.
That would be an incredibly awkward predicament.
"No... I have already uncovered the definitive answer," Diarmuid stated, a sharp smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.
With that, he raised his translucent arm once more and commanded, "Keep your eyes locked right here!"
The moment the words left his mouth, he went dead silent. The aura radiating from his frame surged violently, as if he were exerting an immense internal force.
Orochimaru and Sasori fixed their gazes dead onto Diarmuid's phasing arm, refusing to blink.
Within moments, a look of deep astonishment seized both of their eyes, rapidly melting into sheer realization.
Upon closer inspection, they discovered that as Diarmuid actively asserted his will and raw power to interfere with his current condition, the spectral translucent state on his arm actually began to recede.
Granted, it was merely a microscopic, barely perceptible trace of a retreat.
Yet, this alone was more than enough to prove an absolute truth: Spiritualization was by no means a permanent, irreversible curse.
It did not mean that once you transitioned into a spirit, you could never again manifest a body of flesh and blood.
Therefore, this spiritualization trend, once fully mastered, would essentially manifest as a supreme 'ability.' In all probability, Diarmuid would gain the power to seamlessly phase between a spiritual entity and a physical entity at will.
Naturally, achieving such flawless mastery would demand a staggering amount of time, focus, and practice.
But that was entirely trivial; establishing the core conclusion was all that mattered.
It proved that Diarmuid's pre-existing arsenal had not been rendered obsolete by this evolution.
"It appears that as things stand, this spiritualization trend is an immense blessing," Orochimaru remarked after a brief deliberation.
Clearly, this was the process of awakening an entirely new domain of power. The moment Diarmuid perfected his spiritual form, he would stand at the apex of a terrifying new frontier.
Granted, even before this development, Diarmuid would frequently untether his soul from his body to travel across distances.
But that method carried catastrophic vulnerabilities. For instance, while his soul was detached, his physical vessel was left completely defenseless. If an enemy stumbled upon his husk and destroyed it, he would be hard-pressed to escape a final death. At best, he might end up like the Sage of Six Paths, existing as a lingering, disembodied phantom. No matter how one looked at it, it was an incredibly awkward weakness.
However, if he unlocked the capability to freely switch between a spiritual and a physical state, that critical vulnerability would vanish completely.
Furthermore, the existence of a pure spiritual body was highly analogous to the Logia-type Devil Fruits of the pirate world.
In this world of shinobi, exceptionally few individuals possessed the specialized means to harm a soul directly. Unless an opponent utilized an incredibly high-tier sealing jutsu, standard taijutsu and ninjutsu would simply pass straight through Diarmuid without dealing a single point of damage.
That was a terrifying level of power.
By that same token, a pure spiritual form would inevitably trigger a monstrous amplification of his spiritual energy. It was highly likely that he would gain complete immunity to the vast majority of genjutsu in existence.
If one were to pair this absolute defense with the devastating ocular prowess of the customized Sharingan... then ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu would effectively all become completely useless against him.
He was already fundamentally overpowered to begin with. If he truly took this final step, wouldn't he become completely and utterly invincible under the heavens?
As this realization settled in, an inexplicable sense of awe washed over Orochimaru's mind. Guiding Diarmuid toward this absolute summit truly felt as though he were actively participating in the 'creation of a god.'
He was bearing witness to the rise of a true, undisputed deity.
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