Ruri affirmed.
"But how do we activate it?"
Hakushi asked the crucial question.
No matter if the Mangekyo Sharingan is just a legend or a reality, if it's not activated, it might as well not exist.
Hakushi knew very little about these eyes, and he certainly couldn't use Sharingan ninjas for human research. Otherwise, he could dissect them to see if there's a hidden, more powerful force within.
"I think it might be similar to ordinary Sharingan, needing strong emotional stimuli to activate."
Because initially, her Sharingan progressed step by step to the Three-Tomoe form in such a way.
And reaching the Three-Tomoe form marks the end of an ordinary Sharingan.
If it were a year ago, Ruri wouldn't be sure her Sharingan was the strongest among the Uchiha, but now she is entirely confident that no one in the clan could surpass her in the application of Sharingan.
Not long after, Ruri left, and Hakushi's face remained calm.
No rush on the issue of the Chakra Limiter, but the Mangekyo Sharingan...
Hakushi couldn't help but recall the unfamiliar Sharingan he encountered last year. A ninja capable of wielding such level of donjutsu could hardly be an unknown in the Ninja Realm.
Or more accurately, is that really a power that can be wielded by a Three-Tomoe level Sharingan?
Even now, Ruri has mastered Immortal Technique, her donjutsu already surpassing the limits of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Yet, by comparison, Hakushi still feels Ruri's Three-Tomoe Sharingan's donjutsu falls short.
There are indeed many undisclosed secrets within the Uchiha Race.
As Hakushi was preparing to return to the laboratory, the Earth General emerged from underground.
He took out a scroll from his body and placed it in front of Hakushi.
Hakushi was surprised but picked up the scroll and opened it to read the contents.
The scroll mentioned only one thing—
Hidden Sand and Hidden Rock are secretly purchasing large quantities of medical supplies from the Shion Flower Company, suspected of entering a war preparation phase.
◎
"Never expected Hidden Grass Village secretly harbored survivors of the Uzumaki Clan."
In a dim setting, Danzo received intelligence files presented by his subordinates and said these words.
Half a month had passed since the Hidden Grass Village attack incident.
During this period, the focus of various nations' ninja villages converged on Hidden Grass Village. Unsurprisingly, Konoha's Anbu and Root also concentrated their attention on Hidden Grass Village, digging into the causes behind the Hidden Grass Village attack.
Even though Hidden Grass Village was trying hard to cover it up, Root investigators still found some suspicious clues, confirming the existence of Uzumaki Clan survivors within Hidden Grass Village.
However, following the attack incident, the Uzumaki Clan survivors mysteriously vanished from Hidden Grass Village, their whereabouts unknown.
Danzo held a wanted poster with the images of Tenten and Raidenmaru, his eyes slightly narrowed.
Did they attack Hidden Grass Village for the Uzumaki Clan survivors?
First, they attacked Hozuki Castle, creating a bait, diverting Hidden Grass Village's forces towards Hozuki Castle.
Then swiftly launched an attack on Hidden Grass Village. The dispersed forces within Hidden Grass Village stood powerless against the enemy's airborne assault.
The day after the attack, Hidden Grass Village assessed the losses, discovering the Uzumaki Clan survivors went missing, and the Hidden Grass Ninja guarding them also had their traces erased, vanishing like smoke.
This is the general outcome deduced by the Root investigators. Although there might be discrepancies in some parts of the process, the core threads of the incident are as described.
"Danzo-sama, should we immediately start investigating the Uzumaki Clan survivors?"
A Root Ninja asked.
"No need. Since the opposing side took such actions, they likely anticipated this. Investigating now would probably yield nothing but wasted effort. More important than tracking these Uzumaki Clan survivors' whereabouts is gearing up against the Uchiha Race."
Danzo shook his head.
The attackers who assaulted Hidden Grass Village planned meticulously. Before the assault, they had already laid out their retreat routes.
Investigating Hidden Grass Village's attack reasons has already consumed plenty of time. Undertaking an investigation now is entirely late.
"Understood." The Root Ninja bowed his head, then remembered something and said, "But, Danzo-sama, our men can't approach Uchiha Ruri. No personnel who went to monitor her have returned any messages, their status unknown."
Though eager to alleviate Danzo, the leader's burden, monitoring the dreadful Uchiha Ruri has led to the loss of numerous adept Root Ninja specializing in stealth.
If this continues, dispatching more expert ninjas in the stealth domain becomes meaningless, merely straining Root's forces.
After all, among those dispatched, one even had hiding capabilities undetectable by Perception Ninjutsu, yet such a professional stealth ninja still ended the mission in failure.
Whether dead or captured and imprisoned, otherwise it is impossible for no information to return.
Such matters naturally cannot be reported to the Hokage. Root initiated surveillance on Uchiha Race members without any orders; even if killed, when reported to the Hokage, the blame still falls on Root itself.
"If we had eliminated her at all costs earlier..."
Danzo, seated, found the matter thorny.