Several people jumped down from the wooden giant and arrived at the lakeside.
The entire lake was shrouded in a thin mist, but it didn't affect their vision too much.
"Honored.... guests, I previously discovered the Three-Tails' traces around here. It should be hiding at the bottom of the lake. Please wait a moment, I'll go find it immediately." Ranmaru took the initiative to volunteer.
Ranmaru possessed the Bloodline Limit 'Red Eye', which shared many similar abilities with the Byakugan, including the ability to see through solid objects.
In terms of perceiving and observing chakra, it was said to be even more powerful than the Byakugan.
It could also create phantom chakra networks to interfere with Byakugan vision, earning it the nickname "The Byakugan's Natural Enemy."
But those who understand, understand.
Just like the Ketsuryugan claimed to be the Sharingan's natural enemy, these local Bloodline Limits ultimately couldn't compare to the evolving, planet-busting power of the Otsutsuki bloodline.
"No need."
Makoto stopped Ranmaru, who was preparing to move forward.
The Red Eye, like the Byakugan, had a limited range.
No matter how powerful, it couldn't survey unlimited distances like a satellite.
"You can leave now. Or, if you don't want to leave, wait here. After this is over, we can take you back to the Hidden Mist Village."
After saying this, Makoto paid no more attention to the two.
"Huh?"
Seeing that Makoto truly wasn't going to bother with them anymore, Ranmaru quickly walked over to Raiga.
"Forget it, let's just go back with them," Raiga sighed.
Going back gave him at least some chance to retrieve the Kiba swords.
Leaving now meant definitely losing them forever.
Having lost the swords, his strength plummeted. If enemies came looking for him now, he'd be finished in no time.
On the other hand, returning to the Hidden Mist, given the village's current shortage of personnel, even if he couldn't retrieve the swords immediately, he wouldn't have to live in exile.
He'd be much safer.
As for his bizarre hobby of enjoying funerals? It's called a hobby for a reason—no hobby is more important than life.
Even with Hashirama Senju 'a perfect corpse for a funeral' right here, Raiga's hobby didn't act up.
He knew better.
...
On the other side of the clearing.
"Come on, Hikari. This is a good place to test it out." Makoto nodded to Uchiha Hikari.
Hashirama obediently dispelled the wooden giant and stepped aside, resisting the urge to make the giant skip stones on such a perfect lake surface.
"Okay."
Uchiha Hikari reached into her collar and took out a necklace.
The crystal-clear stone on the necklace was what Makoto had created for her, based on the data gathered from Tsunade's experiment.
To activate the Limited Tsukuyomi and turn the Tailed Beast Chakra within it from illusion into reality, Hikari must endure the immense chakra load and master the amplified power granted by Makoto.
This location happened to be a suitable, open training ground.
Beneath the lake, there was even a training target waiting for them.
Hikari pinched the "Star" shaped stone on her necklace, closed her eyes, and pressed it against her forehead, beginning to focus.
Tsunade's stone was heart-shaped, which she had chosen herself.
As for Hikari's "Star" shaped stone, she had asked Makoto to select it for her.
Makoto had chosen a design symbolizing light.
'Hmm...'
While Tsunade's side resembled Pokémon Mega Evolution, Hikari's felt more like Digimon.
It was unclear whether the effect was less painful because the data had stabilized, or if it simply varied due to individual constitutions.
In any case, when activated, Hikari's "Star" pattern did not imprint on her abdomen like Tsunade's heart pattern.
Instead, it simply hovered at the center of her forehead, glowing softly.
"I'm starting."
Hikari opened her eyes, her Mangekyo Sharingan already active.
This experiment naturally required a specific sequence.
Makoto was concerned that directly enduring the chakra load might harm her body, so it was essential to first enter Makoto's "Sage Mode" via the stone before absorbing the chakra.
Hikari could also sense that most of the amplification from Makoto's stone was concentrated in her eyes.
This wasn't surprising.
Makoto wasn't a game developer trying to balance the meta.
He wasn't going to arbitrarily assign "Special Attack" stats to a "Physical" attacker.
Since the stone was meant for amplification, it had to be optimized for efficiency.
He wasn't here to play fair against a clan of cheaters like the Otsutsuki.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
After using the Eight Thousand Spears to absorb chakra for a few seconds, Hikari suddenly thought of something.
She formed a hand seal and created five clones.
Poof. Poof. Poof. Poof. Poof.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was classified as a Forbidden Jutsu primarily because it evenly distributed a large base amount of chakra and imposed a mental strain that could be fatal to ordinary ninjas.
From the Second Hokage using shadow clones within the Four Red Yang Formation to Boruto spamming clones without knowing his limit, it was clear that the technique itself had risks.
Creating a fixed number of clones was controllable.
But attempting to create "as many as possible" was unpredictable.
If one accidentally created too many, the chakra split could literally kill the user.
In short, this technique was dangerous for ordinary ninjas.
The most dangerous aspect was that its learning difficulty wasn't actually high.
It was elevated to A-rank solely because of the risk.
In fact, the mechanical difficulty was the same as the B-rank Shadow Clone.
Naruto could learn it instantly, and what Hikari lacked was only chakra.
After the Second Hokage briefly explained it on the boat ride over, she had mastered it.
But why only five clones?
After absorbing chakra from the Gedo Statue, Hikari could easily create hundreds without issue.
There was only one possibility...
As expected.
Five Shadow Clones, including Hikari's main body, began to surge with crimson chakra.
This wasn't Tailed Beast Chakra, but the Susanoo that Hikari had used not long ago.
From skeletal frames, they gradually began to grow muscle and armor.
The growth showed no signs of stopping.
All six Susanoos (1 original + 5 clones) developed into Complete Body forms.
The sheer magnitude of this feat surpassed even Uchiha Madara's famous "Five Susanoo vs. Five Kage" moment, as these were nearly Complete Body forms.
Why "nearly"?
"Huh?" Hikari noticed it too.
The wings on each Susanoo's back were all different, growing in different directions.
She had previously felt her limit was maintaining six Complete Body Susanoos including her main body, but she hadn't expected to maintain them in this specific formation.
The directions of these six wings precisely mirrored the "Star" pattern that Makoto had left on the stone he gave her.
After activating Susanoo, the floating Star mark on Hikari's forehead simultaneously appeared on the foreheads of the giant avatars as well.
What felt particularly strange—especially to Hashirama Senju, who had fought Madara's Susanoo many times—was that Hikari's Complete Body Susanoo wasn't the long-nosed Tengu form.
It was a figure wearing a sleek face mask.
And quite aesthetically pleasing at that.
'Could this be the privilege of females activating Susanoo? Or just a different design patch?' Makoto wondered idly.
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