116-118

Chapter 116: Training (Part 2) 

The power of her eyes pierced through the Hashirama cells. 

The chunk of flesh in the bottle instantly turned translucent, like jelly, but it lacked any of the softness you’d expect from jelly. Instead, it seemed brittle, like a crispy biscuit. 

Only then did she notice that, centered around her finger bone, Hikari power didn’t just coat the surface of the Hashirama cells—it had seeped into the flesh, leaving intricate patterns of spots throughout. 

Her vision zoomed in to the cellular level. The pale cells were completely overtaken by a deathly gray hue. The tendrils on the cell surfaces, which usually reached out like jaws snapping at prey, were still. Gone was the frenzy they’d shown when trying to engulf her gray cells earlier. 

Silence. Stillness. Serenity. 

The gray bone didn’t absorb the energy of the Hashirama cells. Instead, it used that deathly force to snuff them out entirely. 

She picked up a glass rod from the table and cautiously prodded the Hashirama cells now tainted by the gray bone. 

Crack! 

She hadn’t even applied pressure—just rested the rod on the flesh—and the gray patterns on its surface splintered into countless cracks. 

Crack—crunch—snap! 

The fissures spread rapidly along the paths of the gray patterns, spawning smaller cracks in their wake. In moments, the entire chunk of flesh disintegrated, collapsing into a slurry of gray powder mixed with the brownish-yellow nutrient solution. 

What a terrifying power. 

She narrowed her eyes, cautiously observing the mixture in the cup. 

This was just an incomplete form of the All-Killing Ash Bones, yet it was ferocious enough to overwhelm even the endlessly dividing, devouring Hashirama cells, reducing them to dust. If her entire skeletal structure evolved to this level, who knew how dangerous it could become? 

But something didn’t add up. 

The power of Hashirama cells was supposed to be near the pinnacle of a Sage’s body. If even the strongest Sage body couldn’t withstand an incomplete Ash Bone, then what was the point of her developing a reversal of the Eight Gates? No matter how strong her life force was, it couldn’t surpass Hashirama’s cells. 

She turned her gaze inward, examining her own body. 

Her speckled bones lay quietly encased in flesh, steadily drawing on her chakra and life force. But they didn’t spread those gray patterns to invade her body. 

Her bones might be harder than steel, but they were still made of bone cells. 

Her cells and Hashirama’s cells were fundamentally different—completely incompatible. 

Her bone cells couldn’t recognize the life force in Hashirama’s cells, so they treated them as an enemy, annihilating them with those unique gray patterns. 

Perhaps only her own cells, brimming with life force, could make her Corpse Bone Pulse distinguish friend from foe and trigger some unknown transformation? 

But then, why could the Nine-Tails’ chakra be absorbed so seamlessly? 

When her Corpse Bone Pulse had consumed the Nine-Tails’ chakra, there was no resistance at all. Logically, that chakra should’ve been considered “foreign” too. 

Was it because her bone pulse hadn’t yet evolved into Ash Bones at the time? 

As she pondered the connection between the two, her finger bone sank to the bottom of the murky mixture in the glass cup. Before she could react, the gray patterns reappeared, slowly creeping up the transparent glass. 

Bang! 

The finger bone, heavy as a solid iron ingot, shattered the base of the cup the moment the gray patterns touched it. 

The broken glass shards disintegrated into powder mid-air. Even the flowing nutrient solution was tainted by the gray patterns, turning to dust. 

The finger bone and gray powder scattered across the floor. 

But it didn’t stop there. 

With the finger bone as the epicenter, the gray patterns began to crawl across the ground, hardened by Earth Release. To her shock, they spread—until they formed a small, coin-sized gray circle and finally stopped. 

She turned the now-bottomless glass cup upside down on the table. 

Big at the top, small at the bottom—it made a perfect funnel. 

Bending down, she gently nudged the finger bone on the ground with her finger. This time, the domineering patterns recognized her as an ally and didn’t spread toward her hand. 

Her Byakugan revealed that the mysterious gray power within the bone was nearly depleted, reduced to a faint, flickering wisp that seemed ready to vanish at any moment. 

Crack! 

With a thought, the bone—so indestructible moments ago—shattered into gray dust, just like the objects it had infected. 

She’d always had the ability to disintegrate her own bones since awakening the Corpse Bone Pulse. Back then, it hadn’t seemed like much. But now, staring at the layer of gray-white dust on the ground, she realized the power of the All-Killing Ash Bones had been showing its potential all along. 

She swept the dust clean. 

Leaping out of the basement, she sealed the entrance with a barrier. 

Creak! 

Her shadow clone pushed the bed back into place and asked, “How’d it go?” 

“See for yourself.” 

She tapped her heart, and seven spiraling chakra chains appeared in the air, each carrying its own memories and information. 

Six chains were close, one was far—corresponding to the six shadow clones in the room (Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Yin, and Yang) and one at the Ninja Academy, heading home with a pink bear backpack. 

“The Ash Bones’ rejection is even stronger than Hashirama’s cells!” said Yang-Release Hikari, tapping her forehead where a kaleidoscope pattern spun beneath her black cloak. “Organic or inorganic—anything that touches the Ash Bones is doomed. Only our own cells are recognized, sparing them from the deathly patterns. 

As for why the Nine-Tails’ chakra was absorbed without issue, it’s likely a matter of sequence. Our chakra fused with the Nine-Tails’ first, turning our chakra core purple. By then, the Nine-Tails’ chakra was close enough to ours in nature, so the Corpse Bone Pulse could absorb it and evolve toward Ash Bones.” 

Yin-Release Hikari rubbed her temples in frustration. “Forget transplanting Hashirama cells. Our tailed beast chakra can’t resist their devouring nature. 

I just finished reading Orochimaru’s theories on Yin chakra. Combined with the Yin and Yang scrolls Shikamaru’s team sent, I think ‘Yang’—representing life—is the source of all power, while ‘Yin’ is the force derived from absorbing and transforming ‘Yang.’ It’s born from Yang but surpasses it. That’s why only the Sharingan, the pinnacle of Yin, can barely suppress Hashirama cells.” 

“What about the Byakugan?” asked another clone. 

“The Hyuga guard their Byakugan too fiercely—no one’s tested if it can control Hashirama cells. The Byakugan excels at control and balance, so it might have some effect in theory, but it’s probably not as effective as the Sharingan.” 

The Yin and Yang clones debated the basement experiment’s results. 

The other clones muted their voices, focusing on their books. Their main job was feeding knowledge into the main body’s mind. Developing ninjutsu was left to Yin, Yang, and the original Hikari, but since their chakra and information were identical, they could swap roles without issue—it was just a matter of division of labor. 

Hikari shook her head, feeling a throbbing pain in her temples. 

The flood of information from her clones was overwhelming, jumbling together and making her head ache like crazy. 

“No need to dwell on Hashirama cells anymore. The priority now is reversing the Eight Gates.” 

At her words, the Yin and Yang clones stopped their debate. 

“You saw the experiment I did at Root, right?” Yang-Release Hikari asked. 

Hikari closed her eyes, sifting through the memory fragments Yang had sent. She quickly found the one in question. 

It was a carp experiment. 

As Yang-Release Hikari medical ninjutsu improved, aided by her Byakugan, she finally glimpsed the life force inherent in living beings—a force strikingly similar to Yang-Release chakra. It was incredibly hard to control, and the stronger the creature, the more resistant its life force. At first, she couldn’t even extract the life force from a carp. 

After trying everything—Yang-Release induction, eye power control, anesthesia, and countless incisions—she finally extracted a tiny bit of the carp’s life force. She used it to heal a small mouse injured by a Wind-Release attack. 

The mouse’s wound healed rapidly, but scales—something only fish have—grew on its surface. Within twelve hours, the mouse showed clear signs of rejection: first, it became erratic and aggressive, then it weakened rapidly, and finally, it died within a day. 

In a follow-up experiment, she used the carp’s life force to heal another carp. The wound healed quickly without growing anything strange, and the carp survived healthily for several days. But just when Yang-Release Hikari thought the experiment was a success, the carp suddenly showed rejection symptoms and died soon after. 

“Life force varies between species and individuals,” Yang-Release Gray explained. “If you recklessly transfer or absorb it, the best-case scenario is you turn into a carp spirit.” 

Maybe it was from assisting Chihaya, but Yang-Release Hikari had picked up a knack for bad jokes. 

“If I turn into a carp spirit, you’re not escaping either,” Yin-Release Hikari shot back, closing her book with a snap. 

“What a pain!” Hikari groaned, her head pounding. Developing the Eight Gates reversal was one obstacle after another. No wonder it took the genius Fourth Hokage three years to create the Rasengan. 

Even with existing medical ninjutsu, secret clan scrolls on Yin and Yang, the foundation of the Eight Gates, her Byakugan and Corpse Bone Pulse, and open access to ninjutsu knowledge from Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, she still found it insanely difficult. 

She couldn’t imagine how Tobirama Senju’s brain worked. 

If she ever got the chance, she’d love to crack it open and study it. 

“How did Hashirama cells solve this problem? Any clues?” Hikari asked, rubbing her foggy head. 

Her Corpse Bone Pulse could block physical exhaustion, but mental fatigue from processing knowledge and memories was beyond its reach. 

Her memories were a mess—sealing techniques, Yin-Yang, medical ninjutsu, all jumbled together. Her brain felt like a rusty machine, too heavy to function properly. 

But a good night’s sleep would let her subconscious sort it out, so she didn’t worry too much. The immediate issue was the Ash Bones. 

Seeing her exhaustion, Yang-Release Hikari kept it concise: “Hashirama cells have a special protective layer, like a mix of cell membrane and cell wall, that filters out impurities in foreign life forces. It extends tendrils through that layer, piercing other cells’ cytoplasm to absorb energy.” 

Ugh! 

The bed let out a ridiculous creak. 

Her foggy brain gave out, and Hikari collapsed onto the bed, resting her neck on Yin-Release Hikari lap, letting her clone massage her temples to ease the fatigue. 

“Peel that layer off and use it as a filter,” she mumbled. 

“I can’t do cell-level peeling surgery. Physical or chemical extraction isn’t pure enough and risks damaging the structure. If impurities slip through, the consequences could be catastrophic,” Yang-Release Hikari explained quickly, resisting the urge to tease her barely-conscious original. 

Yin-Release Hikari pressed her thumbs into Hikari temples, offering an idea: “What if you absorbed the chakra of Hashirama cells? Could you inherit their power?” 

“Gentler,” Hikari murmured. 

Feeling the pressure on her temples lighten, she closed her eyes contentedly, savoring the moment. 

On the floor, her “subjects” worked tirelessly for her secret technique. On the bed, her “consort” massaged away her stress. She was living like an emperor. 

The only downside? Her subjects and consort were all herself. A bit monotonous. 

“When I absorbed the Nine-Tails’ chakra, it was mixed with Naruto’s. Did we inherit any of Asura’s power?” Yang-Release Hikari pointed out. 

“Good point,” Yin-Release Hikari nodded, continuing the massage. 

A long sigh escaped from the girl on her lap. 

Looking down, silver hair spilled across the bed. Hikari had fallen asleep, head tilted to the side. 

The Yin and Yang clones exchanged a helpless smile. Eight times the training intensity didn’t sound that bad, but shadow clones didn’t need sleep. A month of nonstop, 24-hour training would wear anyone down—even Naruto might not handle it. 

Despite sleeping every night, Hikari couldn’t fully recover from the accumulating fatigue. 

It was starting to disrupt her daily routine. She might pass out from exhaustion at any moment or wake up at odd hours to eat. To develop her secret technique, she’d completely lost a normal lifestyle. 

The Yin and Yang clones lowered their voices, continuing their discussion. The other clones flipped through books, the rustle of pages filling the room. 

On the bed, Hikari lay motionless, as if in another world. 

Two days later 

“Aaahhh!” 

A man with broken limbs lay on a hospital bed, his bloodshot eyes wide with terror. 

He screamed in agony, his body writhing. His bare torso revealed a web of burn scars, but what stood out most were the dense sealing formulas etched across his skin. 

“Cloud ninja are tough as nails,” Chihaya remarked, lounging in a chair, casually munching on an apple. 

Hikari, who’d been her assistant, now took the lead. A purple chakra scalpel coated her hand as she pressed it against the man’s chest, sliding downward. Crimson blood trickled along his dark skin. 

She pried open his chest cavity. 

Reaching for a prepared petri dish, she revealed a small, fist-sized white mass submerged in milky nutrient fluid. 

At its core, a glowing chakra nucleus pulsed with life force, flowing gently without its usual aggression. 

That was because the mass was embedded with three scarlet, single-tomoe Sharingan eyes. Purple-red nerves, like blood vessels, pierced the flesh, their sinister eye power locking down the Hashirama cells’ life force completely. 

Chapter 117: Mission 

One thing always subdues another. 

The scarlet Sharingan gleamed with intensity, its single tomoe spinning excitedly around the pupil. Hikari gazed at the grotesque, multi-eyed flesh orb in her hand, silently marveling. 

The memory of Hashirama’s cells devouring her own cells and chakra with reckless abandon was still vivid. Yet, when faced with the Sharingan, those cells were completely suppressed by its ocular power. Not only could they not consume the Sharingan’s strength, but their vibrant chakra was being siphoned off by the eye instead. 

“...Agh!” 

The man’s blood-red chest cavity gaped open, revealing a twitching heart and lungs. He was still screaming, though his tongue, now reduced to half its length, made his words unintelligible. 

Annoyed by the noise, Hikari casually grabbed a rag and stuffed it into his mouth. 

Shlick! 

Her translucent fingernail, wrapped around a scalpel, deftly avoided the arteries and sliced a precise incision into his heart. 

“Mmph~!” 

His bloodshot eyes rolled back in agony. 

Hikari’s expression remained impassive as she cut into the heart and embedded the flesh orb into the wound. A green glow of medical ninjutsu illuminated the chest. 

The pale flesh orb extended tendrils, rapidly fusing with the heart. 

The ordinary blue chakra core and the vibrant green Hashirama chakra core began to permeate and merge, while the tomoe in the Sharingan spun wildly. 

This man was the leader of the three Cloud Village jonin sent to assault the Leaf Village’s main gate. After killing two Leaf shinobi, the other two jonin were beaten to death by reinforcements. This one, however, failed to take his own life and was captured alive with a sealing jutsu. 

The interrogation team worked on him for nearly two months, but he didn’t crack, even biting off his own tongue. In the end, they tortured him until his will weakened, then extracted the intel by invading his mind. Afterward, he was thrown into the Leaf Village prison—only to somehow end up as a test subject for the Root. 

The green glow swiftly healed the wound. 

In the center of the blood-red heart, a patch of pale cells embedded with a Sharingan began to spread. Hikari quickly manipulated the man’s life force to resist the encroachment of Hashirama’s cells. 

Crack! 

Behind her, Chihaya Tou took a big bite of an apple, her cheeks puffing out as she chewed. Watching Hikari’s calm precision, admiration seeped from her eyes like juice from the fruit. 

Over the past month of mentoring, Chihaya couldn’t be more satisfied with her lab assistant. No matter how complex the medical ninjutsu, Hikari mastered it instantly, refined it with practice, and memorized medical texts in days, applying them flawlessly soon after. 

Chihaya had once thought Yakushi Nono, with her prodigious talent, was the most gifted person she’d ever met. Every time she saw the incompetent fools in the lab, she missed her former student dearly. 

But now? Danzo had found her an even more talented assistant in Hikari. Many of Root’s experiments were now handled by her, leaving Chihaya to provide theoretical guidance. Life had become so much easier. 

With less chakra being drained daily, Chihaya even felt she’d gained a bit of weight. 

It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go back. 

She hoped this disciple would last a long time. The thought of life without Hikari was already unimaginable. 

Thud, thud! 

The familiar sound of a cane echoed from outside. 

“Lord Danzo!” 

The respectful greetings from the lab staff revealed the visitor’s identity. 

Clack! 

The operating room door swung open. Chihaya tossed the half-eaten apple into the trash and stood to greet him. 

“Lord Dan—” 

The grim old man, his right eye wrapped in bandages, hobbled in with his cane and raised a hand to cut off Chihaya’s formalities. 

His narrow left eye squinted slightly as he watched the busy figure at the operating table, a hint of pleasure in his expression. “How’s my disciple performing?” 

“Absolutely perfect,” Chihaya said with a shake of her head, her praise so effusive that even a rigorous researcher like her used the word “perfect.” “Her chakra scalpel and mystical palm techniques rival mine. She can handle ninety percent of surgeries independently. She could walk into the Leaf Hospital and take a director’s position with ease.” 

“Any psychological resistance?” Danzo asked. 

Hikari’s talent had never disappointed him. After a few pointers, her Wind Release mastery had skyrocketed. From that moment, he understood why someone so young possessed such strength. 

She weighed 250 kilograms, and 240 of those were pure talent. 

As Chihaya was about to respond, a violent clatter came from the operating table. 

“Mmph!” 

The man’s body convulsed, shaking the table with a grating clank-clank. 

The skin on his chest healed rapidly under medical ninjutsu, but the moment Hikari’s chakra stopped, the pale Hashirama cells had already spread across his chest. 

The dark skin was swiftly overtaken by the pale cells, covering his entire torso in an instant. 

Hikari’s eyes narrowed. At this rate, the man clearly couldn’t withstand the Hashirama cells’ invasion. Even with the Sharingan suppressing them, he was as good as dead. 

If the cells kept growing unchecked, the three single-tomoe Sharingan would be wasted. Her chakra scalpel swiftly sliced open the chest, and Hikari yanked out the heart, now entirely composed of Hashirama cells. 

Shlick! 

Root-like blood vessels tugged at the heart. 

“Mmph!” 

The man’s body arched violently, his hands clawing at the metal edges of the table. 

Buzz! 

The chakra scalpel severed the vessels connecting the heart. Only when it was fully detached did the man convulse twice more before going still, lifeless. 

“See, my lord,” Chihaya said with a smile, gesturing toward Hikari. 

Hikari calmly placed the heart back into a petri dish, removed her gloves, and showed no emotion on her refined face—like a puppet without feelings. 

No further evaluation from Chihaya was needed. This state perfectly met Danzo’s expectations, perhaps even exceeding them. 

He vaguely recalled that Hikari was a Leaf Village hero who had sacrificed herself to save countless comrades while fighting Cloud shinobi. Was it the effect of the Kotoamatsukami genjutsu, or had her true nature finally surfaced? 

Her experimental methods seemed even more ruthless than Orochimaru’s. 

Ignoring the strange looks from Danzo and Chihaya at the door, Hikari held the petri dish, closely examining the flesh inside. 

After devouring the man’s energy, the Hashirama cells had grown significantly, nearly the size of an adult man’s fist. The chakra core had expanded too, producing even more chakra. 

The Sharingan embedded in the cells grew even redder, struggling to suppress the cells’ power as it frantically absorbed their chakra to generate more ocular power. 

One of the single-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly around the pupil, forming a circle. As the ocular power deepened, a second tomoe began to emerge within it. 

“It’s evolving!” Chihaya’s voice brimmed with excitement. Forgetting her pretense of loyalty in Danzo’s presence, she hurried over to join Hikari in observing the Sharingan’s advancement. 

“The power of Yang is indeed the source of Yin’s growth.” 

Confirming her hypothesis, Hikari’s lips curved into an irrepressible smile. 

Through the synergy of the Sage Body and the Sharingan, she finally understood the relationship between the body’s Yin and Yang forces. 

The most fundamental power in the human body was Yang. The versatile Yin power was derived from absorbing Yang. The soul, mental strength, and ocular techniques all stemmed from Yang’s nourishment. 

Thus, those with strong life forces never had weak souls. Conversely, those born with powerful souls, like Itachi Uchiha, often became frail because they absorbed too much Yang, leading to illnesses like his bloodline disease. 

The Sage Body, brimming with infinite Yang power, was the foundation of Kaguya Otsutsuki’s strength. 

The deathly gray bones could only be borne by the boundless vitality of the Sage Body. The immense chakra of the Tailed Beasts required a Sage Body with vast chakra reserves to seal them. The unpredictable, wish-granting Mangekyo Sharingan needed the Sage Body to replenish its ocular power and alleviate fatigue. 

Madara Uchiha knew this well. 

Though he opened the Rinnegan by stealing Hashirama’s chakra, his lack of vitality meant it took decades to nurture it, leaving him a withered husk. 

Later, he transplanted the Rinnegan into Nagato, who had a Sage Body, to let his vitality gradually mature the malnourished eyes. 

If Hikari’s guess was correct, the Byakugan and the Sage Body likely had a similar synergy. 

Perhaps the Sage Body’s Yang power could be absorbed by the Byakugan to evolve it! 

The Byakugan’s precise control over the body and chakra might exist to regulate active cells at a microscopic level, preventing them from devouring recklessly and curbing the infinite transformation of Yang Release chakra. 

Hikari’s eyes lit up. 

The Sharingan’s ocular power in the Hashirama cells stabilized, its two mysterious tomoe halting at a 180-degree opposition, glowing scarlet. 

It clicked! 

Everything clicked! 

As if a veil of fog had lifted, the world before Hikari burst into vibrant clarity. Two ocular techniques, two physiques, nine Tailed Beasts, bloodline limits, Yin and Yang forces—she had unraveled the connections between Kaguya’s powers. The mighty ancestor of chakra held no more secrets from her. 

“Why didn’t the Sharingan I embedded before show this kind of change?” Chihaya circled the petri dish in Hikari’s hands, her expression tinged with madness. 

“The previous method of connecting the Sharingan to Hashirama cells was too crude. The synapses in the optic nerves weren’t properly repaired, and the blood vessels were clogged, unable to absorb enough Yang power,” Hikari explained excitedly, staring at the dish. 

With the Byakugan’s microscopic vision, she could spot and fix even the tiniest nerve blockages, enabling the Sharingan’s evolution. 

Danzo, who had been ignored for a while, watched the two experiment-obsessed researchers treat him like air as they fawned over the glass dish. Surprisingly, he wasn’t upset. 

He didn’t care for or understand their theoretical discussions, but he grasped the results. 

Hikari had somehow used Hashirama cells to evolve a single-tomoe Sharingan into a double-tomoe one. 

This meant every single- and double-tomoe Sharingan had the potential to become three-tomoe—or even Mangekyo—with Hashirama cells. 

Hashirama cells had always been more show than substance, yielding few results despite countless test subjects. Danzo had long wanted to abandon Chihaya’s research but clung to a sliver of reluctance. 

But if Hashirama cells could evolve Sharingan, everything changed. 

He had plenty of Sharingan—over a hundred. If Hikari could turn them all into Mangekyo... 

Who in the ninja world could stand against him? 

Imagining that dreamlike scenario, Danzo licked his lips hungrily, his excitement surpassing even Hikari and Chihaya’s. 

As Hikari and Chihaya passionately discussed, Danzo quietly sat in Chihaya’s chair, resting his cane across his thighs to avoid making noise that might disrupt their inspiration. 

Drip, drip! 

Blood from the dead man’s chest cavity seeped out, splattering the floor in radial patterns along the table’s edge. 

Hikari and Chihaya fed chakra into the Hashirama cells, using medical ninjutsu to stimulate the other two Sharingan, trying to replicate the earlier success. 

The grim old man leaned back, the cross-shaped scar on his chin stretching as his single eye narrowed, watching Hikari with an unreadable expression. 

Drip... drip... 

Sticky blood stretched into thin threads, connecting the dark floor to the table. Hikari and Chihaya finally mastered the method, successfully evolving the other two Sharingan into double-tomoe. 

“It’s all about the Sharingan’s absorption efficiency. Hikari, you’re a genius!” Chihaya’s brown eyes bulged as she stared into the petri dish, locking gazes with the three scarlet Sharingan. 

She and Orochimaru had once united over their shared dream of immortality but parted ways over differing philosophies. Orochimaru believed the soul could achieve immortality by escaping the body’s constraints, while she believed it relied on absolute Yang power. 

Hikari’s experiment proved both were right. 

Yin and Yang seemed opposed yet shared the same root. A soul could seize another’s body to absorb Yang power, while a body’s cells could endlessly generate vitality to nourish the soul. 

Both paths were valid. 

“Ahem!” Danzo, who had been sitting silently for ages, finally coughed to remind them of his presence as their discussion wound down. 

“Lord Danzo, you’re still here?” Chihaya set down the petri dish with difficulty, offering a polite smile. 

“Trying to get rid of me?” 

“I wouldn’t dare, my lord.” 

Danzo snorted, knowing Chihaya’s obsession with experiments. He didn’t bother with her and turned to Hikari, who was still deep in thought, offering a stiff smile. “Well done. You’re truly my disciple.” 

What’s it got to do with you? I’m the one teaching her, Chihaya grumbled inwardly, keeping her head down. 

“Does Sensei have any other business? The experiment’s made new progress, so we’ll likely be busy for the next few days—” Hikari responded casually, her mind buzzing with thoughts of Yin-Yang balance and conversion. 

If extreme Yin could suppress and absorb Yang power, could controlling the extreme Yin Release chakra in the Sharingan—mimicking the filtering membrane on Hashirama cells—directly purify life force? 

It felt entirely possible! 

Pure Yin or Yang alone wasn’t the true path. Only their combination could give rise to all creation. 

The key to reversing the Eight Gates might lie here! 

“Leave the experiments to Chihaya for now. I have a mission for you,” Danzo said, cutting through Hikari’s excitement. 

Chapter 118: The Root of the Leaf 

“A mission?” 

Hikari froze for a moment. 

Ever since joining Root, she’d been holed up in the lab, soaking up their resources without ever being assigned a mission. The word felt almost foreign to her now. 

“My Sharingan experiments are at a critical stage. I might not be able to step away,” Hikari said, subtly reminding Danzo of her groundbreaking research. 

Her top priority was reversing the Eight Gates. Every ounce of her time and energy was poured into that. Where would she find the bandwidth for some Root mission? 

Danzo’s brow furrowed. “Your research is impressive. Complete this mission, and you can pick a pair of Sharingan as a reward.” 

A mission reward of Sharingan? 

Hikari’s eyes flickered with interest. 

Well, that changed things. She was just a shadow clone, after all. Even if she went out on a mission, her real body and other clones could stay in the Leaf Village to keep the research going. Progress wouldn’t slow much. 

Reversing the Eight Gates required Yin Release chakra from the Sharingan to test life force purification. While Root’s Sharingan were available, they couldn’t leave the lab and had to be used under Chihaya’s supervision. 

That made many experiments inconvenient. Even if she succeeded, she’d still need to find a way to snag a Sharingan for herself. 

Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity? 

Hikari cleared her throat. “Ahem, I can’t afford to delay my experiments, but since it’s Sensei’s mission, that takes priority.” 

Chihaya, who’d witnessed the whole exchange, pursed her lips and went back to studying the Sharingan. 

“The interrogation team dug a lot of intel out of that guy’s head,” Danzo said, raising his cane to point at the heartless corpse on the table. 

“The Cloud Village has a key mining operation on the border of the Land of Lightning. The ore they extract is supposedly extremely valuable. 

After a long investigation, our people finally pinpointed the mine’s exact location.” 

“Time, place, and who to kill?” Hikari asked bluntly. 

“Leave the village tomorrow and head to the Land of Lightning’s border. Destroy every mine.” 

“Just destroy them?” Hikari probed, eyeing Danzo. With his profit-driven nature, she couldn’t help but suspect ulterior motives. 

“Of course not!” Danzo’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent, his lips curling to reveal stark white teeth. “Kill everyone guarding the mines. Leave no one alive! Take any ore you can carry, and if you can’t, blow up the caves along with it! 

The Cloud Village dared to invade the Leaf and kill our people, thinking they could brush it off with some half-hearted diplomacy with that softhearted Hiruzen? No way it’s that easy! 

No one crosses the Leaf without paying a price!” 

Was that really his reason? 

Hikari glanced at the emotional aura above Danzo’s head, a deep red-black hue of pure rage and killing intent. She’d always thought Danzo only targeted Leaf shinobi, excelling at internal power struggles and creating tragedies. 

But on second thought, it made sense. 

Hiruzen Sarutobi had tolerated Danzo and Root for years. They’d attracted skilled Anbu like Arashi, and even after Danzo’s death, many shinobi continued operating under Root’s name willingly. 

Root wasn’t just a bloodthirsty, ruthless organization. There had to be some positive purpose behind it. 

“If you get the chance, grab a few test subjects for me. Shinobi who’ve mastered Lightning Armor make excellent specimens,” Chihaya interjected, seizing the moment upon hearing Hikari’s mission was in the Land of Lightning. 

“I need to ask Teacher Iruka for a leave,” Hikari said, ignoring Chihaya’s request and draping a black cloak over her shoulders. 

Danzo’s expression darkened. Hiruzen was one thing, but who was this Iruka? Why did Hikari need to ask him for permission to go on a mission? 

“Who’s Iruka?” 

“My homeroom teacher at the Ninja Academy.” 

Danzo’s grip on his cane tightened, but he eventually closed his eyes and nodded reluctantly. “Seven o’clock tomorrow morning. Meet at the Leaf Equipment Department.” 

“Got it.” 

With a swirl of her cloak, Hikari strode out of the operating room. 

Root’s intelligence network hadn’t failed them. Danzo knew she could use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. 

Ordinary shadow clones were fragile, carrying only half the user’s chakra. Since most of a ninja’s strength relied on chakra, typical shadow clones were weak, useful only for reconnaissance. 

Hikari was different. She excelled in taijutsu, requiring minimal chakra. 

While she couldn’t actively use her Kaguya Clan’s bone manipulation, her shadow clones inherited her passively hardened bones. Combined with Lightning Release Chakra Mode’s defensive boost, most attacks couldn’t breach her defenses. 

This negated the two biggest weaknesses of shadow clones. 

With high-quality chakra from the Nine-Tails and Three-Tails fusion, her shadow clones retained about eighty percent of her real body’s strength. That’s how she’d effortlessly killed three special jonin during Root’s ambush, convincing Danzo of her identity. 

Later, the Nine-Tails’ chakra transfer ability resolved the clones’ chakra limitations, boosting them to ninety percent of her full power. 

Killing three jonin instantly in the underground base had cemented her identity as the real deal. 

No one would believe a six-year-old could rival Danzo himself, allowing her shadow clone to infiltrate Root without raising suspicion. 

But she couldn’t let Danzo discover that while she was out on a mission, she was still attending school in the village. 

That kind of oversight would be hard to hide. 

Her fingertip tapped the fake chakra core in her heart. 

Thump, thump, thump. 

Eight hearts linked through the void. 

Yang Release Hikari instantly transmitted her memories of the experiment and mission to her real body via the chakra chain. The real body then relayed them to her other shadow clones. 

At the Ninja Academy, Hikari’s school clone, in the middle of packing her bag, paused as the memories hit. She slung the bag over her shoulder and went to ask Iruka for leave. 

The process was smooth. 

Before she could even spit out her fabricated excuse, Iruka approved it. 

After killing Yagura Yozuki and saving countless students, becoming the Leaf’s top genius, Hikari’s status at school was unmatched. Only the Hokage, doubling as principal, outshone her in popularity. 

Why would she need a reason for a leave? 

A genius getting tired from studying and taking a couple of days off? No big deal. 

Before Yang Release Hikari even left Root’s base, the leave was secured. 

She took a detour to see Hiruzen Sarutobi, claiming her new technique had made progress and she needed to train in the Forest of Death for at least a week, pausing their one-on-one lessons. 

Seeing his disciple, Hiruzen quickly snuffed out his pipe. “Don’t research Yin and Yang Release secrets, and never do it alone!” 

A breeze carried the smoke out the window. 

“It’s just Five Elements techniques. Also, smoke less,” Hikari said, waving as she left the Hokage’s office, leaving only her dark silhouette. 

“Bossy kid,” Hiruzen muttered, rolling his eyes. He reached for his extinguished pipe but sighed and set it aside. 

Meanwhile, Hikari’s real body, working on sealing techniques to counter her bone manipulation at the Hatake residence, stopped and sealed all the Hashirama cells in the basement into a scroll. 

If she was claiming to train in the Forest of Death, she had to sell the act. 

With ample food and water, Hikari dispelled all her clones except the Yang Release one and headed alone to the waterfall in the Forest of Death. 

Boom! 

Water sprayed, the sound like galloping horses. 

But Hikari was no novice. 

She raised her right hand. 

Sharp Wind Release chakra gathered along her arm, its high-level shape transformation resembling a fin. 

With a swing— 

Buzz! 

The air rippled with a tangible, transparent wave. 

The moment it hit the waterfall, the endless curtain of water split. 

And that wasn’t all. 

The cliff behind bore a twenty-meter-long gash from the wind’s residual force. Hikari used Earth Release to carve a massive cave through the wind-torn fissure. 

She slipped into the water curtain cave. 

The falling waterfall instantly sealed the entrance, hiding the absurd scar. 

She etched the same sealing formulas from the Hatake basement onto the cave’s entrance. With the waterfall’s cover, it was ten thousand times more secure. 

Yang Release Hikari would leave the village to complete the mission and earn a Sharingan. 

The school clone would take her place, ensuring her Eight Gates reversal training continued without slowing. The Forest of Death was rich in resources, and with animal test subjects, progress might even speed up. 

All parties were notified, and everything was set. 

The next morning, Yang Release Hikari arrived swiftly at Root’s Base Three. 

Tap, tap, tap. 

She descended the spiral stone steps. 

Wearing a mask and Root’s cloak, her silver hair tucked under the hood, she looked like a standard Anbu—save for her shorter stature. 

The scariest part was her eyes. 

Through the owl-patterned mask’s eyeholes, black Obu eyepatches revealed only pupil-less, pure black eyes, terrifying to the uninformed. 

“Woo~” 

After passing several forks, Hikari reached the split with two cave entrances. As always, the right cave echoed with screams and whimpers. 

Having memorized the map, she knew what it was. 

A dungeon for death row inmates and test subjects—though here, the two were indistinguishable. The Cloud shinobi who died on the operating table yesterday was usually held there. 

Nothing but filth and misery, nothing noteworthy. 

With the mission’s deadline approaching, Hikari didn’t linger. She navigated the winding underground passages to the Equipment Department. 

Pushing open the door— 

Sixteen brilliant chakra glows lit up her eyes. 

Panda Girl propped her chin on one hand, scribbling in a thick leather-bound notebook. 

Fifteen ninjas in black cloaks and varied masks silently picked gear from the equipment racks. 

No words were spoken, only the clanging of steel as they selected tools. 

Whoosh! 

One ninja’s hands flashed through seals, and various tools vanished in a puff of smoke. 

Hikari’s Byakugan clearly saw the small sealing scrolls wrapped around his wrist beneath the cloak. 

“Lady Hikari.” 

Sensing her unique chakra, Butterfly looked up, and Arashi and Rock Bear, organizing gear nearby, greeted her too. 

Admiring the strong was human nature. 

After two battles, they were thoroughly convinced of Hikari’s prowess. 

Danzo had publicly taken her as a disciple, and the gap in strength and status was enough to overshadow her youthful age. 

Even Arashi, who’d initially clashed with Hikari, now lowered his head submissively. 

“Call me Night Ferry,” Hikari corrected. 

“Yes, Lady Night Ferry.” 

Scanning the ninjas preparing for the mission, Hikari noted that besides Rock Bear’s trio, there were twelve special jonin. 

With her elite jonin-level strength, wasn’t this overkill for destroying a few mines? 

This was sixteen Leaf jonin! 

In the original story, the Snow Country rebels’ main force was just three special jonin and one regular jonin, relying on Ice Release in cold conditions. 

Using such a massive force to destroy mines on the Land of Lightning’s border—did the mines hide something special? Were the ores so valuable that the defenses were airtight, or did these people have other objectives? 

Watching the Root ninjas, who hadn’t spoken since her arrival and quietly prepared their gear, Hikari gave up on trying to talk to them. 

Over the past month, she’d learned plenty about Root. 

Though nominally the “Anbu Training Department,” Root’s structure was nearly identical to the Anbu. 

Seventy official members. 

Hundreds of trainees in reserve. 

When an official member died or was incapacitated, a qualified trainee would fill the spot. 

People like Sai and Torune Aburame, whom Hikari knew, were still reserves, training and fighting peers on the base’s third level. 

Among the seventy officials, Danzo acted as the Hokage, the absolute leader. Ryoma Aburame, the only elite jonin before Hikari joined, served as the Anbu captain equivalent, managing affairs in Danzo’s absence. 

Rock Bear and another jonin were squad leaders, overseeing other jonin-level experts, who in turn managed lower-ranking members as team leaders. 

The hierarchy was rigid. 

Root members fell into three categories. 

The first were kids from the Leaf’s orphanage, brainwashed and trained into emotionless tools for missions. 

The second were talented kids with secret techniques, coerced or lured into Root by Danzo through various means. Some became tools like the first group, but others retained some of their will. 

The third were already powerful or uniquely gifted individuals who joined Root for various reasons. Older and relatively normal despite brainwashing, Arashi and Butterfly fell into this group, which explained their semblance of normality. 

Hikari turned to Butterfly. “What’s your mission?” 

“Well… Root mission details can’t be shared casually,” Butterfly explained cautiously, aware it was Hikari’s first mission. 

“Not even with teammates?” 

“No.” 

Butterfly shut down Hikari’s inquiry, leaving no room for negotiation. 

“Fine. When do we leave?” 

“When Lord Ryoma arrives.” 

Ryoma Aburame? 

He was going too? 

Hikari’s eyes sharpened. 

Two elite jonin, three jonin, and over a dozen special jonin to destroy some mines? This lineup could assassinate the Raikage, and she’d believe it! 

What was Danzo planning?