A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Year One of the New Konoha Calendar.

After defeating both Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Konoha officially solidified its position as the leader of the ninja world. No longer was it a vague claim to superiority, it was a position earned through bloodshed on the battlefield.

Riding this wave of dominance, Aoba initiated yet another reform: establishing a new calendar system for Konoha, declaring the year of their victory as the first year of the New Konoha Calendar.

Interestingly, Sunagakure was the first to follow suit, announcing their adoption of Konoha's new calendar system. Soon after, Konoha's smaller allies quickly fell in line, aligning their calendars to match their powerful benefactor.

For these smaller nations, such flattery seemed entirely natural. After all, the other great nations had already been thoroughly defeated, and Konoha was no longer the gentle giant it once was. If even without provocation Konoha might choose to exert its power, these smaller nations knew to secure their positions quickly.

Iwagakure and Kumogakure clung to the old calendar, but their influence had waned considerably.

As for Kirigakure, they retreated once again into isolation. No one knew what was happening within their borders, and even Konoha's intelligence network couldn't penetrate the veil.

Aoba speculated that Madara Uchiha might have taken refuge there. With his overwhelming strength and methods, the remaining forces of Kirigakure would stand no chance of resistance.

This development only made Mei Terumi and her faction even more pitiful. They couldn't provoke Kirigakure, couldn't oppose Konoha, and couldn't hope to challenge the other villages. Their only option was to bide their time in Konoha, waiting for an opportunity.

Living under someone else's roof was humiliating, but even Mei Terumi couldn't think of a better plan.

.....

Konoha Research Lab – Top-Level Facility.

This newly established lab surpassed all prior facilities in terms of security and secrecy. Here, the remains of Black Zetsu were being studied.

Although the four Hokage's coordinated effort to capture Black Zetsu had seemingly failed, the mission wasn't a total loss.

In its final moments, Black Zetsu had been forced to retreat into the Kamui Dimension, tearing apart its own body in the process.

Crucially, it had fused deeply with Obito's body, meaning that when it tore itself away, parts of its essence had been left behind.

Aoba placed immense importance on studying these remnants. In a way, they represented pure-blooded descendants of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, as Black Zetsu had been created directly from Kaguya's body.

This made it an untainted specimen, uncorrupted by the genetics of the ninja world.

By studying it, Aoba hoped to uncover the secrets of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

From the events of Boruto, the Ōtsutsuki were revealed to be a race of celestial beings akin to gods. Kaguya herself was only considered a mid-to-low-level member of the clan, yet she had already become a near-unstoppable force in the ninja world.

Out in the cosmos, far more dangerous Ōtsutsuki were likely roaming freely. To stand against such a species, it was necessary to truly understand them.

Unfortunately, progress in studying Black Zetsu's remains was slow. After months of effort, there was barely any advancement.

"So far, all we know is that this is some kind of advanced Yin-Yang Release construct. But we can't reverse-engineer how it was made."

"Its structure doesn't align with our understanding of living organisms. From what I've observed, its genetic material is in a state of constant instability. By conventional biological standards, it shouldn't even be alive."

"But in reality, it still is. Even these severed remnants continue to display astonishing vitality. It defies everything we know about biology. I don't even know where to start," explained Tobirama Senju, who was leading the project.

As Konoha's master of forbidden techniques, Tobirama's research abilities were unparalleled. Without his prophetic knowledge, Aoba admitted he couldn't match Tobirama's capabilities. Yet even the Second Hokage was stumped.

"Don't rush. The ninja world is in a temporary state of peace right now. Although it might be the calm before the storm, we still have some time," Aoba reassured him.

"But there's not enough time, is there? The more I study this, the more I'm aware of its terrifying nature. This isn't just an organism outside our understanding, it's something not of this world. I'm starting to believe what you've said about threats beyond this world. We need to prepare more."

Tobirama, like Aoba, was a forward-thinker who always planned several steps ahead. Recognizing Black Zetsu's peculiarities only made him more convinced that Aoba's warnings were not exaggerations.

With research on Black Zetsu progressing slowly, Aoba shifted his focus to himself.

He had fully mastered Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan and could now summon the Susanoo with ease. It was time to address the issue of ocular power.

Aoba held the Mangekyō Sharingan of Kagami Uchiha, whose abilities remained a mystery. From his tests, Kagami's eyes had Mangekyō-level potential, but the exact nature of their abilities was unknown.

Based on the original series, when two Mangekyō are fused to create the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the user could choose which abilities to retain.

Aoba had long made up his mind, he would keep Kotoamatsukami.

He doubted Kagami's Mangekyō abilities would be particularly strong. If they were, Kagami wouldn't have died so early, nor left so little information behind. Even Tobirama didn't know what Kagami's powers were.

From what Tobirama had shared, Kagami had died at the hands of Kinkaku and Ginkaku, devoured by their Tailed Beast transformations. His body had been lost, making even Edo Tensei summoning impossible.

This only reinforced Aoba's belief that Kagami's abilities were nothing extraordinary. If he'd had a technique on the level of Kotoamatsukami, he could have turned the situation around.

After extensive research, Aoba had fully grasped the process for fusing the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

The first step was to completely exhaust the ocular power of his current eyes, driving them into blindness or at least severely diminishing their sight.

This is because even among blood relatives, the ocular powers of the Sharingan can interfere with each other. Thus, one set of powers must be depleted before fusion can occur.

The power of the Sharingan doesn't solely originate from the eyes; its root lies in the brain behind the eyes. After all, the Sharingan is triggered by emotions, and emotions originate in the brain.

A normal Sharingan functions through the combined efforts of the eyes and the brain to produce the effects of the Mangekyō. However, when the ocular power is exhausted, the eyes remain, but their core essence shrinks, recedes, and eventually becomes dormant in the brain. This phenomenon occurs because the Sharingan itself is incomplete.

The operation of the Mangekyō can be compared to a rubber band connecting the eyes and the brain. The band is not long enough, requiring it to be stretched taut to barely reach both ends. This tension causes significant strain, which is why overuse of the Mangekyō often leads to blindness.

When the eyes' power is depleted, the "pull" from the eyes effectively disappears, and the rubber band naturally retracts to the brain.

At this point, when another set of Sharingan is introduced with its own "rubber band," the two or rather, one and a half bands connect, creating enough length. With the strain eliminated, there is no longer a risk of blindness.

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Currently on Chapter 244 - The Hunt for Obito