Chapter 586: Rinne Sharingan
Kenichi looked at Orochimaru.
Although Orochimaru's resistance to genjutsu was relatively weak, that still depended on what kind of genjutsu was being used.
Ordinary illusions were not particularly effective against him.
More unconventional genjutsu, however, were another matter.
Kenichi also possessed several genjutsu techniques he had yet to use.
The technique he was currently researching could potentially help him understand and master other forms of genjutsu as well, but completely deciphering it was proving difficult.
His research was still stuck in the early stages.
And merely receiving all the memories accumulated by his Shadow Clones every day was already exhausting enough.
Shadow Clones were undeniably useful.
But if too many of them were dispelled at once, the sudden flood of memories and information could nearly drive someone insane.
Kenichi rubbed his chin.
That gave him an idea.
What if he forced someone to create a large number of Shadow Clones, then...
"No."
Kenichi quickly dismissed the thought.
"That wouldn't really work."
Unless an enormous amount of information could somehow be directly infused into every Shadow Clone at once, dispelling them would not create enough mental impact to matter.
Unless he first developed some method that prevented the Shadow Clones from being dispelled, and then...
Kenichi paused again.
The more he thought about it, the more pointless it seemed.
If he already possessed enough control over an enemy to force such a complicated experiment on them, why not simply capture the ninja and kill them?
Unless he had some particularly twisted interest in tormenting the target, the practical value was extremely low.
For example, if Kenichi somehow managed to capture one of Isshiki's Shadow Clones, then the idea might become useful.
But if he could not even catch the clone, then there was no reason to waste time thinking about such a method during an actual battle with Isshiki.
After considering it a little longer, Kenichi abandoned the idea entirely.
Its practical usefulness was simply too limited.
Unless he could first secure the target's Shadow Clone, there was no point.
And if he could secure it...
He would already have plenty of other ways to conduct whatever experiment he wanted.
"I believe you now."
Orochimaru's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I believe that you really were my student."
He had already recovered from the genjutsu.
Orochimaru looked at Kenichi, who was still lost in thought, and a trace of mockery appeared in his smile.
Kenichi glanced at him.
He said nothing.
Instead, he continued thinking about how to prepare more thoroughly for Isshiki.
There were still several pieces of experimental equipment unavailable in this timeline.
Once Isshiki was dealt with and Kenichi returned to his original world, he planned to manufacture everything he currently lacked.
Only then could he begin building the antimatter bomb he had already formed several preliminary ideas about.
A weapon like that would represent an entirely different level of threat.
Even the so-called gods of the Otsutsuki Clan should not be able to completely ignore antimatter.
At least...
Kenichi hoped not.
"The Orochimaru from your original world..."
Orochimaru stared at him.
"He's already dead by your hand, isn't he?"
His tone was certain.
Orochimaru understood his own personality quite well.
Judging from the way Kenichi treated him, he assumed that his counterpart in the other world had either already been killed or was currently imprisoned somewhere and subjected to equally inhumane experiments.
"No."
Kenichi answered almost subconsciously.
"Sensei is doing very well."
"He's still conducting all kinds of research and enjoying himself every day."
Kenichi understood his original teacher quite well.
He also genuinely respected him.
Their teacher-student relationship had always been good.
Even now, Kenichi had never denied that Orochimaru was his teacher.
Orochimaru froze.
He stared at Kenichi in disbelief.
The Orochimaru of another world...
Was still alive?
Not only alive, but apparently doing well?
Why?
How?
Then why was he the one being treated like this?
Kenichi ignored his expression.
To Kenichi, the Orochimaru standing before him was merely an experimental subject.
He was fundamentally different from the Orochimaru Kenichi recognized as his teacher.
Because of that distinction, Kenichi felt no psychological burden whatsoever when conducting experiments on this version.
Orochimaru watched Kenichi walk away.
Resentment and despair mixed inside him.
He had never imagined that there would come a day when he could neither live properly nor die.
Compared with remaining trapped forever inside this dark laboratory, Orochimaru would rather die outside beneath the open sky.
At least then he could breathe fresh air one final time.
I shouldn't have exposed that genjutsu.
Orochimaru slowly closed his eyes.
He needed a way out.
Some method of escaping this prison.
...
Meanwhile, Kenichi had already entered another laboratory.
His current research subject was entirely different.
Mangekyo Sharingan abilities.
More specifically...
Could the abilities of different Mangekyo Sharingan somehow be converted or reproduced?
"Mangekyo dojutsu have an absurdly wide range."
Kenichi looked at the Uchiha experimental subject lying on the operating table.
"The upper limit is ridiculously high, and the lower limit varies just as wildly."
He casually opened the subject's skull, examined the internal structures for a moment, then scratched his head.
"In that case, if the Rinnegan is a higher evolution of the Sharingan, shouldn't it theoretically contain all Mangekyo abilities?"
"But..."
That was precisely the problem.
At present, his Tenseigan research had entered an observation period.
The time-machine project had also produced no new breakthrough.
So Kenichi had decided to spend some time studying the relationship between different Mangekyo abilities.
If he could truly decipher their underlying mechanism...
Then perhaps he could acquire every Mangekyo dojutsu.
The thought alone was extremely appealing.
Izanagi.
Izanami.
Amaterasu.
Tsukuyomi.
Kotoamatsukami.
Whatever ability he needed, he could simply reproduce it.
Kenichi was also curious about how many unique Mangekyo abilities actually existed.
The basic rules surrounding the Mangekyo Sharingan were fairly well established.
But the specific ability someone awakened often seemed strangely subjective.
That made Kenichi wonder just how unreasonable the Mangekyo really was.
Then again, perhaps it was not completely random.
If someone desperately wanted to destroy an enemy, they might awaken a destructive dojutsu such as Amaterasu.
If someone desperately wished to change another person's will or reshape the world around them, perhaps they would awaken something like Kotoamatsukami.
In Kenichi's opinion, the Mangekyo Sharingan almost resembled a miniature wish-granting device.
You made a wish.
The eye might not directly fulfill it.
But it could awaken a dojutsu that gave you the possibility of achieving that desire yourself.
Kenichi had wanted to understand all knowledge and uncover the truth of the universe.
As a result, his Mangekyo had given him analysis and reconstruction.
Shisui had longed for peace.
He awakened Kotoamatsukami.
Hikari had desperately wanted to help her parents and the members of her clan.
She awakened Yasaka Magatama.
"It's already established that the Mangekyo Sharingan can eventually evolve into the Rinnegan."
Kenichi frowned.
"Then why can't the Rinnegan use every Mangekyo ability?"
That contradiction bothered him.
He wanted to understand the answer.
Unfortunately, the research had barely progressed.
In some ways, Kenichi felt this problem was even harder than evolving a Mangekyo Sharingan into a Rinnegan.
At least he already understood the general principle behind awakening the Rinnegan.
This problem, however...
He did not even know where to begin.
"Unless there's another possibility."
Kenichi narrowed his eyes.
"Maybe the Rinnegan isn't actually the final form."
"Or perhaps my current Rinnegan is incomplete."
The thought seemed increasingly plausible.
If the Rinnegan truly contained every Mangekyo ability, then Kenichi should theoretically have been able to use techniques such as Kotoamatsukami or Izanami on Orochimaru.
He should have been able to reproduce those genjutsu through his own eyes.
But he could not.
More accurately, his dojutsu did not even possess the underlying concept necessary to activate them.
That reminded Kenichi of something he had seen while searching through his memories under genjutsu.
Kaguya.
More specifically, the eye on Kaguya's forehead.
It was different from an ordinary Rinnegan.
That eye looked simultaneously like a Rinnegan and a Sharingan.
The Rinne Sharingan.
Then, theoretically speaking...
Could the Rinne Sharingan be the true final evolution of the Mangekyo Sharingan?
Perhaps only that eye could encompass every dojutsu.
"But that thing may only be obtainable after consuming a chakra fruit."
Kenichi frowned.
That possibility seemed extremely likely.
Both known examples supported it.
Kaguya had consumed the fruit of the Divine Tree before awakening her overwhelming power.
Madara had later awakened the Rinne Sharingan as well.
But by that point, Madara had effectively become Kaguya's vessel and the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
Those circumstances had allowed him to open the eye on his forehead.
"If that's really the requirement..."
Kenichi sighed.
"Then this idea becomes almost impossible unless I can obtain a chakra fruit."
And obtaining one was no simple matter.
There had only been one chakra fruit produced in this world.
Kaguya had already eaten it.
Unless Kenichi somehow refined Kaguya herself and transformed her back into a chakra fruit, there was no second fruit available.
That thought gave Kenichi two possible research directions.
The first was genetic reverse engineering.
Obtain Kaguya's genetic material.
Analyze exactly what changes the chakra fruit had caused at the genetic level.
Then work backward from those changes and determine whether he could reproduce whatever process created the effects of the chakra fruit.
Unfortunately, Kenichi was not particularly optimistic about that route.
If chakra fruits could be easily reverse-engineered and mass-produced through sufficiently advanced technology, then the Otsutsuki Clan should already have solved that problem.
They could create time machines.
A civilization capable of technology at that level should not need to wander across the universe planting Divine Trees one planet at a time if there were an easy artificial alternative.
That meant replicating a chakra fruit was probably extraordinarily difficult.
Kenichi's greatest source of confidence was his research ability.
If his Golden Finger could eventually reverse-engineer the chakra fruit, then Kenichi could accomplish an enormous number of things.
But if even that ability failed...
Then only the second path would remain.
Reverse-refine Kaguya herself.
Transform her back into something equivalent to a chakra fruit.
Then consume that fruit and obtain the power she possessed.
Of course, such a plan required overwhelming strength.
He would also need to consider Hagoromo.
Although Hagoromo had sealed his mother, Kenichi could already tell that the Sage of Six Paths still possessed some affection for Kaguya.
If Kenichi tried to turn Kaguya into experimental material and refine her into a fruit, Hagoromo probably would not simply watch in silence.
That meant Kenichi would have to calculate Hagoromo's possible reaction in advance.
Otherwise, the situation could spiral far beyond his control.
"What a pain."
Kenichi sighed.
"The upper limit of strength in this world really is restricted."
"If I want to break through it, I'll probably need to introduce something from outside the existing system."
Still, Kenichi was not discouraged.
If there was no road ahead...
Then he would build one himself.
That was already a familiar principle in the Shinobi World.
Kenichi had confidence because the path he currently followed was not purely traditional ninjutsu.
It was scientific ninjutsu.
As long as science continued advancing, Kenichi believed he would eventually find a method to surpass the current limits of this world and reach an entirely higher level.
If he restricted himself to the conventional path of a shinobi, however, advancement would become much more difficult.
The methods for progressing beyond the current ceiling were effectively controlled by the Otsutsuki Clan.
Without access to their knowledge, those methods might simply be unavailable.
And even among the Otsutsuki themselves, the qualifications for further advancement probably came with a price.
The Hyuga Clan offered a useful comparison.
Hinata had been born as the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Main House.
Yet because Hiashi considered her talent and aptitude disappointing, he had gradually abandoned her as the successor.
The Main House had instead begun focusing on Hanabi.
If Hinata had not eventually married Naruto in the original future, there was a real possibility that she might have been placed under the Caged Bird Seal once her position within the Main House became inconvenient.
The Otsutsuki Clan had not yet fully revealed its internal structure.
But based on the way clans throughout the Shinobi World were portrayed, Kenichi could already infer certain things.
The Otsutsuki hierarchy was unlikely to be warm or harmonious.
If their internal relationships were truly friendly and cooperative, Isshiki would never have needed to endure everything alone.
After being betrayed by Kaguya and left near death, he could simply have contacted the clan and requested help.
Yet even after all these years...
He had never done so.
....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03].