Chapter 7: Devouring and Fusion in the Soul Space
"He has regained his memories. I'll go report to the Hokage right away. Captain… thank you for your hard work."
Uchiha Itachi glanced once toward the window, then slipped his Anbu mask back over his face.
His mission was complete. But Kakashi, as squad captain, still had to stay behind and watch Naruto's every breath, every twitch of expression.
Inside the hospital room.
Naruto's breathing was steady and peaceful, as if he were fast asleep. In truth, his consciousness had slipped into a dim, gray space.
This place had once belonged to the System — a pocket dimension roughly the size of his tiny apartment. His real body could never enter it before…
But after the fusion, he could do many things here. Right now, he was performing a basic analysis and integration of the eye he had stolen.
Without Uchiha blood, he couldn't fuse it into his body like Kakashi had. That would leave him drained and exhausted every day.
Even though the Nine-Tails could supply him with chakra, a non-Uchiha who couldn't deactivate the Sharingan would be exposed instantly — and that would be catastrophic.
"This really is a treasure. No wonder everyone wants one so badly…"
Staring at the virtual mirror floating in front of him, Naruto felt his soul tremble with excitement.
He had only absorbed one complete Sharingan, yet the power of Kotoamatsukami was nothing short of a bug. Used correctly, it could rewrite a person's will without them ever realizing it.
And after fusing the eye, his soul power had quietly grown stronger.
By devouring and absorbing everything from that outsider, he now craved the future even more — and he had started eyeing every Sharingan that people lusted after.
The night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre… He would have to find a way to profit from it.
"Too bad the Tsukuyomi space I copied is only a low-spec version. Still, it can be upgraded later. One day it'll become exactly what I want…"
Naruto's fingers brushed over the second eye — a replica he had created with the System's copying ability, granting him a weak version of Tsukuyomi.
It was pitifully limited right now. The genjutsu space could only last three minutes…
But three minutes was still plenty if used at the right moment.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a long time. Finally, he closed his eyes. When they opened again, they had returned to their usual clear, ocean-blue color.
"Whatever. I'll deal with the Nine-Tails after I get out of the hospital. This place is never truly safe…"
Looking at the reflection that perfectly matched his current innocent appearance, Naruto gave a faint, cold smile. He relaxed, letting his soul return to his body. His consciousness stirred once more.
The stubborn Uzumaki Naruto was waking up.
...
"Iruka-sensei, thank you so much! I've never eaten ramen this delicious before!"
The moment Naruto opened his eyes, he saw Iruka standing there with a steaming bowl of ramen.
As he ate, the delicious taste made Naruto's eyes fill with tears. The sight tugged at Iruka's heart, filling him with sympathy.
In the outsider's memories, visiting Ichiraku Ramen had been a regular childhood treat. But in reality…
Before starting school, Naruto had never tasted it. His allowance was tiny. He survived on milk and instant cup noodles that were delivered only once in a long while.
Most importantly, Ichiraku Ramen wasn't cheap.
With his current budget, he could only afford it twice a month at most. After the village sent the bare minimum of survival supplies to his apartment, almost nothing was left for him to spend.
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