White mist exploded as the Shadow Clone dissipated into a cloud of smoke.
The next second.
Another puff of smoke rose, and a brand-new Shadow Clone, brimming with Chakra and Mental Energy, stood in its place.
There was no need for verbal communication.
The moment their memories synchronized, the new Clone already understood its mission.
"This job is certainly thrilling."
The new Clone flexed its fingers, its knuckles letting out a series of crisp pops. "Performing an ocular nerve connection surgery on oneself... this has to be a first in the medical history of the Ninja World, right?"
"Stop talking nonsense."
The original sat cross-legged, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a sturdy chest and neck.
"With this cut, I will either become the first free man of the Hyuga Clan in a thousand years..."
"Or, I'll be a blind man."
His tone was flat, as if he were discussing what to have for dinner.
"Begin."
The Shadow Clone retracted its playful expression, its gaze becoming as cold and sharp as a blade.
Raising its hands, pale blue Chakra condensed at its fingertips, transforming into extremely small, sharp surgical blades.
Byakugan, open!
His vision penetrated flesh and muscle, precisely locking onto that severed nerve.
"I'm making the move."
The Shadow Clone gave a low shout, and the Chakra Scalpel sliced into the original's back neck without any resistance.
No blood flowed out.
The Chakra blade avoided all blood vessels, heading straight for the target.
Pain.
It was a sharp pain acting directly on the nerves, like someone stirring a red-hot needle inside his brain.
Aokawa's facial muscles twitched slightly, but he didn't make a sound; his body remained as motionless as a statue.
Under the microscopic vision of the Byakugan...
The Shadow Clone acted like a top-tier watchmaker, cautiously removing the atrophied tissue at the nerve's break.
The dead flesh was stripped away, revealing the fresh nerve fibers within.
"Excision complete."
The Shadow Clone's forehead was drenched in sweat; this kind of extremely delicate operation was a terrifying drain on Mental Energy.
"Connect it."
The original gritted his teeth, squeezing out the words from between them.
He mobilized the high concentration of Mystical Palm Technique Chakra in his body and mixed in a large amount of spirit particles.
spirit particles was not Chakra.
It was the fundamental particle that constituted Souls and matter, possessing even stronger plasticity and adhesiveness than Yang Release Chakra.
If the Mystical Palm Technique was the glue, then spirit particles was the perfect solder.
A green fluorescent light lit up at the back of his neck.
Under the guidance of the Shadow Clone's Chakra Scalpel, the two ends of the nerve that had been severed for over a decade began to slowly crawl and extend like tentacles.
Bit by bit.
Inch by inch.
Aokawa felt as if his brain was about to explode.
The itching and pain of nerve growth mixed together, making him almost want to gouge his eyes out.
"Stay steady!"
The Shadow Clone shouted sternly, "Even if you were a dead man, don't you dare shake now!"
Finally.
Under the gaze of the two...
The two nerve threads, which had been separated by what seemed like an insurmountable chasm, tremulously touched each other.
The moment they made contact, the spirit particles swarmed forward, instantly wrapping, fusing, and assimilating them.
Boom!
It was like an old television that previously only showed black and white images suddenly receiving a 4K high-definition signal.
In Aokawa's mind, a mass of blinding white light suddenly exploded.
The pitch-black, dead blind spot that had always existed in his vision...
In that instant, it lit up.
The final piece of the world's puzzle was complete.
"Huff... huff..."
The original gasped for air, his entire body looking as if it had been fished out of water, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor.
But he didn't wipe the sweat.
Instead, he slowly, very slowly, opened his eyes.
Around his eye sockets, the previously hideous and bulging veins had now smoothed out slightly, showing a sense of harmonious and natural beauty.
"Byakugan."
He murmured in his heart.
His vision expanded.
In front were the table and chairs, to the left was the wall, and to the right was the Shadow Clone.
And "behind his head"...
The blind spot that used to make him feel like he had a thorn in his back now clearly reflected the camp bed behind him and a tiny speck of dust on the corner of the bed.
Even the trajectories of dust motes floating in the air were fully visible.
A true three hundred and sixty degrees.
At this moment.
What Aokawa felt was not joy, but a tremor welling up from the depths of his Soul.
That was the sound of shackles shattering.
"So... this is the complete world."
He muttered to himself, reaching out to grasp the air.
"Since I can see it..."
The Shadow Clone grinned, revealing a flash of white teeth as it finished the sentence:
"...then I can defend against it."
From this day forward.
That "Caged Bird Seal" which hung high over the heads of all Branch House members, ready to take their lives at any moment...
To him...
...was merely a slightly troublesome tattoo.
"Main House..."
Aokawa slowly clenched his fist, feeling the powerful sense of control brought by his complete vision.
"Your remote control has malfunctioned."
The two figures stood facing each other, the air still lingering with the scorched smell of the Chakra surgery.
Aokawa looked at the Shadow Clone in front of him and was just about to raise his hand to perform the hand signs to dispel it.
"Wait."
The Shadow Clone shrank back and sat on the chair without any decorum, gasping for breath.
"Don't be in such a hurry to act; let me feel this mood for a bit too."
The Shadow Clone wiped away non-existent sweat from its forehead and pointed to the back of its neck.
"You know, as a Clone, it's rare for me to have this kind of independent thinking experience where 'my fate is mine to control, not heaven's'."
"Although the memories will synchronize in a while, I want to keep this current pleasure for a bit longer."
Aokawa looked at his other self's tired yet smug expression and had no choice but to lower his hand.
"As you wish."
He was indeed in a good mood.
The sword that had been hanging over his head had vanished, replaced by a composure that came from being in control of everything.
Just then, a round figure suddenly burst into the edge of his Byakugan's vision.
Hyuga Ryosuke was rushing toward the Barracks in a frantic hurry, the fat on his face wobbling with every step.
The next second.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Urgent knocking sounded, as if he were trying to smash through the door panel.
Aokawa stepped forward and unlatched the door.
Outside the door, Hyuga Ryosuke was bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"Aokawa... huff... big news..."
The fat man was about to speak when he looked up, and his eyes instantly went wide and round.
Inside the cramped Barracks, two Aokawas were present, one standing and one sitting.
Both were in disarray, drenched in sweat, with glazed eyes (from exhaustion), and the air was filled with a strange smell (of scorched spirit particles).
Hyuga Ryosuke's gaze darted back and forth between the two.
Finally, it fixed on the Shadow Clone slumped like mud in the chair.
The fat man's expression gradually turned strange, then shocked, and finally became an indescribable look of disgust.
He instinctively took a step back and covered his nose.
"You didn't go to pick up missions and kept hiding in your room without coming out..."
Hyuga Ryosuke swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly.
"Could it be that you're playing some... special Transformation Jutsu game with your Shadow Clone?"
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