The other half bore a sinister countenance, its gaze holding the deathly stillness born from a month of constant pain. Its aura was entirely different.
The two souls didn't speak. They moved in perfect synchronization.
Because this was the Tiger Talisman's weakened version, the fragmentation wasn't truly complete. The two halves remained connected in mind, differing only in their ways of thinking.
Yin and Yang chakra condensed around each soul. Their forms began to shift.
Substance emerged from void. An invisible boundary enveloped them both.
In the physical world, Zenji opened his eyes. Now he only needed vessels to complete the Horcruxes.
The faint blue light in his irises began to recede. His once-black pupils transformed into pools of azure.
His sclera changed as well. One eye's white turned pitch black, radiating an ominous aura. The other became even purer, emanating an energy that seemed to purify everything it touched—brimming with vibrant life force.
The two soul fragments merged into his eyes respectively, instantly transforming both eyeballs into the sturdiest of Horcruxes. The foundation of his survival.
Reaching up, he gouged out his own eyes.
The two orbs floated above his palms—one in each hand.
Blue-white light flared in the empty sockets. New eyeballs grew rapidly, filling the void.
Black pupils. White sclera. Exactly as before.
But they lasted less than a second before chakra flooded the new cells. His briefly clear vision returned to that gray-white, transparent world saturated with chakra particles.
Blue light filled his eyes once more, changing their color.
"From now on, I have two lives."
A smile tugged at the corner of Zenji's mouth. He pressed the eyeball with the pitch-black sclera against his forehead.
The Yin Horcrux merged in easily. Massive amounts of Yin Release chakra surged into the point between his brows.
Rising, he walked toward the small cabin and stopped before Uchiha Seisho.
He grabbed the man's hair with one hand and pressed the Yang Horcrux against his forehead with the other.
The Yang Horcrux merged instantly. Yang Release chakra rapidly altered Seisho's bodily structure, converting his existing chakra reserves.
The process was brutal. Seisho's eyes flew open in agony, and a sinister, freezing aura erupted from them.
The ominous pressure intensified—and a second tomoe suddenly manifested in his previously single-tomoe Sharingan.
"Yang Release chakra can trigger Sharingan evolution?" Zenji's eyebrows rose in surprise. But after a moment's examination, he shook his head.
"No. His physical condition improved, which gave him enough mental energy to experience even greater pain and emotional turmoil. Combined with already being at the threshold, it simply pushed him over the edge."
Still, this worked in his favor. A temporary spare body with two tomoe was definitely stronger than one with a single tomoe.
With no more concerns holding him back, Zenji turned and walked outside.
Behind him, Seisho's eyes closed. The vertical slit on his forehead shifted briefly, then gradually sealed shut.
A moment later, even the mark and the bulge vanished—as if no eye had ever existed there.
Passing through the concealment barrier, Zenji glanced back.
The valley had vanished completely. Only unbroken jungle remained; the ordinary eye couldn't possibly discover the truth hidden within.
I wonder if chakra sensing or the Byakugan can penetrate the barrier.
A flicker of worry crossed his face.
This location wasn't far from the battlefield's edge. Encountering either Konoha or Hidden Mist ninjas was always a possibility.
That was precisely why Zenji had chosen to take the initiative. As for fleeing further away to hide and conduct his research in peace?
Where would he find enough ninja corpses for materials?
Leaping through the jungle, his thoughts drifted to the depression where he'd briefly sheltered before.
A month has passed. Are Konoha ninjas still stationed there?
He circled around and stopped in the canopy of a tall tree, gazing down at the distant clearing.
Through his special vision, he spotted four humanoid figures—each a condensed mass of circulating chakra.
Still here after a month. Could they be Uchiha?
His eyes lit up instantly.
Forming the final seal with one hand—essentially a sword-finger gesture—he used himself as the node. A barrier materialized around him in an instant.
This technique prioritized interface completeness over defensive strength, completely isolating inside from outside. Ultimate concealment.
If I can scale this Severing Boundary Barrier Technique into a large-area version, I'll never have to worry about my hideout being discovered.
A hint of regret flickered in his gaze. There simply hadn't been enough time.
In the depression below, a four-man squad had gathered. Three of them had clearly lost all vigilance.
"It's been a month," complained a Genin who looked fourteen or fifteen. "Whoever killed Seisho is long gone. How much longer are we supposed to stay here?"
"Everyone else is fighting on the front lines while we rot in this backwater." Another Genin of similar age, his eyes slightly upturned, spoke with evident anger. "It's disgraceful."
The third Genin remained expressionless, his voice cold. "If we can't find the enemy who killed Seisho, then we kill Hidden Mist ninjas instead. Kill enough of them, and we'll eventually have our revenge. Better than wasting away here."
All three wore the Uchiha fan crest on their backs.
Elite ninjas of the Uchiha clan. Though technically Genin by rank, their actual combat ability exceeded many Chunin.
Their squad leader was also Uchiha—a man in his thirties or forties wearing a Chunin flak jacket. In truth, his Jonin promotion had been stalled for political reasons. He should have advanced two years ago.
At this moment, he too felt dissatisfied about being dumped here for a month.
After all, battlefield merit was the most unimpeachable kind. No one could stall a Jonin application backed by confirmed kills.
He was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed.
A hand had appeared on his shoulder—when, he had no idea.
Before he could even mobilize his chakra, his entire body went limp. He collapsed to the ground.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The three Uchiha Genin reacted instantly—exactly as expected from elite bloodline ninjas.
The moment they scattered in three directions, kunai and shuriken flew toward the intruder simultaneously.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Crisp impacts rang against the Severing Boundary Barrier. Even though it wasn't primarily defensive, it easily deflected Genin-level attacks.
Zenji watched the three fleeing Uchiha with mild interest. His right hand formed the final seal while his left reached forward.
"Trying to run? Get back here."
Invisible barriers materialized around all three, trapping them instantly.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Bodies slammed into invisible walls. The three Uchiha crumpled with bruised, swollen faces.
The barriers contracted, dragging them back toward Zenji.
He stepped forward. His palms passed easily through the barrier walls, pressing against each captive in turn.
The connection between their souls and bodies seemed to snap. All three went rigid, collapsing like puppets with severed strings.
The Uchiha captain's eyes blazed red. Three tomoe rotated slowly in each iris.
Beyond that, he couldn't move at all.
"Still able to activate the Sharingan under these conditions..." Zenji murmured softly. "It seems visual prowess—this specialized chakra—creates a far sturdier connection between the eyes and soul than I realized."
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