Chapter Six: The Kaleidoscope of Departure

Uchiha Li had a dream.

In the vast universe, there existed a beautiful and prosperous planet called Terra. Terra was protected by thirteen apostles, guardians who maintained the workings of the planet in their respective regions.

One day, invaders who called themselves ‘gods’ descended, slaughtered the thirteen apostles, and plundered everything Terra had. As a result, Terra perished—not completely, but transformed into a single will, known as the ‘Great Will.’ The Great Will continued to search for successors to the thirteen apostles, waiting for the day Terra would awaken once more...

“Mmm, so itchy!”

In his sleep, Uchiha Li murmured instinctively. He felt something disturbing his nostrils and subconsciously reached up to scratch it, breaking the thread of his dream.

He opened his eyes, and there, close at hand, was a face as delicate as a sprite, tinged with worry and annoyance. She was right beside him.

“Yao, you’re being naughty again!”

Uchiha Li didn’t need to think; he knew Yao must be angry, especially since he’d lost consciousness the night before. Seeing him awake, Uchiha Yao tossed aside the feather she’d used as punishment and didn’t reply, simply watching him coldly.

Li instinctively rubbed the back of his head and massaged his still-dizzy brain, trying to clear his mind and thinking of how he could explain himself.

Just then, he caught a faint scent of blood in the air, coming from Yao. Li tensed and asked, “Are you hurt?”

Yao reflexively grasped the hem of her clothes, her expression unchanged, replying coolly, “No. Maybe I got some pig’s blood on me at the market this morning.”

“That’s good.”

Li scanned Yao, and after confirming she was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief. He thought no more of it; after all, Yao was always the one responsible for shopping and cooking, so it wasn’t unusual for her to get blood on herself.

What concerned him more was his blackout last night. He wondered what happened after he lost consciousness. Was the Nine-Tails successfully sealed?

With that in mind, Li shifted Yao’s attention and quickly asked about what had transpired.

Yao didn’t realize right away that Li was changing the subject, and she explained in detail.

Although he'd fainted, everything went according to plan—the Nine-Tails was successfully sealed. However, Minato’s chakra was insufficient for the sealing, and Kushina was on the verge of death. To make the seal easier and try to save her, Minato decided to split the Nine-Tails in two. One half was sealed within Kushina, the other within Naruto.

The Nine-Tails’ return allowed Kushina to avoid death, and Naruto had no issues, so now the Leaf Village possessed two Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.

Listening to Yao’s account, Li relaxed and a smile appeared at the corner of his lips. His actions had borne fruit. Though Minato was in poor condition and might need hospitalization, as long as the Fourth Hokage survived, his and the Uchiha Clan’s bold actions last night would not be a problem. Even the Third Hokage couldn’t pursue the matter, and might even commend the Uchiha by name.

Sometimes, brute force was less effective than cleverness when dealing with certain people...

Seeing Li’s smile, Yao finally realized that he had just distracted her! She had intended to give him the cold shoulder for the entire day, but had inadvertently been led astray. Now, her anger had lost its momentum.

Thinking this, Yao said irritably, “The Clan Leader wants you at the clan meeting!”

“Yes, yes, I’ll go now. You go out first, I need to change.”

Seeing Yao’s attitude soften, Li quickly complied and began to get up.

“Hmph!”

Yao pouted, snorted coldly, and walked out of the room. Halfway to the door, as if remembering something, she clutched her clothes and, without turning back, said casually, “By the way, the man you caught yesterday is dead.”

“Dead? How did he die?” Li was stunned.

He had deliberately struck the Root ninja in the abdomen with a kunai last night, intending to capture him alive and confirm his status as a traitor. That kind of wound should have only left the man weak, not dead.

Yao still didn’t turn around, her expression calm as she replied, “I don’t know. If you want details, go ask the Police Force yourself—I don’t care about your business!”

“Forget it. Dead is dead, he wasn’t important.” Li shook his head and didn’t pursue the matter.

Yao said nothing more, quickening her steps and leaving Li’s room, closing the door behind her.

Watching Yao’s hurried stride, Li felt a faint sense of unease, but his attention quickly shifted to the mirror on the wall.

In the reflection, he had awakened the Sharingan, with three tomoe spinning in his eyes.

But that was not all. The three tomoe began to link together, forming a triangular, rhomboid pattern that rotated slowly in his gaze.

Yes, after absorbing a large amount of the Nine-Tails’ released chakra, he had finally obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan he had long dreamed of!

Now that he possessed the Mangekyo, he had gained a basic ability to protect himself in the ninja world.

Of course, what Li cared most about was the unique ocular powers granted by the Mangekyo.

First was his left eye, whose Mangekyo ability he had already acquired. The special power remained ‘Terra,’ but it had been perfected.

Originally, ‘Terra’ could only be observed, not entered. Now, it had become a tangible space he could access.

Unlike Obito’s Kamui dimension, which contained only endless darkness and massive stone platforms, the Terra space currently revealed only a small area. Within it stood thirteen ancient statues of apostles, while the rest was shrouded in white mist, inaccessible for the time being.

Combined with his recent dream, Li understood: “As Terra’s resurrection progresses, the area available for exploration will naturally expand.”

Continuing his research, he learned how to enter Terra. By expending a certain amount of ocular power, he could create a regional teleportation array. Using this array, he could send anything within the selected area into or out of Terra.

The scale of the teleportation, and the amount of power consumed, were linked. Activating the teleportation array required at least one second.

That one second prevented him from instantly phasing his body like Obito to fight.

Still, Li felt no disappointment.

Because he had inherited everything from Terra’s ‘Great Will,’ Karoso, there were countless greater abilities waiting for him to develop. Why fuss over someone else’s ocular jutsu?

Moreover, with Terra’s further awakening this time, Li sensed he could summon one apostle.

Yet, without a suitable candidate, he set aside his left eye’s abilities for now and began to examine his right eye.

Soon, Li received information from his right eye and understood its unique Mangekyo ability.

It was a technique well-known to fans, appearing often in the story—‘Amaterasu.’

Li knew much about Amaterasu’s reputation. In the original work, Zetsu called it ‘the strongest physical attack,’ while Sasuke described it as ‘an unavoidable attack.’

These accolades spoke to its overwhelming offensive power.

Yet, the issue was that Amaterasu, like the Great Fireball Technique, seemed to lack any notable kills...

“Forget it. I’ll head to the shrine for the clan meeting first.”

Suppressing his tangled thoughts, Li changed clothes, opened the door, and set out for the Nanga Shrine...