The next morning, as usual, Uchiha Shinji woke up and activated 'Jikibi,' sensing Neji, Kimimaro, and Karin one by one.
Neji's condition remained stable.
The 'biological exoskeleton' that had gained sentience showed no unusual activity for now. This could be due to the rudimentary nature of the sentience granted by the Tenseigan chakra, or perhaps because Shinji had inscribed too many sealing techniques throughout the exoskeleton.
Next was Kimimaro, whose condition was somewhat dire.
The influx of Tenseigan chakra yesterday had temporarily suppressed his illness, but as the Tenseigan chakra depleted, his condition immediately worsened.
"It seems I need to discuss this with Orochimaru. If Kimimaro keeps pushing himself like this, I'm afraid his body won't hold out much longer!"
In truth, if Kimimaro would rest and recuperate, the 'biological exoskeleton' Shinji had implanted in him, while unable to cure his Bloodline Limit disease, could at least alleviate symptoms and delay its progression.
But now, not only was Kimimaro refusing to rest, he was intensifying his training, which undoubtedly exacerbated his condition.
"Interesting…"
However, Shinji made a new discovery.
As Kimimaro's illness worsened, the Bone Pulse chakra collected by the 'biological exoskeleton' implanted in him was growing stronger.
Afterward, Shinji routinely sensed Karin's spiritual body.
But as he did, his brows unconsciously knitted together. After a long pause, his expression darkened, and he sighed.
The thing he feared had finally come to pass.
The 'All Creation Power' that Karin's body had been producing for months seemed to have dried up. For two consecutive days, he hadn't sensed the slightest enhancement in her spiritual body.
Despite having anticipated this, despite having contingency plans, Shinji's mood still sank.
"Is this the divide between ordinary people and the Six Paths level? Without the chakra of Ōtsutsuki Asura and Ōtsutsuki Indra, is it truly impossible to reach for the 'Rinnegan,' to aspire to that higher level of power? This is… infuriating!"
Undoubtedly.
The gradual depletion of the 'All Creation Power' in Karin's body was, in all likelihood, due to her lacking Ōtsutsuki Indra's chakra.
Thanks to the implantation of the First Hokage's cells, Karin had no shortage of Ōtsutsuki Asura's chakra.
Moreover, as a member of the Uzumaki clan, having successfully fused with the First Hokage's cells, she essentially possessed the Sage Body of both the Uzumaki and Senju clans, making her physique very close to that of her ancestor, Ōtsutsuki Asura.
This was why her body had been able to produce the 'All Creation Power' for months.
But a lone yang cannot grow, nor can a lone yin thrive!
A pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could not represent the pinnacle of Yin Release. Lacking the other half—Ōtsutsuki Indra's chakra—Karin's Yin Release was insufficient in quality, causing her to stall on the path to the Rinnegan.
The solution, in truth, wasn't difficult.
It involved extracting chakra from the current reincarnation of Ōtsutsuki Indra to stimulate Karin's body, allowing her to produce the 'All Creation Power' again and continue her ascent toward the Rinnegan.
The problem, however, was that the current reincarnation of Ōtsutsuki Indra was the young Sasuke, who had not yet awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan. Without it, he couldn't draw out the latent Ōtsutsuki Indra chakra within him. Even if Shinji drained all of Sasuke's chakra, it wouldn't stimulate Karin's body to produce more 'All Creation Power.'
Unless…
Sasuke awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!
"It's come to this step after all," Shinji paused, a conflicted expression crossing his face. But soon, his resolve hardened: "Nothing will stop me!"
On his way to the ninja academy, he began devising a plan to stimulate Sasuke into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Where to start?"
He pondered.
From the original timeline, emotions like anger, despair, and pain were effective for other Uchiha. For instance, Obito had leapt from a two-tomoe Sharingan to the Mangekyō Sharingan under intense anger and despair.
But these extreme emotions had limited effect on Sasuke.
Even the profound trauma of the Uchiha massacre, witnessing his parents' deaths, had only awakened his Sharingan.
So, relying on pain and despair would yield half the results for twice the effort.
In contrast, making Sasuke feel love was the best emotion to stimulate him.
In the original timeline, Sasuke's single-tomoe Sharingan evolved to two tomoe when he fought to protect Naruto, who had alleviated his loneliness. Later, his Mangekyō Sharingan awakened after learning of Itachi's sacrifices and feeling his brother's love for him.
Thus, other extreme emotions were merely superficial. 'Love' was Sasuke's greatest weakness and the thing he lacked most!
Shinji shook his head with a wry smile: "So the key to success this time lies in how much he cares about me? How ironic!"
In the blink of an eye, an ordinary day passed.
As usual, after school, Sasuke declined Sakura's invitation and went alone to the secluded, quiet training ground he frequented.
"That Kakashi guy always spouts useless nonsense. Looks like if I want to beat Yakumo, Kimimaro, and the others, I'll have to rely on myself!"
He muttered, beginning his training.
Ninjutsu, taijutsu, shurikenjutsu—none were neglected, all part of his training regimen.
Time ticked by, the sun set, and night fell.
Huff, huff…
After training for several hours straight, Sasuke, panting heavily, took a break.
At that moment, he seemed to sense something, whipping around and shouting, "Who's there! Come out!"
Shinji, dressed in Akatsuki attire, stepped out from the shadows: "Heh, quite the temper!"
Seeing the red-clouded Akatsuki robe on Shinji, Sasuke's pupils contracted, his body instinctively shifting into a combat stance: "'A'…!? So you were hiding in the village!"
Unfazed by Sasuke's hostility, Shinji's gaze casually swept over the training ground, his tone dripping with disdain: "Still playing these shinobi games? No wonder you keep losing to others! You're practically throwing the Uchiha clan's pride into the dirt!"
Hit where it hurt, Sasuke erupted in anger: "What are you talking about!"
There were many ways to provoke Sasuke, but mentioning the Uchiha was often the most direct and effective!
Shinji said calmly, "Do you know why you always lose?"
As expected, despite his fury, Sasuke was hooked by Shinji's words, unable to resist asking, "W-Why?"