Chapter 48: The Mission to Grass
Of course, he knew such a notion was impossible. The founder of the Spiritual Transformation Technique was unknown, its origins ancient and shrouded in mystery.
The core of the technique lay in transforming one's spirit into a spiritual body. Achieving this step was considered true mastery. Beyond that, it was a matter of flexible application and increasing proficiency—no different from other high-level ninjutsu.
"This technique is remarkably well-suited for Uchiha clansmen who have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan to practice," Uchiha Akira mused after a brief, successful trial. In his assessment, the Spiritual Transformation Technique was an ideal complement for the Mangekyo wielder.
It was, without doubt, a secret art of Yin Release, existing in the same conceptual realm as the Uchiha's ocular prowess. Furthermore, the act of awakening the Sharingan, and especially the Mangekyo, brought about a natural enhancement of the user's spiritual faculties—though this was not its primary function. Regardless, an Uchiha with the Mangekyo possessed a spiritual foundation far superior to that of an average person. Compared to shinobi from other clans, an Uchiha had a significantly greater potential to master the Spiritual Transformation Technique.
After Namikaze Minato's inauguration as the Fourth Hokage, small-scale skirmishes still flickered across the ninja world, but an overarching, fragile peace had taken hold. Although the five great villages had not formally signed comprehensive peace treaties, large-scale warfare had ceased. All nations entered a period of recovery and rebuilding.
Time flowed swiftly. The end of Konoha Year 50 approached.
Through relentless practice, Uchiha Akira had achieved basic mastery of the Mystical Palm technique. After several sparring sessions with clansmen, he could employ it with considerable proficiency.
The Spiritual Transformation Technique proved far more arduous. Yet, Akira had managed to take the crucial first step: he could now transform his spirit into a spiritual entity. While his application of the technique remained flawed and unrefined, he had undeniably grasped its foundational principle. Mastery of its advanced applications—spirit splitting, regeneration, perception, chakra donation—would require significantly more time and dedication.
As the year drew to a close, Akira finalized plans for a journey to Kusagakure. His objective: to retrieve Uzumaki Rika.
According to the ninja cats' intelligence, Uzumaki Rika was the name of an Uzumaki clanswoman residing within the Hidden Grass Village. Akira was almost certain she was Karin's mother.
Uchiha Mikoto was now roughly three months into her second pregnancy. Karin, in the original timeline, was about a month older than Sasuke. The cats' reports indicated Uzumaki Rika had conceived approximately one month before Mikoto. Bringing her to Konoha now, while she was still relatively mobile, was ideal. Transporting a mother with a newborn would be far more complicated.
Furthermore, the intelligence painted a grim picture of Uzumaki Rika's current circumstances. Initially, her situation in Kusagakure had been tolerable. Her husband, a Grass chunin, had provided some protection. Though used as a living medicine dispenser—her bite healing others—she had managed a semblance of a life.
But two months prior, that chunin had died in a mission gone wrong.
Since then, her life had deteriorated sharply. Recently, her unique ability to heal through her bite had become more widely known. Now, Uzumaki Rika had been reduced to a living "blood bag" for the village. If this continued, she would not survive long.
Vitality did not spontaneously generate. Akira theorized her ability functioned by redistributing her own life force. A person's vitality was finite. Small transfers might be recoverable, but significant, repeated drain would inevitably be fatal.
Therefore, Akira resolved to intervene.
With Namikaze Minato now in power, the Uchiha clan's standing within Konoha had improved markedly compared to the Third Hokage's era. The constraints were fewer. As Minato gradually consolidated his authority, Danzo's Root organization had been forced to curtail its activities significantly, operating with far less visibility and audacity.
Leaving the village discreetly was no simple feat for someone of Akira's rank; several of Konoha's high officials would be notified of his departure.
Without the cellular integration of Hashirama's cells, the Kamui ability of his transplanted Mangekyo could not be used freely. Misuse would lead to rapid deterioration and blindness.
Kusagakure was a minor village, its prosperity paling in comparison to Konoha's. One could take in its entirety at a glance. The streets were old, seemingly untouched by repairs for decades, projecting an atmosphere decades behind the times. There was no semblance of modernity.
The people on the streets wore tattered clothes, their eyes dull and lifeless, moving with a listless air.
Suddenly, a series of rapid footsteps broke the quiet. Four ninja wearing Grass forehead protectors sprinted through the village gates, carrying several severely wounded comrades on their backs.
Once inside, they immediately began shouting. "Quickly! We have wounded! Fetch the red-haired woman!"
A commotion stirred. Passersby turned their vacant stares toward the commotion.
"Injured again? So careless!"
"It's nothing. With that woman here, a bite will heal this completely in under a minute!"
"Heh, since we have her, we don't need to be so cautious on missions anymore. As long as we don't die on the spot and make it back to the village, we're fine!"
"Who says otherwise? That red-haired woman is a true treasure for our village!"
The onlookers murmured, their collective gaze drifting toward a small, locked house on a corner street, secured by a heavy padlock.
Amidst the noise, the men carried the wounded and unlocked the house.
Inside the dim room, a young woman with long, vibrant red hair sat on the edge of a bare bed, her clothes in rags. Her face was a mask of numb detachment, her eyes hollow, as if her soul had long since fled.
A thick chain bound her wrists and ankles, tethering her to the interior. The exposed skin of her slender, pale arms was a horrifying tapestry of overlapping, barely healed bite marks.
Hearing the intrusion, the red-haired woman flinched, trembling as she tried to shrink back into the farthest corner.
"What are you hiding for, huh?!" The man who opened the door leered, his voice a rough bark. "Get over here! Be useful! Don't make us do this the hard way!"
At his words, the woman stood on shaky legs and began shuffling toward them, step by reluctant step.
"Hmph!" The man's eyes glinted with cold malice. Impatient, he simply grabbed the chain anchored to the wall and gave it a brutal yank.
"Ah—!" A pained cry escaped the woman's lips as she was jerked off her feet and dragged across the floor to land at the men's feet.
The man seized her ragged sleeve, roughly pulling her arm forward and shoving it toward the mouth of one of the wounded ninja slumped against the wall.
At that moment, a portly orange cat leaped gracefully through the room's only window, landing in their midst.
The cat's golden eyes swept over the scene, its plump face etched with unmistakable disdain.
Just as the Grass ninja began to move to shoo the intruder away, a new sound froze them in place—a series of calm, measured footsteps from the doorway.
All heads turned.
Then, they saw them: a pair of glowing, crimson Sharingan materializing in the dim light.
Thud. Thud-thud-thud.
A series of soft impacts. All seven individuals in the room collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
(End of Chapter)
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