The Land of Frost in the dead of night.
A dilapidated seaside town.
Because of the recent deployment of the Kumogakure army, this town, situated on the main road from the Land of Lightning to the Land of Hot Water, had been reduced to its current state.
Broken, desolate, and utterly silent.
Long spiderwebs dangled from the signboards of shops to the ground. Anything of value had long been looted, leaving only worthless trinkets scattered across the dirt. No human life remained, save for a few seabirds hopping along the pavement. They occasionally fluttered their wings to perch atop telephone poles, tilting their heads as their black pupils reflected the arrival of travelers from afar.
At that moment, a gnawing, primal hunger forced Ren Uchiha back to consciousness!
Waking up felt strange. He couldn't see anything, yet he felt as if he could see everything. Touch, smell, hearing, and taste—the four remaining ways to perceive the world—blended at a unique frequency, painting a mental map of his surroundings.
This was the evolved form of his Combat Intuition, a state he tentatively called: [Mind's Eye].
Ren could clearly feel himself being dragged along the silent street. The person dragging him didn't seem to care if he hit anything or got hurt. Fortunately, the battered inner armor he wore was durable, emitting a harsh screeching sound as it scraped against the ground.
Right.
Ren remembered now. His eyes had been gouged out. That was why he was blind.
But...
Ren gritted his teeth. Wait, what's going on with the eyes in my sockets right now?
Furthermore, it felt as though there were two sets—four eyes—crammed into his head. It was a bizarre, jarring sensation.
Ren could feel his original Sharingan, which had been stolen, manifesting back into his eye sockets in a semi-transparent, ethereal state. If it weren't for the "other" physical eyes currently occupying the space, his Sharingan would have likely solidified back into flesh.
This was the effect of the Mangekyo technique: [Takamimusubi]!
The loss of his eyes was an "unfavorable factor" for the user. The ocular power was forcibly reversing time, replicating a pair of identical Sharingan from thirty minutes prior when he still possessed them.
But now, his original Sharingan was merging with the pair of eyes that had been shoved into his sockets.
To call it "merging" was an understatement. It was more like devouring.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan was eating the "Ketsuryūgan"! It was feeding on them, evolving toward an unknown, powerful direction—something even wilder than a standard Mangekyo Sharingan!
From the fibrous coat and vascular layer to the retina, iris, and lens—it was a total assimilation. Taking the essence, discarding the dregs. On a genetic level, within the sequences of DNA, among the atoms and neutrons, the two dōjutsu collided, fought, and consumed one another.
Fails occurred, and counter-absorptions happened, but the Mangekyo power of Takamimusubi would instantly regenerate the lost tissue, allowing the evolution to rally and charge again. It was a war of existence based on primal instinct—an evolution born of coincidence and destined for success.
This was the ultimate realization of "preserving only results favorable to the user."
Ren began to understand. He was awakening a brand-new power, something beyond the imagination of anyone in the shinobi world: an Ocular Bloodline Selection (Kekkei Tōta), born from the collision of two Ocular Bloodline Limits.
At this moment, he grasped the true meaning of "Bloodline Selection." The answer was in the name—it was a process of selection through elimination. The strong prey on the weak to grow; the weak swarm the strong to overthrow them. The one who survives breaks the limits.
No wonder Ohnoki's Particle Style was so heaven-defying, capable of disintegrating things at a molecular level.
Ren felt a surge of anticipation. The evolution path and effects of the Ketsuryūgan were very similar to the Sharingan—both were genjutsu-oriented. What would happen when they combined? A massive boost in genjutsu? Enhanced observation? Or a leap in Yin Release?
The end of the Sharingan is the Mangekyo. Two Mangekyo create the Eternal Mangekyo. So, what spark would be born from the Sharingan and the Ketsuryūgan?
Questions flooded Ren's mind, making his thoughts race—until his face suddenly paled.
His body began to tremble uncontrollably. Cold sweat soaked his palms, and his heart felt as if it were being gnawed by a thousand ants.
He remembered!
He remembered everything!
The Mangekyo power currently engraved on his body belonged to Setsuna Uchiha!
And that old man had stayed behind to face the Third Raikage! His Izanagi had failed, he had forgotten his own ocular powers, and he had sealed his final trump card into Ren's body.
Which meant...
That stubborn old man... was dead.
The moment that thought hit him, Ren's teeth began to chatter. His face contorted, and his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. His expression shifted from pain to a terrifying, murderous rage filled with regret.
Memories of the old man's harsh guidance and hidden care rushed back. His throat felt like it was filled with acrid smoke, and his brain felt ready to burst from the pressure of his blood.
"Raikage... A..."
In that instant, the new eyes hidden beneath his lids turned a deep, bloody crimson. The square black pupils of the Ketsuryūgan sharpened, stretching vertically into snake-like slits as they absorbed the natural energy supplied by his body. Finally, a pair of scarlet eyes appeared, featuring three black tomoe circling a black star-shaped cross.
BOOM!!
A sinister, terrifying, and manic storm of chakra erupted from Ren, shooting into the sky like a pillar of black flame! The monster hidden within those eyes was about to step out!
"Hmm?"
The young man dragging Ren raised an eyebrow. He let go of Ren's collar and tossed him aside.
Amidst the raging wind, the man calmly picked up a pair of fashionable square sunglasses from the debris on the street and put them on. Then, En Oyashiro's gaze darkened. His own expression turned savage as he looked down at Ren, who was weeping tears of blood.
"What?" En barked angrily. "You think making a pained face gives you the right to throw a tantrum like a stray dog?!"
"Who are you doing this for?! Me? Yourself? The dead? Or do you think standing here screaming will magically teleport you into your enemy's house to kill them?!"
"Enough!"
En Oyashiro suddenly raised a hand, fingers splayed. He reached toward the raging Ren and clenched his fist. His eyes turned a solid, brilliant red.
A massive blood dragon rose behind him, coiling once before diving straight at Ren with a deafening roar!
The ground shattered, and a massive cloud of dust erupted! The strike sent Ren crashing fifty meters into the earth, and the pillar of black flame reaching for the sky instantly dissipated.
"For now, give your thoughts to the Sage of Six Paths and your body to me!"
"Prisoner!"
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