"How do you feel?"
The first words Shisui heard upon regaining consciousness came as a warm greeting from Orochimaru.
Opening his eyes, Shisui propped himself up on the operating table, sitting on its edge. He watched as Orochimaru carefully removed the monitoring patches attached to him. Clenching his right hand, Shisui responded.
"How do I feel? Great, Lord Orochimaru!"
Shisui could sense the unfamiliar yet overwhelming power surging within his body. It was a strange feeling, and he answered in a somewhat dazed manner.
Unlike the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, this energy still gave him a sense of danger. However, to his surprise, it didn't feel threatening to him personally.
The relationship between him and this power felt almost hierarchical.
He was its master.
At the same time, Shisui noticed something unusual about his right arm. Black lines, resembling tightly wrapped bandages, clung to his skin, extending up to his elbow before vanishing.
The dark markings blended with the color of his skin, giving the appearance of a fitted sleeve.
But Shisui could feel it—most of that newfound power was concentrated in the upper part of his forearm. It was like a dormant volcano, brimming with potential energy.
"Don't worry; this is the outward manifestation of your Hōgyoku mode," Orochimaru said, noticing Shisui staring blankly at his arm. His gaze followed Shisui's to the distinct black lines, and he offered a kind reminder.
"For most people, Hōgyoku mode causes some form of tissue alteration. Yours, being limited to a mere change in skin tone, is something I've never encountered before."
"This indicates that your body is exceptionally compatible with the power of the Hōgyoku! Since the Hōgyoku interacts with both the mind and soul—and as a member of the Uchiha clan with an awakened Mangekyō Sharingan—it makes sense that your compatibility is so remarkably high."
As Orochimaru continued, his tone shifted from explanation to speculation, marveling at Shisui's astonishing adaptability.
He couldn't help but wonder if experimenting with other Uchiha clan members might yield similar results, providing validation and more accurate experimental data.
Truthfully, besides Uchiha Shisui, the individual with the next highest compatibility and affinity for the Hōgyoku's power was Hyūga clan member, Hyūga Ran.
In Ran's case, the tissue alterations were nearly imperceptible. Without meticulous inspection, it was almost impossible to identify the affected areas.
Even from the experimental data involving Shisui and Hyuga Ran, there was a significant overlap in their common traits.
Whether this was because both abilities belonged to the realm of ocular jutsu, or if there was a deeper underlying reason, one thing was certain—Orochimaru had identified a clear path for further validation.
Orochimaru even speculated that the slight imperfection in Hyuga Ran's abilities might be due to the Hyuga clan's "Caged Bird" seal. Its presence seemed to interfere with the power of the Hōgyoku, preventing the Byakugan from achieving a true transformation.
For this reason, Orochimaru was curious: if a member of the Hyuga main family, with an exceptionally pure Byakugan, were to accept the power of the Hōgyoku, would they—like Shisui with his Mangekyō Sharingan—come infinitely close to perfection?
As for the two other guards who had accepted the power of the Hōgyoku, Yamanaka Yukari, who specialized in mental techniques or Yin Release-based secret arts, demonstrated a much higher compatibility and potential for growth with the Hōgyoku than Akimichi Chodai.
Orochimaru had collected extensive experimental data on the Hōgyoku from various ninja subjects, the majority of whom were captives from Iwagakure. Their contributions formed the backbone of his research.
"I'd like to see Shisui's Hōgyoku mode in action. What's your opinion, Kagetsu?" Orochimaru asked, abruptly shifting the conversation before Shisui could respond.
He turned his attention to Kagetsu, who was busy flipping through the experimental data nearby.
"I have no objections! I'd also like to see if Shisui's Hōgyoku mode can rival the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan," Kagetsu nodded in agreement.
If it couldn't even compare to the Mangekyō, it would mean the current Hōgyoku was nothing more than a substandard, defective product.
Useful, yes.
But not very effective.
Kagetsu would then have to go back to the drawing board, devising new methods to refine and upgrade it.
However, since they had already made progress from nothing to something, the path ahead, no matter how challenging, no longer seemed like an unattainable dream. Kagetsu remained optimistic.
"Let's head outside! We need to move far away from this base. The equipment here is incredibly valuable," Orochimaru said eagerly, seeing Kagetsu's agreement.
The three left the base and walked far away. After reaching a location significantly distant from the base, they finally stopped.
"Here should do," Orochimaru said, standing in an open area. Satisfied, he nodded and motioned for Shisui to step forward.
"What should I do?" Shisui walked to the center of the clearing, his eyes questioning as he looked at Orochimaru and Kagetsu.
"Let's see the power of your Hōgyoku mode first," Orochimaru suggested, glancing briefly at Kagetsu, who remained silent, seemingly leaving everything to him. Orochimaru smiled and licked the corner of his lips.
He understood that Kagetsu trusted him to know more about the Hōgyoku experiment and how best to test its capabilities, so he refrained from speaking.
Hearing this, Shisui took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and then suddenly opened them. In his eyes, the three tomoe of the Sharingan appeared, spinning faintly.
Black markings began to surface clearly on his arms, exposed through his clothing.
A strange, oppressive power emanated from Shisui. The more sensitive one was to chakra, the stronger the feeling of this power's existence.
Then, under the astonished gazes of Orochimaru and Kagetsu, Shisui conjured a bow made entirely of pure energy in his left hand.
"A spiritual weapon?"
At the sight of the bow, Orochimaru immediately thought of a possibility.
Ninja tools had a history as ancient as that of ninjutsu—or perhaps even older. Besides physical weapons, there were legendary spiritual tools, such as the Yata Mirror and the Totsuka Blade.
As soon as the bow appeared, Orochimaru felt a heavy sense of threat from it. It seemed as though Shisui's Hōgyoku power was entirely tied to this bow.
In an instant, Shisui vanished from his original position and reappeared somewhere else, as if teleporting. At the same time, he drew the bowstring, and arrows made of pure energy were rapidly released, one after another.
Single Shot.
Multi Shot.
A rain of arrows filled the sky.
Every object pierced by an arrow suffered damage based on the unique power infused into each projectile.
Remarkably, each arrow transformed into a different ninjutsu upon hitting its target.
It was truly a sight to behold.
At the same time, Shisui's body moved at lightning speed, almost as if he were teleporting while shooting arrows.
Orochimaru, observing closely, could easily tell whether it was teleportation or not. His eyes followed Shisui's flickering figure, silently assessing in his mind.
Even though it wasn't on the same level as Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God, in short-distance combat, Shisui's unique flickering movement was enough to keep up with Minato's technique.
In fact, it was even harder to predict and defend against compared to Minato's attacks.
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