Chapter 50: Return

Uchiha Fugaku slowly opened his eyes, and the familiar sight of the tent interior met his gaze. Fugaku realized that the Main God seemed to have transmitted him back to his own main tent.

The experiences of these past two days seemed like a fake dream, hazy and unreal.

He reached toward his chest; a Light Sphere emitting a soft glow lay quietly in his embrace. Its existence proved that everything was not a dream, but a fact that had truly happened.

"Clan Leader Adult, you're back!"

A voice interrupted Fugaku's pondering. He raised his head and saw a ninja of the Uchiha Clan walking over quickly.

"Where did you go these past two days? Everyone in the clan has been looking for you," the ninja asked respectfully.

Fugaku gathered his thoughts, his expression returning to its usual calm composure. He replied lightly: "I went to carry out a secret Task; it is of great importance, so I cannot discuss it in detail."

As he spoke, his gaze sharpened and his tone became serious: "During these two days I was away, were there any unusual circumstances in the camp or on the Battlefield?"

The ninja shook his head and replied: "Everything is in order; nothing major has happened."

Fugaku nodded and instructed: "Understood, you may leave. Report any sudden developments to me at any time."

Seeing the ninja's figure disappear outside the tent, Fugaku finally let out a breath of relief and turned toward the independent resting room inside the tent.

Afterwards he carefully opened the Scroll, and a huge egg appeared before his eyes. This was precisely the Tail-standing Rat hatchling he had just Exchanged in the Main God Space.

Fugaku gently stroked the eggshell, his expression rarely showing a hint of a smile. According to the Main God's Introduction, this egg only needed to be kept Warm, and it would slowly hatch into a Tail-standing Rat hatchling.

At this moment, a young figure quietly appeared at the doorway of the resting room—it was Fugaku's eldest son, Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi Uchiha stood at the doorway, staring dumbfounded at the scene before him.

At this moment, Itachi Uchiha simply could not believe his eyes; he saw his father sitting on the ground, staring fixedly at the huge egg before him, with a hint of... a hint of a foolish smile at the corner of his mouth? You must know that ordinarily his father wore an unchanging iceberg face, rarely showing a smile even to his mother.

But now, his father was facing a mysterious egg...

That rare smile left him somewhat at a loss for a moment.

"Father," Itachi Uchiha finally called out softly.

Hearing his son's voice, Fugaku immediately withdrew the smile from his face. He turned around, resuming his usual stern expression: "Itachi... you've come."

Itachi Uchiha's gaze fell on the huge egg, and he couldn't help but ask: "What is that egg?"

After a moment of silence, Fugaku beckoned to Itachi Uchiha: "Come here."

Itachi walked to his father's side, crouched down, and carefully examined this strange egg. Fugaku's voice became low and solemn: "This is a special Ninja Beast I found back; it concerns the future of our Clan. While I am away, you must guard it well, do you understand?"

Itachi Uchiha looked at this strange egg before him; although he did not understand his father's intention, he still solemnly nodded: "I understand, Father."—And on the other side

Orochimaru stood in the laboratory, his gaze fixed on the eerie purple-black fruit on the experiment table, his eyes flashing with probing light. "Since the Devil Fruit needs to be eaten to take effect, then during the process of eating, chewing and cutting are unavoidable," Orochimaru murmured to himself, his tone carrying a hint of thoughtfulness.

He reached out and picked up a scalpel; the blade gleamed with cold light under the pallid lamp. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze moving back and forth between the fruit and the scalpel.

"In that case, theoretically, the cut fruit should also retain its original effect," he said softly, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Orochimaru carefully cut off a small piece of flesh and placed it on a microscope slide. He adjusted the focus, his eyes fixed on the eyepiece, carefully observing the microscopic structure of the flesh.

However, the sight that met his eyes made Orochimaru frown slightly.

Under the high-powered microscope, the cut surface of the flesh actually showed no cellular structure at all—no cell wall, no nucleus, and no common organelles. The entire flesh seemed to be composed of a strange substance, a unified whole, indistinguishable.

"Interesting..." Orochimaru's eyes flashed with probing light, and an excited smile curled at the corner of his lips.

Afterwards Orochimaru used various precision instruments to test the flesh, but each result only made him more confused. Whether chemical analysis or physical probing, all instruments showed no effective information, as if this fruit contained no known material elements at all.

"Too strange," Orochimaru murmured, his brow furrowed. "This fruit seems as if it is not composed of matter at all..."

He braced both hands on the experiment table, gazing deeply at that piece of mysterious flesh. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

"Wait, if considered from the perspective of energy," Orochimaru's eyes lit up, as if he had grasped some key clue.

The next second he extended his hand, and chakra began to condense at his fingertip. Blue energy swirled in his Palm, gradually enveloping the flesh. At first, there was no abnormal reaction.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly and began to adjust the attribute of the chakra. As the nature of the chakra changed, the flesh remained still. But when he converted the chakra into Yin Release, the situation suddenly changed.

Orochimaru's brow twitched slightly, sensing something unusual. He heightened his perception, carefully probing the changes within the flesh.

"This is..." Orochimaru whispered, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

In his keen perception, a special energy seemed to be fluctuating within the flesh. This energy was neither common material energy nor the chakra of the ninja world. It was more ethereal, more elusive, yet it truly existed.

Orochimaru slightly increased his chakra output, trying to feel this energy more clearly.

As he explored deeper, he gradually realized that the nature of this energy was actually extremely similar to Spiritual Energy.

"Why is there Spiritual Energy in the Devil Fruit?" Orochimaru murmured, a thoughtful light flashing in his eyes. This discovery completely exceeded his expectations, shattering all his guesses about the Devil Fruit.

He temporarily stopped the chakra output, bracing both hands on the experiment table, and fell into pondering. Orochimaru's brain raced, trying to connect this new discovery with his existing Knowledge.

"Spiritual Energy... Could it be that the essence of the Devil Fruit is not matter, but a spiritual body condensed with some special will or concept?" Orochimaru talked to himself, his tone carrying a hint of uncertainty.

(Chapter End)