Chapter 601: Chakra Surge

As the change in his right eye came to an end, the restless chakra in Mu Yue's body calmed down.

Feeling the powerful chakra within his body, Mu Yue clicked open the panel to check his status.

Name: Habuki Mu Yue

Chakra: Seeing the chakra amount on the panel, Mu Yue was slightly stunned.

He had worked his ass off for four years to grind his chakra to just over one million, and now, with one eye evolution, it directly added over two million chakra.

Should he say that this really is the Naruto world, known as the legend of eyes? Having a good pair of eyes is truly OP.

This far exceeded Mu Yue's expectations; he originally thought adding a hundred thousand chakra would already be a huge success.

Because when Obito activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, he only gained an extra twenty thousand at the moment of activation, and still needed subsequent training to convert the surging mental energy into actual power.

Just looking at the chakra increase, his evolved Byakugan was worth a hundred pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan.

Mu Yue took off his glasses and picked up a mirror to observe the changes in his eyes.

He was now very curious about what kind of eye his Byakugan had evolved into, since it was this powerful.

Seeing his eyes in the mirror, Mu Yue was somewhat surprised.

His two eyes were actually different—the right eye was golden, composed of several black triangles forming a pattern similar to the character "rice," while the left eye looked no different from an ordinary Byakugan.

In his knowledge, dojutsu-type bloodline limits usually evolve both eyes together.

He had never heard of anyone whose Sharingan only evolved one eye into Mangekyo while the other remained at three tomoe.

However, if he had to say, there was one case similar to Mu Yue's, and that was Sasuke, who was handed a cheat by the Sage of Six Paths.

After Sasuke received the Sage of Six Paths' power-up, one eye evolved into a Rinnegan with six tomoe, while the other eye remained an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Not quite the same either." Mu Yue shook his head.

Although his Byakugan seemed unchanged, its dojutsu power had greatly increased, and both the range of observation and depth of perception had improved.

Mu Yue put down the mirror, ready to test the new ability gained from his evolved Byakugan.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Mu Yue created a shadow clone and had it attack him with ninjutsu.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

The shadow clone flashed backward to create distance, gathered a large amount of chakra, and spat a sharp lightning spear at Mu Yue.

Zizi!!

The blue lightning spear emitted a dazzling light, cutting through the darkness of the night as it raced toward Mu Yue.

Mu Yue stood still, without using the Breathing Method to strengthen his body or Armament Haki for defense.

When the lightning spear was one meter away from Mu Yue, a faint golden light flickered in his right pupil.

"Shukuna!"

The massive lightning spear suddenly vanished, erased before Mu Yue like a pencil mistake wiped away by an eraser.

"Such a powerful yet simple ability," Mu Yue thought to himself.

In reality, the lightning spear still existed, but it had become so tiny as to be imperceptible, losing its attack power.

His right eye possessed two dojutsu techniques, and Shukuna was one of them.

The effect of Shukuna was not to nullify ninjutsu but to shrink it; however, when Mu Yue pushed Shukuna's shrinking ability to its limit, the actual effect was hardly different from nullification.

"And using it has no side effects at all; its level should be comparable to the Rinnegan."

Mu Yue checked his own state and felt no abnormality from using Shukuna.

Then Mu Yue continued testing the application of Shukuna.

After awakening his eye, he only knew that Shukuna's ability was shrinking, but what exactly could be shrunk and to what extent remained unclear.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

The shadow clone used Fire Release again, sending a towering wave of flames rushing toward Mu Yue.

The result was the same as with Lightning Release; after Muyue used Sukunahikona, they instantly shrank and lost their attack capability.

Swish! Swish!

After confirming that energy attacks like fire and lightning could be shrunk, the Shadow Clone threw several shuriken at Muyue.

A golden light flashed in Muyue's right pupil, and the shuriken all shrank until they vanished without a trace.

Next, Muyue glanced at a stone block not far away.

The large stone block, as tall as two men, instantly turned into a small pebble.

"Matter and energy are no problem, so..." Muyue slowly looked down at his own body.

The next instant, Muyue's body rapidly shrank, from 1.8 meters to 1.8 centimeters.

"The chakra consumed is much more than shrinking a ninjutsu." Muyue sensed the chakra within him draining at an alarming rate.

He thought it over and found it quite reasonable.

Because when shrinking ninjutsu or objects, the chakra consumed was not exactly the same.

The larger the scale or the more powerful the ninjutsu, the more chakra was needed to shrink it.

For objects, the greater the mass, the more chakra consumed.

Not only did Muyue have a vast amount of chakra, but his physique was also extremely strong, so shrinking him naturally required a considerable amount of chakra.

Muyue looked around; after shrinking, it was as if he had entered a land of giants, everything around him was enormous. Even a random flying insect was several times his size.

Buzz! Buzz!

At that moment, a large black mosquito suddenly charged at Muyue.

"Finger Gun!"

Muyue concentrated chakra in his finger and gently tapped at the mosquito.

A burst of air force several times larger than the mosquito's body shattered it, leaving not even a trace.

Although his body size had shrunk a hundred times, Muyue's physical strength had not changed.

"Shrinking living things seems different from shrinking other things." Muyue returned to normal size, picked up the stone block he had shrunk, weighed it in his hand, and thought.

The stone block was very light; if Muyue hadn't shrunk it himself with his dojutsu, he would probably have taken it for an ordinary stone.

Shrunk ninjutsu loses attack capability; shrunk objects lose mass; but shrunk living things do not lose strength.

The next moment, Muyue tossed the stone block and activated Sukunahikona again.

The stone block returned to its original size in midair and slammed heavily into the ground.

Sukunahikona does not have the ability to enlarge, but it can restore shrunk objects to their original size, and it is as fast as the shrinking—instantaneous.

"Daikokuten!"

After testing Sukunahikona sufficiently, Muyue gathered chakra in his right eye and used his second dojutsu.

A pitch-black vortex appeared around Muyue and slowly swallowed him.

Muyue's perspective shifted rapidly; in the blink of an eye, he appeared in a strange space filled with numerous huge black cubes floating around.

This was the second ability of Muyue's right eye.

This ability was somewhat similar to Obito's Kamui, as both came with a separate dimension.

However, Daikokuten could not partially phase the body into the dimension to evade attacks like Kamui could.

The special aspect of Daikokuten's space was that it was a dimension where time was frozen; only Muyue, who possessed the dojutsu, could move freely here.

If Muyue pulled someone else into Daikokuten, that person would be at Muyue's mercy, unable even to think.

"Too bad the speed is too slow." Muyue shook his head.

With Daikokuten's capture speed, it was basically impossible to catch anyone in a fight of the same level; only a sneak attack might work.

Muyue activated Daikokuten again to return to the shinobi world.

"Daikokuten!"

Muyue thought for a moment and activated Da Hei Tian again, but this time he did not enter the Da Hei Tian space; instead, he took out the black cubes from inside Da Hei Tian.

Boom! Boom!!

Several gigantic cubes crashed to the ground, producing a huge rumbling sound.

Unlike when a person enters Da Hei Tian, taking objects out of Da Hei Tian is extremely fast. Muyue felt that this might actually be Da Hei Tian's role in battle.

"This eye technique is quite user-friendly, it even comes with ninja tools."

Muyue walked over to the cubes, knocked on them, and tried to lift one. He found that the material of the cubes was extraordinary—both hard and heavy.

At this moment, Muyue as usual activated a perception ninjutsu to sense his surroundings.

To avoid being discovered, even while training, Muyue would periodically use perception ninjutsu to check his surroundings.

"Can't perceive." Muyue found that his Kenbunshoku had failed.

Muyue glanced around and finally fixed his gaze on the several huge black cubes on the ground.

Swoosh! Swoosh!!

Sukunahikona was activated, and the black cubes shrank rapidly. Then Da Hei Tian was activated, and the black cubes returned to the Da Hei Tian space.

Objects shrunk by Sukunahikona could be instantly taken in by Da Hei Tian.

Similarly, objects released by Da Hei Tian could be instantly restored to their original size by Sukunahikona.

The moment the black cubes were taken away, Muyue's Kenbunshoku recovered.

"These cubes can be considered high-level ninja tools; they even have the ability to interfere with perception." Muyue nodded inwardly.

Using the cubes openly would make it impossible for anyone to perceive, which would be disadvantageous for everyone, but that wasn't actually the case.

Muyue had the Byakugan, and a super Byakugan with far superior insight to an ordinary one at that.

Finally, Muyue found a wild boar and tried using Sukunahikona to shrink another living creature, but nothing happened.

Having tested this far, Muyue had a decent understanding of his two dojutsu and also a battle strategy.

Sukunahikona alone could only be used for auxiliary defense, basically able to block all non-physical attacks.

But Sukunahikona combined with Da Hei Tian could provide considerable offensive capability, able to unleash a barrage of kunai without warning, or suddenly drop a huge cube on the opponent's head.

The evolution of the Byakugan brought Muyue more changes than just this.

As Muyue stimulated his chakra, his body slowly lifted off the ground and flew toward the sky.

This was not the Light-Weight Rock Technique of Iwagakure, but true flight.

This flight ability was not exactly Muyue's dojutsu; it was a capability he somehow mastered after his eyes evolved.

He felt he could fly, and he took off—that was roughly the process.

Having gone through rewards like bloodline enhancement and Byakugan purity improvement, Muyue could no longer say whether he leaned more toward being a shinobi of the ninja world or an alien like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.

But Muyue didn't really care anyway; even if he one day grew horns, he could just cover them up—no big deal.

Muyue activated the Flying Thunder God Technique in the air and returned to his home in the main city district.

After returning home, Muyue did not go directly to the bedroom to sleep, but slowly walked to the second bedroom on the second floor.

To meet Celebi's accommodation needs, Muyue removed the furniture from the second bedroom and filled it with flowers and plants.

When Muyue entered the second bedroom, Celebi was lying asleep on a small tree.

Muyue tossed an appraisal at Celebi.

Name: Celebi

Chakra: Skills: Wood Release (Proficient: 1800/3000), Space-Time Power (Beginner: 230/500), Yang Release Nature Transformation (Expert: 900/…)...

After developing for two months, Celebi's strength had made considerable progress.

Unfortunately, the Space-Time Power skill's proficiency increased slowly, still at the Beginner level.

"Once Celebi's Space-Time Power reaches the Proficient level, I'll go check out Mount Myōboku." Muyue thought as he closed Celebi's status panel.

He definitely had to learn Sage Arts; Sage Mode was a pure enhancement.

An ordinary Chakra-powered Thoughtless Slash can already split an eighty-meter Susano'o. If it were a Senjutsu Chakra-powered Thoughtless Slash, wouldn't that be even more terrifying?

There's also Senjutsu-driven Armament Haki, and Senjutsu Chakra-enhanced Taijutsu.

The next day.

Orochimaru was contemplating what method to use to test Muyue when he suddenly sensed someone approaching his residence.

"Lord Orochimaru, please proceed to the Hokage's office at once. The Third Hokage summons you." An Anbu said after knocking and entering.

"I understand." Orochimaru replied indifferently, stood up, and walked toward the Hokage building.

Clearly, he had not been exposed yet, or perhaps Muyue knew but had not informed Hiruzen Sarutobi of his information.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be a summons from Hiruzen Sarutobi, but a squad of elite Anbu armed with weapons.

Knock, knock.

Orochimaru reached the Hokage building and stopped when he approached the Hokage's office, knocking on the wooden door.

"Enter."

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice, Orochimaru pushed the door open and entered.

"Orochimaru, I have a very important mission to entrust to you." Hiruzen Sarutobi got straight to the point without preamble.

Orochimaru closed the door, quietly stepped forward, and waited for Hiruzen Sarutobi to explain.

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up a scroll, handed it to Orochimaru as he approached, and continued:

"You should be aware of the matter regarding the assassination of Counselor Danzo."

Orochimaru nodded. Shimura Danzo was his important collaborator.

"Sōsuke is the perpetrator who killed Counselor Danzo. His actions have severely endangered Konoha and are a provocation against Konoha's power."

Orochimaru quickly recalled the intelligence on Sōsuke in his mind.

Sōsuke had not acted much; his most notable feat was probably suppressing Hanzō's Water Release with his Fire Release.

Orochimaru had fought Hanzō during the Second Shinobi World War and knew his strength well. Sōsuke's Fire Release ability was absolutely the best in the ninja world; even Hiruzen Sarutobi could not do that.

If he were to assassinate Sōsuke, Orochimaru would definitely require all team members to master Water Release. If one person couldn't block him, they would bring several.

"However, Konoha is currently in a critical period, so we cannot act rashly. Therefore, Orochimaru, your mission is to lead a negotiation team to the Shinobi Sect for negotiations, and resolve the issue through negotiation as much as possible." Hiruzen Sarutobi stated the specific mission.

Orochimaru remained calm. He had thought he would be sent to assassinate, but it was only negotiations.

"Our bottom line is that Sōsuke must pay with his life for a life. We can forgo everything else."

Orochimaru showed a thoughtful expression.

As far as he knew, Sōsuke was the soul of the Shinobi Sect. Could the Shinobi Sect possibly agree to such a demand?

But Hiruzen Sarutobi was not stupid; he would not propose a demand that was completely impossible to accept.

Orochimaru speculated that his teacher Hiruzen probably intended to use Konoha's vast power to pressure the Shinobi Sect, making Sōsuke himself agree to the demand.

If Sōsuke cared enough about the Shinobi Sect, there was indeed a high chance he would agree.

"During negotiations, Orochimaru, your attitude must be sufficiently tough. Konoha may not act rashly, but that doesn't mean we cannot act, and it certainly doesn't mean we lack the power to act against the Shinobi Sect." Hiruzen Sarutobi emphasized.

Apart from his personal friendship with Shimura Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also defending Konoha's dignity.

If a small faction killed their high-ranking official and Konoha did nothing, would outside ninja praise Konoha for being kind and friendly?

No, they would only think Konoha had no backbone and that there was an opportunity to step on them.

"I understand." Orochimaru nodded.

In short, first intimidate, see if Sōsuke can be bluffed; if not, then actually act.

"The other members of the negotiation team have already assembled. They are waiting for you at the mission office on the first floor."

Although it was just negotiations, the other party was after all Sōsuke, who had killed Hanzō and Shimura Danzo. Hiruzen Sarutobi worried that ordinary ninja would not be able to withstand Sōsuke's presence. After much deliberation, he ultimately chose Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, whether in terms of strength or personality, was very suitable for carrying out this mission.

Orochimaru left the Hokage's office, opening the scroll to examine its contents while walking toward the first floor.

"Orochimaru-sama!"

When the negotiation team members saw Orochimaru, they greeted him one after another.

Orochimaru nodded slightly in acknowledgment, his gaze fixed on the shortest ninja in the room.

Feeling the gaze on him, Shisui was a little puzzled—did Orochimaru seem particularly interested in him?

"If there are no issues, prepare to depart," Orochimaru said, withdrawing his gaze.

The scroll Sarutobi Hiruzen had given him contained the information on the negotiation team ninjas.

So Orochimaru knew that Shisui was a member of the new Root, that is, the training team.

Of course, just being a member of the training team wasn't enough to attract Orochimaru's close attention—there were other training team members in the negotiation team as well. The key was that Shisui was also Muyue's disciple.

He was too eager to know whether Muyue actually had evidence of his cooperation with Shimura Danzo.

Orochimaru wasn't simply afraid of his secret being exposed; he even hoped that Muyue had the cooperation records.

The fact that he could now carry out his mission without trouble meant only two possibilities. The first was simple: Muyue didn't have the records.

The second possibility was that Muyue might not be so averse to human experimentation, or perhaps held a not insignificant amount of goodwill toward him.

Orochimaru naturally hoped for the second possibility, because then he could gain another new partner—and this new partner far surpassed Shimura Danzo in both strength and prospects.

In fact, Orochimaru himself had a fair amount of interest in Muyue. Hashirama Senju's cells possessed mysterious power. If Muyue had the potential to become the second Hashirama Senju, what would his own cells be like?