I Am Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 405 405 Hikari's Rinnegan

The air in the isolation room felt frozen.

Hikari's body trembled violently, arching as wooden patterns spread across her skin like living things.

Her hands clawed at the edges of the examination bed, the alloy frame groaning under her terrifying grip, leaving five deep finger marks.

"Heart rate exceeding critical threshold! Two hundred thirty beats per minute!"

"Blood pressure continuing to skyrocket! Systolic pressure over 300!"

"Chakra rampage!"

Ear-piercing alarms blared throughout the laboratory. All data curves on the monitors flashed red.

Several white-coated researchers, faces pale, scrambled at their consoles, trying to stabilize the situation.

"Prepare inhibitors!" Hiruko's voice carried rare urgency. He rushed to the main control panel, fingers flying across the keyboard. "Inject Type-Three Neutralizer immediately! Maximum dosage!"

"It's no use!" One researcher cried out in panic. "Her Chakra has formed a defensive barrier! Needles can't penetrate the skin!"

True enough, a faint red Chakra Glow covered Hikari's entire body like armor. The light wasn't blinding, but it carried a heart-stopping pressure. Any object that got close was repelled about three millimeters from her skin.

Hiruko's face turned grim. He grabbed a specially designed high-pressure injector himself… its needle was made of a special alloy capable of piercing most defenses.

But just as he was about to step forward—

"Wait."

A pale hand pressed down on his shoulder.

Orochimaru was now standing beside him, his golden snake-like eyes fixed on Hikari on the bed. There was no panic on his face, only… excitement!

"Orochimaru, have you lost your mind?!" Hiruko growled. "If we let this continue, the Hashirama's cells will completely consume her! Her body will turn into a wooden human-shaped plant! If she dies, Shura-sama will never forgive us!"

"Heh heh heh…" Orochimaru let out a low laugh, his tongue slowly licking his lips. "You're still the same, Hiruko. Always afraid of risk, afraid of failure… but that's exactly what science is: full of unknowns and danger."

He released Hiruko's shoulder and walked slowly toward the examination bed, completely ignoring the Chakra Barrier.

"Watch. Her physical constitution and potential… are no worse than Uchiha Madara's in his day."

As soon as his words fell—

Boom!!!

An invisible force field erupted from Hikari!

It wasn't a Chakra Shockwave, not a Jutsu Explosion. It was a release like a repulsive force!

All instruments in the laboratory malfunctioned simultaneously. Screens flickered before going completely black.

The researchers closest to her were thrown backward, slamming into walls with a series of dull thuds.

Hiruko grunted, stumbling back several meters before barely regaining his footing.

He stared toward the examination bed in shock.

Hikari's body seemed weightless, floating about half a meter above the bed.

The faint red Chakra Barrier had vanished, replaced by a deeper, more oppressive aura emanating from her.

Her skin had returned to normal… the wooden patterns were completely gone.

No… not gone. Internalized.

The power of the Hashirama's cells had fully merged with every one of her cells, forming a perfect symbiosis.

But the most shocking change was in her eyes.

Hikari's eyes were open.

Her original Mangekyo Sharingan had completely transformed.

The whites of her eyes had turned a deep blood-red, as if soaked in blood.

Within that crimson, the original Mangekyo pattern were gone. In their place was a structure of six concentric circles, with intricate black patterns like ancient tree rings spreading out from the pupil.

The innermost circle was the smallest, pale red, with a single black dot at its center.

The second circle was deep purple, with three pitch-black tomoes floating on its surface.

The third circle was black, its edges extending into six small branch-like patterns like a blooming flower.

The fourth was dark red, like burning flames.

The outermost fifth circle was nearly transparent, only visible from certain angles as it subtly distorted the surrounding light.

The six circles weren't static. They rotated slowly at different speeds and directions.

Inner circles clockwise, outer circles counterclockwise, middle layers alternating… forming a complex yet harmonious dynamic balance.

With every rotation, a soul-trembling pressure radiated outward.

"This… this is…" Hiruko's voice shook. He stared at those eyes as if witnessing a scene from myth.

Orochimaru's breathing grew rapid. He leaned forward slightly, his golden vertical pupils blazing with a light they'd never held before.

"Heh… ha… ha ha ha ha!!"

He could no longer contain his excitement, letting out a low, almost crazed laugh.

"I see it… I finally see it! So that's how it is… so that's it!"

Orochimaru stared fixedly at Hikari's eyes, his face filled with fanaticism.

"The Rinnegan… the legendary Sage of Six Paths' eyes! The ultimate evolution of the Sharingan! So that's it! I understand now! Hahaha! I understand!"

Hiruko finally snapped out of his daze. He gestured for the struggling researchers to retreat to a safe distance, then slowly approached the floating Hikari.

His eyes, too, held a near-religious obsession.

"So beautiful… these eyes… is this the [Eyes of God]?" Hiruko murmured, his voice filled with awe. "The immense life force from the Hashirama's cells, fused with the Yin-release Ocular Power of the Mangekyo Sharingan… Yin and Yang converge, life begets life endlessly… this is true perfect fusion!"

Before the examination bed, Hikari slowly lowered her head to look at her own hands.

Her movements were slow, gentle, as if afraid too much force would break something.

Then, she gently clenched her fist.

Hiss—!

No hand seals, no conscious Chakra Manipulation… just a thought.

The skin on her right arm instantly turned wooden, forming a layer of exquisite, tough wooden armor.

The armor's surface bore intricate patterns resembling Sharingan designs, with faint red Chakra Light flowing through them.

Next, the wooden texture receded, her skin returning to normal.

Then, in her left palm, a mass of pale red Chakra condensed. Its form began to change… first into a water ball, then a fireball, then earth, plants, leaping lightning…

The five basic Chakra Natures transformed freely in her hand, as natural as breathing.

"All five natures…" Hiruko sucked in a sharp breath. "No hand seals, no conscious Chakra Nature manipulation… just by wanting it, it happens?"

"More than that," Orochimaru's voice deepened. "Did you notice? The flow of Natural Energy around her when she transforms Chakra."

Hiruko looked more closely. True enough, the ambient Natural Energy in the air around Hikari flowed automatically into the Chakra in her palm, multiplying the power of each transformation several times over.

"She's… unconsciously absorbing Natural Energy," Hiruko's voice was dry. "Is this Sage Mode?"

Orochimaru's eyes, filled with curiosity for the unknown, denied it. "No! This isn't Sage Mode… it's… merging with nature itself?!"

Just then, Hikari raised her head.

Her gaze swept over Orochimaru and Hiruko.

Just that one glance… Hum!!

Both Orochimaru and Hiruko felt a tremor deep in their souls!

It felt like being observed by a supreme existence. All their secrets, thoughts, emotions… nothing could be hidden!

Hiruko instinctively took half a step back, sweat beading on his forehead.

Orochimaru gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand firm, but his pale face was already covered in a fine sweat, as if his very soul was exposed before those eyes.

"What… can these eyes see?" Orochimaru asked with difficulty.

Hikari didn't answer immediately.

She closed her eyes.

As her eyelids shut, the terrifying pressure in the lab abruptly lessened.

Orochimaru and Hiruko both sighed in relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.

But they knew that was just surface appearance.

Hikari was completely different now.

On the examination bed, Hikari floated quietly, eyes closed, breathing steady.

She was carefully sensing the changes within.

First to vanish was the burden of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Although her Mangekyo Sharingan had the ability to absorb others' Chakra to nourish itself, prolonged use still brought a burning pain to her eyes.

That pain had accompanied every Mangekyo activation, every use of Ocular Powers.

Unlike other Uchiha whose Mangekyo gradually led to blindness, Hikari's blindness would progress much, much slower.

Now, that pain was completely gone.

It was replaced by a warm, gentle flow from deep within her eyes, spreading along her nerves to her entire body.

That warmth nourished every cell, healed old battle scars, even slowly enhanced her vitality.

Her total Chakra had increased at least a thousandfold, rivaling a Tailed Beast, and its quality had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.

The originally cold, Yin Nature Chakra of the Uchiha now mixed with the vast life force of Hashirama's cells, forming a new, balanced, vast, all-encompassing Chakra energy.

This Chakra energy carried the Natural Energy from Hashirama's cells, giving Hikari a natural affinity with ambient Natural Energy. She could even feel that if she wished, she could enter [Sage Mode] at any time.

But the most wondrous change was the new 'vision' her eyes provided.

Hikari slowly opened her eyes.

This time, she didn't release pressure, just calmly observed the world around her.

And she 'saw'.

Not the Byakugan's vision of material structure, nor the Sharingan's insight into Chakra Flow.

But a kind of… seeing that penetrated surface appearances to reach the essence.

She saw the ambient Natural Energy in the air drifting like colorful ribbons, saw the operation of Chakra Circuits within the lab walls, saw every tiny vibration of precision parts inside instruments.

She saw the delicate balance between Hiruko's Chimera cells and his own cells.

She saw the cracks in Orochimaru's soul from multiple reincarnations.

She could even see 'time'.

Not foreseeing the future, but seeing the 'trajectory' of change.

For example, looking at the wall clock that had stopped from the earlier impact, she could clearly 'see' where the second hand would move in the next second if she gently nudged the gears with Chakra.

It was an extremely short time scale, but it existed.

"So… this is what the world is like," Hikari murmured softly.

Her gaze began to move, piercing through lab walls, through three hundred meters of earth, through buildings and people above ground.

She saw the streets of Star Capital, saw people coming and going, saw children playing in the square.

She saw further, to Land of Star's borders, Patrol Ninja changing shifts.

Her vision continued extending, crossing national borders, crossing mountains and rivers.

She saw Wind County's endless yellow sands, Land of Earth's barren wastelands, Land of Fire's dense forests, Land of Lightning's towering peaks, Land of Water's vast seas.

Then, her 'gaze' began delving into the world's 'interstices'.

She 'saw' small worlds independent of the main world.

One was an endless desert, sun scorching sand, no signs of life.

One was filled with bubbling magma, volcanoes erupting, lava flowing, air thick with sulfur.

One was a world of falling snow, ice covering thousands of miles.

And at the center of that icy world stood a majestic ice palace.

Hikari's 'gaze' swept over one small world after another.

Then, she turned her 'eyes' skyward.

Toward the silver-white moon hanging in the night sky.