Chapter 392: Chapter 392: The Vanished Memory
"Turtle Shell Split... very suitable." Kabuto pushed up his glasses.
Sora felt the chakra circulation within his body and made calculations in his mind.
Just like with the previous several splits, the Turtle Shell Split would need about two years of adjustment period before he could fully master all its abilities.
However, basic combat was fine.
"While I’m away, I’ll leave those few matters to you."
Sora said to Kabuto: "Especially Kimimaro’s new body, speed up the progress. That kid has been coughing up blood lately."
Kabuto had quite a few things on his plate recently, mainly three matters.
One: Kimimaro’s new body, cloned using Kaguya Clan cells combined with Hyuga Clan cells.
Two: Researching a method for soul splitting, needing to achieve something similar to Shadow Clones that allows multi-threaded control. This related to Sora’s promotion to the Rinnegan, fusing bloodline limits, and reviving Uesugi Min.
After all, the time to promote to the Rinnegan was too long; Sora couldn’t just go offline for decades like Uchiha Madara had. Nagato and Black Zetsu wouldn’t give him that much time either.
Three: The Senju Hashirama cell fusion test. After a successful test, Sora could begin the promotion to the Rinnegan.
"Understood."
Kabuto paused briefly, then asked again:
"Elder Brother Sora, where are you going next?"
"Land of Water."
A glint of sharp light flashed in Sora’s eyes:
"The Three-Tails has already regenerated. I’m going to borrow something from it."
Although the "Turtle Shell" wasn’t fully adjusted yet, now that he had mastered Sage Art, extracting some chakra from the Three-Tails body shouldn’t be a problem.
"Do you need me to prepare anything?" Kabuto asked.
"No need. I’m enough on my own. It’ll be a good chance for adjustment."
Sora waved his hand, removed the Dragon Vein from the Vermilion Bird’s body and sealed it into his abdomen, then turned and walked outside.
When he reached the door, he stopped and looked back at the three splits in the secret room.
White Tiger (Wind Release, Magnet Release), Hikage (Yin Release, Eternal Mangekyo), Vermilion Bird (Fire Release, Scorch Release), Turtle Shell (Water Release, Ice Release)...
"Still missing Earth Release and Lightning Release..."
Sora thought to himself.
Once he gathered the six nature transformation splits and then unified them into the main body, at that time...
He shook his head, not dwelling on it further, transforming into a stream of water-blue light and shooting into the sky.
...
Meanwhile.
The Hokage Office.
Uchiha Fugaku sat behind the desk, his expression grave.
Beside him were three chairs representing the Elder Advisors, occupied by two people: the top ninja clan head—Hyuga Hiashi, and the Ino-Shika-Cho representative—Akimichi Torifu.
As for the final seat, it belonged to the civilian ninja—Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya was not in Konoha, nor was he interested in courting the Uchiha. After Sora’s defection and Namikaze Minato’s death, he was currently traveling the world searching for the Child of Prophecy other than Sora.
After all, the Great Toad Sage had said that the identity of that blue giant dragon, whether friend or foe, could not be determined!
"Hokage-sama, Uchiha Ryota has been brought in."
An Anbu pushed the door open and entered, followed by Uchiha Ryota in a wheelchair, and Uchiha Takumi pushing the wheelchair.
Seeing that Takumi had also come, a flicker of complexity passed through Fugaku’s eyes, but it quickly subsided.
"Ryota, how are your injuries?" Fugaku asked.
"I’m... I’m okay." Ryota replied hoarsely.
"That’s good."
Fugaku nodded, getting straight to the point:
"What happened to your team? How is Shisui now?"
A trace of pain appeared on Ryota’s face. After holding his head and thinking for a moment, he said helplessly:
"I have no memory of that, but I can be certain that Squad Leader Shisui died on the battlefield. The location was the border of the Land of Rice Fields!"
"By the way, Squad Leader Shisui’s last words were... Konoha needs the Uchiha, and the Uchiha also needs Konoha..."
Uchiha Fugaku was shaken by these words, and a heavy silence fell over the office.
After a long while, Fugaku finally spoke:
"What about after that? After you escaped, what did you encounter?"
Ryota shook his head:
"I don’t know either... My memory is a complete blank."
"I only remember Squad Leader Shisui throwing me out, and then next thing I knew, I was waking up in Konoha Hospital."
"Blank?"
Fugaku’s gaze sharpened:
"You mean to say, you completely don’t remember the process of escaping back?"
"Yes." Ryota nodded.
Fugaku exchanged glances with Hyuga Hiashi and Akimichi Torifu, all seeing the doubt in each other’s eyes.
This was too abnormal.
How could a ninja of Jōnin level have no memory whatsoever of a escape process lasting several days?
Unless...
"Someone tampered with him." Akimichi Torifu spoke slowly.
Fugaku looked at him: "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, Uchiha Ryota’s memories were very likely altered or sealed by someone."
Akimichi Torifu stared at Fugaku:
"And the ones capable of doing this, besides the Yamanaka Clan’s secret techniques, are only certain special dōjutsu."
The atmosphere in the office instantly became tense.
Fugaku was silent for a moment, then summoned a ninja from the Yamanaka Clan:
"Yamanaka Kai, what is your view?"
The ninja named Yamanaka Kai stepped forward and said respectfully:
"Hokage-sama, based on the description, it is indeed possible that the memories were sealed or altered."
"I suggest using a secret technique to probe Uchiha Ryota’s brain to confirm the specific situation."
"I object!"
Uchiha Takumi immediately interrupted:
"Ryota is currently not fully recovered from his severe injuries. The Yamanaka Clan’s secret technique would put a burden on his brain, possibly even damage it!"
"We will try to control it." Yamanaka Kai said.
"Try?"
Takumi sneered coldly: "Do you know what ’try’ means? It means there’s a risk! My little brother just barely escaped with his life; I won’t let him take another risk!"
Fugaku frowned and said:
"Takumi, this isn’t a discussion, it’s an order."
"Shisui’s death is a matter of great importance; we must know the whole truth."
"Furthermore, the missing Uchiha Takuya hasn’t been found yet. He might still be alive; we need clues!"
"Then you’re willing to gamble with my little brother’s life?!"
The three tomoe in Takumi’s eyes emerged, and a terrifying aura erupted:
"Fugaku, don’t forget, if I hadn’t kept my forces stationary that night of the coup, you wouldn’t even be sitting in that position!"
"Now you’re using the Hokage’s authority to pressure me? Do you really think I’m afraid of you?!"
The air in the office seemed to freeze.
Uchiha Takumi’s words were extremely low in emotional intelligence. Saying such things privately was one thing, but bringing it out into the open was unacceptable. After all, the Uchiha’s rise to power wasn’t exactly legitimate in the first place.
Over three years had passed, and perceptive people had long since seen that Sarutobi Hiruzen had been controlled by Mangekyō dōjutsu; they simply lacked concrete evidence to make a move.
The most prominent among these were the clans like Mitokado and Utatane, whose shares of power had been seized.
But this also genuinely reflected Uchiha Takumi’s current state of mind, given that the person being discussed now was his younger brother.
At this moment, Akimichi Torifu was still alright, but Hyuga Hiashi’s face had turned pale, his expression quite difficult to read, lost in thought.
Yamanaka Kai, in particular, was being oppressed by the Mangekyō’s dōjutsu power, finding it hard to breathe.
Fugaku’s face was livid, his hands tightly clenched.
But in the end, he took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.
"Takumi, I understand how you feel."
His voice softened:
"But this matter is truly very important. It concerns not only Shisui’s death but also Konoha’s safety. The power that could surround and kill Shisui is definitely not an ordinary force."
"We must figure out their origin and purpose."
