Chapter 393 Investigating Uchiha Itachi

Muzuki did not immediately draw a prize. Instead, he bathed and burned incense with a sense of ritual before clicking to draw.

“Ninjutsu Drawing Scroll · S consumed, gained skill — Transformation (Mastery Level).”

Seeing the name of the Ninjutsu, Muzuki was stunned. Fortunately, it didn’t have the word ‘Jutsu’ at the end, otherwise, Muzuki’s mentality might have been a bit broken. This was an S-rank Ninjutsu Drawing Scroll, and drawing one of the Three Body Technique would be too abstract.

As the Ninjutsu drawing was completed, a large amount of memory related to the Transformation skill entered his mind. Only then did Muzuki understand the origin of this skill: Transformation was a localized Ninjutsu from the Pokémon world.

Speaking of the skill Transformation alone, many people might not have an impression, but if one mentions Ditto’s and Mew’s transformation abilities, those who have watched Pokémon can recall some related memories.

This Transformation is not the same as the Transformation Technique in Naruto. It allows the user to use the abilities of the transformed object, though with some limitations.

After organizing all the vast information in his mind, Muzuki could only say that Transformation truly lived up to being a Ninjutsu drawn from an S-rank Ninjutsu Drawing Scroll; it was simply a versatile Ninjutsu.

With Appraisal Technique, Muzuki could be considered an intelligence Muzuki, and the Transformation skill could allow its practitioner to a certain extent master abilities similar to Appraisal Technique.

The activation of Transformation involves two stages. The first stage is scanning and recording the physical information of the person being transformed into.

If Muzuki taught Transformation to Jiraiya, it could indeed create an intelligence Jiraiya, if Jiraiya could learn it.

The second stage is to copy the recorded information into the Ninja using Transformation. Once this stage is completed, the caster will enter the transformed state and can use the copied abilities.

Muzuki could say that Transformation was the most complex Ninjutsu he had ever seen. With Muzuki’s current knowledge of Ninjutsu, attempting to understand the essence of the Transformation skill felt like an elementary school student reading a university textbook.

Muzuki even felt that Transformation was somewhat similar to the Eye Technique of the Mangekyo Sharingan; its effects were incredibly strong and extremely difficult to comprehend.

How to put it, the skill drawn was indeed very strong and functional, but it still didn’t quite meet Muzuki’s expectations.

What Muzuki wanted most were skills related to clones, as this would make various arrangements and protecting his disciples very convenient.

While Shadow Clone was decent, Shadow Clone couldn’t independently refine Chakra, couldn’t exist for long periods, and was also very fragile, usually disappearing after one hit.

But since it was already drawn, Muzuki would at most just complain about his average luck at the moment of drawing. Next, he would focus on developing it, without overthinking other things.

After all, if a more suitable ability wasn’t drawn, then it simply wasn’t there. It was better to focus on developing existing abilities to break through the predicament.

Aside from the system rewards, Muzuki’s biggest gain from his trip to Rōran was the successful development of Yang Release Breathing.

Uzumaki Naruto’s uniqueness allowed Muzuki to successfully gain a significant amount of Yang Release Breathing rewards, greatly accelerating Muzuki’s development speed.

However, in Muzuki’s view, the current Yang Release Breathing could not be considered completely successful, because the current Yang Release Breathing could only be a single breath, and could not achieve Yang Fire Fusion or Yang Lightning Fusion as Muzuki had envisioned.

But this was also a huge step forward. If Muzuki’s hypothesis held true, Yang Release Breathing could also solve Obito’s and Shisui’s future Mangekyo blindness problem.

According to the original Naruto story, there are two solutions to the Mangekyo blindness problem. The first is to transplant the Mangekyo Sharingan of a blood relative, evolving into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, as seen with Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sasuke.

The second method is to transplant Hashirama cells. Obito, despite not having the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, could use Kamui without restraint because half of his body was filled with Hashirama cells by Uchiha Madara.

Why did Hashirama cells have this effect?

Muzuki analyzed and concluded that it was due to the strong vitality, or physical energy, contained within Hashirama cells.

Danzo’s Hashirama cells arm, which had ten Three-Tomoe Sharingan transplanted, only achieved a balance between spiritual and physical energy, which clearly shows the immense physical energy contained within Hashirama cells.

And the effect of Yang Release Breathing is to strengthen physical energy. Theoretically, it should be able to achieve a similar effect to Hashirama cells.

However, at this stage, Muzuki doesn’t plan to let them learn Yang Release Breathing; it’s too difficult to learn, and Yang Release Breathing doesn’t effectively enhance combat power in its early stages, so the effort doesn’t justify the reward.

Most importantly, Obito and Shisui, at their current age and strength, are still a long way from the Mangekyo.

Since the Transformation skill had a certain range limit, Muzuki left his house after organizing everything and went out onto the street to randomly scan and record Ninja.

Muzuki tested it and found that the maximum distance for Transformation to scan information was about fifteen meters; beyond this distance, scanning was impossible.

“Transformation Technique, Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique…”

Powerful Ninja were rare. Muzuki continuously scanned several Ninja, all of whom were Chunin or Genin, and their abilities were all ones he already possessed.

However, Muzuki still used Flying Thunder God to return home, took off his black-framed glasses, and tried to use Transformation once.

Muzuki could see through the mirror that his figure changed rapidly, instantly transforming into the unfamiliar Chunin he had scanned.

Muzuki inspected very carefully, finding no flaws whatsoever. It was a complete 100% replication, even Muzuki’s Byakugan couldn’t see through it.

Muzuki tried to use Ninjutsu and found that his Chakra had changed.

Everyone’s Chakra is different, even more unique than a person’s appearance. In the world of sensory Ninja, sensing Chakra is much more reliable than looking at a person’s face.

Muzuki recalled that in the world of Naruto, only White Zetsu’s impersonation Jutsu could mimic Chakra, but White Zetsu’s impersonation Jutsu required absorption before mimicking, while Muzuki only needed to glance, which was more advanced.

“I wonder if the Rinnegan can see through Transformation. If not, then taking Nagato as a disciple would be much simpler.”

Muzuki immediately thought of a plan to take Nagato as a disciple.

It was too difficult for Muzuki to become Nagato’s teacher in his identity as Hayate Mugetsu. Firstly, Nagato himself would resist Muzuki’s identity as a Konoha Ninja.

Then, due to Obito, Uchiha Madara should have some information about Muzuki and might not be too keen on Muzuki getting close to his Rinnegan.

If Muzuki wasn’t Hayate Mugetsu, it would be much simpler. He had many character settings in his mind that could gain Nagato’s favor.

For example, being born in the Land of Rain, then displaced by war, wandering the Ninja World, and finally returning as a powerful patriot attempting to change his homeland.

Or, perhaps, being the last descendant of the Shinobi Sect from ancient times, re-emerging to bring peace because he saw the Ninja continent constantly ravaged by war and Ninja losing their original resolve.

Muzuki quickly recorded his plan. In the current Ninja World, Nagato was the best candidate for Muzuki’s fifth disciple slot, not because of Nagato’s potential, but because Nagato could bring Muzuki huge Chakra benefits, making up for Muzuki’s shortcomings, and even turning them into advantages.

Next, Muzuki continued to test the Transformation skill.

“Substitution Technique, Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique…”

When he scanned an Uchiha Jonin, Muzuki was surprised to find that even a Bloodline Limit like the Three-Tomoe Sharingan could be recorded by Transformation.

Muzuki quietly returned home and used the Transformation skill again. This time, the Chakra consumed by Transformation was a bit more than when transforming into a Chunin.

“If the Sharingan works, then other Bloodline Limits should also be fine, right?” Muzuki looked at the blood-red eyes in the mirror, somewhat surprised.

The upper limit of Transformation was higher than he had imagined; even the Sharingan could be copied.

Muzuki, currently using the Sharingan, was certain that the Transformation skill didn’t just copy the appearance. At this moment, he truly possessed a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and his dynamic vision was greatly enhanced.

Muzuki’s appreciation for the Transformation skill increased by a level. Given the abilities demonstrated by Transformation, it might even be considered one of the better ones among the S-rank drawing scrolls.

It’s just that there are currently no Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan in Konoha, otherwise, Muzuki would definitely go and copy it. If the abilities of the Mangekyo Sharingan could also be copied, that would be truly powerful.

This transformation also allowed Muzuki to test a limitation of the Transformation skill: information consumption. Muzuki’s Sharingan, after transforming, disappeared after twenty minutes of use and could no longer be used.

Muzuki tried to cancel the transformed state and then re-use Transformation to become the Uchiha Jonin, successfully reactivating the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Immediately after, Muzuki went to Tsunade’s house, had lunch with Tsunade, and discussed the development of Ninjutsu compatible with the Yang Seal.

“Muzuki, have you created any new characters recently?” Tsunade, bored with the old characters, asked.

Tsunade was quite addicted now, playing Ninja Kill a few times every day.

“Not yet, but I’m conceiving some,” Muzuki replied after thinking.

He didn’t even have time to develop Sealing Technique in Rōran, so how could he possibly conceive Ninja Kill characters?

“Then hurry up and release some new characters. I can already recite the skill descriptions of these old characters,” Tsunade urged.

“Okay,” Muzuki nodded in agreement, planning to have a Shadow Clone design a few characters with skill descriptions like short essays for Tsunade to play, which should be more durable.

Before leaving, Muzuki scanned Tsunade’s information.

When scanning Tsunade, Muzuki could clearly feel that the information on Tsunade was much more abundant than that of ordinary Ninja. Tsunade’s information alone was more than all the people Muzuki had scanned before combined.

Muzuki used Sealing Technique to create a warning barrier around him before using Transformation to become Tsunade.

He didn’t want to be accidentally stumbled upon and seen, as he would surely be considered a pervert.

By comparing his stats before and after transformation, Muzuki found that transforming into Tsunade actually consumed a staggering fifteen thousand Chakra points.

After transforming into Tsunade, Muzuki found that the Yin Seal, which he couldn’t cultivate before, now felt responsive. At the same time, many advanced Medical Ninjutsu appeared on his status screen.

Because he could use the Sharingan when he transformed into an Uchiha before, Muzuki tried to restore Chakra in Tsunade’s form.

“So fast.” Muzuki felt like he had gone from 3G to 5G, with greatly increased recovery speed.

Then Muzuki managed to arrange a meeting with Kushina and copied Kushina’s information.

However, to Muzuki’s regret, copying Kushina did not allow him to become a Chakra monster. The copied Uzumaki physique could not increase Chakra, and Transformation could not copy the Nine-Tailed sealed within Kushina, only a bunch of Sealing Technique.

After testing this far, Muzuki had already understood the basic effects of the Transformation skill.

First, it cannot increase the Chakra limit. No matter how much Chakra the transformed object has, Muzuki’s Chakra limit remains unchanged after transformation, and his physical strength also does not change.

Although it cannot increase the limit, if the transformed object has a special ability like Senju physique, it can increase Muzuki’s Chakra recovery speed.

In addition, Bloodline Limits, secret techniques, and Ninjutsu can basically all be copied. Muzuki copied all three current Ino–Shika–Chō clan heads.

Then, the more information and higher the rank of the transformed object, the more Chakra is consumed for the transformation. However, the Chakra consumption for using Ninjutsu after transformation is normal.

While in the transformed state, Muzuki’s skills have two states: one is Muzuki’s own skills, and the other is the transformed object’s skills. Using the transformed object’s skills will consume corresponding information. Once the information is exhausted, that skill cannot be used, but canceling and re-transforming can refresh the information.

If there are overlapping skills, for example, if the transformed object knows Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and Muzuki also knows it, then it depends on the skill level. Whichever party has higher proficiency, it falls under that category. If Muzuki’s proficiency is higher, it’s considered his own skill; if the transformed object’s is higher, it falls under the transformed object’s skills.

Additionally, if the character’s skill proficiency scanned exceeds the proficiency of the Transformation Technique, it cannot be fully copied; only partial information can be copied.

For example, if Muzuki’s current Transformation Technique is at the mastery one proficiency level, then the copied skill can only reach that level at most.

Finally, there’s a limit to stored information; due to the excessive amount of Ninja information Muzuki copied, he had to delete the previously copied Ninjas.

Later, Muzuki simply deleted everything until only Tsunade, Kushina, and the three heads of Ino–Shika–Chō remained.

Muzuki found that it’s best to take off his black-framed glasses when using Transformation Technique, otherwise, it might look strange.

To outsiders, it would appear as Muzuki’s head on the transformed target’s body.

If the body type and gender match the transformed target, it’s fine, but if not, it would look very awkward, like Muzuki’s head was Photoshopped onto someone else’s body.

Muzuki also tried to use Transformation Technique by imagining the target’s information from scratch, but it only changed the appearance, and the corresponding Chakra consumption was very low.

…

“Shisui, come here, I have something to tell you,” Obito whispered to Shisui as their afternoon training was nearing its end.

Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara discussed it and decided they could tell Shisui about the future.

Changing the future requires power, and Shisui is also a disciple of Muzuki, and a genius among geniuses, making him a natural member of their history-altering team.

Shisui stopped training, let out a long breath, and followed Obito to the side.

“The Uchiha Clan will be annihilated in the future,” Obito said with a serious expression.

“Why?” Shisui asked, puzzled.

He felt that the Uchiha Clan had significant issues, and if not resolved, something very serious might happen in the future, but he wouldn’t dare to say the Uchiha Clan would be annihilated in the future.

After all, the Uchiha Clan is Konoha’s foremost Ninja clan, with many Chunin and Jonin within the clan, possessing deep foundations and great strength.

“This isn’t my speculation; it’s what is highly likely to happen in the future if we don’t interfere,” Obito quickly explained when he saw Shisui misunderstood him.

“Our mission this time was to go to the Land of Rain to help the queen investigate a minister. During the mission, we encountered two Ninjas from the future…”

“Future Ninjas, time travel.” Shisui looked at Obito with a shocked expression.

If Obito hadn’t described it so vividly and his expression wasn’t so serious and earnest, Shisui would have suspected Obito was trying to play a prank on him.

“One of those two future Ninjas is Kakashi’s disciple, and the other is Kakashi’s junior, but they don’t know Teacher Muzuki at all, nor do they know me or Rin.” Obito’s voice became somewhat low at this point.

Just thinking about such a future existing, even though it hadn’t happened yet, made Obito feel very uncomfortable.

“Don’t know Teacher Muzuki.” Shisui’s eyes flickered, and an ominous guess formed in his mind.

As Kakashi’s disciple, even if not familiar with Muzuki, they should have heard something, however little. If they hadn’t heard anything at all, then it might be…

Shisui didn’t dare to think further and continued listening to Obito recount their journey to the Land of Rain.

“Based on the information from the future, we have inferred that Teacher Muzuki will most likely sacrifice himself during the Third Shinobi World War if we do nothing.” Obito spoke the very thing Shisui least wanted to happen.

“Impossible!” Shisui instinctively retorted.

That’s Teacher Muzuki, the powerful and mysterious Teacher Muzuki.

“I also thought it was impossible. Teacher Muzuki is so strong, how could he die?” Obito was not surprised by Shisui’s reaction.

He felt the same way at the time; that was the omnipotent Sage Muzuki, who could kill him?

“But this is, after all, a possible future. We’ve confirmed many times that they truly are Ninjas who time-traveled; there’s no mistake about that.” Obito sighed and said.

Shisui fell silent, memories of his time with Muzuki constantly resurfacing in his mind.

To give him a birthday present, Muzuki, despite being busy, taught himself to forge Ninja tools and even injured his hand, just to give him a good birthday gift.

Whenever he was confused, Muzuki would always comfort and guide him immediately, showing him the way forward.

“Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely cannot let such a thing happen!”

Various emotions surged in Shisui’s mind. Under the effect of this special Chakra, Shisui unconsciously entered the Sharingan state. The tomoe in his blood-colored eyes rapidly rotated from two to three.

“Everyone doesn’t want this to happen, so we must work together to create the best future!” Obito said, clenching his fist.

He wanted to create a perfect future where Uzumaki Naruto wasn’t an orphan, Teacher Muzuki lived to the end as a legendary Ninja, and all of them became excellent Ninjas.

“I will do my utmost.” Shisui took a deep breath and replied.

A future where Muzuki dies is definitely not the future Shisui wants. He wants to prevent Muzuki’s death and prevent the Uchiha Clan’s annihilation.

“There’s little information related to Teacher Muzuki’s death, but the Uchiha Clan’s annihilation is very clear. The future Uchiha Clan was annihilated by a Ninja named Uchiha Itachi, who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, which is stronger than the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.”

After roughly recounting their journey to the Land of Rain, Obito immediately told Shisui the information related to the Uchiha Clan’s annihilation.

“Uchiha Itachi?” Shisui felt like he had heard that name somewhere before.

“Could it be that you know him, Shisui? Is this guy incredibly gloomy, the kind of person who doesn’t look like a good person at first glance?” Obito asked, complaining.

In Obito’s view, Uchiha Itachi was truly not a human; his actions were simply the worst of the worst.

According to Yamato, not only the Uchiha Ninjas, but also the ordinary people of the Uchiha Clan Compound, even the defenseless women, children, and elderly, were all killed, leaving only the perpetrator, Uchiha Itachi, and his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke.

If Uchiha Itachi had suffered some injustice and killed those who held a grudge against him, Obito wouldn’t dislike him too much, but killing all the ordinary people of the Uchiha Clan Compound was too much. Obito strongly detested such acts of killing innocents.

With Shisui’s continuous effort, he finally remembered where he had heard that name.

One day, while strolling through the Uchiha Clan Compound, he encountered Uchiha Fugaku holding a small child, and the child Uchiha Fugaku was holding was named Uchiha Itachi.

“Obito, are you sure it was Uchiha Itachi who annihilated the Uchiha Clan Compound?” Shisui recalled Uchiha Itachi’s somewhat innocent little face and asked.

“Of course, for such an important matter, I definitely confirmed it several times. The name is absolutely correct, it’s Uchiha Itachi,” Obito replied.

Shisui showed a somewhat incredulous expression, “I do know Uchiha Itachi, but he seems to have just been born not long ago.”

His encounter with Fugaku was only a few months ago, and whether Uchiha Itachi is even one year old now is a question.

“Ah, is he still that small now?” Obito scratched his head.

“No, I still have to go take a look. Maybe this guy is the kind of inherently evil existence.”

Due to preconceived notions, Uchiha Itachi’s negative impression in Obito’s mind was already maxed out. Even though he had just been born, Obito felt that he was not ordinary.

“Then I’ll go with you. There shouldn’t be any problem going to General Fugaku’s house under the pretense of asking for training advice,” Shisui thought for a moment and said.

He wasn’t at ease with Obito investigating alone and decided to act with Obito.

Due to his outstanding performance in the Chunin Exams, Obito’s reputation as a genius in the Uchiha Clan now even surpassed Shisui’s. With their performance, Uchiha Fugaku would only welcome them.

“Hmm, that’s a good idea, I was thinking the same thing.” Obito silently negated his original investigation plan and then said.

Obito was planning to buy some lollipops and other snacks and wander around Uchiha Fugaku’s house, then use the lollipops to lure Uchiha Itachi out for investigation.

The two first went home to have dinner, then met up again and went to Uchiha Fugaku’s house.

“Uncle Fugaku, good evening.” Shisui greeted Uchiha Fugaku very politely.

“Lord Clan Head, good evening.” Obito greeted him alongside Shisui.

“Uncle Fugaku, are you free now? Obito and I encountered some things we don’t understand in our training,” Shisui continued.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded and welcomed the two in.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Uchiha Itachi sitting on the outdoor veranda, lost in thought.

Uchiha Fugaku thought of something, smiled, and waved at Uchiha Itachi, “Itachi, come here quickly, come and meet the excellent seniors of the clan.”

Uchiha Itachi heard Uchiha Fugaku’s voice, looked curiously at Obito and Shisui, and then walked to Uchiha Fugaku’s side.

“This is my child, his name is Uchiha Itachi.” Uchiha Fugaku stroked Uchiha Itachi’s head and gave a simple introduction for him.

“Call them Shisui-Nii and Obito-Nii. They are the most talented Ninjas of the Uchiha Clan’s young generation. Last year, Shisui even touched your face.”

“Shisui-Nii, Obito-Nii.” Uchiha Itachi obediently greeted Obito and Shisui as per Fugaku’s instructions. Perhaps because he had only recently learned to speak, it wasn’t very fluent.

“Itachi, good evening.” Shisui responded with an unchanged expression, while subtly nudging Obito, who was engrossed in observing Uchiha Itachi, with his elbow.

Shisui was glad he came along; Obito’s behavior was comparable to a human trafficker’s.

Realizing, Obito also immediately greeted Uchiha Itachi.

“Why does he look so dazed? Can he really annihilate the Uchiha Clan?” Obito felt somewhat puzzled.

He suspected that the Uchiha Clan had suffered heavy losses after the Third Shinobi World War.

Uchiha Fugaku didn’t pay attention to Obito’s behavior. In his eyes, Uchiha Obito was just a bigger child.

To prevent Uchiha Fugaku from noticing anything unusual, Shisui came prepared, genuinely having two questions about Fire Release training, one for him and one for Obito.

Uchiha Fugaku, after all, was an old Fire Release Ninja who had practiced Fire Release for decades. He answered Shisui and Obito’s questions fluently after a brief thought.

“To have such an understanding of Fire Release at this age, if Itachi has two-thirds of your strength when he reaches your age, he can also be considered excellent,” Uchiha Fugaku sighed.

He could judge their training progress to some extent from the questions they asked. Uchiha Fugaku could only describe Shisui and Obito as the “Uchiha Dual Prodigies.”

In Uchiha Fugaku’s view, the revival of the Uchiha Clan in the next few decades would largely depend on Obito and Shisui, assuming they grew up normally and didn’t die prematurely.

“Uncle Fugaku, you flatter us. There’s always someone better, and Itachi’s Ninja talent might even surpass ours,” Shisui said modestly.

Uchiha Fugaku smiled. If that were truly the case, then the Uchiha Clan’s revival would be just around the corner, and returning to the glory of the Warring States Period would not be a dream.

Perhaps because Obito showed a strong interest in Uchiha Itachi, after discussing the training questions, Uchiha Fugaku proactively left space for the three of them to communicate.

“Itachi, you should learn more from your two seniors.” After saying this, Fugaku temporarily left the living room.

Obito’s eyes lit up. He had been waiting for this moment. Uchiha Fugaku was too much of a hindrance here, and Obito had many things he couldn’t say.

I struggled with the settings for a long time, so in the end, I only wrote 6k.