The next day.
Just as Uchiha Mirai was getting ready to go fishing after breakfast, a loud voice called out from outside the house.
"Mirai-san! You home?"
Raising an eyebrow, Mirai looked at the boy being led in by Uzumaki Kushina and asked,
"Naruto, what's up?"
Naruto beamed with excitement. "You helped Sasuke awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan, didn't you?"
"I heard him say it can even evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Mirai gave a slight nod. "That's right."
"Can you teach me something too? If I get left behind by Sasuke, that guy's totally gonna rub it in my face!"
Mirai wasn't surprised by Naruto's reaction at all.
He and Sasuke each carried the chakra of Asura and Indra's reincarnations—their conflict had spanned generations. Of course neither one wanted to fall behind the other.
Glancing at Kushina, Mirai said calmly, "Kushina, the techniques I teach are extremely dangerous. Are you sure you want Naruto learning them?"
Kushina waved a hand dismissively. "He's a big kid now. I'm not gonna hover over him."
"I actually came by to see if Mikoto wanted to go shopping."
Mirai chuckled and shook his head. "Shopping might be tough. Mikoto's been busy with something lately."
Kushina's face filled with curiosity. "What's a housewife got to be busy with anyway? Isn't her life all eating, drinking, and relaxing?"
"She's busy," Mirai explained, "because I'm planning to have everyone in the house learn Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal."
"You already know—I've long surpassed the concept of a normal lifespan."
He didn't want to watch the women by his side grow old while he remained unchanged. With the seal's power to preserve youth, that future could be avoided.
"Learning the Strength of a Hundred Seal?" Kushina was clearly surprised. "That jutsu's got insane physical requirements, doesn't it?"
She'd lived with Mito Uzumaki when she was young, so she knew a fair bit about the technique.
It wasn't something just anyone could learn.
Even if it preserved youth, it didn't increase a body's total number of cell divisions. In other words, aging might be delayed—but death still came eventually.
Seeing the doubt in Kushina's eyes, Mirai said casually, "With current genetic technology and my Yang Release chakra, achieving true immortality isn't all that difficult anymore."
Thanks to his full backing, Orochimaru had already broken past the limitations of mortality.
If Mirai truly wanted to, he could make anyone live forever.
"Kushina, you want in too?"
Back when Mirai was still struggling to rise, Kushina had helped him a lot. Doing her this favor was no trouble at all.
But Kushina quickly shook her head. "Nah, I'll pass. That kind of stuff's not for me."
"Well, if Mikoto's busy, I'll head out."
As Kushina turned and walked away, Mirai shifted his gaze back to Naruto.
"Let's go. I was planning to teach Hinata and the others some new jutsu today anyway—you can join them."
...
Over the next two weeks, Uchiha Mirai taught new techniques every day to Hinata Hyūga, Ino Yamanaka, Kurotsuchi, and the others.
As for Naruto, Mirai decided to pass on to him the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
Given Naruto's absurdly tough body, there wasn't much risk of him hurting himself.
Life was quiet, but not bad. In fact, Mirai found he quite liked it.
In his past life, everything moved too fast, and he'd become irritable and impatient with nearly everything.
But now that things had slowed down, he discovered that life had its own quiet charm.
...
As evening approached, Mirai checked the time and decided to take the girls out for ramen.
But just as he was about to leave, an ANBU appeared in front of him.
"Lord Mirai, there have been several recent disappearances involving bloodline limit users across the ninja world."
"Following your instructions, we investigated and found the cases seem linked to a short-statured individual."
Mirai raised an eyebrow.
He'd previously described the traits of several notable researchers from the original timeline, hoping to track them down more easily.
One of those was Hiruko.
He'd instructed that any cases involving the disappearance of kekkei genkai users be flagged and investigated together.
He hadn't expected it to bear fruit so soon.
Taking the file from the ANBU's hands, Mirai glanced through it.
There was no mistake. The one behind these incidents was none other than the person he'd been searching for—Hiruko.
"I see. You're dismissed."
"Yes, sir!"
As the ANBU vanished, Hinata and the others perked up with excitement.
"Sensei, is there a new mission?"
They'd overheard enough to catch that someone was targeting kekkei genkai users.
If they could capture someone that dangerous, it could be another big achievement under their belts.
"This one's a little special," Mirai said. "I'll handle it myself. If you girls want a mission, head over to the mission hall."
With that, he disappeared on the spot.
Hiruko had managed to create the Chimera Technique under extremely harsh conditions—a sign of his incredible talent.
If Mirai could bring him under his command, it would be a huge boost to his research division.
...
In a damp, shadowy cave, a man wrapped head to toe in bandages stared with gleaming eyes full of anticipation.
Four massive stone pillars stood around him.
Tied to each one was an unconscious ninja.
"Swift Release… Steel Release… Storm Release… Dark Release…"
"I finally have all four," Hiruko muttered.
There'd been a mishap when he captured the last one, and he suspected his location had been compromised—but it didn't matter.
Tonight, he would use the Chimera Technique to absorb all four kekkei genkai into himself.
After that, there would be no one in the world who could match him.
And he would prove to that bastard Orochimaru that talent wasn't everything.
Even without natural gifts, he wasn't inferior to anyone.
Eyes gleaming, Hiruko looked up at the cave's open ceiling.
He just needed to wait a little longer. Once the sun was completely gone, the ritual could begin.
But just as he settled into that final moment of stillness—
A figure suddenly appeared beside him.
"Hiruko, right?"
"I've been looking for you."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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