Chapter 44: The Increasingly Familiar Wangliang

Isn't this just a simplified version of the Infinite Tsukuyomi?

As the master of the Eight-Thousand-Spear, not only could Namu exert mental control over his targets, but he could also endlessly absorb the chakra of those branded with the seal.

"Doesn't that make one invincible in this world?" Uchiha Gin asked in confusion. "Since there are two such powerful 'weapons,' why did Uchiha Tajima still fail?"

"Heh, for all his elaborate calculations, he ultimately failed to anticipate that I had long since seen through his conspiracy," Uchiha Yao said proudly, stroking the grey-white beard on his chin.

"I broke the seal that Jin left inside his Sharingan and witnessed the recorded footage of Uchiha Tajima carrying out his atrocities," Uchiha Yao said with a sorrowful tone. "When I saw the exact moment Jin died, my pain reached its absolute peak, and so I too..."

"...awakened these eyes filled with hatred."

Following Uchiha Yao's words, his remaining eye slowly flushed red, and the black tomoe in the center finally morphed into an equilateral triangle with a hollow core.

Uchiha Yao had actually awakened the Mangekyo as well.

Looking at the unfamiliar pattern in his eyes, a wary Uchiha Gin carefully asked, "What is the ability of your Mangekyo...?"

"The ability of my Mangekyo is named 'Wangliang,'" Uchiha Yao explained without concealment. "My Mangekyo spawns a 'shadow clone,' which is the embodiment of my will and possesses a certain degree of self-awareness. Because it is formed from shadows, it can be said to be a formless entity without a physical body. I call it a shadow clone."

The more Uchiha Gin listened, the more wrong it sounded, yet he couldn't quite pinpoint what was amiss. His head just felt itchy, as if his brain was about to grow.

"You mean that old jailer?"

"Precisely."

No wonder that entity could slip into shadows and ignore physical attacks; it turned out it didn't belong to the category of humans at all, but was a creation of Uchiha Yao's Mangekyo Sharingan.

As Uchiha Yao introduced it, the eerie old jailer reappeared from the darkness.

That chilling smile still hung on its face, and its two grey-white eyes stared straight at him.

For some reason, Uchiha Gin could faintly sense a trace of extremely profound, hidden malice emanating from the old jailer.

"Wangliang can conceal its own presence while moving in stealth, and it can also attach itself to a person, exercising a degree of control over their body," Uchiha Yao continued to explain.

Ugh, why was this vibe getting increasingly bizarre?

Hearing about this ability, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but scrutinize the old jailer from head to toe. Yet the entity remained unmoved, acting like an obedient puppet.

"Having awakened the Mangekyo, I immediately used Wangliang to lurk beside Uchiha Tajima, searching for your whereabouts while relaying the conspiracy he was hatching."

"By that time, the two of you had already been brainwashed by Uchiha Tajima. I couldn't reach you, so I could only watch from afar as they subjected you to all sorts of experiments."

Uchiha Yao said with a renewed pang of heartbreak.

"Until one day, Wangliang, which was monitoring the laboratory, transmitted a piece of news regarding you."

"?" Uchiha Gin was full of curiosity about this. What kind of mess could he possibly stir up when he was already brainwashed?

"When Uchiha Miao was conducting your routine physical examinations, she discovered that your bodily functions had begun to deteriorate, especially your visual acuity, which started plummeting drastically."

Isn't that the common ailment of the Mangekyo Sharingan? Especially for purely offensive types of Sharingan like this, where the frequency of use is high and the duration is long.

In the original story, Uchiha Itachi didn't even use his very many times before his body went completely kaput, falling victim to a terminal illness at age twenty-one and ultimately drowning in the ocean he created.

"Uchiha Miao immediately reported this situation. Upon learning of it, Uchiha Tajima decided that once your body reached its limit, he would gouge out your Sharingan and transplant the dojutsu into Namu, whose compatibility with you was exceptionally high."

Uchiha Yao spoke with bitter hatred, nearly grinding his own teeth to dust.

The original host had truly had a wretched life: parents died, awakened the Mangekyo, got brainwashed by the enemy before taking revenge, had every drop of utilization squeezed out, and finally had his eyes gouged out. He could be called the ultimate protagonist of misery.

"Naturally, I couldn't let them succeed. Taking advantage of a moment when they weren't paying attention, I commanded Wangliang to attach itself to your body, waiting for the right opportunity to give Uchiha Tajima a huge surprise."

A frantic and tyrannical aura flashed in Uchiha Yao's eyes.

Hearing this, Uchiha Gin frowned. He had once been possessed by this old jailer?

In truth, he still harbored doubts about Uchiha Yao's words. This old man who claimed to be his grandfather didn't seem as simple as he made himself out to be.

"When the Kaguya clan was lured to the clan grounds and Uchiha Tajima manipulated the two of you into starting a bloodbath, I urged Wangliang to take control of your body, lifted the seal in your brain, and began launching attacks against Uchiha Tajima's people," Uchiha Yao said in a hollow tone.

"You didn't succeed, did you?"

Uchiha Gin sighed and said, "If it were truly as you said and you had succeeded, Uchiha Tajima wouldn't be alive today, and I wouldn't have been locked in this hidden dungeon."

"That's right. I still underestimated Uchiha Tajima. I never imagined there would be four pairs of Mangekyo present at that time." Uchiha Yao said with a look of regret.

"I failed. Uchiha Tajima's Sharingan can rewrite a person's cognition. That special dojutsu, which turns enemies into friends, altered your memories."

"I was powerless against three pairs of Mangekyo, and in the end, I could only suffer defeat and end up locked in this dungeon."

Having recounted the secrets of the past like a storyteller, Uchiha Yao sighed heavily, lowering his head with an unfathomable look in his eyes, expression unreadable.

…………………………………………………………

In Uchiha Tajima's office,

Uchiha Yan and Uchiha Miao, busy preparing for their respective missions, had already taken their leave in advance.

Uchiha Tajima sat alone in the clan head's seat, his eyes tightly closed as if he had fallen asleep.

"Father! I overheard older brother and that person agreeing to meet by the river in three days!"

Uchiha Izuna, bursting in with his usual fiery energy, interrupted Uchiha Tajima's contemplation.

"Understood. I will take people there in three days."

Disturbed by his son, Uchiha Tajima opened his eyes and looked at the lively boy before him. His fierce eyes were filled with boundless affection. Counting Uchiha Gin, who wasn't his biological son, he had six such vibrant children.

Nowadays, whenever he closed his eyes in the dead of night, his mind was flooded with scenes of his wife and children being slaughtered. The tragic state of the clan grounds kept him awake at night and had also afflicted him with an unknown neurological disorder.

Unsure of how much time he had left, Uchiha Tajima wished to hand over a powerful and united Uchiha clan to his sons before he died.

Therefore, that sealed "weapon" had to remain firmly within the grasp of the Uchiha clan!

Back then, the former clan head had entrusted the two children who had awakened the Mangekyo to him, intending for him—designated as the successor—to carefully nurture them and use them to strengthen the clan's power.

He had taken good care of the two children. In particular, Uchiha Gin was the son of a female clan member with whom he had a good relationship, and Gin's father, Uchiha Jin, was even his martial brother.

Both of them were disciples of Uchiha Yao, who possessed an extremely profound store of knowledge at the time.

Thinking of his former teacher, Uchiha Tajima couldn't help but frown.

His teacher was not only formidable in strength but also possessed uniquely perceptive insights into the Uchiha clan, particularly regarding the study of the Sharingan, surpassing all others. Yet, his temperament was somewhat eccentric.

As his son, Uchiha Jin had not gotten along well with him, frequently parting ways on bad terms due to ideological disagreements.

Eventually, a conflict of ideals arose over a certain research project, and from that point onward, the two ceased contact until the deaths of Uchiha Jin and his wife.

Shortly after, because the former clan head passed away due to illness, Uchiha Tajima, newly married, gritted his teeth and assumed the position of clan head.

"Sigh!—"

His chronic headache was acting up again. Uchiha Tajima closed his eyes and massaged his temples, his thoughts drifting back more than a decade.