Inside the hidden chamber, Kurō’s gaze fell on the Byakugan set into the crow’s eye socket.
His right Mangekyō felt slightly warm, that heat spreading from deep within the eye.
Even so, his mind remained extremely calm.
It was an instinct Kurō had sharpened after years of scraping along the edge of life and death.
The greater the temptation, the more he had to slow himself down.
Impulse was the devil, and the devil’s favorite targets were emotional creatures like the Uchiha.
Especially certain masked and long-haired disasters.
‘The Uzumaki ruins may very well require the power of the Byakugan.
If I absorb all of this eye’s power now, it would be far too wasteful.’ He quickly calculated in his heart.
‘I’ll draw out just a little eye power first and test it…’ After making his decision, Kurō activated his dōjutsu and whispered, “Inari.” The instant his words fell, the eerie Mangekyō pattern deep within his right eye began to rotate slowly.
In Kurō’s vision, the Byakugan was filled with pale-white eye power.
Those milky halos churned inside the eye like a cloud trapped within a glass bottle.
Under Inari’s pull, a thread of pale-white eye power was slowly drawn out.
That eye power was extremely thin, as fine as a strand of spider silk.
It peeled away from the core of the Byakugan, traced a faint arc through the air, and was drawn into Kurō’s right eye.
Kurō felt the eye power from the Byakugan, and his heart stirred slightly.
It was not like the Sharingan’s eye power, which was powerful and invasive.
This was gentler, calmer, almost soothing.
Under Kurō’s will, that thread of pale-white eye power was gradually converted by Inari.
The milky white faded, replaced by a trace of scarlet.
Only within that scarlet, a faint pale glow could still be felt.
Kurō slowly closed his eyes and guided that thread of eye power into his own Mangekyō Sharingan.
The eye power flowed according to his will, slowly spreading through the ocean of power within his Mangekyō.
The amount was tiny.
So tiny it was almost negligible.
But with the refined perception Kurō had honed through years of training, he still caught the extremely subtle change within it.
“It really can replenish eye power…” He murmured softly.
Beneath his closed eyelids, his eyes shifted slightly, as if tracking something invisible.
“It carries a trace of the Byakugan’s gentler quality.
Maybe it can be used to repair the damage caused by overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan…” His voice grew softer and softer.
His tone carried an excitement he could not fully suppress, though reason kept it firmly locked in his throat.
“I just don’t know whether ordinary chakra has a similar effect.” He paused, and a name surfaced in his mind.
“For example… Hashirama cells.” If he could absorb the tremendous vitality contained in Hashirama cells, then even if he could not upgrade to the Eternal Mangekyō, he might no longer have to worry about going blind from overusing the Mangekyō.
Kurō pressed down the thoughts in his heart and continued testing.
He slowly opened both eyes.
The Mangekyō Sharingan glimmered with an eerie light beneath the dim lamp.
His scarlet Mangekyō swept across every corner of the chamber, and its powerful perception allowed him to clearly see everything within his line of sight.
Kurō’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘I can feel it…’ Although it was only a faint, almost insignificant amount, his field of vision had truly expanded.
His theory was correct!
Kurō could not help smiling.
If he had not been afraid of disturbing the sleeping Karin, he would definitely have let out a full Uchiha-style maniacal laugh to vent the emotion surging through him.
He raised his hand and gently stroked the crow’s head.
The crow tilted its head and looked at him with that Byakugan, letting out a low caw.
However, just as Kurō shifted his gaze back to the Byakugan in the crow’s eye, a glow from his left hand made the joy in his eyes instantly turn cold.
The glow was pale purple.
It came from the ring on his middle finger, flickering in the dim chamber like a silent summons.
He raised his left hand and looked at the ring engraved with the character “Gen.” “This is… a message from Pain about a meeting?” His brow furrowed slightly.
The eerie glow in his Mangekyō Sharingan quickly receded, and his eyes returned to their usual clarity.
“Didn’t we just finish hosting Itachi’s initiation not long ago?
Why call a meeting again so soon?” He paused, his tone gaining a trace of doubt.
“Did something happen?
But Obito didn’t tell me anything…” His finger gently brushed over the ring, the cold metal touch passing through his fingertip.
Kurō suppressed the questions in his heart, and that lazy, roguish smile returned to his face.
The smile looked perfectly natural, covering every trace of calculation and wariness hidden in his eyes.
He sat down cross-legged and quickly formed hand signs in front of himself.
“Astral Projection Jutsu.” The moment the words fell, his consciousness was pulled away.
When Kurō slowly opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a massive figure.
The Gedo Statue.
That enormous, terrifying stone statue stood within the void, its head lowered as if sleeping, or perhaps waiting for something.
It extended ten fingers, each one as thick as a stone pillar.
And on those fingers stood people.
Seven shadowy figures.
No, including himself, there were eight.
Pain stood on the highest finger.
His iconic Rinnegan gave off a cold, ghostly light in the darkness.
Konan stood slightly lower beside him, her gaze sweeping over everyone present, as if counting heads, or perhaps assessing something.
Sasori, the genius puppeteer who had turned himself into a human puppet, was currently hiding his entire body within Hiruko.
The puppet’s eyes were filled with obvious impatience.
Kakuzu, that old monster who had lived for decades, had both hands tucked into his sleeves.
His back was slightly hunched, making him look as if he were dozing, though a sharp light occasionally flickered through his cloudy eyes.
Orochimaru, one of the Sannin who had defected from Konoha, wore a faint smile that was not quite a smile.
His snake-like pupils gleamed dangerously in the dark.
His gaze drifted across everyone present, stopped on Kurō for half a moment, then moved on.
After that, his attention settled completely on Itachi, as if he had found something interesting.
Uchiha Itachi, the young man who had just slaughtered his entire clan, stood quietly on one of the fingers.
His expression was calm to the point of numbness.
His hands were tucked into his sleeves, his gaze lowered.
He looked as if he were thinking deeply, yet also as if he were thinking nothing at all.
Uchiha Obito, calling himself “Tobi,” wore the Akatsuki’s black cloak with red clouds and the orange spiral mask.
At the moment, his head was tilted as he curiously looked around with that one visible eye, like a newcomer attending a gathering for the first time.
And finally, there was Kurō himself.
Uchiha Kurō, Akatsuki codename “Gen,” stood on one of the Gedo Statue’s fingers with his arms crossed, wearing his signature lazy, roguish smile.
The Akatsuki’s current seven core members and one “trainee” had all arrived.
Kurō’s gaze swept across those projections, finally landing on Obito, who was glancing toward him either intentionally or unintentionally.
From that one exposed eye, Kurō understood the message Obito wanted to send.
He had not known about this meeting either.
A trace of doubt rose in Kurō’s heart.
‘Nagato… what exactly are you planning?’