Without hesitation or doubt, Shinji directly injected the syringe containing the First Hokage's cells into his arm.
Gurgle gurgle
As the First Hokage's cellular tissue, mixed with nutrient solution, surged into his body, Shinji's brows quickly furrowed.
An indescribable heat spread from his arm throughout his entire body.
"It's starting."
Shinji's expression darkened slightly as he set down the empty syringe and attempted to activate Jikibi and Wazunagi.
Soon, he realized that although his body was under the intense impact of the Yang Release chakra from the First Hokage's cells, the dojutsu of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan still functioned normally.
His mind slightly eased, Shinji picked up the syringe containing the fusion agent and injected it into his arm.
As the fusion agent entered his body, Shinji immediately felt a refreshing coolness, as if he had drunk an iced beverage in the scorching heat.
Shinji didn't linger on this sensation. Instead, he instantly mobilized his ocular power, attempting to fuse the surging Yang Release chakra.
In an instant, not only did his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan erupt with full force, but he also drew upon the Susanoo Tomoshibi, relentlessly tapping into the ocular power of the Rinnegan and Koryugan he controlled.
If the ocular power of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan wasn't insufficient to fully suppress the Rinnegan and Koryugan he wielded, he could have extracted even more ocular power!
In a moment.
A massive, pure Yin Release chakra fully confronted the Yang Release chakra that was impacting his body.
The two chakras were like two colossal waves crashing into each other, wrestling and devouring one another!
Shinji slowly lay down on the operating table, using his willpower to stay conscious, silently enduring the clash of the two powerful chakras within his body.
...
Hidden Leaf Village.
The next morning, Yakumo hurriedly rushed to the Hokage Building.
These past few days, she had been assisting Tsunade with administrative duties in the Hokage Building every day. With the five great shinobi villages preparing for a full-scale encirclement of the Akatsuki organization, Tsunade, as one of the advisory elders, had been extremely busy, which kept Yakumo equally swamped.
During lunch, Tsunade stretched lazily and said to Yakumo, "Come on, let's head to the training ground!"
Yakumo set down her lunchbox. "Training ground?"
"I've been cooped up in the office all morning. It's time to stretch my legs!" Tsunade smiled and added, "Besides, it's been a while since I've checked on your taijutsu!"
"Oh, okay."
Yakumo quickly stood up and followed.
Moments later, the two arrived at a training ground near the Hokage Building.
Waving Yakumo over, Tsunade said, "Come at me with everything you've got. Let me see if you've been slacking off lately!"
"Yes!"
Yakumo nodded, her figure flickering as she lunged forward.
Boom boom boom.
The two quickly engaged in fierce sparring.
But surprisingly, in less than thirty seconds, Yakumo was completely overwhelmed. Five or six seconds later, Tsunade sent her flying with a single punch.
Standing at a distance, Tsunade frowned. "Yakumo, what's going on?"
Panting heavily as she hit the ground, Yakumo said, "W-What?"
"Something's off. Very off!" Shaking her head, Tsunade walked over to Yakumo and pulled her up from the ground. "Are you not using your full strength? What, worried I can't handle you?"
Yakumo waved her hands frantically. "No, no!"
Tsunade said, "Then let's go again!"
Yakumo could only grit her teeth and launch another attack.
She understood Tsunade's meaning perfectly, but she had no way to explain. At the same time, she hadn't expected her strength to drop so drastically after losing her Koryugan!
First, her perception had plummeted. Previously, with her Koryugan, she could easily track Tsunade's movements. Now, she could only catch a blurry shadow, relying solely on her experience to predict and anticipate.
The Ketsuryugan was purely an illusion-based dojutsu, lacking the ability to see through objects. As a result, Yakumo had lost her long-range scouting capabilities and the ability to assess an opponent's strength through visual analysis.
Moreover, her total chakra reserves had sharply decreased, affecting even secret taijutsu techniques like the Monster Strength Punch, which required precise chakra control. This led to varying degrees of reduction in her strength, agility, and speed.
As for Ido, her ultimate technique, it was completely unusable now.
This was still the result of Shinji replacing her Koryugan with a pair of Ketsuryugan. If she had been left with her original eyes, her strength would have declined even more drastically!
Only now did she truly realize just how powerful the Koryugan had been. With her chakra reserves so diminished, even her Wood Release wasn't as strong or sustainable as before.
Boom.
With a dull thud, Yakumo was knocked down by Tsunade again.
Tsunade said, "Looks like you've been slacking off lately!"
Yakumo climbed to her feet on her own. "I'm sorry!"
"Forget it, I was too hasty. I shouldn't have had you deal with administrative duties so soon!" After a moment of thought, Tsunade said, "Starting tomorrow, refocus your efforts on training! We underestimated Uchiha Shinji before. I have to admit, he's a formidable rival for you!"
Clearly.
After fully understanding Shinji's performance in the recent battle against the Akatsuki, Tsunade felt a strong sense of urgency.
"Yes!"
Yakumo let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Following Tsunade around every day, she had been genuinely worried that the swap from Koryugan to Ketsuryugan would be discovered.
After Yakumo left, Mute, who had been observing from the sidelines, approached the training ground with a smile. "Lady Tsunade, it seems your recent self-training has paid off nicely!"
Tsunade smiled as well, rolling up her sleeves. "Picking up what I'd let slide took quite a bit of effort!"
Undoubtedly, Tsunade hadn't been idle either, secretly training herself.
This was partly to counter the growing threat of the Akatsuki and partly to better guide Yakumo.
After all, what kind of teacher would she be if she couldn't even keep up with her student?
But soon, Tsunade's smile faded. "Even though my strength has recovered quite a bit, something was definitely off with Yakumo today. She seemed distracted."
Mute said, "She might have been shaken up by this mission. I heard that Kimimaro and Neji have been training like mad since they returned."
Tsunade's expression grew serious. "Was Uchiha Shinji's performance really as impressive as Kakashi described?"
Mute paused for a moment before saying, "Kakashi's report was actually a bit conservative. Uchiha Shinji's performance far exceeded my expectations. I saw the shadow of another person in him!"
"Who?"
Mute answered, "Uchiha Shisui!"