"This time I also brought you something. After thinking it over, I realized you're the most suitable for it," Hyuga Mirai said to Tsunade. He then manifested two types of chakra from his hands.
Seeing this, Tsunade was so surprised she swallowed her words. Her eyes widened as she looked at Mirai's hands. After acquiring Wood Release and Sage chakra, her perception had increased significantly. The appearance of Asura and Indra's chakra instantly revealed their immense power to her.
"Is this your chakra?"
Mirai shook his head. "No, this is the chakra of the Sage of Six Paths' two sons. Compared to my own, it's better to use this to enhance your strength."
His own chakra leaned toward the Rinnegan. The God Tree's power had already been converted into the bloodline network, and Mirai had not studied it yet. So he planned to inject Tsunade with Uchiha genes, then catalyze them with Indra and Asura's chakra to awaken her Rinnegan sooner.
Tsunade swallowed, slightly tense. "You can even make the eyes of a Sage now. What is there in this world that can stop you?"
Mirai immediately replied, "Of course, some things are impossible. Like always winning at gambling—even a Sage can't do that. And I'm stronger than the Sage of Six Paths."
Tsunade burst out, grabbing Mirai's sleeve angrily. "They were cheating!"
"Nice excuse," Mirai teased, patting her head. "Let's focus on the task. You're leaving the village tomorrow."
Knowing time was tight, Tsunade complied and lay on the bed.
Mirai, carrying his equipment, assembled all collected Uchiha genes into a new sequence and injected it into her.
Soon, Tsunade felt a strange sensation in her eyes.
"My eyes… they itch…"
Mirai lifted her eyelids and saw her pupils turn blood red, with three black tomoe spinning rapidly.
"Success. Uchiha Tsunade now has the three-tomoe Sharingan," he said jokingly, then quickly used Indra's chakra to evolve her Sharingan before she could get angry.
The three-tomoe Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyō in no time.
"I've awakened the Mangekyō's ability. Blue-eyed brat, want to guess what it is?" Tsunade asked.
"Princess Tsunade, you're past the age for guessing games," Mirai replied, ignoring her provocation, which slightly angered her.
"How uncute. Amanokami no Mikoto, Futodama no Mikoto. This is my awakened power: I can briefly predict a few seconds of the future or see distant moments in time," she explained.
Seeing Mirai wasn't fooled, she directly revealed the Mangekyō abilities of both eyes. With their relationship, there was no need to hide.
"Impressive. This dōjutsu is already powerful. Princess Tsunade, I may not be your match anymore," Mirai thought. He noticed the names sounded like legendary divination deities, but the genes he injected came from Mikoto, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Fugaku.
It seemed that the type of Mangekyō ability depended on Yin chakra, while the gene sequence only unlocked the Mangekyō.
"Who would believe your nonsense?" Tsunade said aloud, yet she planned to spar with Mirai once she mastered her Mangekyō. If she won, she would make him serve her drinks respectfully, calling her "Princess Tsunade."
The gene sequence injected was flawless. With enough Yin chakra, she could directly awaken the Eternal Mangekyō. Coupled with her grandfather's power and Asura's chakra as a catalyst, evolving to the Rinnegan overnight was possible.
Asura and Indra's leftover chakra from the Ten-Tails would barely awaken a Rinnegan pair, and only someone with a Sage body, like Tsunade, was suitable.
After more than an hour, a massive surge of chakra erupted from Tsunade.
The wind generated by the chakra was blocked by the barrier. Tsunade suddenly opened her eyes on the bed; her Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan had evolved into pale purple Rinnegan.
"Looks like it worked. How does it feel?"
Rising, Tsunade examined her hands with the Rinnegan, smiling slightly. "Feels great—like becoming a god."
"This confidence isn't ordinary. Did you awaken a good ability?" Mirai asked, intrigued. He knew that the Eternal Mangekyō evolves into a Rinnegan with a unique ability, though he didn't know what Tsunade had awakened.
"I'll tell you in a few days. I need time to get used to it first."
Tsunade was satisfied with her awakening and intended to keep it as a trump card in sparring with Mirai. Once she mastered it, having him serve her grilled meat skewers would be easy.
The next day, Mirai had been gone for a while. Tsunade stayed home, familiarizing herself with her abilities. The Rinnegan's power was too disruptive to use yet, but she had used her Mangekyō multiple times.
Her right eye's ability could be used repeatedly in a short time, but the left eye's future-seeing ability required one to two years to recover per use, even with Yang chakra.
She had just used it once and quickly shook her head.
"Was that really the future?"
Before she could ponder, Shizune's voice called from the door. "Princess Tsunade, are you still sleeping? It's morning."
To prevent her from slacking, Shizune reminded her daily to go to the Hokage office. Although Tsunade often handed tasks to Yakushi Kabuto, she still sat for a while.
"Understood, Shizune," she replied and left home.
Today was likely the last Four Kage meeting before heading to Kikyo Castle. The 5,000 ninja alliance, organized by Nara Shikaku, had begun settling there.
The operation had avoided disturbing anyone, and Kikyo Castle, a military stronghold, had no civilians or outsiders. Even with additional Iwa and Kumo ninja, it would go unnoticed.
Upon arrival, the other three Kage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Nara Shikaku were waiting.
Raikage A expressed surprise. "Hokage, you're late! This is Konoha, you know!"
"You're up too early!" Tsunade retorted and took her seat.
Others silently noted that sleeping poorly before a major battle was normal; only unusual to sleep well.
Raikage A tried to argue, but a kick to his chair stopped him.
"Let's discuss the intelligence gathered on the Federation," Nara Shikaku, chief of the advisory staff, said, focusing everyone's attention.
"We sent sixty ninja and 120 ordinary people. With Iwa's help, we bypassed much of the Federation's security, though thirteen were captured…" He trailed off, implying the Federation would interrogate and demand ransom or send them to mining camps.
"The rest, through secret techniques and intelligence, allowed us to observe some high-level Federation movements."
Shikaku displayed photos, thanks to Uzumaki Trade Association's tech assistance.
The photos included Yakashamaru, Uchiha Mikoto, Maki, Grandma Chiyo delivering food to the Puppet Division, and Haikura, Hyuga Mirai, and Uzumaki Kushina.
Tsunade silently commended the allied forces—Mirai had deceived the enemy well, making strategy analysis hard work.
Shikaku distributed the results of a sleepless night to the Four Kage.
"The Federation's leadership shows no abnormal activity. Guard and ninja numbers are stable. Based on prior intelligence, even full mobilization would only be a few hundred people."
Shikaku confidently concluded, "The allied ninjas' raid on Kawasagori has over a 90% success rate. The Federation war now has a 70% chance of victory. The Chunin exams' cover was successful, and the Federation has received your substitutes without detecting any flaws."
He refrained from claiming 100% success, avoiding overstatement, even if he believed otherwise.
(End of Chapter)