After taking over the snake uncle's foundation, Sasuke came to surrender on his own initiative.

The underground warehouse of Otogakure Village was filled with the pungent smell of rock ash. Jirobo half-knelt in the center, his hands pressed to the ground, letting earthy chakra flow through his palms into the rock. But every attempt to use earth escape to open a passage was repelled by the black rock wall ahead. Half an hour ago, remnants of the Akatsuki had raided with the "Evil Earth Rock Gu." Not only had they hardened the warehouse's rock with the insects, they had also trapped Koto and the three transport ninjas in the deepest chamber. Toxic rock ash seeped from the cracks in the rock wall, and every breath accelerated the chakra loss of the trapped ninjas.

"Damn it! This impure earth rock wall absorbs Earth Style chakra. My Earth Style Hardening Technique won't penetrate it!" Jirobo's voice was filled with anxiety. He excelled at using Earth Style to build defenses and deliver heavy hammer attacks, but now, against the black rock wall, his vaunted skills were like a fist hitting cotton, unable to even leave a crack. From the secret room, Koto's weak cries for help echoed, mingled with the coughs of the other ninjas. These sounds weighed like a huge rock on Jirobo's heart. As the Otoshi Trio's most skilled ninja at "defense and breakthrough," he couldn't even get close to his companions' safety.

"Your Earth Style isn't 'brute force impact,' it's 'Rock Control Key.'" Yin Zhu's voice rang out from the warehouse entrance, his black windbreaker sweeping the rock dust from the ground. In his hand, he held a "Rock Eye Crystal" tinged with a mixture of crimson and ochre. The system panel flashed before his eyes: [Jirobo's Earth Style fusion degree is 93%, and the hidden Uchiha bloodline is activated at 29%. You need to use 'Desperate Rock Control' as a guide to break through the psychological barrier of 'Earth Style = Defense']. "You always rely on the 'hardness' of Earth Style, but you forget that your grandfather once infused the Uchiha 'Rock Control Gene' into your Earth Style. Your power naturally resonates with the Uchiha pupil technique, connecting you to your allies through rock veins."

Jirobo suddenly looked up, his khaki pupils contracted: "My grandfather? That traitor who abandoned his family, how could he..." The words suddenly choked on his lips. He remembered the old wooden box hidden under the bed when he was a child. There was a red lens engraved with rock patterns in it. His grandfather only left a sentence before he left: "When you can understand the sound of rocks, you will understand the meaning of power." He thought it was just crazy at the time, but now he thinks that the pattern of the lens has similar fluctuations to Uchiha's Mangekyo.

Yin Zhu walked up to him and placed the Rock Eye Crystal in his palm. "Your grandfather was a branch of the Uchiha clan. Unwilling to participate in family infighting, he retired with his earth escape technique. This crystal contains the energy of his Uchiha eye technique." He tapped Jirobo's brow with his fingertips, and gentle system chakra flowed along his meridians. "Try to change 'destroying the rock wall' into 'connecting with the rock veins'—your earth escape isn't 'attacking', it's 'connecting'; your strength isn't 'brute force', it's 'listening'. Qin's sonic chakra is still there, waiting for you to use the rock veins to open a way out."

Jirobo gripped the Rock Eye Crystal, earth-yellow earth-style chakra intertwining with crimson Uchiha energy in his palm. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to no longer avoid the memory of his family's ridicule. Beneath the black rock wall, Qin's sonic chakra flowed along the veins, each faint vibration corresponding to the frequency of her sonic gene. The trapped ninja's chakra flowed like a stream in the cracks, carrying a distress signal: "Close to the east rock wall." These were the "clues" that would allow him to break through the veins.

"Ah—!" Jirobo's roar intertwined with the trembling of the rock veins, and a blend of crimson and ochre erupted from his eyes. He slowly opened his eyes, and within them emerged a unique "Rock Control Mangekyo"—his pupils shaped like rock hammers, surrounded by eight "Uchiha fan blades" with cracked rock patterns. Each blade rotated with the ripples of the rock veins, capturing the subtlest movement of the rock layers. The system panel instantly refreshed: [Jirobo's Mangekyo has been awakened successfully, unlocking the unique ability "Rock Eyes? Rock Control" (allowing pupils to resonate with rock veins, penetrating obstacles and manipulating rock attacks) and 100% integration of Earth Escape and Bloodline.]

"Now, use your Rock Eyes to connect to the rock veins of the warehouse." Yinzhu's voice was full of encouragement. Neji and Toth appeared next to the warehouse in an instant, ready for battle. Neji's Byakugan locked onto the position of the remnants of the Rock Gu, and Toth's sonic chakra condensed into a defensive barrier to buy time for Jirobo.

Jirobo's Kaleidoscope suddenly lit up. He pressed the Rock Eye crystal to the ground, and ochre-colored chakra spread along the rock veins, resonating with the warehouse's rock formations. "Rock Eye? Break the Barrier!" The ochre-colored rock energy no longer surged violently, but transformed into fine "rock threads" that seeped through the cracks in the black rock wall, precisely connecting with Qin's sonic chakra and the ninja's chakra. Spiderweb-like cracks suddenly appeared in the black rock wall, and Qin's voice rang out from the cracks: "Jirobo! We're on the east side, hurry!"

"It's not over yet!" Seeing the situation was getting worse, the remnant of the Akatsuki organization, led by the leader, raised the "Evil Earth Rock Gu Staff" and swung three black rock spikes at Jirobo. "Let's see how long you can control the rocks!"

Tos's sonic barrier was deployed instantly, but cracks appeared on it due to the vibration of the black rock spikes: "Jirobo, be careful!" Neji's Bagua Palm was slapped out in time, and the golden chakra split the rock spikes in half, but he didn't expect that the remnants had a trick up their sleeve - the Rock Gu Staff suddenly released a large number of Rock Gu eggs, which flew towards the secret room. Once hatched, they would completely block all the passages.

"Want to touch my friends?" The rock cracks in Jirobo's Mangekyo accelerated, and he suddenly injected earth escape chakra into the ground, perfectly integrating physical and eye techniques: "Rock pupil? Rock hammer!" The ground suddenly bulged, and the ochre-colored rock condensed into a huge rock hammer, which not only blocked the rock Gu eggs, but also smashed towards the remnants.

"Ah! My Rock Gu Staff!" The remnant was struck by the rock hammer, and the staff fell to the ground, instantly dissipating the energy of the Impure Earth Wall. Jirobo seized the opportunity, condensing his Earth Release chakra into a Rock Fist. He struck the remnant in the chest, slamming him into the rock wall. Qin also rushed out of the secret room, using sonic chakra to dispel the remaining rock dust, completely subduing the remnant.

With the battle over, the rock formations of the underground warehouse returned to calm. Jirobo's Mangekyō gradually receded, the crystals of his rock pupils still shimmering faintly. He walked over to Qin and helped her up from the ground, a rare gentle expression on his face. "Are you okay? Next time you encounter something like this, don't force yourself. My rock pupils will find you." Qin smiled and nodded, handing her a bottle of healing medicine. This was the most tacit cooperation they had ever had since they became partners.

Yin Zhu stepped forward and handed over a bottle of ochre-colored potion. "This is the 'Rock Eyes Warming Potion.' It will help stabilize the power of your Mangekyō and prevent excessive consumption of Earth Release chakra from rock control." He pointed at Jirobo's Mangekyō. "From now on, your Rock Eyes will no longer be a 'brute force defense,' but a 'controller of the battlefield,' the key to our breakthrough."

Jirobo took the potion and gripped it tightly. Sunlight from outside the warehouse streamed in through the entrance, casting long shadows on him and his companions. He stared at his palms, at the rock-controlling kaleidoscope before his eyes, and suddenly understood—his grandfather's legacy wasn't the "stain of treason," but the "power of protection"; his earth escape wasn't a "cumbersome ability to be ridiculed," but a "weapon to protect his companions"; his power wasn't a "tool of destruction," but a "bridge of hope."

"From now on, I will be responsible for the underground defense of Sound Village." Jirobo raised his fist, and the rock cracks in the Mangekyo shimmered. "My rock pupils can control all rocks, and my earth escape technique can protect all my companions. No one can harm our people again!"

Yin Zhu smiled and nodded. A new notification popped up on the system panel: [Jirobo's mental transformation is complete, from "inferiority and sensitivity" to "confidence and protection", bond value +42%]. He knew that the "protection camp" of the Sound Village had finally gathered the strength of the three Sound Ninjas. This rock-controlling Mangekyō, born from the "Desperate Rock Control" skill, would eventually build an unbreakable "rock barrier" for his companions in the darkness of the ninja world.