Naruto Immersive Replay, The Curse of the Sharingan

Tobirama did not respond, but he had to admit that the Uchiha woman in front of him was probably the most dangerous person he had ever seen, even more dangerous than Madara Uchiha.

“Why is there golden light in your eyes?” Tobirama suddenly spoke.

You paused for a moment. "This is none of your business."

“As a research subject, I need to understand the basic situation,” Tobirama insisted.

You were silent for a moment, then looked with your right eye at the distant mountains. "The seal is backfiring; it's now devouring my body."

Tobirama secretly noted this information down.

Chapter 51 Experiment

"Your left eye..."

“You’re done for.” You interrupted him bluntly. “If you ask any more questions, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

Tobirama wisely kept quiet, but his doubts deepened. You were once the most dazzling genius of the Uchiha clan, and your strength was even above that of Madara Uchiha.

What kind of seal could force such a person to the point of being indifferent to life and death?

"This is it." Tobirama stepped aside to let you in first, his white hair gleaming in the cool light of the cave's dark blue minerals.

With a slight turn of your right kaleidoscope, the golden light flowing within the crimson background dissects the barrier's patterns layer by layer. Only after confirming there are no hidden traps do you step inside, your black boots making no sound as they tread the stone steps.

"You Senju clan always like to build your laboratories underground," your voice echoed in the narrow passage, "like rats."

Tobirama, who was walking ahead, tensed his shoulders for a moment, but his voice remained steady: "To avoid unnecessary interference, especially from the Uchiha."

At the end of the stairs, the space opened up into a circular laboratory with walls covered with numerous scroll cabinets, precisely categorized by sealing techniques.

The central sealing array is about three meters in diameter and consists of seven concentric circles, each layer engraved with suppression runes from different schools.

The operating table is located in the center, with a single piece of obsidian on the surface and chakra-conducting metal inlaid around the edges.

"Lie down." Tobirama took a sandalwood box from the instrument cabinet, the metallic clinking sound crisp and cold. "Unless you change your mind."

The black cloak slipped to the ground, revealing the Uchiha clan uniform underneath. The writhing black runes had crawled all over the left side of his neck, rising and falling like living things beneath his pale skin.

You suddenly froze, your right pupil contracted, and the innermost runes of the sealing array were twisting and deforming. Those were not suppression runes at all, but Yin-Yang escape techniques in disguise.

"Interesting." A cold smile curled at the corner of your lips. "You think a trap of this magnitude can hold me?"

Tobirama paused in his action of opening the sandalwood box. Inside, twelve specially made chakra scalpels were neatly arranged, trembling slightly with your killing intent.

"That's to stabilize the flow of energy within your body." He calmly took out the longest scalpel. "Yin-Yang Release can temporarily suppress the rampage of Metal Release. If you don't believe me," Tobirama suddenly plunged the scalpel into his left arm, blood instantly soaking his white robes, "can you believe I didn't poison you?"

You watch as the drop of blood falls to the ground and merges into the array patterns. Sure enough, the light of the sealing array turns into a pale gold, resonating with the light in your eyes.

After hesitating for a moment, you finally lay down on the obsidian tabletop, the cold touch sending a slight shiver down your spine.

"Explain yourself first." Your right hand rests lightly on the kunai at your waist. "If you make any suspicious moves—"

"You'll drag me down with you." Tobirama put on his specially made sealing gloves, the flowing chakra veins visible beneath the transparent material. "You've said that three times since you came in."

As he bent over to adjust the angle of the operating table, a strand of white hair fell down beside your face.

As if possessed, Tobirama reached out to brush that strand of hair aside, but his fingertips touched the wriggling black talisman on your cheek.

The two of them froze at the same time.

You gripped his wrist tightly, your nails digging into his flesh. "Don't touch me."

Tobirama didn't break free; instead, he stared at you from that position, saying, "You seem to dislike me for some reason."

"As long as you know."

Tobirama stepped back and picked up a special syringe from the tray. "Do you need anesthesia?"

“No need.” You stare directly at the glowing array of runes on the ceiling. “Pain has no effect on me.”

These words, spoken casually, caused Tobirama's hand, which was preparing the syringe, to pause almost imperceptibly.

The moment the needle pierces the carotid artery, your right hand grips the edge of the operating table tightly, but your expression remains completely unchanged.

“As expected…” Tobirama Senju quickly formed hand seals, and the sealing array around the operating table lit up with a blood-red light. “These talismans are devouring your chakra meridians.”

His fingers hovered above your heart. "Mind if I loosen my collar to check the extent of the corrosion?"

Your right hand suddenly grabbed his throat, the force so strong that Tobirama's vision went black. "Don't push your luck, white-haired guy."

"Cough cough...just...professional advice..." Tobirama pried your fingers apart; purplish-blue finger marks were already appearing on your neck. "The seal on your heart is crumbling, at this rate..."

The laboratory lights suddenly dimmed, leaving only the Blood Ink spell casting a faint red glow on your pale skin.

"Here." Tobirama gathered a point of chakra at his fingertip and hovered it three inches below your collarbone. As he moved, the blood-ink light suddenly trembled violently.

You grit your teeth, your back in your kimono instantly soaked with cold sweat, "Ugh—"

Tobirama immediately withdrew his chakra and took several steps back.

“It seems that direct investigation won’t work.” Tobirama frowned, staring at the tear in his sleeve that had been ripped open by an invisible force. “I need to find another way.”

He turned and walked to the specimen shelf against the wall, taking down a sealed glass bottle from the top shelf. The dark red liquid swirled slowly inside, occasionally flashing with a metallic sheen.

When the stopper was pulled out, the entire laboratory was suddenly filled with the smell of rust.

“This is ink specially made with my blood.” Tobirama poured the liquid into the inkwell, and the blood droplets solidified in the jade container without dispersing. “When combined with the Flying Thunder God Technique, it can bypass the seal and directly observe the flow of chakra within your body.”

Your right eye narrowed slightly. "You'd better not try anything funny."

“If I wanted to harm you,” Tobirama dipped his brush in blood ink, the tip of which immediately glowed with a golden light, “I wouldn’t have stopped just now.”

As the cool strokes of the pen landed on the inside of your wrists, you both tensed up at the same time.

The blood ink automatically spreads into fine runes upon contact with the skin, flowing along the meridians as if it were alive.

Tobirama's writing is extremely precise, with each turn landing precisely on the chakra points.

As the pen tip grazed the back of his elbow, a trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

"Bear with it." Tobirama's voice was unusually soft.

The technique emitted a brilliant red light, instantly materializing the flow of chakra within your body. Among the countless red rays, the tangled mess near your heart was particularly striking.

“The situation is worse than I imagined.” Tobirama’s voice was low. “The core of the seal has begun to crumble, and those black runes are the materialization of the overflowing seal power.”

He moved his finger, the red light illuminating the outline of his bones. "At this rate of erosion, in three months at most, you will..."

"You died from the backlash of the seal." You replied calmly.

Silence spread through the air, the blood ink spell gradually dimmed, and finally seeped back into the skin. When Tobirama put down the brush, he found that the tip of the brush was covered with ice crystals.

“I can stabilize it temporarily,” he suddenly said, “but I need your cooperation.”

You gaze at him silently for a moment, his left eye, corrupted by the talisman, appearing particularly hollow in the shadows.

Finally, you nodded slightly, "Continue."

The laboratory lights turned dim after two hours.

Sweat trickled down Tobira's white temples, lingered on his chin for a moment, and finally dripped onto the incision site on his collarbone.

The blood ink immediately absorbed the sweat, turning into a wisp of white smoke and dissipating.

This was the seventh time the technique had been revised. The tip of the brush hovered half an inch from his heart. Tobirama held his breath, and his wrist trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.

"Don't tremble." You suddenly spoke, your voice hoarse from being tense for so long. "If I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?"

As the brush fell steadily, the moment the last stroke connected to form a ring, the entire spell array suddenly rippled with a blue light like water. The violent black runes seemed to be smoothed out by an invisible hand, slowly retreating below the collar, their color fading slightly.

"It's temporarily stabilized." Tobirama stumbled as he backed away, managing to steady himself by grabbing the equipment table.

His white hair was soaked, as if he had just been pulled out of the Nanhe River. "These new techniques can delay the collapse of the seal, but they are only a temporary measure."

You slowly sit up, your pale fingers stroking your heart. There is no longer the searing pain of being torn apart, only a faint dullness, like a warm stove suddenly placed in your arms in the dead of winter.

Try forming hand seals. When the chakra flows through your previously depleted meridians, the long-lost smoothness will slightly surprise you.

“Much better than before.” You turned to look at Tobirama, who was wiping his glasses. A feeling of gratitude flashed through your chest, but it turned into a provocation when you spoke, “It seems that the second-in-command of the Senju clan is not just a name.”

Amidst the clinking of metal instruments, Tobirama, without looking up, tidied the blood-stained gauze. "This is just the first attempt. If you want a longer-lasting effect..."

He paused, his glasses reflecting a white light. "The procedure needs to be reinforced periodically."

The black cloak billowed and fell, and you were already standing at the laboratory door, your fingertips unconsciously caressing the still-wet incantation beneath your collarbone, where the warmth of the other's chakra still lingered.

Unlike the fierce feeling he had experienced on the battlefield in his memory, the Senju chakra that was now integrated into his bloodline was surprisingly gentle.

"Should we use talismans to communicate next time?" You pulled down your hood, and shadows once again enveloped half of your battered face.

A kunai suddenly flew through the air. With your head slightly tilted, the kunai pierced the door frame next to your ear, the newly engraved Flying Thunder God technique seal on the blade still burning hot.

“Use this.” Tobirama finally turned around, his lab coat cuffs stained with blood. “It can teleport you directly to my lab.”

You pull out the kunai, your fingertips tracing the intricate rune markings.

This was the first time I had seriously examined my opponent's craftsmanship; every turn was just right, and every groove was as deep as if it had been created by nature.

“Tobirama Senju,” you suddenly smiled, a smile that made your battered face glow with an astonishing brilliance, “you are much more interesting than I imagined.”

The air distorted slightly, and the figure disappeared into the moonlight.

Tobirama stood there, a layer of congealed blood clots trailing behind his gloves as he removed them. On the experimental record scroll, next to the entry for 'Uchiha Nagi,' a line of small print had appeared:

[Suspected of having come into contact with a Sixth Path level sealing artifact; residual energy in the heart has a 17.3% similarity to the Nine-Tails' chakra.]

The hooting of an owl came from outside the window, and he suddenly realized that the corner of his mouth was still in a suspicious smile. He slammed his pen on the table, and ink splattered out hideous spots.

"Damn..."

What Tobirama Senju knew all too well was that when those eyes stared at him in the darkness, something far more dangerous than curiosity was taking root and sprouting.

Dusk bathed the streets like molten iron. Rin Kaga's footsteps made almost no sound on the bluestone slabs, but they startled a crow that was resting with its eyes closed on the eaves.

As it flaps its wings and flies away, black feathers drift down onto your shoulder.

"Foster Father, the agreed location is just ahead." Lu Helin's voice was extremely low, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the hilt of his sword.

He cautiously scanned his surroundings. The rotting vegetable leaves piled up at the street corner emitted a sour stench, and the sounds of stray dogs fighting could be heard in the distance.

You nodded slightly, your black cloak remaining perfectly still.

Just as you were about to step across the threshold, a burly man reeking of alcohol suddenly rushed out from the alleyway, yelling, "Hey! Can't you see where you're going—"

The drunkard's angry shouts stopped abruptly when he saw the golden vertical pupil under the hood, and his cloudy eyes suddenly contracted.

A kind of instinctive fear gripped his heart, as if all the monster legends he had heard in his childhood had come true at this moment.

You look at him quietly, without any murderous intent or oppressive aura, with the indifference of a god looking down on an ant.

"I'm sorry! Please spare my life, sir!" The drunkard's knees slammed against the bluestone slab with a dull thud, his forehead pressed against the ground.

A drop of cold sweat dripped down the tip of his nose, spreading a dark stain on the stone slab.

Rin Shikaga used his thumb to pry open the guard, revealing a three-inch gleam of the gleaming blade.

He turned his head to look at you, only to find that your gaze had already passed over the kneeling drunkard and was directed into the depths of the teahouse.

The black soles of the boots trod across the drunkard's disheveled hair without pausing for a moment.

As Rin sheathed her sword, she heard the man's suppressed sobs—the kind of cries only someone who had crawled back from the brink of death could make.

The teahouse was filled with the smell of old tea stains and moldy wood.

The old man behind the counter looked like a withered tree trunk. The dim yellow oil lamp cast long shadows between his wrinkles. Without looking up, he pointed to the back door, his fingernails filled with black grime.

"Someone is waiting for you in the backyard."

As I walked through the corridor, the wooden floorboards groaned as if they were dying.

The faint sound of chess pieces falling onto the board could be heard from behind the paper doors on both sides of the corridor, but no human voices could be heard. Rin caught a glimpse of a sealing talisman paper flashing through the crack of the door.

The backyard was a stark contrast to the dilapidated front hall. Five cherry trees, blooming out of season, bathed the courtyard in a pale pink glow, each petal shimmering with the faint light of chakra.

Beneath the cherry blossom tree, a figure in a red cloak was fiddling with a strangely shaped compass.

"We meet again, you madman!"

The red-haired girl lifted her hood, her smile brighter than cherry blossoms.

"You've got some nerve." You took off your hood, and the grotesque black talisman on your left cheek made the falling petals wither instantly. "You dared to use a contract talisman to lure Tobirama Senju to me."

Mito stuck out her tongue, a strand of red hair twirling between her fingers. "That white hair is quite cute."

She deliberately drew out her words, "Much better than your hot-tempered clan leader who's always activating Susanoo—"