Reminiscing about the deceased Uchiha Mina, Uchiha Tonan and Uchiha Obito had arrived in the cemetery outside the clan’s district. The former narrowed his eyes slightly and found Mina’s grave. He placed the wood carving and the bouquet of roses in front of the tombstone and knelt, “Mina, I’ve come to see you again.”
Obito stood behind Tonan and looked at the overgrown grass on the tomb, “It seems this grave hasn’t been cleaned for a long time.”
Having said that, he prepared to walk forward to pull out the grass. But Tonan quickly stopped him, “Don’t do it. Mina liked to wear flowers and plants on her head the most when she was alive.”
Obito was stunned for a moment but nodded, “Is that the case? I thought it was neglected for a long time.”
Tonan was spouting nonsense but managed to handle the flaw and looked at the tombstone with a sad face. He said in a low voice, “Mina, don’t worry about me. I’m having a great time. I don’t have many friends but the ones I’ve are all very dear. He’s also from the Uchiha clan and he’s kind-hearted just like you.”
He beckoned to Obito, “Obito, come and say hello to Mina.” Obito walked over to Tonan’s side and hesitated for a moment. He also knelt and awkwardly said, “Uh… hello, Mina.”
Tonan seemed a little excited and he moved forward on his knees. “Did you hear that? He’s Obito… you haven’t forgotten him, right? He’s our classmate. Like me, he used to be at the bottom of the class. He has great potential and is also a kind person. He’s a worthy partner.”
Obito hadn’t expected that he was already a ‘dear friend’ in Tonan’s heart. He couldn’t help but look at him, “Tonan…”
Immediately afterward, he looked at Mina’s grave with a serious look and solemnly said, “Mina, you can rest assured. I’ll take good care of Tonan. And we’ll always be good partners.”
‘Ding! Gained Uchiha Obito’s acknowledgment.’
“Sure enough… It was so easy after eliminating the hostility. This is really… wasting my intelligence!” Tonan couldn’t help himself from smiling subtly and then stood up and patted off the dust on his pants. “Alright, we won’t disturb your rest.”
Obito froze for a moment and asked, “Aren’t you going to spend more time with Mina?” Is the visit already over? Isn’t it too quick?
However, for Tonan, once Obito’s acknowledgment was in, the rest did not matter. The current Obito was nothing but a powerless genin. He was not worthy of Tonan’s efforts. The Kamui ability was good but it was a bit troublesome to kill. So, a final step was still required.
Tonan smiled lightly and said in an inexplicable tone, “Yin and Yang are separated, it’s not good to disturb her for too long… Obito, do you want to become stronger?”
Obito nodded, “I want to.”
Tonan looked around and secretly used Wind Communication to confirm there was no one else around. He then said in a bewitching tone, “I have a secret technique that can open up the human body’s conception vein and stimulate one’s potential. But the process is very painful.”
Obito’s eyes narrowed, “As long as I can become stronger, I can endure no matter how painful it is.”
Tonan smiled and bent down to pat Obito’s shoulder, “I’ll open up the conception vein for you so you can tap on the great potential in your body.”
As the charade was nearing its end, Tonan’s face turned cold. He made hand signs and placed his palm on Obito’s head. This time, Tonan used more origin energy in the curse seal. As long as Obito didn’t reach the level of Six Paths, his life and death were just a matter of thought for Tonan.
Obito felt like his skull was opened by something and a cold qi rushed into his mind. Even though he had already prepared himself, he realized he had underestimated the pain. “It hurts so much…” The gloomy qi continually moved around in his mind like a snake. It felt like it was gnawing his brain.
Pain, pain, pain, heart-rendering pain. The pain was unbearable… death was better than life. Obito was hovering between life and death. “Ah….” His scream could be heard throughout the cemetery.
Tonan had experimented many times with the Cultivation Cursed Seal. He knew that this seal was not fatal. He was not worried about Obito’s safety. He considerately gave him enough room to roll over and walked over to Mina’s tombstone. He reached out and stroked the tombstone, saying in a low voice, “Mina, thank you.”
Tonan suddenly thought of the Shuten-doji ocular technique in his left eye and looked at the surrounding graves. Thinking of trying it, he turned his back to Obito and activated the kaleidoscope.
He closed his eyes and a second later, his left eye abruptly opened, the Mangekyo spinning rapidly in it creating a suction force. Gradually, in his vision, a white soul was pulled up at the edge of the cemetery and floated towards him.
As the soul got closer to him, the floating speed became faster and it was sucked into his left eye’s space. Tonan felt a strange comfort rising from his heart, intoxicating his senses. But there was just one new soul nearby. He looked around and sighed, deactivating his Mangekyo. Such instinctual pleasure was addictive.
In the Shuten Space, the soul of the Uchiha clan member that was absorbed right now looked at its surroundings with a baffled look. The sky was blood-red and the earth was full of lava. Everywhere was desolate and dead.
“Did I do too many bad things? There truly is hell after death,” the Uchiha clan member muttered and wandered. However, just after taking a few steps, he accidentally stepped on the lava that sprayed out from the ground and his feet were burned, emitting blue smoke. That blue smoke gradually floated in the blood-red sky above.
The Uchiha clan member took a few steps back in surprise and his figure dimmed a bit. As a soul, he shouldn’t feel pain but he could feel himself being swallowed by something. He raised his head and looked around seriously. A feeling of despair filled the bottom of his heart.
At first, he hadn’t paid much attention to the surroundings, but now that he did, he saw there were interconnected lava streams everywhere on the ground. Terrifying dark clouds with lightning flashes moved slowly in the sky and lava rain poured in torrents.
Back in the real world, half an hour later, the sun had completely set and the cold crescent moon had risen. Obito was sweating profusely, lying on the ground, and his eyes were slightly unfocused.
In his line of sight, a human-shaped black figure appeared, covering up the moon. Obito’s eyes narrowed and some expressions returned on his lifeless face. He weakly asked, “Tonan… did… did I succeed?”
Tonan casually replied, “Yes, you succeeded, your potential will awaken within a certain time. At that time, it’ll be very easy to use ninjutsu.”
“Thank… thank you…” After speaking, Obiito closed his eyes and fell asleep. Tonan quietly looked at Obito’s face and a strange smile appeared on his face, “No need to thank me.”
Having said that, he picked up the unconscious Obito and walked toward the Uchiha district. He had spent too much life origin to implant this cursed seal. He would need some time to recuperate.
The primordial energy could grow with strength. This was also why the average lifespan of the Ninja World was so low but many ninjas with exceptional strength could live for a long time.
Naturally, Tonan didn’t quite understand the specific details about lifespan. It seemed that it was related to the soul’s origin. But given the fact that a person had a soul even after death meant that when a person’s lifespan ends, the soul’s source wouldn’t be used up.
In this context, Tonan boldly guessed that perhaps when everyone’s primordial souls were consumed to a certain extent, a mechanism would be triggered to force people to die of old age. As for the specifics, he would take time to explore them.
A month later, Konoha finally welcomed the New Year. Tonan stuck Spring Festival couplets at the welfare institution gate. Red lanterns were hung on the corridors as well as on the plants in the welfare institution. This style was unique to Konoha.
To celebrate this special day, Tonan specially set up several tables in the open space of the institution. He cooked several tables full of dishes himself and invited people not only from the institution but also Namikaze Minato and his group to celebrate the New Year together.
He also thought about it a lot and went to invite Sarutobi Hiruzen as well.
