Honkai Dinsion, Imperial Capital, Imperial General Administration of Science / Sowhere.
Bzzz—!!
Outside the spacious testing martial field, dozens of researchers in white lab coats stood watching the demonstration of so-called professional ninja from XIII—Colony World No. 638059 ("Naruto").
From the most basic Three Body Techniques, taijutsu, and the five elental transformations of wind, lightning, water, fire, and earth, to clan secret arts such as Shadow Imitation Technique, Expansion Technique, Mind Body Switch Technique, and even bloodline limits like the Byakugan, Lava Release, Boil Release, and Scorch Release.
It could be said that nearly every living, nad wielder of a bloodline limit currently found in the ninja world had been gathered here.
They had only one task: release every ninjutsu, secret art, and ocular technique they had mastered, assisting the Imperial Science Bureau in compiling a database and big data analytical frawork for the ninja profession.
"That Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique are rather interesting."
"They favor kunai and shuriken? Director, should we specially order a batch of monomolecular kunai and shuriken, then separately test the effective lethal range and improvent rate when thrown with the average arm strength of genin, chunin, and jonin?"
"Chakra energy—the mixture of physical energy and spiritual energy produced by the one hundred and thirty trillion cells within the body—is refined internally into chakra. After extracting chakra, a ninja uses ’hand seals’ to perform ’techniques.’"
"One hundred and thirty trillion cells... Most humans in colony worlds have between forty and sixty trillion, don’t they? No wonder. According to their records, people of the ninja world can go to the battlefield at five or six years old and already possess a certain degree of combat ability. Natural child soldiers."
"That explains it. Have you noticed? Their bodies have extrely high resistance to blunt force trauma."
"Under the sa level of force, an ordinary person struck with enough power to snap a giant tree or smash through a wall would suffer fatal or crippling damage to bones, muscles, and internal organs. For people of the ninja world, it’s more like routine training injuries or, at worst, a limp. Their resistance to sharp weapons, however, is no different from normal humans."
...
As they observed the dazzling and varied techniques unfolding within the field, the researchers cross-referenced data and made records. Whenever an impressive or intriguing technique appeared, they murmured among themselves.
And if one were to speak of the most eye-catching subject, the one that drew the greatest crowd—
"The last survivor of the Uchiha..."
"One of the two great ocular clans of the ninja world. The strongest eye technique clan. Direct descendants of the Sage. The fan-bearing Uchiha of the Great Fire lineage. But why is there only one left? We’re squeezing data out of a single individual—this efficiency is far too low. The team handling the Hyuga clan has already finished. How did the Uchiha end up reduced to just one person?"
"Didn’t look into it closely. Supposedly the eldest son of the last Uchiha clan head went insane or sothing. Anyway, he wiped out the entire clan himself."
"What? Clan extermination—by the clan head’s own son? That’s... first ti I’ve heard of such a thing. What kind of operation was that?"
At the sa ti, within the section of the testing field marked by the Uchiha fla-fan emblem, a sharp, birdlike screech split the air!
Clang!
Black hair, red eyes, strands whipping wildly from high-speed movent—the not particularly tall Sasuke Uchiha shot forward like a spear crackling with lightning, plunging into the formation of testing automatons and rampaging through them. His three-tomoe Sharingan flickered left and right as his body twisted and flipped through the air, constantly evading the red targeting dots and blank rounds fired by the machinery.
—Test of observation, perception, and dynamic vision under the three-tomoe Sharingan—
Holding a capacitive stylus, the brown-haired research team leader—wearing rim-only glasses—idly tapped at the title drafted on his data board. After watching for a long ti, he finally shook his head.
It was not dissatisfaction.
On the contrary, it was too good.
"That’s enough, Sasuke Uchiha. Today’s testing is concluded. Clean up and rest. You’ll undergo a physical examination shortly."
With that, the team leader tucked the data board under his arm and turned to leave, rubbing his aching forehead as he muttered, "An evolved Mangekyō Sharingan... the Eternal eyes."
It wasn’t as though they only needed to test him activating a humanoid titan.
He still needed to asure the limits and overall standards of perception at each stage—one tomoe, two tomoe, three tomoe Sharingan. But the only sample available was Sasuke Uchiha, and he possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. His most basic state was already three tomoe.
One tomoe and two tomoe were complete blanks. Even three tomoe lacked rigorous comparability. For example, could an Uchiha who had just awakened three tomoe be compared to Madara Uchiha using three tomoe?
"I should submit a report to Dr. Mobius. The archival completion for the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan will have to remain temporarily vacant..."
Inside the field, as the signal indicating the end of testing lit up, Sasuke Uchiha gradually slowed his high-speed movent. Tilting his head slightly, he caught the final blank round fired by the machine between two fingers. The Sharingan faded, and his black pupils returned.
"One tomoe..."
Crushing the blank round between his fingers, Sasuke Uchiha murmured softly, letting out a lonely breath.
It was not resentnt.
It was rely the sorrow of thinking about how nurous the Hyuga were during Byakugan testing—while he stood alone.
Look at the Hyuga: unopened Byakugan, newly awakened Byakugan, branch family, main family, varying purity levels—test subjects in every category.
And him?
The Eternal eyes, the Mangekyō, the three tomoe—each tested solely by himself, recounting his own past sensations. As for one tomoe and two tomoe—there was no one to test them at all.
Even he could not regress his Sharingan back to one or two tomoe for asurent.
This ti, Sasuke Uchiha truly felt the urgency of reviving the Uchiha clan—and the desolation of being alone.
His great vengeance avenged. The truth laid bare. The reincarnated chakra influence of Indra dissipated.
All of it had allowed him to quiet his mind and reflect repeatedly: how should he revive the Uchiha?
What was the most important elent in restoring the clan?
Answer: population.
Without people, what revival could there be?
Even the suprely powerful ruler of the Sacred Selene Empire was not alone.
She had loyal subjects and close confidants, and there were even families rumored to share blood ties with her—the Kaslana family, the Schariac family, the Ataegina family, the Benares family, the Habsburg family, and other branches.
During the ti he had spent serving as a test subject under Dr. Mobius, Sasuke Uchiha had heard quite a few such legends of the Imperial Capital—especially after intentionally seeking them out. They were hardly forbidden secrets. No one would die rely for uncovering them.
"I need to marry and have children. I need descendants..."
There was nothing shaful about saying it.
It was a practical necessity.
A reality he had no choice but to consider.
Tap, tap.
"Sasuke!"
At that mont, a voice called out. Brilliant, eye-catching red hair swayed and fluttered as its owner ran toward him.
"Let’s go to the cafeteria together! And I also heard about a—... Sasuke?"
The red-haired girl with red eyes and glasses, who had been holding out a towel while muttering sothing under her breath, suddenly found Sasuke staring at her. She lowered her head shyly.
"Um... Sasuke, let’s eat first."
Karin...
"Mm. Let’s go." Taking the towel, Sasuke Uchiha wiped his face—though he had barely broken a sweat—and nodded. The two of them walked side by side out of the enclosed defensive barrier wall. "Karin, what were you about to say just now?" he asked.
Patting her cheeks and straightening her expression, Karin replied, "In the Undying Blade Star Sector, it seems the people of the ninja world on Ninja System Planet III won’t need to form a vassal legion anymore. Our enlistnt has been completely canceled."
"Canceled? According to what they said before, forming a vassal legion—regardless of size or strength—is a mandatory obligation for every subordinate world of the Empire." Sasuke frowned, imdiately sensing that things were not so simple.
"Because we’ve been given a new superior and a new organizational assignnt."
A slightly world-weary male voice cut into their conversation. Turning toward the sound, they saw Hatake Kakashi leaning against the entrance of another training field, raising a hand in greeting.
"Ninja are different from the Empire’s large, conventional military formations. We have our own characteristics, and the Empire intends to maximize our strengths. The Imperial Assassination Force—that will be our destination."
Hands in his pockets, Kakashi walked over to Sasuke. "Cafeteria. Together. We can talk there?"
"Mm." Now that his obsessions had been resolved, Sasuke held little resentnt toward the teacher who had first guided his training and taught him Chidori. If anything, there was gratitude.
He greeted the forr companions standing behind Kakashi one by one—Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and the others. His gaze lingered for a brief mont on Haruno Sakura.
"Imperial Assassination Force... The na sounds similar to the Anbu," Sasuke remarked.
"More or less," Kakashi said. "Monitoring sensitive war zones, suppressing rebellions, reconnaissance, eliminating enemy leaders. Though unlike the Hokage—cough—the Empress doesn’t require our protection."
He was intimately familiar with Anbu work. The na alone was enough.
"Our superior is..."
"Imperial General of Frost, Esdeath Partas. She is the highest commander of the Imperial Assassination Force—our future superior. Since I’m considered to have so standing in the ninja world, I’ve already received notice. An elite assassination unit will be responsible for our restructuring and training once they return to the capital after completing their rebellion-suppression mission."
"Elite?"
"The ’Jaegers’ unit. They’ll be our direct superiors for the foreseeable future. Captain Cornelia. Vice-captains Aka and Wave."
...
Grand Palace, Schönbrunn Palace, Outer Court Side Hall.
"Esdeath, it seems you place considerable importance on the... ninja? of XIII—Colony World No. 638059, conquered by Durandal."
"A rare opportunity," replied the tall, ice-blue-haired woman known as Esdeath. "It’s not every day we encounter a fully professional, systematized class of assassination specialists skilled in infiltration, interrogation, and torture. They’re strong enough and versatile enough. It would be a waste to reorganize them into a standard vassal legion. The Empire doesn’t lack frontline troops anyway."
She sat behind a broad desk. Her long ice-blue hair was casually tied behind her head. The fitted white general’s uniform traced alluring curves along her tall, well-proportioned figure.
This was a private conversation, so there were fewer formalities. Esdeath appeared relaxed, arms folded across her chest, wearing the satisfied smile of a battle maniac who had thoroughly enjoyed herself.
"Quite fitting to your personality," Sebas said with a faint nod as he signed and stamped an administrative order. "Approved."
Ninja—by na alone—did not sound like frontline troops. Especially given the reports about the institutions present in the Five Great Ninja Villages—Assassination Tactical Special Units.
Weren’t they already accustod to such work? The traditions, the customs, the inheritance—they were a perfect match for the Imperial Assassination Force. A ready-made source of fresh blood.
If they were allowed to be infected with the Imperial Army’s artillery-first ntality of ’blast them to pieces,’ centuries of inherited habit would be wasted.
"Now that you’re back, try not to run off again. Dissolve your expeditionary headquarters and co help this old man share the burden. Random inspections of the Imperial Capital’s recruit camps, joint etings of the General Staff, cooperative projects between the Science Bureau and the Assassination Force..."
"Those are your rightful duties," Sebas added, vertical pupils gleaming with sharp crimson light as he folded his hands atop the desk and looked at Esdeath—whose gaze had begun to wander.
"Cough. Of course, they are my responsibilities. But Uncle Sebas, it seems our Empress has gone out gathering inspiration again," Esdeath said with a smile, rising to gently tilt the teapot and pour him a cup of clear tea.
"Why don’t you learn the good examples instead?"
"..."
That was not an easy line to answer.
For Sebas—Selene’s personal steward, practically half her enlightennt teacher in childhood—Esdeath always maintained considerable respect despite the teasing.
Better not bring up the old man’s ’failed’ branch of education history. After all, she herself was one of those failures.
"Didn’t I bring back precious tree species for Her Majesty?" she deflected smoothly.
"The God of the Otsutsuki—any news?" Sebas raised an eyebrow.
"Mission accomplished. Finding him wasn’t easy. He was hiding in the void between reality and illusion, undergoing tamorphosis. Who knows how many chakra fruits he devoured..."
An ice-blue blossom pulsed between her fingers as Esdeath idly twirled the crystalline flower.
"But for Her Majesty Selene, isn’t that simply excellent nourishnt?" she said with a faint smile.
Taking a sip of tea, Sebas glanced at the ice-blue blossom at her fingertips. Within the absolute-zero blue crystal lay a patch of ink-dark nothingness.
Pure Imaginary Space confinent had frozen ti there. The aura of Finality belonging to his young lady was steadily erasing everything within.
The outco required no explanation.
"Chakra fruits, the God Tree, even a juvenile Ten-Tails... I’ve gained quite a harvest," Esdeath continued. "Didn’t Her Majesty say that when I returned victorious, she would host a ’Peach Banquet’ in my honor?"
"Did she? In that case, this old man must take leave to attend," Sebas said, closing one eye with a relieved smile.
"Just now, according to Leiva’s direct-line report, Her Majesty has already set foot on her return journey. I should begin organizing the recent governntal morial summaries for her review."
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