As Tsunade quietly pushed open the door, she saw Shizune slumped over the table, fast asleep.
She carefully slowed her movements, not daring to disturb her. Gently, she climbed into bed and lay down.
At that moment, Shizune stirred and lifted her head groggily, blinking as she looked toward Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama… you're back?"
Tsunade's heart skipped. She immediately put on a drowsy expression and replied impatiently, "I've been back for a while.
You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to wake you. Go back to sleep."
Shizune rubbed her eyes, confusion flashing across her face. She distinctly remembered waking several times during the night and seeing the bed empty. How could Tsunade-sama have returned so early?
Her lips parted slightly, but she quickly swallowed the words that rose to her throat.
By now, she knew Tsunade's temperament all too well—if she exposed her, she would only end up suffering. So she wisely chose silence.
With Tsunade back, Shizune finally relaxed. After giving a soft response, she returned to her own room and fell asleep again, no longer worrying.
Once Shizune left, Tsunade finally let out a long breath of relief.
She clenched her teeth and muttered softly, "Damn Uchiha Arata… I kept telling him to hurry up, but he just wouldn't stop. I almost got caught."
Her exhaustion soon overwhelmed her thoughts. After a night of intense strain, both physical and mental, she collapsed into deep sleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Arata remained inside the space, filled with excitement as he examined his newly awakened Sage Body.
The moment he had completed the transformation, he had been swept away by emotion and distraction, leaving him no time to carefully experience the changes.
Now, with Tsunade gone, he finally had the chance to study the profound relationship between the Sage Body and his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
In the entire Naruto world, only a handful of individuals possessed the Sage Body....the Sage of Six Paths himself, Asura, and Senju Hashirama.
Hashirama had been able to contend equally with Uchiha Madara, who wielded the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, precisely because of this legendary physique.
The Sharingan possessed a clear evolutionary path
One Tomoe, Two Tomoe, Three Tomoe, Mangekyō Sharingan, and finally, Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—reaching the same peak once held by Indra, the Sage's eldest son.
But the Sage Body was different.
Only Asura and Hashirama had ever truly possessed it. Hashirama himself was Asura's reincarnation, which explained why he alone inherited this power.
That was why the Sage Body was so coveted. Anyone who obtained even a fragment of it would eventually grow Hashirama's face upon their own body, a terrifying testament to the overwhelming dominance of its life force.
Arata, however, had achieved this transformation through a unique fusion.....Yamato's Wood Release, the Uzumaki bloodline, and the Senju bloodline, all integrated into his own being.
At that moment, he finally turned his attention to the system notifications he had ignored earlier.
"Congratulations, Host. After analysis, the acquisition of the Sage Body has nourished and strengthened your Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, pushing its evolution to the absolute peak."
"Congratulations, Host. The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan has reached its final evolutionary stage. Eye power has doubled, mental energy has doubled, and the cooldown time of ocular techniques has been reduced by half."
"Congratulations, Host. Due to the mutual reinforcement between the Sage Body and the peak Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, a new reward has been unlocked—Susanoo has broken through its previous limits, advancing to the Fifth Stage: Divine Descent. Compared to the Fourth Stage, its power has increased tenfold, elevating its size and might to an unprecedented level."
Arata couldn't help but smack his lips.
He hadn't expected the Sage Body and the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to produce such terrifying synergy.
A tenfold increase in Susanoo's power meant that its sheer size alone now rivaled Senju Hashirama's Sage Art: Wood Release - True Several Thousand Hands.
At that scale, capturing the Nine-Tails would be no different from grabbing a chicken. If he weren't careful, he might crush it to death in a single squeeze.
With this power, Arata now possessed the capital to directly contend with the Ten-Tails itself.
Even if Obito summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Arata could still press him into the ground and beat him mercilessly.
At that thought, Arata's gaze sharpened.
Then, he calmly asked, "System, when will my Sharingan evolve into the Rinnegan?"
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