Naruto: Manipulation-Chapter 172: Creating New Eyes

Power can be immense.

But power must not be too immense.

Shigen's overwhelming strength unsettled Black Zetsu.

If a pawn was powerful, it could help facilitate Kaguya's resurrection. But if that pawn became too powerful, her revival might not go as planned...

Shigen's power...

Was undoubtedly beyond that of the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.

For the first time, Black Zetsu found itself missing Uchiha Madara.

In the past, every time Shigen was resurrected, Black Zetsu had willingly abandoned Madara, treating him as nothing more than a backup plan.

But now that Shigen had shown even the slightest potential for losing control, Black Zetsu immediately sought to put its backup plan into motion.

This thing...

Was behaving like a manipulative player in a toxic relationship.

Shigen, of course, had no intention of exposing Black Zetsu's true thoughts.

After all, those thoughts stemmed from Shigen himself. In fact, he needed to encourage them.

"Fine."

"We'll begin preparations to revive Madara once we return."

"You go find Danzo's corpse and retrieve the Rinnegan."

Without even looking back, Shigen gave his orders before soaring into the sky. "I'll go save Nagato and Konan first."

"Understood."

The original White Zetsu silently sank into the ground.

By the time Shigen arrived at Nagato's location, only Konan remained, sitting limp on the ground, cradling a gravely injured and barely breathing Nagato in her arms.

As for Uchiha Obito and Orochimaru...

The two had long since fled upon sensing the danger.

Before leaving, Obito had taken Nagato's remaining Rinnegan. He knew that if he wanted to negotiate with Shigen, he needed the power of the Rinnegan to stand a chance.

"Lord Shigen!"

Konan, disoriented and lost, looked up at Shigen. The moment she recognized him, clarity returned to her eyes, and a sliver of hope flashed across her face.

"Lord Shigen, please... can you save Nagato? With your medical ninjutsu, surely—"

"Konan, don't..."

Nagato, weak and fading, interrupted her.

Both of his eyes had been taken. His body was on the verge of collapse. He no longer saw any purpose in continuing to live.

Even if he survived...

What could he possibly do?

Shigen walked over and placed a hand on Nagato's chest, assessing his injuries. A brilliant, searing white light suddenly ignited in his palm.

"Lord Shigen... what is this...?"

Nagato felt an overwhelming surge of pure chakra coursing into his body, replenishing the life energy he had once depleted.

And then—

Something even more astonishing happened.

As Shigen's hand passed over Nagato's hollow eye sockets, a new pair of eyes grew back.

For the first time in a long while, Nagato could see again.

"This is..."

"The Power of Yang."

Shigen answered his unspoken question.

It was a force that could truly create life—

Something that every medical ninja dreamed of, yet it had long since transcended the realm of mere medical ninjutsu.

This was a power that belonged only to the gods.

Nagato touched his newly formed eyes, both shocked and overjoyed at the sight before him.

But soon, he noticed something wrong.

His gaze shifted to Shigen's closed, empty eye sockets.

"Lord Shigen, your eyes..."

"Oh, I lost a pair myself."

Shigen was completely indifferent to his blindness.

To him—

Losing his sight didn't matter in the slightest.

He made no mention of his battle in Konoha, nor how he had crushed four Hokage single-handedly. He simply patted Nagato's shoulder lightly.

"But right now, I have no way to restore my own sight. For the time being, I'll still have to rely on you all..."

"Lord Shigen..."

Nagato's face filled with guilt as he sincerely apologized.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have acted recklessly... I was too careless, and I lost the Rinnegan."

His performance in this incident had been disastrous—

Not only had he lost his Rinnegan, but he had even dragged Shigen down with him.

Losing his own eyes was one thing—

But his mistake had also cost Shigen his Rinnegan...

And now...

What would happen to the War Machine Plan?

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could only be summoned and controlled with the Rinnegan.

It was also the only dojutsu capable of sealing the Tailed Beasts into the statue.

Without the Rinnegan...

They had a major problem.

"Don't worry."

"Black Zetsu is already looking for it."

"Maybe we'll recover one of them..."

Shigen remained calm, his voice light as he continued,

"And even if we don't, it doesn't matter."

"The ninja world still has ways to create a new pair of Rinnegan."

Yes.

There were still ways to forge a new set of Rinnegan.

After all, the Uchiha clan had not yet been completely wiped out.

Uchiha Sasuke, still in Konoha, had a strong chance of awakening the Rinnegan in the future.

In fact—

Back when Shigen was resurrected via Edo Tensei for the second time, he had already begun considering the second pair of Rinnegan.

Of course—

His true goal was never just the Rinnegan.

His real goal—

Was Uchiha Sasuke.

Shigen simply needed an opportunity to bring that boy under his control.

He had to ensure Sasuke's power didn't grow too slowly.

Because—

They were running out of time.

Inside Konoha.

Now that Shigen and Black Zetsu had left—

The shinobi of Konoha finally felt the oppressive danger fade away.

Only now did they dare to breathe freely and discuss what had just happened.

"Not even four Hokage could stop that man..."

"When his chakra flared up, I couldn't even breathe. I couldn't move a single step. Just what kind of enemy is he...?"

"I heard..."

"Apparently, he's a medical ninja."

"But his ideology is extreme. It seems he was enraged by the ninja world's endless wars and wants to force peace through sheer terror."

As the common shinobi whispered amongst themselves, a group of young ninja who had participated in the Chunin Exams also began discussing Shigen.

But...

They knew even less than the adults.

It took Nara Shikamaru, the smartest among them, to piece together the known information into something coherent.

In fact—

He even managed to deduce Shigen's motive.

Leaning lazily against a wooden post, Shikamaru calmly relayed his thoughts to the curious group.

"The ancient medical ninja, Shigen, was resurrected using Edo Tensei by the Second Hokage after a thousand years.

After the death of the First Hokage, he helped end the First Shinobi World War...

But because of that war...

And possibly the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars as well...

He lost all hope for the future of the ninja world.

That's why—

During his first and second resurrection, he proposed creating a never-before-seen War Machine to force eternal peace through sheer intimidation."

"He... kinda sounds like a good person?"

Rock Lee gave a thumbs-up.

"Huh?"

Everyone turned to look at him, stunned.

It was as if they couldn't comprehend what he had just said.

But...

Was he wrong?

Even though Konoha and Shigen were now enemies—

Wasn't his goal ultimately peace?

"You idiot, Lee!"

Tenten smacked him on the head, forcing an awkward laugh as she tried to smooth things over.

"Actually... Lee's not entirely wrong."

Shikamaru sighed, turning his gaze toward Naruto.

"But even if he is a good person...

He is destined to be our enemy."

"That's... terrifying..."

Yamanaka Ino shuddered.

"That man single-handedly defeated four Hokage!"

This burden...

Shouldn't be placed on them, right?

But then—

Naruto suddenly turned around.

Clenching his fists with determination, he declared to his friends,

"I will stop him!"

"..."

Everyone fell silent.

Only Jiraiya stood at a distance, his face filled with worry.

Yet, upon hearing Naruto's words—

A faint smile finally broke through his anxiety.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

----------

Powerstones?

For 20 advance Chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates