Chapter 34: New mission

"Is this the power of the Mangekyō without side effects?"

Yami stood on the bow of the ship, opening his Mangekyō Sharingan and scanning the surroundings freely.

He had submitted the task, and gotten his reward.

The power of bloodline awakening, as Yami had guessed, was the bloodline of Indra…

He wasn't fortunate enough to reach the level of Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

But he wasn’t disappointed at all.

He now had the Mangekyō Sharingan without side effects, the kind that could activate the Susanoo at full power.

At the same time, he possessed an extremely large amount of chakra and could fight for days.

For the previous Yami, this improvement was more than dozens of times greater.

His physical fitness had also improved dramatically, becoming at least several times stronger than his previous body.

Now, Yami felt he could easily open the Sixth Gate.

"Based on what I remember, fighting Yonko commanders should be manageable…” Yami analyzed.

But it was just a conjecture, not yet proved.

After all, he had yet to meet the top powers in this world.

Bartholomew Kuma was still far from the peak.

Using him to quantify strength for judging other targets would be inadequate.

"But we still have to solve the problem of the other Uchiha clan members' bloodlines. It seems the bloodline is indeed defective."

"The most perfect one is Hagoromo Otsutsuki, which can directly transform the three-tomoe into the Rinnegan. The second is Indra, which is my current level. It doesn't require relatives to exchange the Mangekyō. And it has no side effects plus it can activate the complete Susanoo state."

Indra was the originator of the Sharingan; thus, he didn’t require exchanging eyes or anything.

"Now, as long as I return to the ninja world and use the First Hokage's cells, I should be able to awaken the Rinnegan."

"But the waters in the ninja world run very deep indeed. The power of the Rinnegan alone may not be sufficient. Hagoromo Otsutsuki has lived for so many years, who knows what else he has prepared?"

"It's better to develop our strength now."

Although Yami's power had skyrocketed, he still felt it wasn't stable enough to return to the ninja world immediately.

While destroying Konoha would be easy, there were many more complications to deal with afterward.

Anyway, Konoha wouldn't face anything drastic for a while, and the Uchiha were developing rapidly in this world.

He was prepared to take things slowly before returning to the ninja world to resolve everything at once.

"I have a new mission. I feel that what I've done has brought about some changes."

After Yami decided to continue operating on the seas, he began thinking about what to do next.

When he got his reward, he also got a new mission.

****

Peak of the World!

The pirates' goal: Save Fire Fist Ace, but if the casualty rate of the Whitebeard Pirates exceeds 50%, the mission would fail.

The navy's goal: Destroy the Blackbeard Pirates. If even one person survives, it means failure.

Mission success rewards: Armament Haki [Internal Destruction], Observation Haki [Brief Future Sight], and Conqueror's Haki [External Release].

****

"As expected, it's a plot mission for the War at Marineford, but because of what I did, will it turn into executing the sons of two infamous people at once?"

"When the Revolutionary Army joins in, the situation will become much more complicated!"

"I should choose to help save Ace…"

Yami felt a headache coming on.

But he didn't regret trading Luffy for the Shichibukai position.

This had been the easiest path available.

There was no other quick way to become a Shichibukai.

He couldn’t go against the World Government, and increase his bounty to 500 million berries, which would have had greater negative impacts on the Uchiha clan.

Although he'd given Luffy a little help, he didn't know what would happen in the future.

It was hard to say whether the World Government possessed the ability to execute the sons of two infamous people like Roger and Dragon simultaneously.

‘Forget it, I'll make a choice when the time comes. The three Admirals on the Navy side won't be easy to fight, along with Sengoku and Garp. The pirates' side only has Whitebeard, who isn't at his peak anymore. But if Monkey D. Dragon really leads the Revolutionary Army into battle, that will be difficult to handle…’

Yami decided to play it by ear.

He would see which side offered easier prospects and could bring more benefits to the Uchiha.

****

After traveling by sea for five days, they returned to the city.

During this period, news that Yami had become a Shichibukai spread throughout the seas, including the Uchiha clan's emblem.

"You stay here and hunt pirates in exchange for bounties," Yami instructed CP9 and the ten remaining clan members.

"I'll return here in ten days to bring everyone together, form teams, and venture further to hunt pirates."

The Navy warship was also left for them to use in their money-making endeavors.

The strength of these operatives was sufficient to deal with pirate crews worth less than 300 million berries.

It would be difficult to encounter such powerful enemies in the first half of the Grand Line during this period.

Even if they faced a Supernova, their opponents might not be able to deal with them.

****

Yami and the others purchased a small boat at the port and spent a day returning to the isolated island where the Uchiha clan now resided.

Fugaku had already learned about Yami becoming a Shichibukai on the day the news broke.

During these recent days, he had also learned about the specific situation of this world from information collected by clan members operating externally, which indeed matched what Yami had described.

The position of Shichibukai could bring many conveniences to the Uchiha clan.

The environment was completely different from being confined like dogs in Konoha.

‘The world is favorable to us…’

"Fugaku-san, don't take this matter too lightly. This is just the beginning," Yami cautioned.

"In this world, the Uchiha won't be much safer than in the ninja world, because of these eyes we possess."

"This power will be exposed sooner or later.”

"They'll only focus on the power these eyes might provide. When that time comes, we'll end up like the Hyuga clan, constantly watched and targeted."

Yami directly shattered Fugaku's illusions.

The power of the Sharingan was enough to tempt many people.

The Four Emperors, and even the World Government, possessed the strength to threaten the Uchiha.

If the Uchiha clan remained under his protection and surveillance, nothing might happen.

But if they ventured beyond areas he could control, they would definitely face attacks.

This situation wasn't what Yami wanted.

"Understood, clan leader," Fugaku broke into a cold sweat upon hearing this explanation.

"I'll restrain our clan members from wandering around carelessly."

If the Uchiha clan was targeted and had their eyes harvested, this would truly be unacceptable to him.

"This kind of threat will only disappear when the Uchiha possess absolute power and make everyone afraid, so afraid that even if they obtained these eyes, they wouldn't dare use them."

"As for the issue of the Uchiha clan's bloodline, I'll make everything clear to everyone this time and find a way to resolve it simultaneously."

Yami addressed Fugaku with determination.