Naruto: I am Uchiha Fugaku

"Corpse Refinement—"

Activating the left eye's dojutsu, Corpse Refinement, Uchiha Fugaku inserted the corpse of a fellow Uchiha clansman into it.

As the corpse was refined, a unique biological substance began to form.

This substance split into two streams—one merged with the cells of his left eye, the other with the right.

A refreshing, cool sensation followed.

Fugaku felt as though both his eyes had been soaked in cold water on a summer day—an icy, soothing comfort.

Moments later, the corpse refinement completed, and the chill faded.

He focused on his eyes.

His ocular power had been consumed by the dojutsu, so he couldn't gauge whether his overall eye power had increased.

However, he noticed that his vision had become slightly sharper.

This indicated that one of the Sharingan's fundamental abilities—perception—had been enhanced.

The improvement wasn't huge—like upgrading from a 300× zoom lens to 320×—but it was real.

From this, he inferred that refining the corpse had improved the overall performance of his eyes.

And this further confirmed his theory: by refining the corpses of Uchiha clansmen with Sharingan, it should be possible to evolve his eyes into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Continue."

He unsealed another corpse from a storage scroll and began refining it as well.

The second.

The third.

The fourth.

The fifth.

The sixth.

After refining six Uchiha corpses, Fugaku's eyes had undergone a dramatic transformation.

His vision had never been so clear.

If he wanted to, he could even see a speck of dust on the far wall of the basement.

There was no doubt about it—his Mangekyō Sharingan had greatly improved.

"Unfortunately, it's still not enough. I haven't reached the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan yet."

His only disappointment was that the strongest bloodline among the six corpses had only awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan. The bloodline density was not high enough.

Even after refining all six, he didn't feel the kind of fundamental evolution in his eyes that he was hoping for.

This confirmed it—his Mangekyō Sharingan hadn't evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan yet.

"It seems that the key to that evolution lies with Shisui Uchiha's corpse!"

A cold glint flashed in Fugaku's eyes.

Killing that traitor Shisui and using his body to evolve his own eyes into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—a perfect solution.

Meanwhile, within Konoha Village, a tall, slender woman walked along the street.

She wore magatama earrings and carried no trace of feminine softness—only a sharp, commanding aura.

She hadn't entered the village through the gates but had instead infiltrated from outside.

As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha's perimeter was protected by an exceptionally powerful detection barrier. Even most Kage-level shinobi couldn't sneak through it.

But to her, the barrier was meaningless.

She had bypassed it completely without triggering anything.

"Quite the change,"

She smiled strangely while examining the homes and shops with interest.

She had been away from Konoha for years, and the village had changed dramatically.

Many houses were gone, new ones built, and even the streets themselves were different in parts.

She moved toward a more deserted area, and the number of pedestrians dwindled.

Eventually, as she entered a narrow alleyway, no one remained in sight.

Inside an abandoned house, she summoned a small snake and slipped a piece of paper into its mouth.

The snake burrowed into the ground and vanished.

She waited.

After about half an hour, a cautious boy entered the alleyway.

He had silver-white hair tied back behind his head and wore glasses.

"You are…?"

The boy stepped into the ruined house and saw the woman.

His expression immediately turned guarded.

He had come here at Orochimaru's summons, but instead found an unfamiliar woman.

"Kabuto, don't recognize me?"

A raspy voice came from the woman's mouth—playful, and slightly chilling.

"You're… Lord Orochimaru!"

The boy's face changed.

That tone—he instantly realized that this was indeed Orochimaru, the one who had summoned him.

This wasn't some Transformation or disguise jutsu.

As he remembered the forbidden jutsu Orochimaru had been researching, his surprise turned into reverent awe.

"Lord Orochimaru, why have you suddenly come to Konoha?"

Kabuto bowed and asked respectfully.

His name was Yakushi Kabuto, formerly a member of Root, who had since defected to Orochimaru's side.

He was currently operating in Konoha under a false identity forged by Orochimaru—acting as a spy.

"I had a deal with Shimura Danzo. But the agreed time passed, and he never showed. So, I came to see what happened."

Orochimaru spoke casually.

He showed no concern about being a missing-nin. If discovered, he would surely be hunted down by all of Konoha's forces.

"Shimura Danzo…"

The name brought a flash of cold hatred to Kabuto's face.

As a former member of Root, he harbored deep resentment toward Danzo.

After a deep breath, he hid his true emotions and wore a fake smile.

"Lord Orochimaru, I'm afraid your deal with Danzo is no longer possible."

"Oh?"

Orochimaru looked at Kabuto with interest, waiting for him to explain.

Adjusting his glasses, Kabuto kept up the fake smile and said:

"Just a few days ago, there was an incident within Root. All of the cursed tongue-sealing marks Danzo had placed on his subordinates vanished."

"Danzo himself has also gone missing—completely out of contact."

Although Danzo's disappearance was still officially under wraps, the news had already spread among Konoha's major clans.

Kabuto had learned about it through his own channels.

"The tongue-sealing curse is gone?"

Orochimaru's long tongue slipped from his mouth, and a strange smile appeared on his face.

He knew exactly what that meant.

With Danzo's ruthless nature, there was no way he would willingly lift such a curse.

There was only one explanation—Danzo was dead.

"How amusing. Shimura Danzo, cautious his entire life… couldn't avoid death in the end."