Chapter 159: Submergence

"I'm the one working my tail off all day! What utter nonsense about being too tired during the day and needing to sleep. She slept the entire afternoon."

Kato Mifune still harbored quite a bit of lingering resentment about being kicked out of the house by Tsunade.

The moment he recalled the teasing smirk Tsunade wore after eating and drinking her fill, twisting his ear as she threw him out, Kato Mifune felt utterly speechless and depressed.

At the time, seeing how thoroughly satisfied Tsunade was with the hearty dinner he had prepared, Kato Mifune assumed that her anger over working overtime was completely water under the bridge. Well-fed and well-rested, his thoughts naturally turned elsewhere, and he prepared to treat Tsunade for her persistent chest pains.

As a result, Kato Mifune had his ear mercilessly twisted and was kicked right out the door by Tsunade, who told him, "Big white rabbits are too white and too tired; they need to sleep and rest at night."

***

After the members of the Uchiha clan left the small courtyard, up in the crow's nest perched on the tree within the yard.

"Little crow, tell me, are women really this fickle?"

Turning its feathered head to survey the courtyard below the massive tree, Kato Mifune released his control over the other crow inhabiting the nest.

The crow that had flown in earlier was actually Kato Mifune transformed, utilizing the stealthy properties of the Wind Release: Wind Breath Technique, allowing him to bypass the entire Uchiha clan undetected.

Prior to this, Kato Mifune had been continuously using the Soul Nourishment Technique to control and pacify the other crow in the nest, preventing it from constantly making strange noises.

After all, no matter who it is, if a stranger suddenly breaks into their home in the middle of the night, they wouldn't just chirp twice and instantly fall silent—even a crow couldn't do that.

"Caw-gawk... caw-gawk."

The moment Kato Mifune released his control, the other crow in the nest immediately began to squawk noisily.

"It seems my proficiency in using the Soul Nourishment Technique to pacify ordinary animals is still a bit lacking," Kato Mifune muttered with a headache as he watched the little crow in the nest start pecking at him the second control was lifted.

"Alright, pipe down, I'm leaving right now. Don't act like I enjoy your bird's nest; I'm not a real crow!"

Kato Mifune let out a mental grumble about the clamorous little crow, then stuck his feathered head out to scan the surrounding Uchiha residential area before flapping his wings and soaring out of the nest.

Circling the entire Uchiha clan compound twice more and pushing his spiritual perception to its absolute limit, he confirmed that the courtyard of Uchiha Yadai only had two Uchiha guards standing post at the gate, while Uchiha Yadai himself remained alone inside the small courtyard. With that, Kato Mifune guided his wings and descended into the yard.

"Poof!"

A wisp of pale cyan smoke flashed by, and Kato Mifune stood right where the Uchiha clan member had been earlier.

*Damn it, turning into a bird is definitely not something meant for humans.*

Kato Mifune swung his arms up and down a few times, adjusting to the sensation of suddenly shifting back from bird wings to human arms.

The transformation technique Kato Mifune used was no ordinary transformation jutsu; it was an advanced application inspired by the Konoha Inuzuka clan's secret techniques, further refined through his ninja system. It already touched upon the nature and shape transformation of Yang-release chakra, making it worthy of being called a true secret technique.

Unlike Orochimaru's transformation into a white-scaled giant snake—which was a irreversible psychological and physiological perversion—Kato Mifune's transformation technique was entirely temporary and fully reversible.

After swinging his arms a bit more, Kato Mifune moved to carefully inspect the courtyard's environment, once again confirming that Uchiha Yadai was the sole occupant of the house.

However, although Kato Mifune had cranked his spiritual sensory perception up to maximum efficiency, his reading remained somewhat hazy; he could only verify the presence of Uchiha Yadai's single soul signature inside the house, while the exact details escaped him.

Kato Mifune turned his head to glance toward the courtyard entrance; the two Uchiha guards were still diligently standing watch, completely oblivious to his presence. Only then did he softly push open the front door and step inside.

Since he had used the little black mouse Uchiha Yadai to conduct his experiment, how could the mastermind behind the experiment possibly not be present at the most crucial juncture?

Furthermore, this experiment involved the Mangekyo Sharingan; how could Kato Mifune not be intensely interested? To a certain extent, the history depicted in the original timeline of his past life could very well be called the evolutionary history of the Sharingan.

Since he had stumbled into using Uchiha Yadai as his experimental guinea pig, accidentally catalyzing the evolution of his three-tomoe Sharingan toward the Mangekyo Sharingan, Kato Mifune—as the greatest contributor—couldn't possibly miss such a pivotal moment.

Kato Mifune didn't mind doing good deeds anonymously for the sake of Konoha's strength, but he always intended to reap the benefits. He even dared to poach customers right from under the Hokage's nose, let alone the Uchiha clan's.

Of course, if he could have lingered to pet and comfort his girlfriend beforehand, Kato Mifune would have been even happier upon arriving at Uchiha Yadai's place.

***

Pushing the door open and stepping inside, he found the house pitch black and dead silent. With his vision limited, Kato Mifune could only roughly distinguish the furnishings within the room.

This was the outer room, which looked like a living room or sitting area, furnished with several common, old-fashioned wooden Japanese-style pieces. The inner quarters presumably served as the bedroom.

Upon entering, it felt as though Kato Mifune had passed through some sort of barrier; his soul perception capability surged dramatically, becoming far sharper. He could now sense Uchiha Yadai lying within the inner room much more clearly than before.

Confirming that he had successfully and safely infiltrated the house, Kato Mifune recalled how hazy his perception had been outside in the courtyard. The pale blue starry depths of his eyes flickered, switching over to soul vision. Invisible spiritual light shimmered as he carefully scrutinized every corner of the room.

*No wonder, that explains why my perception felt so murky outside.*

After switching to soul vision for a thorough inspection, Kato Mifune discovered several sealing formations inscribed upon the front door, the windows, and the surrounding corners of the outer room.

Immediately following this, Kato Mifune mobilized the chakra within his body to split off a trace of soul energy, reaching out his hand to brush against the sealing formula imprinted on the door to carefully sense and inspect it.

*Heh, so they're specialized sealing formulas meant to isolate spiritual energy. It seems someone within the Uchiha clan is quite familiar with the awakening process of the Mangekyo Sharingan.*

Having figured out the purpose of the sealing formations in the outer room, Kato Mifune smiled silently and set his mind at ease. Ignoring them entirely, he turned and walked toward the inner chambers of the house.

The inner room was modest in size, barely half the area of the outer room. Once an old-fashioned Japanese tatami mat was laid against the wall, virtually no open space remained. There lay his experimental little black mouse, classmate Uchiha Yadai, stretched out upon the tatami.

Identical sealing formations, mirroring the ones in the outer room, were discovered upon the doors and walls of the inner bedroom.

Frowning slightly, Kato Mifune paid no mind to those seals and gently approached the old-fashioned tatami mat.

In the darkness, Kato Mifune's pale blue starry eyes shone exceptionally bright. Beneath his soul vision, he closely observed the unconscious Uchiha Yadai.