CHAPTER 93

"Uchiha Kai! I will kill you!"

In the depths of Uchiha Kai's secret training chamber, the shadows stretched across the walls like the grasp of old ghosts. The darkness didn't bother Kai—in fact, he preferred it. It was quiet, isolated. Controlled.

But the unsettling presence of Yuchi Uchiha was another matter entirely.

Yuchi stood across from him, eyes gleaming red in the gloom. The tomoe of his Sharingan spun slowly, a chilling sight even to someone like Kai. In the oppressive silence, the gleam of the dōjutsu felt almost supernatural—like staring into the eyes of something neither fully alive nor dead.

Kai remained calm, even as his mind ran calculations at blinding speed. He hadn't expected the Uchiha Clan to act so fast—someone must have noticed his recent activities. It was too soon.

If he wanted to remain in Konoha, if his plans were to continue, then Uchiha Kai could not afford to be exposed.

So he activated it.

His Mangekyō Sharingan flared to life, a unique pattern forming in each eye. Time seemed to slow—Retrospect of Time wrapped his body in its subtle effect, giving him an edge in perception and motion. His chakra surged violently, yet Kai remained in control. He'd trained for this.

As Yuchi lunged at him with a flash of steel, Kai moved—Shunshin no Jutsu! A blur, then silence.

Kai reappeared behind him, hand already crackling with chakra—a modified Chidori, shaped into a precise arc of lightning. He struck cleanly, disabling Yuchi with surgical brutality. The hit missed vital points on purpose, but the pain was enough to render him helpless.

"Just you?" Kai said coldly, eyes narrowed. "Even with those eyes, you're pathetic. I didn't even need to kill you—yet."

Yuchi gritted his teeth, blood dripping down his lips. "You... won't kill me. You can't. If you could, you would've done it already."

Kai crouched beside him, his voice calm as ever. "You're right. You're still useful to me. Dead, you're just another corpse. Alive, you're... an experiment in progress."

Yuchi's face twisted into a scowl. "You think I'll let you use me? I'll die before that."

Kai's answer came not in words, but action. A sudden arc of lightning erupted from his hand, burning into Yuchi's shoulder with a precise jolt. The scream tore through the chamber, echoing like the howl of a tortured ghost. Kai didn't flinch.

He repeated the process—shoulders, thighs, key muscle points—crippling but not fatal. His chakra control ensured the wounds cauterized instantly. Bleeding was no longer a concern.

Yuchi's voice eventually gave out. His body hung limp, trembling, his eyes burning with fury and disbelief.

Kai dressed the wounds quickly, applying antiseptic and bandages with practiced efficiency. "Don't worry," he said softly. "You won't die—not yet. I need you alive. At least until my research is done."

"You monster…" Yuchi rasped, barely audible. "I swear... I'll kill you… even if it's the last thing I do…"

Kai turned his back to him. "Maybe. But I doubt it."

He looked down at the trembling Uchiha. "Do you know what your greatest weakness is? It's not your Sharingan. It's not your pride. It's your attachments."

Yuchi's eyes widened.

"Your family. Your brother. The people you care about. I wonder how they'd feel… if they knew what you really are. Or worse, if I dragged them into this mess too."

"You bastard!" Yuchi tried to lunge, but the bindings held firm.

Kai glanced at him without emotion. "Fear is useful. You're afraid now, aren't you?"

Yuchi didn't answer, but the hatred in his eyes said enough.

Kai finished restraining him, forcing down a ration bar and water for bare sustenance. The body wouldn't last long without food, and Kai didn't yet have the resources of Orochimaru or the ANBU Black Ops. He had to rely on basic tactics: nutrient solutions, crude survival kits, and stolen supplies.

He turned away and walked toward the chamber entrance. Hidden beneath Genjutsu and reinforced seals, this place wouldn't be found easily. His personal journal, theories, and forbidden jutsu scrolls were safer here than anywhere else in the village.

"One down," Kai thought to himself. "Next is Osamu Uchiha."

But the lack of a proper life-support system was troubling. If Yuchi refused to eat, or if infection set in… it could jeopardize everything. Maybe a quiet visit to the hospital storage room could yield medical-grade nutrient solution. Desperate times, desperate measures.

Uchiha Kai lacked manpower, money, and time. But he had one thing: resolve.

And power.

His Sharingan had already evolved. His chakra control, his mastery over time-altering illusion, his lightning precision—they put him well ahead of most shinobi in his generation.

.

"Fortunately," Kai muttered to himself as he disappeared into the night, "I still have over ten years. I refuse to be a footnote in their story. I'll be the one writing it."