18: Second Otsutsuki Indra

Having hit the jackpot, Izayoi didn't rush to explore the changes brought by the Sage Eyes.

First, he cleared his thoughts and focused on treating Uchiha Sasuke.

Looking at Sasuke's dark eye sockets — evidence that the past few days had been rough — Izayoi's eyes showed a hint of pity.

The world of Naruto was never short on orphans with tragic fates, but when it came to those who first had a happy family and then lost everything, Izayoi could only think of two:

One was Nagato.

The other was Uchiha Sasuke.

But compared to Nagato — who had Yahiko, Konan, and even Jiraiya — Sasuke, who had been manipulated by Itachi from beginning to end, was undoubtedly more tragic.

From start to finish, Sasuke was either walking the path of vengeance, or — upon learning the truth — just beginning to form ideas of revolution, only to be immediately crushed by the one companion he had come to trust.

Later, to atone for his sins, he roamed the ninja world collecting intel on the Ōtsutsuki clan, rarely returning home for years.

If Izayoi didn't change Sasuke's fate, Sasuke might end up even more miserable than in the original timeline.

After all, in the original story, Sasuke was the most popular and top-performing student before graduation.

But now, Izayoi was the top student, Hinata ranked second — and Sasuke could only fight for third.

After graduation, he would face constant humiliation, watching dead-last Naruto surpass him at breakneck speed.

"Should I give him a little push?"

Izayoi muttered inwardly.

At that moment, Sasuke — who had passed out from the impact — slowly regained consciousness.

Seeing his bloodshot eyes, Izayoi made his decision and said,

"You're in no condition to keep going. Go back and rest. Come see me again once you've fully recovered."

Sasuke said nothing. He sat up and looked at his chest — the wound was healed, leaving only a faint scar.

His mind involuntarily recalled the battle just now.

Whether in taijutsu or ninjutsu, he had been no match for Izayoi.

Those fluid attacks, and the lower-body strength that supported that kind of speed — they weren't even on the same level.

And the scar... and that green light when he opened his eyes... It looked like Izayoi could also use medical ninjutsu.

Thinking about all this, Sasuke felt a wave of defeat.

"I lost."

But Sasuke wasn't the type who couldn't handle defeat.

Just like Naruto, he didn't dislike Izayoi.

Even though it had been a no-rules fight, using a sudden ninjutsu attack like he had was extremely dangerous.

So Sasuke admitted his loss without hesitation.

"I only won by luck," Izayoi said as he patted Sasuke on the shoulder and sincerely praised him: "You're pretty amazing. I thought I was the only one in our class who could use all five nature transformations. Didn't expect you could too. As expected of a genius from the Uchiha clan."

After saying that, Izayoi stood up and extended his hand to Sasuke.

"I had the upper hand today. Let's have a rematch sometime."

Looking at Izayoi — not a trace of arrogance in him, even giving him compliments — a warm feeling suddenly surged in Sasuke's chest.

Finally feeling recognized, he revealed his first genuine smile since waking up. He reached out and grabbed Izayoi's hand.

"Next time, I won't lose!"

Izayoi pulled him up, then raised two fingers.

"Then you'd better train hard. I'm pretty strong."

"Just wait and see!"

Full of fighting spirit, Sasuke formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Izayoi.

This moment was reflected in a transparent crystal ball elsewhere.

Watching this scene while puffing on his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled in relief and said:

"The new leaves are beginning to sprout."

At this point, Uchiha Sasuke was at his most vulnerable.

To keep him from losing hope — and to fulfill his promise to Itachi to protect Sasuke — and also to allow Itachi to focus on his role as a spy without worry, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of abandoning Sasuke.

The ANBU, from places unseen, had already been secretly watching over Uchiha Sasuke.

After the two left the Ninja Academy for the abandoned training field, news of it immediately reached Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Fortunately, Izayoi hadn't muttered to himself earlier, and though he had been stunned, he kept his head down and didn't show any exaggerated or abnormal behavior.

Otherwise, he might've been subjected to the Yamanaka clan's mind-reading techniques.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was no stranger to Izayoi.

This generation of new students was especially remarkable — the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and the heirs of major ninja clans were all placed in the same class.

Izayoi, who had outshined all of them to become the top student, had long since drawn Hiruzen's attention.

After a year of observation, he had discovered that Izayoi had already mastered the Shadow Clone Technique and basic Wind Release, and often trained with the Hyuga clan's main house heiress at the abandoned training field.

Every era produces outstanding civilian geniuses:

Like Orochimaru,

Like Namikaze Minato,

Like the lesser-known Yakushi Kabuto...

Even Hatake Kakashi could be considered a civilian genius — after all, he had no Kekkei Genkai.

Compared to these civilian prodigies, Izayoi wasn't especially unique — not even the best among them.

Still, talent like his was more than worthy of focused cultivation.

With proper training, he was almost guaranteed to become a versatile jonin in the future.

And if he managed to master a forbidden jutsu, he might even become an elite jonin and a valuable trump card on the battlefield.

Thus, Izayoi had been on Hiruzen Sarutobi's watchlist for quite some time.

---

After parting ways with Uchiha Sasuke, Izayoi headed home while summoning a glowing interface screen only he could see.

Now, the top of the trait panel no longer listed his golden "Kage-Level Potential" next to the Ōtsutsuki Bloodline (Red).

Instead, it had been replaced by: Sage Eyes (Red).

This new trait hadn't brought any obvious change yet.

But Izayoi was certain that something unknown was already changing inside him.

These Sage Eyes were not the same as the true Rinnegan.

They were a unique trait belonging to Ōtsutsuki Indra, inherited from the Yin Chakra and spiritual energy of the Sage of Six Paths, representing the pinnacle of Yin power.

Moreover, this trait wasn't derived from Indra's chakra — which meant the power Izayoi received wasn't tainted by Indra's will, but was pure Yin energy split from Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.

A reincarnated vessel would need to be recognized, or grow and develop slowly to gradually awaken this power.

But Izayoi didn't need any of that — he would become stronger at a rapid pace, just like Ōtsutsuki Indra himself.

In the coming years, both his spiritual energy and Yin-based chakra would skyrocket.

"At this point, I can probably call myself the second Ōtsutsuki Indra,"

Izayoi chuckled inwardly.

If he could see the talent traits of the real Indra, Izayoi was certain that Ōtsutsuki bloodline, not Uchiha lineage, would be the key trait — and it would be of red-level rarity or higher.

It was that bloodline that gave Indra a constitution allowing him to possess infinite ocular power without the need to transplant new eyes.

Thinking about how he himself could now release all five nature transformations without even forming hand seals, Izayoi was confident that Indra's Ōtsutsuki bloodline must have been at the red level as well.

As for any level above red — that was probably impossible.

Otherwise, the reincarnations of Indra's chakra wouldn't need the fusion of Yin and Yang to awaken the Rinnegan. They could've done it just like Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo — evolving directly from the Sharingan to the Rinnegan.

As things stood now, Izayoi was effectively the second Ōtsutsuki Indra.

Only if his Ōtsutsuki bloodline evolved to an even higher tier would he become the second Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo or Hamura.