Back at the apartment, Uchiha Shinji ate the dinner he had bought on the way and contemplated the path ahead.
The most urgent task right now was still to increase his strength.
Even though his combat power was already considerable due to his Mangekyō Sharingan, the issue of chakra depletion still hadn't been resolved.
If this problem wasn't addressed, his combat power would always be temporary.
Even with two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan, giving him much more chakra than before, it wouldn't be enough to withstand multiple battles without eventually running out.
Currently, all his combat power was built on the foundation of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Once the chakra in both pairs of eyes was exhausted, his combat power would plummet.
"One A-rank evaluation, and the only reward from the shinobi world would be a random A-rank jutsu..."
Thinking about this, Uchiha Shinji realized that hoping for the shinobi world to grant him a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan he could fuse with was a slim chance.
After all, the value of a random A-rank jutsu and a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan was worlds apart.
It was hard to imagine what kind of evaluation would grant a reward as valuable as a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.
But there are so few pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan... If I don't rely on rewards, where could I even find a pair to fuse with my own?
Uchiha Shinji realized he was facing a dead end.
To meet the fusion requirement, the pair of Mangekyō Sharingan either had to be awakened by a blood relative of his or have weaker chakra that could be forcibly fused using Susanoo Tomoshibi.
The original Shinji was an orphan, his parents died early, and he had no siblings.
So, the blood relative option could be crossed off entirely.
The only option left was to find a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan that had weaker chakra than his.
However, in the current shinobi world, there were only a few people who possessed Mangekyō Sharingan, and each one of them was no pushover. Plus, Uchiha Shinji wasn't sure how to determine if their chakra was weaker than his.
"Should I try that method…?"
Uchiha Shinji hesitated.
He had thought of an alternative plan, but it was time-consuming, energy-draining, and might not even work.
The plan was to collect multiple three-tomoe Sharingan and use Susanoo Tomoshibi to forcibly fuse them to boost his own Mangekyō Sharingan's chakra.
As long as the chakra of his Mangekyō Sharingan surpassed that of Fugaku's pair, he could use Susanoo Tomoshibi to forcibly fuse Fugaku's Mangekyō, thereby gaining the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
But there was one problem with this plan.
The gap between the chakra of a three-tomoe Sharingan and a Mangekyō Sharingan was like heaven and earth.
So, how many three-tomoe Sharingan would it take to change the balance of chakra between two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan?
In the current shinobi world, the Uchiha clan had been wiped out.
The only ones with a stockpile of Sharingan were Uchiha Obito, who had inherited Uchiha Madara's legacy, and Danzo, who had orchestrated the Uchiha clan's downfall.
As for Obito, that was out of the question for now—Shinji wasn't capable of dealing with him.
Regarding Danzo...
Last time, Uchiha Shinji had been able to succeed by luck, largely due to Danzo's complacency and the Nine-Tails rampage.
At the time, Danzo hadn't expected anyone to dare storm his Root base, especially after the Uchiha clan had been wiped out, so his defenses were lax.
But after that incident, Danzo would undoubtedly be on high alert.
Moreover, stealing Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan would surely make Danzo realize the uniqueness of those eyes, causing him to place even more importance on all the Sharingan in his possession.
Under these circumstances, it would be hard enough to steal a single pair of Sharingan, let alone rob Danzo of his entire stockpile.
Uchiha Shinji even suspected that Danzo had already laid traps at his Root base, waiting for him to return.
"I'll wait for a better opportunity!"
Uchiha Shinji shook his head.
He still had enough chakra for now, so there was no need to rush headlong into Danzo's trap.
Aside from increasing his chakra, Uchiha Shinji also needed to improve his overall abilities to address his various weaknesses.
"My abilities aren't well-rounded enough right now. I don't know any sealing techniques, sensory techniques, or healing techniques. I haven't even mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu yet. Every time, I'm just charging in headfirst, which makes me vulnerable to surprise attacks..."
These problems couldn't be solved overnight, or even by one person alone.
But they needed to be addressed soon.
Uchiha Shinji had come to understand that he needed a team.
In this invasion, he was facing an entire force led by a mysterious Lampbearer, and he couldn't handle it alone.
And he already had some candidates in mind for his team.
The next day.
Iruka led Uchiha Shinji to the archive.
Yesterday, Iruka had already reported to the Third Hokage.
After learning that Uchiha Shinji had mastered the C-rank Great Fireball Jutsu and wanted to learn the B-rank Shadow Clone Jutsu and Great Fire Annihilation, the Third Hokage considered it for a moment and approved it.
This was mainly because the Uchiha clan had a vast collection of jutsu scrolls, many of which were classified as forbidden jutsu.
After the clan's demise, all these jutsu scrolls had been confiscated by the village, and now, when an Uchiha survivor applied to learn jutsu through formal channels, it wasn't easy for the village to refuse.
Besides, in the Third Hokage's eyes, letting Uchiha Shinji learn a few B-rank jutsu was still within controllable limits.
After all, the village's main concern right now was Sasuke!
After explaining the purpose of their visit to the archive keeper, Iruka instructed Uchiha Shinji: "You can read the scrolls for the 'Shadow Clone Jutsu' and 'Great Fire Annihilation' here, but you cannot take them out or make any copies. Understood?"
"Understood."
Uchiha Shinji nodded slightly.
He hadn't expected Iruka to be so attentive to his request. He had only applied yesterday, and today, he already had results.
Uchiha Shinji first borrowed the scroll for Great Fire Annihilation, going through the motions of studying it for a while before requesting the scroll for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu was a B-rank jutsu, typically only learned by Jonin.
Following the guidance in the scroll, Uchiha Shinji memorized the hand seals and chakra flow patterns, trying it out silently. Though the chakra control was still unfamiliar, he didn't encounter any real obstacles. He figured that with practice, mastering the Shadow Clone Jutsu wouldn't be an issue.
At this moment, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the archive keeper seemed to be secretly observing him.
"I can't learn this too quickly; otherwise, with the Third Hokage's experience, he could easily gauge my chakra level. If I draw too much attention, it'll complicate things."
Uchiha Shinji immediately became alert.
If he mastered a B-rank jutsu, one only typically learned by Jonin, too easily, it could have significant repercussions.
The Third Hokage had likely agreed to his request so easily as a way to test his potential.
So Uchiha Shinji feigned frustration, shaking his head and pretending to be deeply pondering the contents of the scroll.