Aoba found his face pressed against a soft, snowy expanse. He could have dodged, but for some reason, he didn't.
"Is this a better look? You've been sneaking glances all night," Tsunade said, her breath reeking of alcohol. Fortunately, Aoba wasn't much better off.
Aoba: "..."
He could tolerate this much, but he decided to retaliate and pushed back.
Tsunade casually tossed aside the sake bottle, flipping over to pin Aoba beneath her again.
A loud thud echoed from the Hokage's office.
"What about Shizune…?" Aoba asked hesitantly, worried she might walk in. Based on past experience, Shizune usually showed up to escort Tsunade to rest after a night of drinking.
"Don't worry, she's with Kakashi right now."
"..."
Aoba was speechless. Kakashi, that quiet guy, had moved fast without anyone noticing. Since there were no interruptions to fear, Aoba decided to fully enjoy the moment.
The next morning, Shizune entered the Hokage's office, but something felt off. Stepping back, she checked the sign on the door. It was indeed the Hokage's office.
So why was all the furniture missing?
Just then, Tsunade emerged from an inner room, noticing Shizune's confused expression.
"About that… I drank too much last night and accidentally caused a little destruction," Tsunade said with a sheepish smile.
"..."
Shizune wanted to ask, "Is this your idea of 'a little' destruction?" but couldn't find the words. After all, she should have been there last night to accompany Tsunade, but instead…
Tsunade's face suddenly lit up with a mischievous smile.
"So, tell me, how's Kakashi?" she teased.
Shizune: "..."
Aoba walked home, supporting his sore back. Tsunade's personality wasn't one to accept defeat. Despite her lack of experience, she acted like an expert. She constantly insisted on taking control, forcing Aoba to resist, which led to the office's furniture becoming collateral damage.
Drawing on his greater experience, Aoba eventually prevailed, but not without considerable effort. The worst part was the lack of proper breathing during the ordeal, which drained his stamina even more.
If not for his body being enhanced by Hashirama cells, Aoba doubted he could have kept up.
When he returned home, Yumi immediately wrinkled her nose at him. Fortunately, the smell of alcohol led her to believe he had been out drinking with friends, so she didn't question him further.
But when Yumi helped him bathe, she couldn't resist teasing him. Not wanting to show favoritism, Aoba summoned all his remaining energy for her.
As a result, the next morning, he had no choice but to walk gingerly, supporting his back.
The only good news was his impressive recovery rate. After a hearty breakfast and a lazy morning, he was back to normal.
Later, Aoba headed to the training grounds. As planned, it was time to begin advanced training for Team 7.
The recent mission at Hozuki Castle had shown Aoba that the kids' strength was now sufficient for real-world challenges. They were ready for higher-level training to prepare them for the dangerous situations they might face in the future.
"Ninjas, at their core, are warriors and assassins. Combat and even death are destinies every ninja must face. The best training is battle.
Up until now, your training has focused on mastering your jutsus and improving your teamwork. From this point forward, you need to train with the mindset that I might actually kill you."
For some reason, Sasuke felt that Aoba's voice today lacked its usual vigor. Though his tone was strong, he seemed a bit low on energy.
Aoba: "..."
Leaving several shadow clones behind, he sparred seriously with the kids, making them adapt to the new intensity before moving on to deeper training.
Afterward, Aoba returned to his lab.
The pair of Sharingan he had been working on had almost completed their purification process. Now it was time for the final step.
Since they couldn't be transplanted into his own eyes, Aoba's plan from the beginning was to integrate them into a chakra cloak.
However, to activate the eyes in this way required auxiliary methods. After all, they weren't his own eyes and weren't directly connected to his body.
Aoba had prepared extensively for this, and Tsunade was present to handle any potential complications.
Once everything was ready, Aoba activated the chakra cloak and extended his mental energy to connect with the eyes.
The Mangekyō Sharingan fundamentally represents a deep projection of one's inner desires. These hidden desires often remain buried, so most people aren't even aware of what they truly want.
Even Aoba wasn't sure. The results of this awakening were entirely unpredictable.
When Aoba injected his mental energy into the eyes, there was a moment of calm, as if nothing had happened.
Then, a violent surge hit.
It felt like a massive explosion. Even though the experience was mediated through the spiritual link, Aoba could sense an incredible transformation as his mental energy merged with the overwhelming ocular power.
For the first time, Aoba experienced the process of a Sharingan evolving into a Mangekyō. It was an invaluable opportunity. He focused all his attention on observing the changes within the eyes.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Aoba opened his eyes. The Sharingan embedded in the chakra cloak had fully transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The design featured two overlapping equilateral triangles. According to Madara Uchiha's classification, this was a straight-line Mangekyō.
In the Naruto world, the terms "straight-line" and "curved-line" Mangekyō don't just refer to whether the lines are straight or curved. They denote whether the eye's pattern is symmetrical.
For instance, Sasuke's Mangekyō features curves but is symmetrical, making it a straight-line type. In contrast, Itachi's asymmetrical pattern classifies as curved-line.
Aoba's design was clearly symmetrical, making it a straight-line type. Its abilities also aligned with this classification.
The left eye possessed a defensive ability named Elysium. Within its domain, it extended the distance between Aoba and any incoming attack, stretching the distance to theoretically infinite lengths (depending on the power of the eye).
From a conventional perspective, this change in distance was invisible, meaning any attack would fail to reach him while this ability was active.
Of course, spiritual attacks might be a different story. Though Aoba hadn't tested it, he hypothesized that spiritual attacks required proximity as well, and extending the distance might also nullify them.
Seeing this ability, Aoba realized his deepest desire was survival, or to put it bluntly, he was afraid of death.
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Currently on Chapter 204 - Aoba and Orochimaru's Conversion