LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 28: Ch.28 The Lampbearer
After understanding the hidden dangers of relying on Izanagi-no-Mikoto, Uchiha Shinji secretly made up his mind—unless it was a critical moment, he would never casually use this dojutsu.
Fate was not something to be toyed with.
Calming his mind, he slowly stood up.
At this moment, his eyes had returned to their normal black color.
But only he knew that ever since he had successfully controlled Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan through Susanoo Tomoshibi, his left eye now contained Amaterasu, and his right eye held Izanagi-no-Mikoto.
Even without relying on Susanoo, he now possessed a formidable level of destructive power.
"I've gained another weapon to deal with demons!"
Even though Amaterasu didn't have a specific counter-effect against demons, its ability to burn anything without extinguishing until the target was reduced to ashes made it a perfect weapon against demons with terrifying regeneration abilities.
After carefully cleaning up all traces he left in the cave, Shinji quietly left the Forest of Death and returned to his apartment.
From his previous experience, when the countdown reached one and midnight passed, he would likely have to face the invasion.
And today was the final day of the countdown!
Various kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, and items like masks and cloaks for concealing his identity were neatly arranged on his bed.
As he organized his shinobi tools, he thought about the battle to come that night.
His dojutsu power had greatly increased, and with the Amaterasu and Izanagi-no-Mikoto under his control, his strength and experience were far superior to when he faced the invasion for the first time.
With this level of strength, he naturally started thinking about quickly ending the invaders and raising his evaluation.
"Last time, my rating was E…"
Recalling the first invasion, he began analyzing.
The invading demon, Hand Demon, had slaughtered almost all the palace guards of the Shrine Maiden in the Land of Demons, and nearly destroyed her entire palace.
The impact was significant. The fact that the Land of Demons immediately sent the Shrine Maiden, Shion, to seek refuge in the Hidden Leaf spoke volumes.
"It seems the influence that the invader has on the shinobi world is also a factor in the rating."
His gaze sharpened.
After thinking it through, he reached a conclusion: if he could eliminate the invaders quickly and prevent them from having any impact on the shinobi world, he could likely achieve a high rating.
With things getting clearer, he began packing his ninja tools into his pouch: "For now, I'm not lacking in dojutsu power. But as long as I can't regenerate my own eye power, even two Mangekyō Sharingan will eventually run out of energy. I wonder if getting a higher rating might reward me with some extra eye power..."
Thinking of the rewards, his mind began to wander.
The last reward had been chakra, which suggested that Mangekyō eye power could also be one of the rewards.
Taking it a step further, since Mangekyō Sharingan itself was a type of chakra organ, could it also be a possible reward?
He was excited by the thought.
After organizing his tools, Shinji headed to the training ground.
Since Haku was still under ANBU protection in the safe house, he was temporarily without a sparring partner. So, he spent time practicing his Breathing Techniques while familiarizing himself with the dual Mangekyō Sharingan he had now mastered.
The improvement in eye power wasn't just limited to the potency of the various dojutsu.
It also enhanced his perception, his ability to track fast movements, and even his ability to see chakra flows. All of these abilities became sharper as his dojutsu improved.
Shinji now found that he wasn't struggling to see or make sense of his surroundings.
Rather, he saw things too clearly, too precisely, and received so much information at once that it overwhelmed his ability to focus, causing him to miss critical moments in battle.
In simple terms, his experience was lacking.
Because observation techniques and the ability to filter out key information were also skills in themselves!
Eyes were like hardware—no matter how powerful a graphics card was, it needed the right driver to fully unleash its potential.
By evening, Shinji stopped his training, ate a meal in the village, and returned to his apartment to rest and conserve his strength.
Soon, night fell.
The areas destroyed by the rampaging Nine-Tails had already been cleared, and the reconstruction efforts were in full swing.
Glancing out at the still-busy streets, Shinji slowly drew the curtains.
[The dimension is under invasion.]
[Countdown: 1]
[Prepare for battle, the invasion will begin after midnight.]
The familiar voice rang in his ear.
This time, instead of panicking, Shinji's face was full of anticipation. His eyes were filled with eagerness as he glanced at the clock on the wall.
Time ticked by.
Click.
With a soft click, the clock's hands finally pointed to midnight.
"It's starting!"
He slowly put on his mask.
By now, his shinobi tools were already secured at his waist, he had changed into clothes without the Uchiha clan's crest, and he wore a cloak over them.
Everything was ready; all that remained was the teleportation!
[Detecting mysterious interference.]
Suddenly, the mysterious voice spoke again in his ear.
"Mysterious interference?"
He furrowed his brow.
[Source of interference detected: unknown 'Lampbearer,' target search failed.]
[Target will be searched again in 24 hours.]
Shinji sat back on the bed, slowly removing his mask, a solemn expression on his face.
This unexpected situation had caught him off guard.
Something capable of silently interfering with the mysterious force that had previously teleported him thousands of miles away from Hidden Leaf to the Land of Demons had appeared!
"What is this 'Lamp Bearer'? What is their purpose? And who or what is invading this time?"
One question after another flooded his mind.
He had already sensed something was off with the three-day countdown, but he hadn't expected something like this.
The appearance of this mysterious Lamp Bearer triggered a sense of unease deep within him.
From the mysterious voice's message, Shinji realized that Lamp Bearer seemed to be a title rather than a single individual.
This entity appeared to have some kind of power to interfere with dimensional detection.
The short three-day countdown, and the failed target search, were likely both results of the Lamp Bearer's actions.
Whoever or whatever this Lamp Bearer was, their abilities far exceeded Shinji's expectations.
Thinking about this, he murmured to himself, "What exactly is a 'Lamp Bearer'? Why are they interfering with the shinobi world?"
[Candidate Lampbearer, your question exceeds your authority.]
Shinji jumped up in shock. "What? I'm a Lamp Bearer too?"