Shisui's emotional words left Itachi deep in thought.
He too had sensed the undercurrents brewing within the clan. Though still young, he could vaguely feel the tension rising between the Uchiha and the village, but there was nothing he could do about it.
After a moment of silence, Itachi hesitated, then said, "Shisui, if word gets out that you lost to Hyuga Kagami, then..."
The Uchiha clan being ostracized by the village wasn't a coincidence. The truth was, most of the Uchiha weren't particularly likable.
This was largely because once an Uchiha awakened their Sharingan, their strength would skyrocket, eventually reaching jonin-level strength almost inevitably.
Gaining power superior to others without needing to put in the same amount of effort naturally bred a sense of superiority.
Because of this, Itachi was worried that if word of Shisui's loss to Hyuga Kagami spread, the more unruly Uchiha elites might target Kagami—something that had happened before.
Shisui smiled. "I know what you're worried about. But don't be. Kagami is stronger than you think."
Itachi immediately understood Shisui's intent, and his curiosity about their match grew. "Tell me about your match with Kagami!"
Shisui recalled the fight and said calmly, "I never imagined that someone as quiet and unassuming as Kagami would have greater ocular power than me. It's humbling, really. I've been hailed as the Uchiha's number one genius, enjoying the admiration of the village, while he remains in the shadows with such strength."
After shaking his head and sighing, Shisui described the battle in detail.
"Neither genjutsu nor taijutsu worked on him?" Itachi muttered, then added, "Kagami is much stronger than I thought. I guess I was worried for nothing."
Shisui seemed to remember something and said, "I had a strange feeling."
"What kind of feeling?" Itachi asked.
"It felt like Kagami knew I wasn't using my full power. He seemed to..."
Shisui was about to say that Kagami might have sensed his Mangekyo Sharingan, but quickly shook the thought away. It was absurd.
Currently, the only ones in the village who knew about his Mangekyo were himself and Itachi, and he trusted Itachi not to spill the secret.
---
Second floor of a tavern.
After discussing Sasori, Hyuga Kagami paused and cautiously asked, "Lord Orochimaru, do you know much about the Tailed Beasts?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "You're interested in Tailed Beasts? Because of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki you encountered?"
Kagami didn't hide it and nodded naturally. "My chakra reserves have always been limited due to my lack of innate talent. To overcome this, I've studied various books and resources. Eventually, all signs pointed toward the Tailed Beasts."
Orochimaru chuckled. "You're like me—willing to do anything to get answers. But let me give you some advice: stay away from Tailed Beasts. They're more trouble than you think."
"Tailed Beasts are taboo in the five great villages. I wouldn't dare target them directly," Kagami said. "But what if... we could create an artificial version of one?"
He then laid out his concept of an artificial Tailed Beast to Orochimaru.
At Kagami's current technological level, such a creation was impossible. If he wanted something like the Zero-Tails to come into existence early, he would need Orochimaru's help.
Surprised by the concept, Orochimaru paused briefly before saying in his raspy voice, "Kagami, you truly are different—full of ideas."
Kagami looked at him eagerly. "Is it even possible to make such a thing?"
Orochimaru thought for a while before answering in a serious tone. "The village has actually researched Tailed Beasts since the First Hokage's era. The project continued under the Second Hokage. But for some unknown reason, it was suddenly halted. All materials were sealed, and the research was completely abandoned."
Kagami thought to himself, "So the village really did research Tailed Beasts."
Ever since meeting Shennong, he had been analyzing which village might've had the tech to create the Zero-Tails.
Mist and Sand had unstable governments and were too weak to conduct such deep research, so they were the first to be ruled out.
Stone and Cloud were strong, but Stone specialized in Earth Release and Cloud in Lightning Release and taijutsu. Neither seemed to have made progress in Tailed Beast studies.
That left only Konoha, with the First Hokage who could suppress Tailed Beasts, as the most likely origin of the research.
Clearing his mind, Kagami asked at the right moment, "Why was the project stopped?"
Orochimaru replied, "I don't know the exact reason. But I suspect it was due to instability. I've read that artificial Tailed Beasts had a high chance of going berserk. When that happened, the result was pure disaster."
Kagami offered another idea. "What if we got rid of their offensive capabilities and made them just act as chakra batteries? Would that increase stability?"
Orochimaru gave him a sharp look and replied in a mentoring tone, "Large amounts of gathered chakra are inherently destructive. There's no such thing as removing offensive power. I had a similar idea long ago. The only way to improve stability is to ensure a single source of chakra for the artificial Tailed Beast, and that chakra must not be too violent."
Kagami frowned. "Other than the Tailed Beasts, who could possibly provide enough chakra alone?"
"Exactly. In this world, maybe only the First Hokage could supply enough chakra for such a task. Not even the Second Hokage could manage that."
After a pause, Orochimaru added, "And if you use the ferocious chakra of a real Tailed Beast, the artificial beast would likely go berserk instantly. That, I suspect, is why the project was abandoned."
Kagami strained to recall everything from his past life, searching for a solution to this seemingly unsolvable problem.
In his vague memories, there were indeed individuals with massive chakra pools—but they were all top-tier shinobi, none of whom would ever agree to become a living battery for him.
Excluding those powerhouses, Kagami vaguely remembered two places where mysterious sources of massive chakra existed:
One was the 'Dragon Vein' in the ancient city of Roran in the Land of Wind.
The other was 'Moryo,' a demon sealed away by the priestess of the Land of Demons...