"Not bad luck."
Ryujin Kenichi looked at the two bandits twitching on the ground before him, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
He hadn't expected to run into more trouble so soon, especially not again so quickly after his last encounter—but here they were. Only two this time.
"P-Please, spare us! This is the first time we've ever done anything like this!" wheezed one of the bandits, sprawled on the ground and barely able to move.
Kenichi raised an eyebrow. The man looked like he regretted all his life choices at once.
Apparently, the idiot thought that since Kenichi was traveling alone, he must be an easy target—just a merchant. Big mistake.
"Is the economy that bad these days?" Kenichi mused internally. Even thugs are brave enough to rob a shinobi?
He curled his lips in amusement. The two hadn't been so pitiful when they first attacked—swaggering, overconfident, sure of their victory. That arrogance was gone now.
"Please… my elderly mother is waiting for me to come home," the man sobbed, snot bubbling from his nose.
Kenichi clicked his tongue. "Oh? And I'm supposed to have the morality to be guilt-tripped by a bandit?"
With an annoyed grunt, he knocked both men out cold with the hilt of his blade—just hard enough to put them under.
Dragging them into a nearby cave, he muttered to himself. "Let's see… the hand seals for Edo Tensei…"
He recited the seals mentally—boar, dog, ram, dragon, and so on. The jutsu wasn't easy. Tobirama had invented it, but Orochimaru had perfected it, and Kabuto refined it even further. Kenichi had studied their methods—mostly Orochimaru's—but lacked the high-grade sacrifices that made it effective.
Still, for a test? These two would do.
He began the ritual, binding one of the bandits to the summoning array. The other he simply tied up for later—he could only summon one soul at a time, anyway.
"Arise… my warrior," Kenichi said with mock ceremony, pressing his hands together.
The sacrifice's body shimmered, taking the form of a powerful man—broad shoulders, long dark hair, a presence that made the very air seem heavier. Senju Hashirama—the First Hokage.
But almost instantly, the transformation began to collapse. The face distorted. The chakra flared violently, uncontrolled—and then, the form crumbled to ash.
Kenichi stared for a long second before his mouth twitched.
"As expected of the God of Shinobi… even in death, you're overpowered." He sighed. "Guess a low-tier civilian can't handle anchoring that kind of soul."
He glanced at the other unconscious bandit and scratched his head. "Yeah… you're probably not going to cut it either."
Despite the power of Edo Tensei, it had serious limitations. If he wanted to summon a Kage-level ninja and retain their strength, the living sacrifice needed a strong body—at least a jōnin. These two barely qualified as people.
"But I don't need him to fight," Kenichi muttered. "I just need his knowledge. If I can get that… even a Genin might suffice."
He paused, thinking. What about Uzumaki Kushina? He'd acquired a strand of her hair at the funeral of the Fourth Hokage. Tempting.
But then again… she was an Uzumaki. Their chakra was infamous for its resilience—and their souls were no different. Worse, her fuinjutsu skills might backfire and break the summoning altogether. Not worth the risk.
"Lucky guy," Kenichi muttered, patting the still-unconscious bandit. "If you were just a little more useful…"
A while later, Kenichi clapped his hands clean and walked out of the cave, leaving it completely empty. No corpses, no signs of jutsu. Just silence.
[Current Research Progress: 99.99%]
He glanced at the strange golden interface only he could see—his "cheat" from another world. It didn't do much in terms of flash, but it got results. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan was nearly fully analyzed.
"Almost there," he murmured.
Now, it was time to choose the next target.
"I've got plenty of samples lined up. Byakugan users who've defected… Shikotsumyaku is next on the list... Lots of interesting bloodlines out there."
Kenichi smiled faintly to himself as he vanished into the forest, a researcher more dangerous than any rogue ninja.
Considering that he would be heading to the Land of Rain soon—with a high likelihood of encountering Nagato and Konan of the Akatsuki—Ryujin Kenichi turned his attention to the amber he had collected earlier.
This amber contained a strange parasite. In legends dating back to the era of the Sage of Six Paths, there were whispers of such parasites having the ability to manipulate others. Whether those stories were myth or fact remained uncertain, but if they held any truth, then this parasite might be of interest to someone like Nagato, who wields the Rinnegan.
Still, questions remained. Could this parasite actually control shinobi? Could it influence chakra users? And although the Sage of Six Paths had once destroyed these organisms, that only served to highlight how dangerous they might have been. A being of that caliber wouldn't have intervened unless they posed a serious threat.
But with only one sample in hand, Kenichi found himself conflicted. Was it worth risking it on uncertain research?
In the end, he decided to proceed. While he could continue his other experiments—be it the Byakugan, bloodline traits, or forbidden techniques—this parasite was unique. If he didn't act now, the opportunity might be lost forever.
However, there was one major issue: the parasite was dead. Without the ability to revive or preserve it in a usable form, studying it would be nearly impossible. That limitation ultimately pushed Kenichi toward this choice.
The next morning, when Ryujin Kenichi awoke, something felt... different.
It was as if the world had sharpened around him. Where before his vision had been clear, now it was almost painfully vivid—like the difference between standard definition and 8K. He could see every ripple in the air, every flutter of a mosquito's wings.
Stunned, Kenichi quickly got to his feet and checked his reflection. His eyes—crimson, with three tomoe spinning slowly—were unmistakable.
"The Three-Tomoe Sharingan…?" he muttered, staring into the mirror.
His eyes were identical to those of a fully awakened Uchiha. Yet unlike Kakashi, who had famously struggled with the strain of a transplanted Sharingan, Kenichi felt no fatigue, no chakra drain, no discomfort. It was as if the eyes were his from birth.
"So, I've fully synchronized with them," he said to himself, thoughtfully touching his face. "That means… I might be able to evolve them into a Mangekyō Sharingan too?"
He recalled the tragic triggers required to awaken the Mangekyō: deep emotional trauma, loss, or overwhelming grief—often from witnessing the death of a loved one. But as a scientist, Kenichi was less interested in reliving heartbreak and more intrigued by the mechanism behind it.
What was it about extreme emotion that pushed the Sharingan to evolve? Could it be replicated through other means? Could the brain be stimulated to trigger the same process?
"I'll need to run experiments once this mission ends," he decided. "If I can isolate the emotional or mental catalyst, maybe I can artificially induce the evolution…"
Of course, Kenichi had no fear of losing his eyes in the process. He had already left Konoha behind, and before leaving, his teacher had provided him with a backup pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Even in the worst-case scenario, he had options.
Now, with this new power and a dangerous mission ahead, Ryujin Kenichi knew the real test was just beginning.