037 Kakashi and "Make-Out Paradise"

The shattered barrier left Yugito momentarily stunned. She was about to disregard everything and continue her attack when another crimson shield enveloped the fortress.

“Damn Konoha, always hiding in their turtle shell,” she cursed angrily, abandoning her tailed beast transformation altogether.

Landing atop a treetop, Yugito panted lightly. Her fair skin was tinged with an unnatural crimson, revealing that maintaining the tailed beast form was no small burden upon her. Like Shisui, she was still in her prime, her abilities growing, and could not yet wield the power of Matatabi with true mastery.

Had she already mastered the Tailed Beast Bomb, this level of barrier would require only three blasts—no, two—to be destroyed.

Casting a resentful glance at the now slightly translucent shield, Yugito joined the approaching team of Kumogakure shinobi, heading toward the stronghold on the border of the Land of Fire.

After their departure, Shisui had the Hyuga shinobi confirm the situation once more before leading the Konoha contingent away from the fortress, hurrying toward the main force.

“We must inform Lord Orochimaru as soon as possible.”

...

“Lord Orochimaru, Kakashi’s squad has sent word. They encountered an unknown enemy. Three members of the Barrier Corps fell, one is gravely injured, and they failed to activate the fortress’s defensive barrier.”

Orochimaru, in the midst of arranging a barrier formation, paused slightly at the news. “An unknown enemy? Not Kumogakure?”

Fugaku nodded, equally astonished. “According to the report, the enemy uses a strange space-time ninjutsu. They never even saw their adversary's face.”

“Have them meet me directly upon their return,” Orochimaru replied, nodding slightly and returning his focus to the barrier formation.

When Kakashi’s team failed to report at the predetermined time, Orochimaru had anticipated their failure. Fortunately, the main battlefield against Kumogakure had yielded some advantage. The ‘false fortress’ had worked surprisingly well, and perhaps wary of another trap, Kumogakure abandoned further assaults.

This allowed Konoha to set up a new barrier at leisure. From this perspective, despite some unexpected incidents, his strategic objective was already achieved.

Using the previous ‘false fortress’ as a template, the new formation progressed swiftly. They would finish before dawn.

Of course, this was largely because Orochimaru himself was a master of barrier jutsu; had it relied solely on the Barrier Corps, who knew how long it would have dragged on.

“But it’s truly a pity...” Orochimaru licked his lips, a hint of regret in his heart.

In truth, he wished Kumogakure would engage him head-on indefinitely. Though casualties would be severe, the pace of war would undoubtedly quicken.

Compared to commanding a battlefield, Orochimaru much preferred slicing specimens in his laboratory, joyfully pursuing his research.

“It seems you could use a little help.”

Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind. Orochimaru’s expression changed, his hands instinctively trembling, nearly disrupting the newly completed formation node.

Fugaku, who had not yet left, witnessed this and asked in confusion, “Lord Orochimaru, is something the matter?”

Orochimaru shot Fugaku a cold glare, offering no response. Fugaku, unable to press further, returned to his duties within the fortress.

“Lamp Genie, when did you awaken?”

A humanoid cloud of smoke emerged from Orochimaru’s back, chuckling. “Last night, just before you used the ‘Yamata Technique.’ You seemed so busy, I thought it best not to disturb you.”

Orochimaru’s expression soured upon hearing this; it seemed the Lamp Genie had once again freeloaded one of his forbidden jutsu.

“Don’t be so stingy. I’m here now to help you,” the Lamp Genie grinned. “You may hold the advantage, but aside from Kumogakure, there’s another troublesome figure on the battlefield. If you don’t end the war quickly, his interference might prevent you from achieving your goal.”

“A troublesome figure?” Orochimaru frowned, recalling the mysterious enemy Kakashi had encountered—the greatest variable in this war.

“As you guessed, it’s him,” the Lamp Genie smiled. “I’ve told you before: he’s the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails incident, the wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan—Obito Uchiha.”

“Obito?”

Orochimaru murmured softly; the name was familiar to him. When he competed with Minato for the Hokage position, he had investigated Minato’s background thoroughly. If memory served, Obito, like Kakashi, was Minato’s disciple.

In other words, Minato’s own disciple orchestrated the Nine-Tails disaster, killing his sensei and sensei’s wife, and now sought to obstruct the village from winning the war.

The logic behind all this was so convoluted that even Orochimaru struggled to untangle it.

Meeting Orochimaru’s confused gaze, the Lamp Genie shrugged. “That’s simply how things are. As for the reasons—well, the Uchiha clan has always been afflicted. When their condition flares up, they’re not themselves. No need to dwell on it.”

Orochimaru nodded; the intricacies of human nature have never yielded a formula that can fully describe them. He need not waste excessive energy.

For now, it was enough to know that Obito Uchiha was an enemy.

Moreover, the Lamp Genie’s explanation resonated with Orochimaru’s previous research: the Sharingan is an immature bloodline limit; maintaining it demands a certain price, and the Mangekyo Sharingan even more so.

Perhaps the Uchiha clan’s extreme temperament was a psychological manifestation of their bloodline disease.

Orochimaru shared his theory with the Lamp Genie, who, though not a researcher, was well-traveled and insightful.

“A bloodline disease—your idea is ahead of its time,” the Lamp Genie murmured, stroking his chin. In the world he inhabited before becoming the Lamp Genie, mental illness was not yet a major concern. He hadn’t expected Orochimaru to notice such a detail.

But it was indeed intriguing. The Lamp Genie thought for a moment, then said, “Kakashi also possesses a Sharingan. Not being of Uchiha blood, his price for using it should be even greater.”

“Observing the changes in him after acquiring the Sharingan might yield some insight...”

At this point, the Lamp Genie paused briefly.

From what he knew, hatred, love, anger—the more intense the Uchiha’s emotions, the stronger their ocular power.

Extending this logic, perhaps ocular power also influences the Uchiha, amplifying hatred into vengeance, kindness into saintliness.

When the Uchiha channel their emotions through the Sharingan, the Sharingan in turn manipulates them to better express their feelings.

If this alone were not enough, the Lamp Genie noticed something peculiar in Kakashi’s personal history.

Kakashi’s Sharingan is unlike that of ordinary Uchiha; he cannot activate or deactivate it at will, and must constantly sustain its operation.

Yet hatred, love, or any emotion—humans cannot maintain them indefinitely, no matter how deep. They are but fleeting moments.

Kakashi cannot always love, always hate, or always feel any particular emotion.

By rights, his Sharingan should not persist, let alone evolve from two tomoe to three.

So what, then, allows him to maintain it?

The Lamp Genie recalled a book, a bestseller in the world of shinobi, authored by Jiraiya.

—“Make-out Paradise”

That made perfect sense. An eligible young man, if necessary, could maintain that particular state indefinitely.

Previously, the Lamp Genie thought Kakashi’s constant reading was due to a doomed fate, seeking solace and distraction.

Now, perhaps it was because reading eased the strain of the Sharingan, subconsciously fostering dependence.

Hearing the Lamp Genie’s theory, Orochimaru’s tone was strangely amused. “Lamp Genie, your thinking is truly unique—quite unlike most...”