Chapter 77: The Black Raven
While Orochimaru was busy researching ways to enhance the power of Ice Release kekkei genkai, Yusuke was in his inner world, holding his Zanpakutō against his own left arm.
"Do I really have to cut it off?" Yusuke asked.
"If you want the result you're aiming for, then yes—this cut is essential," came the voice of Ryūjin Jakka, echoing from the blade itself.
"So be it."
Yusuke sighed. In one swift motion, the sword fell, severing his left arm at the shoulder. The arm drifted weightlessly in the void.
But this wasn't Yusuke's physical arm—it was a projection within his spiritual body.
Immediately after it was cut, a new arm regenerated from his spirit form, though his spiritual presence dimmed noticeably. A significant portion of his soul had been lost in the process.
Gritting his teeth against the searing pain of soul fragmentation, Yusuke grabbed the severed arm with his right hand. His Sharingan flared to life.
His consciousness then returned to the physical world—where, in his real hand, he now held a crow.
Staring into the bird's eyes with his Sharingan, Yusuke infused the soul energy from the severed spiritual arm directly into the crow's body.
The bird flailed violently for a moment, but soon settled. Its once black, lifeless pupils were now transformed—bearing the same Sharingan pattern as Yusuke's.
"It worked."
Yusuke smiled faintly. Despite the small wave of weakness washing over him—an aftereffect of the soul division—he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
After the recent attack on the Uchiha clan by Root, Yusuke realized that the contingency plans he'd set up weren't nearly enough. He needed something more.
During a conversation with Ryūjin Jakka, the sword spirit suggested a method—splitting his soul to create a permanent clone.
This idea wasn't unheard of. In the Bleach universe, the Primera Espada, Coyote Starrk, had mastered a similar technique of soul separation. While what Ryūjin Jakka proposed differed slightly in mechanics, it was far more suited to Yusuke's unique condition.
After careful deliberation, Yusuke decided to go through with it—creating a crow clone, forged from a fragment of his own soul.
This black raven would permanently house one-fifth of Yusuke's spiritual power. But as Yusuke's strength grew, so too would the power of this soul-linked clone.
Though losing 20% of his soul was no small cost, with Yusuke's current pace of cultivation, it wouldn't take long for him to fully recover.
With this soul-bound raven, Yusuke now possessed something invaluable—a mobile teleportation beacon.
So long as the crow activated Kagerō through its Sharingan, Yusuke could instantly teleport to its location using Enbō no Jutsu (Blazing Step Technique).
But teleportation wasn't its only utility. The crow could share its vision with Yusuke, act as an advanced scout, and even unleash ocular techniques through its Sharingan—making it a formidable support tool.
More importantly, because the crow's core was made from a portion of Yusuke's soul, it wouldn't die even if Yusuke's physical body were destroyed. It could carry on, transfer to a new vessel, and continue serving him.
After completing the creation of the raven clone, Yusuke sat quietly, immersing himself in the strange yet fascinating sensation of possessing a soul-bound double.
It felt as though he now had two fully independent brains—interconnected, yet without interfering with each other's function.
"With this raven clone, things will be much easier from now on," he murmured.
"I can leave it behind to handle tasks while I deal with matters elsewhere without worry."
"And more importantly… Shisui's Kotoamatsukami finally has a vessel."
To Yusuke, this raven clone served one especially crucial purpose—it could house the Sharingan imbued with Shisui's ultimate genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami.
According to Yusuke's plans, he intended to use Kotoamatsukami to control a key individual at a pivotal moment.
However, activating Kotoamatsukami wasn't as simple as holding Shisui's eye. It had to be transplanted into a living being and awakened as a Mangekyō Sharingan to be used.
Yusuke wasn't about to pluck out one of his own eyes to use Shisui's, nor was he willing to entrust such a powerful ability to someone else. This created a difficult dilemma.
At one point, Yusuke even considered subduing Hidan with genjutsu, transplanting Shisui's eye into him, and then controlling Hidan to cast Kotoamatsukami under illusion.
A convoluted plan—until the raven clone solved everything.
Now, all Yusuke needed to do was transplant Shisui's eye into the raven clone.
He looked at the bird perched beside him, its existence intertwined with his soul, and gave it a name: Gen'ya—"Black Flame Raven."
(The character 玄 ("gen") represents a color—a deep black tinged faintly with crimson. Fitting for a clone born of fire and soul.)
After naming it, Yusuke spent some time in his laboratory familiarizing himself with Gen'ya's capabilities.
Before long, Kabuto arrived, as scheduled.
Yusuke had planned this in advance. Surgery involving a Sharingan transplant was outside his area of expertise. For that, he needed Kabuto.
This alone was a testament to Rin's skills in the past. Despite her youth, she had managed to transplant Obito's eye into Kakashi during the chaos of battle—a clear sign of her exceptional medical ninjutsu talent.
"Sensei," Kabuto asked with concern, "you mentioned needing me for surgery—were you injured during the last mission?"
"Not exactly."
Yusuke waved his hand. The raven that had been resting on his shoulder fluttered down and landed lightly on Kabuto's.
"This is my summoning beast," Yusuke explained. "Its name is Gen'ya. Today's surgery is for it."
Of course, he didn't intend to reveal the true nature of Gen'ya—that it was a soul clone. To others, it was simply a summoning beast.
"As expected of Sensei's familiar," Kabuto said with a slight grin, eyeing the raven.
"It even looks a little like you."
Yusuke was taken aback for a moment. Kabuto's joking now?
But then he looked closer—and realized Kabuto wasn't entirely wrong. Gen'ya's eyes bore an uncanny resemblance to human eyes—nearly identical to Yusuke's own. He had simply never noticed.
"Just a coincidence," Yusuke replied casually, brushing it off. He hadn't anticipated this unexpected side effect of the soul division.
Then, he drew from his cloak a small container, inside which floated a preserved human eye.
"The reason I asked you here today… is to transplant this eye into Gen'ya's left socket."
Inside that container was none other than Shisui's left eye—the one believed to possess the power of Kotoamatsukami.
Though Yusuke wasn't entirely certain which of Shisui's eyes held the ability, he made an educated guess based on Danzo's actions.
In the original story, Danzo had implanted Shisui's right eye beneath the bandages covering his own right eye. That eye was used only for short-term genjutsu control—not the true Kotoamatsukami.
This suggested that Shisui's left eye was the one carrying the full power of Kotoamatsukami—and it was this very eye that Yusuke now prepared to transplant into Gen'ya.