Konoha: The King of Souls from Uchiha

c77: Mature Homitz

Gen Uchiha had never minded the act of bowing. To him, it was merely a superficial ritual a shell of etiquette.

In his previous life, many were charmed or fooled by the elaborate and frequent bowing culture of the Land of Cherry Blossoms (Sakura no Kuni), interpreting it through the lens of their own customs. But in that land, etiquette was often a mere social lubricant a transactional performance rather than a sincere gesture. A deep bow might follow a transgression, but genuine change rarely came after.

The prevailing mentality was simple: "I've already apologized, what more do you want?" The apology became the end of the matter, regardless of the gravity of the offense. Compensation? Accountability? Rarely entertained.

A culture of superficial civility, Gen thought, more concerned with performance than principle.

In fact, the shinobi world inherited this same moral pliability. Villains, traitors, and monsters were often redeemed with a single act of contrition, a dramatic flashback, or a tearful apology. Even the likes of Nagato, who had obliterated Konoha with Shinra Tensei, were forgiven by Naruto, and Obito Uchiha who started a Fourth Great Ninja War was mourned as a tragic hero.

Though Gen Uchiha scorned this hypocrisy, he was not above exploiting it. Human beings were inherently double-standarded. If others could use virtue as camouflage for vice, then he could weaponize it just as well.

"What's that old phrase again?" Gen mused. "Use their own spear to break their shield. Walk the same path they do, until you're the only one left walking."

It was almost poetic. And when the day came that he had to choose between principle and victory, he'd choose victory—and be forgiven afterward, naturally.

Returning to his compound, Gen used a weakened Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) to blow out the accumulated dust in the courtyard. Once the air cleared, he entered his home and collapsed onto the tatami-lined sofa.

He raised a hand, and several soul-infused chakra spheres bright and pearlescent appeared, drifting like soap bubbles toward various cleaning tools: brooms, shovels, cloths. Upon contact, they shimmered and awakened.

"Master! Master!" they chirped in unison, animated by the fragments of borrowed soul energy.

"Silence."

Gen's voice was soft but carried authority. "Zhu Rong. Wu Sheng. Oversee the cleaning."

The two tools, both long-term Homitz with matured intelligence comparable to that of sentient puppets like Sasori's Hiruko stepped forward with a nod.

"Yes, master."

These two had been around for some time, entrusted with tasks beyond mere sweeping and scrubbing. Their enhanced awareness made them ideal for supervisory roles.

Leaving them to it, Gen moved to his private quarters, crossed his legs on a meditation cushion, and pressed his hands together in a modified Yin Seal. His body entered a state of suspended animation, and a translucent projection of his soul floated upward, then burrowed into the earth using a spiritual adaptation of Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique).

Konoha's barrier a network of chakra-sensing nodes pioneered by the Yamanaka and Aburame clans covered the village from above and below. However, the underground perception only extended to a certain depth, and the barrier was not always active at full intensity. Gen, using knowledge discreetly obtained from Orochimaru (a former member of Konoha's High Council), chose a moment when the barrier's recalibration would create a gap in the sensor net.

Slipping beneath its reach, Gen Uchiha's soul raced outward, skimming through the earth like a chakra ghost, eventually emerging thirty miles west of the Forest of Death.

The tent nestled there was large, reinforced with seals, and camouflaged against aerial detection. Snow had accumulated on the top. Beneath it, high-end research equipment imported through black market channels and supplied by Orochimaru's underground contacts was neatly arranged.

Gen's soul hovered just above the ground. With a flick of his will, he summoned apple-sized orbs of soul energy and dispersed them across the tent. Each orb homed in on a specific device. Upon contact, the machines activated, their dormant Homitz cores springing to life.

"Master! Master!"

Chirping voices echoed as rudimentary faces formed on screens and gauges, giving a bizarre life to cold metal.

Gen allowed himself a rare smile. With this many harvested soul fragments from recent confrontations, he could afford to temporarily animate these instruments.

Previously, he avoided such luxuries. Even though his Soru Soru no Mi (Soul-Soul Fruit) abilities allowed temporary withdrawal of soul energy, the transaction wasn't entirely lossless. But now, with a stockpile of unclaimed souls mostly from missing-nin, bandits, and the occasional Root operative he could splurge a bit.

Still, he wouldn't involve the serpents of Ryūchi Cave. Orochimaru may have helped design the base, but giving him exact coordinates was out of the question. Orochimaru's curiosity was bottomless, and even if he didn't intend to betray Gen, secrets in that man's presence were always at risk.

"Silence."

With a commanding presence, Gen drifted into the tent.

"You're no longer prototypes. You're mature Homitz. Act like it."

He surveyed the activated instruments. Though animated, they remained low-intelligence constructs unlike Zhu Rong and Wu Sheng, whose persistent souls were cultivated through long-term reinforcement.

"Do not break yourselves. If any of you malfunction, there won't be forgiveness."

Precision devices, once broken, could take months to replace. Time was more valuable than money.

After ensuring the stability of the equipment, Gen gestured. "Follow me."

He floated ahead at walking speed. The Homitz, moving in orderly lines, trailed behind.

Along the way, Gen activated Kongō-Ikazuchi (Adamantine Soul Radar)—his refined version of the spiritual perception technique once used by Kato Dan. With it, he could detect not just life force but the specific resonance frequency of souls, a key advantage during soul separation missions.

He remembered how Kato Dan, in canon, had used this skill to find Tsunade during the Fourth Shinobi War—even with half a body. It had its limitations, but when coupled with Gen's modifications, the detection range expanded considerably.

The forest was peaceful no large beasts or chakra anomalies. It was winter, after all.

After several hours of slow progress due to terrain complexity and the desire to remain undetected he arrived at a hidden cave where his surrogate bodies, Mu Yi and Mu Er, awaited. These artificial vessels, sculpted from Hashirama Cell-infused tissue and wrapped in a Zetsu-like protective sheath, had been customized to support temporary soul insertion without rejection.

Splitting his soul again a technique that bordered dangerously on Forbidden Soul Splintering, something even Orochimaru had failed to fully master Gen entered both Mu Yi and Mu Er.

Now mobile in the physical world, Gen approached Uchiha Yuichi and Uchiha Mori, who looked up with mild confusion before being knocked unconscious with a silent, chakra-enhanced palm strike.

Emerging from the cave, Gen led the Homitz in. Once everything was arranged, he withdrew his soul fragments from the Homitz, regathering the lifespan and energy into his core.

Instruments, now silent and in place, stood ready for his next great experiment.

As Gen soared upward, his soul cut through the darkening sky like a shooting star, arcing back toward Konoha. His return was timed with the barrier's Twilight Shift, the brief moment during which the chakra lattice pulsed and readjusted a narrow, exploitable window.

He re-entered his body in the living room of his compound.

No one would suspect he had just crossed miles as a ghost, conducted a covert operation, and animated a sentient laboratory in forbidden woods all before dinner.

---

30+ advanced chapter on patreon....Visit patreon now to read my exclusive content... posting 5 chapters per day, Our collection is now available on PATREON

visit patreon.com/Elbertovic to view 30+ advanced chapters

Please subscribe guys