Naruto: Uchiha Survivor Forced to Save the Shinobi World

If this hypothesis is true, it means that Uchiha Shinji has unintentionally created a brand-new life form endowed with sentience.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

Shinji felt a pang of unease.

For a moment, he couldn't judge whether the 'biological exoskeleton' gaining sentience was beneficial or detrimental to him.

However, to verify his hypothesis, he decided to test it first.

He would observe whether the half-set of 'biological exoskeleton' on Neji, sustained by Tenseigan chakra, had truly gained sentience as he suspected!

Thus, he slipped behind a wall, activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and covertly invoked 'Jikibi' to link the fiercely battling Kimimaro on the field with the spectating Neji. Then, he activated 'Wazunagi,' creating a void passage between the two.

Of course.

He only established a chakra pathway without manipulating the chakra flow. He was observing whether the half-set of 'biological exoskeleton' on Neji would transmit chakra on its own.

On the training field.

The intense battle continued.

Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan swirled in his eye sockets, swaying up, down, left, and right as his body danced in combat.

"I've caught it. I've caught everything."

Sasuke's smirk grew wider.

In this spar, he clearly noticed a significant improvement in his perception. Kimimaro's movements were almost entirely within his observation and prediction, allowing him to maintain an even footing despite being at a disadvantage in strength and speed.

Kimimaro seemed to realize this as well and increased his speed once more.

Sasuke blocked while taunting, "It's useless. My Sharingan has seen through all your movements!"

Kimimaro remained silent, accelerating further.

Whoosh! Soon, with Kimimaro's relentless speed increase, his figure on the field began to blur!

"So fast!"

"I can't see him at all."

"Is this the level of a genius?"

The watching peers let out gasps of awe, only now realizing that Kimimaro's speed hadn't yet reached its limit!

Sasuke's expression tightened, the smirk fading from his face.

Because he noticed Kimimaro was still getting faster, and his Sharingan was faintly struggling to keep up!

Cough, cough! Suddenly, Kimimaro, moving at breakneck speed, halted, clutching his chest and coughing violently.

Sasuke froze, then frowned, "Hey, you okay?"

Cough, cough, cough… Kimimaro's coughing grew worse, his face flushed red, body hunched as if he were coughing out his lungs! Sasuke immediately saw the issue and said bluntly, "Your body can't handle that speed. Give up!"

Kimimaro wiped his mouth, "We continue!"

Seeing the blood trickling from Kimimaro's lips, Sasuke's heart jolted, "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go to the hospital?"

Kimimaro shook his head, "I'm fine. Continue!"

At the sidelines.

Yakumo furrowed her brow, whispering, "Something's off with Kimimaro."

Shion asked, "What's wrong?"

While closely observing Kimimaro's body with her 'Koryugan,' Yakumo explained, "He seems sick. There are signs of inflammation in the capillaries of his heart, lungs, and respiratory tract, and his blood pressure is off…"

Hearing this, Neji's face darkened.

Though he didn't know why, he felt an inexplicable urge not to see Kimimaro lose. He also realized why Kimimaro wasn't using his full strength—it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't!

On the field.

"Give up. Something's wrong with your body. If you keep going, I'm worried you'll hurt yourself!"

Sasuke parried while persuading, looking entirely at ease.

The violent coughing seemed to worsen Kimimaro's condition, his state deteriorating, yet he refused to give up, maintaining a fierce offensive.

Seeing this, Sasuke thought, He's this sick. Even if I win, there's nothing to brag about. In that case, I'll end this boring spar!

With his mind made up, Sasuke launched a counterattack.

Kimimaro's illness dragged down his body, severely weakening him, while Sasuke had made rapid progress over the past month, his dojutsu power surging. As one waned and the other waxed, Sasuke's exertion quickly put Kimimaro on the back foot.

"It's over!"

After a flurry of attacks pushed Kimimaro to the edge of the field, Sasuke flipped and aimed a kick to knock him out of bounds.

Am I going to lose?

Kimimaro's expression hardened.

Such an assault would've been trivial for him in the past, but now his lungs burned fiercely. Forget fighting—just breathing caused excruciating pain, as if something were tearing and scorching his chest.

!? At that moment, he suddenly felt a warm current flood into his body.

The cool, soothing sensation swiftly suppressed the burning in his lungs, washing away his pain and fatigue.

Sasuke's attack was already upon him, leaving no time to think. Kimimaro immediately counterattacked.

Whoosh! He vanished from his spot, disappearing from Sasuke's Sharingan vision as well.

"What!?"

Sasuke, certain of his victory, froze in shock.

Kimimaro's speed had returned. It was as if they were back to their first spar, when Kimimaro had similarly evaded his perception in an instant.

As dead memories began to haunt Sasuke, Kimimaro, using the 'Body Flicker Technique,' appeared behind him and delivered a clean, powerful kick.

Boom! With a dull thud, Sasuke was sent flying, crashing into several unfortunate onlookers.

In that moment, the field and sidelines fell silent! No one had expected the tide to turn. Sasuke had clearly held the advantage, yet Kimimaro had seized victory in the final moment.

The victorious Kimimaro didn't celebrate. Instead, he looked toward Neji at the sidelines with a puzzled expression.

Neji, too, was visibly confused.

In the classroom.

Shinji's expression was complex.

Through the test, he had confirmed that the half-set of 'biological exoskeleton' on Neji possessed some form of sentience.

Because the chakra transmission just now wasn't his doing—it was autonomously performed by the half-set of 'biological exoskeleton' on Neji.

Moreover, this proved that Neji's half-set recognized the half-set on Kimimaro as part of its own body. Only this could explain why it had proactively sent chakra to support Kimimaro.

Shinji stopped paying attention to the training field, deactivated 'Wazunagi,' and, gathering his thoughts, returned to his seat.

The question now before him was whether the half-set of 'biological exoskeleton' gaining sentience was beneficial or harmful to his 'Tenseigan Plan.'