Chapter 19 - ffsdfsdf

In every sense of the word, Yu Zhen's words were soft, but his actions were tough.

Although he looked like a civilized person, he had at least seven guns hidden in his pants.

Fūma Gorō felt that he had previously understood the gentle side of Yu Zhen's personality, but now he understood the ruthless side of Yu Zhen's personality.

For a ninja to disregard his own hand, it's not a question of ruthlessness anymore, but rather a question of madness.

Yu Zhen raised his arm, displaying the palms of their hands, which were pinned together by the Short Sword and forced to grip each other, to both sides.

Moving his hand tugged at the wound, causing Fūma Gorō's mouth to twitch involuntarily from the pain, but Yu Zhen seemed to feel no pain at all.

You know what, you really know what, regardless of whether Fūma Gorō was in pain or not, the people of the Fūma Clan were shocked by this action.

Immediately afterward, they felt a great sense of sincerity.

A ninja was willing to use his career to demonstrate his trust in newcomers, so how could they have any dissatisfaction?

Yu Zhen glanced at Fūma Gorō, who immediately understood the meaning.

He raised his arm and said loudly:

"Today, the Fūma Clan joins the Ashes organization, with this blood as proof, never to be hostile, never to betray."

"Never to be hostile... never to betray..."

The shouts came from the Fūma Clan side, initially a little chaotic, but after a few shouts, their voices were almost uniform:

"Never to be hostile! Never to betray!"

There was no way their recognition of the Ashes organization had suddenly skyrocketed because of this, it was just that... the atmosphere had been built up to this point, so they should try to shout a few times, right?

Seeing that his actions had received a response from the Fūma Clan, Yu Zhen then lowered his arm again.

It could be said that this alliance ceremony was simple, but in a sense, it was also frightening.

Big Sister Takamatsu and Hagong Yuan Chie quickly came to Yu Zhen's side from the crowd. They carefully pulled out the Short Sword, and after the hands holding each other loosened, they began to bandage their wounds separately.

If you looked closely, you could see the "Five Rings" logo on the Short Sword, indicating that it was actually a weapon Yu Zhen had borrowed from the Sarutobi Clan.

The penetrating wounds on their hands looked very serious, but in fact, Yu Zhen's injuries hardly needed bandaging.

As soon as his right hand was wrapped in bandages, he immediately "White Zetsu-ized" the area around the wound, so the bleeding stopped instantly, and his sense of pain was greatly reduced again.

Yu Zhen's behavior was a bit insidious. The injuries suffered by both sides seemed the same, but their recovery abilities were not on the same level at all.

This was a bit like bullying the locals for being ignorant. Yu Zhen thought to himself, do you know a guy named Ethan? He's known as the "Mushroom Man" and "Hand Sanitizer God of War." I'm actually the same as him.

The wound on his hand would soon be restored. What Sealing Ninjutsu? He would be able to fluently perform hand seals the next day.

After realizing that joining this organization was an extremely serious matter, he wondered if Fūma Gorō had developed any regrets.

In any case, as the head of the clan, he should have been more cautious when making decisions.

The so-called alliance ceremony contained a layer of meaning that was not difficult to understand...

That was, they shed blood when they joined, and if they really planned to leave at some point, they would have to shed blood as well.

In any case, Yu Zhen successfully completed the organization's recruitment work in a relatively smooth and unexpectedly thrilling manner.

However, accepting personnel is not like handling goods; everyone has different ideas, so Yu Zhen wouldn't rush things.

To truly integrate both sides, Yu Zhen still had many things to do in the coming period.

In the short term, the most important thing was to distribute resources equally and fairly, which was not difficult.

After the ceremony, both sides returned to their respective camps, and the surroundings returned to silence.

The night was deep, but Yu Zhen did not choose to rest.

He wasn't considering the Fūma Clan; in fact, he valued the organization's expansion, but not that much.

At this moment, he temporarily put the Fūma Clan aside and focused on improving his own strength.

Yu Zhen was considering developing new ninjutsu.

After learning Water Release ninjutsu, the two types of ninjutsu he currently mastered were somewhat unbalanced. Compared to Water Release, which had both offense and defense, point and area damage capabilities, Yu Zhen's Fire Release ninjutsu seemed a bit weak.

So he was referring to those Water Release ninjutsu to develop new Fire Release ninjutsu.

Although the hand seals for Water Release and Fire Release were completely different, the Chakra flow when using Water Release was clearly worth learning from.

Yu Zhen already had some ideas for the new Fire Release.

In addition, he felt that the abilities he had mastered were not ordinary enough, so he was preparing to develop a more "ordinary" fighting style, but he was making slow progress in this area.

Just as Yu Zhen was pondering, Uchiha Nanami approached him.

Today, she had watched Yu Zhen's recruitment process, but didn't say much, after all, she wasn't qualified to interfere.

"The Fūma Clan that joined today has more people than your original group. Aren't you worried that they will become the dominant force?" Uchiha Nanami asked.

"Become the dominant force? That only shows that my abilities are limited. To be honest, if someone can handle everything fairly and justly, I would be happy to have them replace me," Yu Zhen said.

He didn't have much desire for power; leading an organization was often a burden for him.

Uchiha Nanami didn't expect such an answer and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Yu Zhen glanced at her and then explained:

"Don't worry about any accidents. The philosophy of an organization or group is certainly important, but if you want to maintain this philosophy, sometimes it depends on the leader's intelligence and wisdom, and sometimes it depends on the leader's violence and force."

Hearing him say this, Uchiha Nanami seemed to understand.

Yu Zhen didn't want to discuss this issue, and then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he asked Uchiha Nanami:

"By the way, can I trouble you with something? I want to ask you for a favor."

"What is it?"

If she could provide help, Uchiha Nanami wouldn't refuse. Overall, she was also a grateful person.

"I want to ask you to cast a Genjutsu on me." As he spoke, Yu Zhen put his injured palm behind his back and expanded the "White Zetsu transformation" to the entire forearm.

"Genjutsu? Are you sure?"

"Confirmed."

Uchiha Nanami didn't know what Yu Zhen wanted to do, but seeing his resolute attitude, she didn't say anything more... although this request was quite strange.

"Did you think all Uchiha are good at Genjutsu?"

Uchiha Nanami muttered softly, but even as she said that, her eyes had already manifested into the three-tomoe state.

Then they began to stare at each other.

"Has it started?"

"It's already over."

"Ah? Really?" Yu Zhen subconsciously expressed his doubt.

He wasn't a sensory ninja and basically had no Chakra perception ability towards third-party ninjas, so he could only judge whether the other party had cast Genjutsu on him based on the feedback from his own spirit.

But he didn't have any feedback at all right now.

"Look at my eyes, do you think I'm joking?"

Uchiha Nanami felt very surprised by Yu Zhen's "ignoring" of her Genjutsu.

Although her Sharingan didn't belong to the Genjutsu type, as a standard Uchiha, her Genjutsu attainments were definitely not bad.

Uchiha Nanami wasn't too conceited about her Genjutsu, thinking that she could be invincible with Genjutsu, but...

If a person was hit by her Genjutsu and then broke free instantly, she would think it was normal. This was a case of me making a move and you countering it, which was reasonable.

But Yu Zhen's performance seemed to be saying that her Genjutsu didn't work at all. She had never encountered this kind of situation before.

If Genjutsu was a "pit trap" set by the caster, under normal circumstances, the way a ninja dealt with a Genjutsu crisis was to fall into the pit first and then climb out, but what about Yu Zhen? The pit was clearly there, but he could walk past it as if it were flat ground.

This was not in line with common sense.

However, how could Chakra be such an inflexible thing?

After White Zetsu transformation, Yu Zhen was very likely squatting at the bottom of the biggest and deepest pit. If you want to dig a small pit in this pit, you must first dig through the center of the earth.

So, when responding to Yu Zhen's question, Uchiha Nanami even released the same Genjutsu again, but Yu Zhen still didn't react.

"Okay, then... can you change to a more powerful Genjutsu?"

Yu Zhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that he wasn't affected by Genjutsu meant that his previous guess had been confirmed to a certain extent.

Since he wasn't affected by ordinary Genjutsu, he should naturally try a more powerful Genjutsu, so he made a new request.

"...Okay."

Uchiha Nanami also had some competitive thoughts about this unreasonable situation, so she used the Sharingan while cooperating with hand seals, using a rather powerful Genjutsu.

Yu Zhen's... eyes were particularly clear. He looked at the other party's Sharingan with full concentration, and seeing Nanami's eyes not blinking, seemingly staring very hard, he even wanted to ask if her eyes were dry.

"Still doesn't work?"

Uchiha Nanami used a powerful mental control Genjutsu this time. In theory, her Chakra should invade the controlled person's spirit and then pull out the desired information, but now she felt like she had invaded a blank space and pulled out only loneliness.

What's going on? Is Genjutsu control science no longer exist?

After this Genjutsu also "failed," Uchiha Nanami gritted her teeth, and the three-tomoe pattern in her eyes slowly rotated, soon turning into a more complex pattern...

She activated the Mangekyo Sharingan.

With the blessing of these eyes, even a mediocre Genjutsu would produce the most top-level mental control effect, but...

Yu Zhen blinked and said, "It's wonderful, it even looks palpitating. It can only be said that it is worthy of being the Sharingan among Sharingan."

These eyes represented power and risk. When being stared at by them, it would indeed make all ninjas involuntarily feel a sense of palpitation, a feeling that their life and death were controlled by others.

"Why didn't my dōjutsu work?"

"How would I know? After all, it's your dōjutsu, you should ask yourself this question."

Yu Zhen got the answer he wanted. Genjutsu used to be the means he feared the most, but now he could breathe a sigh of relief. It really was... a very good Sharingan Genjutsu, making me even more clear-headed.

Uchiha Nanami closed her Mangekyo Sharingan, looking at Yu Zhen thoughtfully. She felt that Yu Zhen's identity and origins must be unusual, and he seemed to be hiding some secrets.

Someone who could calmly face the Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't possibly be just an ordinary ninja.

But it was also normal. Someone who could gather a team of wandering ninja in the Ninja World would always have something hidden, perhaps an unknown past, perhaps a thrilling plan, perhaps unspeakable tricks, or perhaps...

Unheard-of secret ninjutsu.

Uchiha Nanami was full of curiosity about Yu Zhen's means of resisting Genjutsu, but she couldn't directly ask about such a trump card.

She wanted to ask but couldn't, and she almost scratched her head, but Yu Zhen left without a trace, deeply hiding his merit and fame.

The next day, the two groups began to merge in the small forest.

Based on the fact that the Fūma Clan was still very weak, Yu Zhen proposed a mixed formation of the two sides to achieve one-on-one "assistance" within small-scale units as much as possible. In fact, it was just disrupting the organizational form of the Fūma Clan and reorganizing the squad units.

Yu Zhen's approach was very normal, even upright.

Small cliques are not allowed, and everyone holding together for warmth is the real holding together for warmth.

As for the Fūma Clan Head, Fūma Gorō, Yu Zhen made him his deputy, with a status roughly equivalent to Morinaga Isagawa and Hayasaka Ryunosuke.

Don't look at the fact that there were only fifty or so people, a number equivalent to two junior high school classes, but reorganizing them was quite time-consuming and laborious. They were delayed in place for a whole day, and after another night, they regained order and set off again.

As the number of people more than doubled, Yu Zhen's supplies naturally began to be stretched, so they could no longer hide from towns as before, but had to actively approach them.

Yu Zhen wanted to buy supplies in the town and inquire about some news at the same time.

The Genjutsu he experienced in "Big Brother Small Town" was of the mental interference type. The things he experienced before breaking free from the Genjutsu were both true and false, but fortunately, the money he picked up was real.

But the strange thing was that it was not easy to spend the money. When Yu Zhen had the team stay near the town and he took two people to the town to buy food, he didn't expect the other party not to sell it.

Because Yu Zhen and the others were unfamiliar faces, and the grain merchants here only traded with acquaintances... In troubled times, this kind of commercial activity that restricted trading partners was not incomprehensible.

But the anger of not being able to spend money made Yu Zhen extremely frustrated, and he almost couldn't help but start "picking" on the spot in a fit of anger.

Fortunately, Yu Zhen knew how to restrain himself. He found an opportunity, and after seeing other ninja successfully shopping, he took the opportunity to steal some of the other party's Chakra, and after transforming, he became a standard old customer.

After spending all the money, Yu Zhen purchased enough food to last for several weeks.

And while Yu Zhen was trying to make a deal, the ninja he sent out heard a useful piece of news... A Daimyo in the west was urgently hiring a group of ninja.

Not far from a certain town, in an inconspicuous village ruin, was the temporary camp of "Ashes".

After alleviating the food crisis, the morale in the camp stabilized.

At this time, Yu Zhen, Morinaga Isagawa, Hayasaka Ryunosuke, and Fūma Gorō gathered together, listening to the information brought by a ninja.

"It is said that the Date Clan, the Daimyo of Kikyō Castle in the west, is actively recruiting ninja."

"Kikyō Castle... and the Date Clan?"

Yu Zhen silently recited this somewhat familiar place name in his heart.

"What about the ninja who originally belonged to them?" Morinaga Isagawa asked.

A Daimyo, or simply put, a secular power, if they want to establish themselves at this time, they must have affiliated armed forces, which means they have to win over a ninja force.

Whether it's top-down control, or broader cooperation or enticement, in short, it's impossible without ninjas. Ninjas may not necessarily have Daimyos, but Daimyos definitely have ninjas.

"It is said that due to a mission conflict not long ago, they were wiped out by other ninja forces, so the Date Clan was equivalent to having a portion of their military strength removed, and they urgently need new forces to fill the gap." The ninja continued to recount the information he had gathered.

His information was very general, but Yu Zhen couldn't ask for too much. With an incomplete organizational structure and being in an unfamiliar environment with almost no knowledge, it was good enough to find out this much.

"Seems like a good opportunity."

"But we may also face extreme danger because of this."

"There's no way around the danger, isn't that what ninjas are all about?"

Yu Zhen remained silent, while the others were evaluating the benefits and hidden risks of going to the Date Clan to "apply for a job."

The logic was simple: accepting the Daimyo's employment meant completing the tasks assigned by the other party, and these tasks were very likely to lead to sacrifice.

"But we are very fragile right now, basically with no ability to take risks."

"But we are just ninjas, unable to escape the inherent constraints and certain subtle limitations..."

"Only bloodshed can buy us room to survive."

"No one can deny this."

Okay, the topic gradually became bitter.

Yu Zhen just listened silently, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, but in fact, he didn't think that much.

Yu Zhen couldn't bring himself to say that he would prevent everyone from sacrificing themselves. Because those words were too presumptuous, to the point of seeming very naive. In fact, even Hashirama Senju couldn't say such a thing.

The "God of Ninja" couldn't protect every member of the clan, let alone the fact that he wasn't the "God of Ninja" yet.

To survive in a chaotic world, ninjas can only rely on force. Since they've embarked on this path, they will always face victory and defeat.

Victory means life, defeat means death. There's nothing hard to understand about this, and nothing unacceptable.

And even if there was something else to rely on in this world, Yu Zhen would only rely on his own force, because only force is the most reliable.

A ninja's life seems worthless, but in this era, only ninjas are actually qualified to control their own destiny. Precisely because ninjas are the most dangerous, they are also the safest.

The logic is simple: those who can kill can protect themselves.

The Daimyos, who control more resources and dominate the allocation of these resources, seem to be the upper class of ninjas, but what is the reality? The hand holding the hilt of the sword can be cut off at any time.

The basic situation in the Ninja World at this time is this: different ninja forces are fighting fiercely, and the entire ninja class has reached a fragile balance with the "Daimyo" power class that rules the common people.

Ninjas are busy going crazy at other ninjas, and generally don't go crazy at Daimyos.

In theory, Daimyos will not directly send ninjas to kill other Daimyos, because no one can afford the potential risk of opening Pandora's box.

But with the increasing severity of the war, this political tacit understanding probably won't last too long, and sooner or later there will be someone who thinks they're clever.

A person holding a hammer always wants to smash something with it.

As long as there is a button on the table, it will always be pressed.

Yu Zhen has enough understanding of what a ninja is. He doesn't participate in the discussion, and now he has made up his mind, which is to work for someone else before starting his own business.

After everyone had discussed it to a similar conclusion, he moved his lips and teeth, and said in a calm tone:

"Very well, then let's set off..."

"To Kikyō Castle."

A final decision.

Five days later, Yu Zhen arrived within the sphere of influence of Kikyō Castle, choosing to temporarily halt where they could overlook the city.

The overall structure of Kikyō Castle fit some of Yu Zhen's stereotypes perfectly... The outermost part was a low city wall, inside which was a slightly disorganized castle town, and in the center of the city was the Castle Tower where the noble rulers resided.

This city was built at the foot of a mountain, so its overall shape was a semicircle with its back against the high mountain, which could barely be considered a city defense layout that relied on the terrain and had a relatively high level of construction.

Yu Zhen settled the others down, preparing to enter Kikyō Castle alone to gather some information first.

Regardless of whether a city was open or not, it was not difficult for Yu Zhen to sneak in.

After only wandering around for an hour or two, he confirmed from the discussions of some civilians that the lord here was recruiting ninjas.

Yu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, at least he didn't make a wasted trip.

Since the other party had posted a recruitment position, Yu Zhen decided to submit a "resume."

He wrote a letter, briefly introducing their origins, exaggerating that they had fifty ninjas, and wrote a few polite words like you "sincerely invite" me to "recommend myself," and put the letter in an envelope.

Although he had inquired about the application process, he didn't intend to take the usual route, otherwise how would he prove his strength?

After dark, Yu Zhen quietly sneaked into the Castle Tower.

Now is not the era of "one country, one ninja village," and the castle where the Daimyo lived was not arranged with any barriers.

Although ordinary barriers can't do anything to the Mayfly Technique , it's always better not to have barriers than to have them, and without guardian barriers, there won't be any unexpected situations.

The room where the Daimyo lived was easy to find, the highest one in the Castle Tower.

Yu Zhen originally planned to directly stuff the job application letter into the Daimyo's room, but on second thought, doing so would be too impolite... That's not showing strength at all, but intimidation.

So he settled for the next best thing, silently placing the job application letter in a very ornate room on the second highest floor near the center.

The person living here was also a "big shot," and Yu Zhen's letter should be a surprise.

In the morning, a young man woke up from this ornate, even excessively decorated room.

He had his hair taken care of by a maid, put on a peculiar crown, put on layers of clothes, and then stepped into a pair of wooden clogs, before he gradually woke up.

For this noble, this should have been an ordinary day, but with an unintentional glance, he found an envelope conspicuously placed on the desk.

"Who entered my room last night?" he asked with some surprise and uncertainty.

If something unfamiliar suddenly appears in a very familiar place, many people will become suspicious... Obviously, this noble had a good memory and was quite vigilant.

However, he could only get a negative answer from the maids.

The maids understood the boundaries between superiors and inferiors very well, and whether they were smart or not, they would never do anything out of line.

The young man temporarily suppressed his surprise and anger, and walked step by step to the table with a little unease, staring at the envelope for a while before he reached out and picked it up.

After hesitating for a moment, he still chose to tear open the envelope and unfold the paper inside.

After seeing the contents of the letter, he understood what was going on... It was just an ordinary thing displayed in an unusual way, which made him secretly relieved.

Immediately afterwards, his emotions surged, and he became extremely angry.

These barbaric ninjas actually sneaked into his room silently.

He understood that the other party was displaying their power, both as a self-introduction and a subtle threat.

Simply audacious, with no regard for hierarchy.

"Wild monkey!"

He cursed under his breath through gritted teeth.

However, his voice unconsciously carried a hint of bluster, and the young noble felt offended. Yet, as he calmed down slightly, he couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation.

Ninjas, to the daimyo forces, seemed controlled but were actually uncontrollable. A moment of carelessness could turn them into a double-edged sword that harmed both others and oneself.

On the other side of the camp, after submitting his "job application," Yu Zhen only needed to patiently await the response.

He wasn't in a hurry. Given his current profession, the professional skills he possessed, and the correct way he submitted his "job application," he believed he wouldn't encounter a situation of being "read but not replied to."

Regardless of whether the employer's attitude was positive or negative, they would definitely respond quickly.

A masterless ninja wandering into a certain territory was basically equivalent to a plague god. For their "job application," the lord had to respond as quickly as possible.

Either hire them immediately, escort them out of the territory as quickly as possible, or mercilessly kill them all.

Most ninjas were not good at engaging in productive activities, but they were particularly good at disrupting them.

Therefore, Yu Zhen was able to patiently wait while earnestly engaging in ninjutsu research.

His imitation, improvement, and micro-innovation project of Fire Release ninjutsu, based on Water Release ninjutsu, had made considerable progress.

In terms of researching ninjutsu, Yu Zhen found that although he couldn't be compared to Tobirama Senju, who could pull out a bunch of forbidden techniques at any moment, he was still more capable of development compared to ordinary ninjas.

There was no helping it. Ordinary ninjas had never gone to school at all. Yu Zhen had at least received higher education in his previous life. Although the knowledge of different worlds was extremely incompatible, the thinking, logic, and even creative abilities cultivated through education could not be stripped away by the world's barriers.

But then again, Yu Zhen's clever brain could only support him in doing some small-scale research. Once it involved Chakra's advanced theories, related to the essence of this world's power operation, he would conversely be inferior to the real "natives."

At this moment, Yu Zhen looked somewhat obsessed. He sat on a collapsed low wall, with a scroll full of strange symbols on his lap.

However, his attention was not on the scroll.

Yu Zhen's eyes were focused and serious. He would raise his left arm to look at his left hand, and then look at his right hand, which was disguised as injured. After a while, he put his palms together and gently clasped them in front of him.

It seemed that he was imitating the Whatever You Want Technique.

Looking at his serious attitude, it seemed as if the next moment he could use a move that was not the True Several Thousand Hands, but also the Hundred-Type Guanyin.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

Yu Zhen released his hands, swung his arms vigorously, and a slightly distressed expression appeared on his face.

It seemed that there was no progress.

As the saying goes, sincerity is met with reward. Yu Zhen's act of submitting his resume directly, without the middleman making a difference, received a positive response from Kikyō Castle as he expected.

He left his address on the letter, and that very afternoon, people from Kikyō Castle came to this place.

The group that came out of the castle was not large. In front were two people leading the way, followed by a small palanquin, no bigger than a vegetable basket, carried by two short and sturdy porters, and behind them were five or six attendants.

In addition, there was a person completely covered in a black robe walking alongside the palanquin.

Although that palanquin was exceptionally mini, it was exquisitely luxurious. The four walls and the roof were adorned with beautiful lacquer, with intricate flowers and birds painted in gold on an elegant black background. Anyone who saw it would have to comment, "Upper class."

However, no matter how Yu Zhen looked at it, he felt it was some kind of urn.

The group stopped at the entrance of the camp. An attendant stepped forward, came to the front side of the palanquin, and said loudly:

"Date Kamatani, the nephew of Date Toyosaka, the Kawayuan Province Governor and lord of Kikyō Castle, and the Provincial Administration Deputy, has temporarily arrived. Please, all ninjas, come and greet him."

In Yu Zhen's opinion, this Kikyō Castle team was just a small fry group, looking quite shabby. However, he understood that this was already considered high-level... He glanced at the black-robed man, and intuitively felt that this person was quite strong.

As for what Provincial Governor or Provincial Administration Deputy, it was just something to listen to. The power of the Kikyō Castle lord was limited to the city and the surrounding area. The highest ruler here was, at best, a county magistrate.

However, Yu Zhen still understood what the other party said. The Kikyō Castle lord was called "Date Toyosaka," and the person sitting in the palanquin was the lord's nephew, named "Date Kamatani"... Yu Zhen had seen him yesterday, but the other party didn't know it.

This person sounded like someone who could make decisions. According to what they had discussed in advance, Yu Zhen signaled Fūma Gorō to step forward.

Yu Zhen had already decided that when contacting outsiders, he would not use the name of the "Ashes" organization, but rather the name of the Fūma Clan.

Compared to the unknown Ashes organization, the Fūma Clan had a certain reputation in the Ninja World.

This was roughly equivalent to a backdoor listing.

Using the Fūma Clan's name was a somewhat risky move, but Yu Zhen felt that this risk was completely controllable.

After the two sides formed an alliance, Yu Zhen had asked Fūma Gorō the reason why they had fallen into such a miserable state, but the answer he received was ambiguous, because the other party couldn't explain exactly what had happened.

It was as if a family had declined for no apparent reason.

In short, the Fūma Clan had a conflict with another ninja clan a few months ago, and they were defeated, suffering some losses.

Subsequently, in their weakened state, they were attacked by a second ninja clan.

Then, this process repeated itself again and again, and under layers of oppression, the Fūma Clan was almost on the verge of destruction.

To be honest, Fūma Gorō couldn't even say who their enemies were; their process of becoming stray dogs was so natural and logical.

Hearing such a story, Yu Zhen felt that the Fūma Clan was even more unlucky than the Hagumiya Clan. Compared to the latter's obscurity, the Fūma Clan, a ninja clan with some fame but not strong overall strength, seemed destined to become a stepping stone for other ninja clans once they showed a weakness.

To praise the high and step on the low is human nature.

Having some fame and revealing weaknesses, others would definitely be willing to take a step on them.

In general, the Fūma Clan was not broken by any strong enemy, but rather they were squeezed to this point by the cruel environment of the Ninja World at this time. This made Yu Zhen feel that using the name of the Fūma Clan was not a big problem, and to some extent, it gave him some inspiration.

Moreover, Yu Zhen was too young and easily underestimated. In terms of age, Fūma Gorō was more suitable to come forward for negotiations.

Yu Zhen only needed to play the role of the ghostwriter beside him.

Currently, the average lifespan of ninjas is less than thirty years, and Fūma Gorō's age is basically equivalent to being mature and prudent.

Thus, led by Fūma Gorō, Yu Zhen and the others followed behind him, and they quickly came to the front of the palanquin.

"Lord Deputy, I am Fūma Gorō, the Clan Head of the Fūma Clan. I heard that you are recruiting ninjas, so we have come to apply," Fūma Gorō said. His words were dry and stiff, because Fūma Gorō had no similar "job-seeking experience."

Although the Fūma Clan used to rely on accepting tasks to survive, they often accepted Ninja Tools orders from other ninjas, rather than tasks from civilians.

The person in the palanquin waved, and a black-robed man on the side leaned to the window.

The person inside asked softly, "The Fūma Clan?"

"They are a well-known ninja clan in the Ninja World. If you are specific to certain aspects, this clan can even be called famous. Some time ago, I heard that the Fūma Clan was scattered due to conflicts with other ninja clans, but now it seems that they still retain some strength." The black-robed man seemed to be dutifully explaining the information he knew.

But in fact, his words were vague and lacked specific content.

So, in which aspect is the Fūma Clan famous? The answer is in "blacksmithing." The Fūma Clan is good at manufacturing various Ninja Tools, and their Ninja Tools are considered a well-known trademark in the Ninja World, inspection-free products for major ninja clans.

The person in the palanquin had no intention of specifically understanding the situation of the Fūma Clan; the fact that these ninjas had a certain reputation made him quite satisfied.

The palanquin door finally opened, and this "gaudily dressed" Kikyō Castle noble finally stepped out of the palanquin, his delicate wooden clogs stepping on the worthless mud.

Yu Zhen clearly saw the other party's face; this was the one he had seen last night when delivering the letter.

"I've heard of you."

Date Kamatani added in his heart, although I only just heard of you, he scanned the few people before continuing, "Lord Daimyo does want to hire a group of ninjas, but... can you prove your strength?"

It was time for the practical performance. Fūma Gorō signaled Yu Zhen with his eyes, and after Yu Zhen received the signal, he "inadvertently" glanced at Uchiha Nanami.

If they wanted to make some noise, then having an Uchiha ninja take action would be most appropriate.

Although not every Uchiha ninja likes to show off in terms of personality, every Uchiha ninja's ninjutsu is capable of stealing the show.

Uchiha Nanami sighed inwardly, took a few steps to the side, and then formed hand seals:

Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

A large amount of Chakra gathered in her chest and abdomen, and a scorching heatwave spewed out of her mouth. The deep orange flames curled around the surrounding air, and after solidifying into a huge dragon head shape, it went straight towards a distant, dilapidated stone house.

In addition to its huge scale and attack range, what is even more commendable about this Fire Release is its ballistic speed, which far exceeds that of ordinary Fire Release techniques. Almost in an instant, it hit the stone house.

Boom!

Accompanied by a violent explosion, the orange-red flames slammed against the stone wall under the sudden impact, and the building was instantly destroyed. The residual flames of the ninjutsu scattered like an erupting volcano.

The stone house, which could have stood firm, turned into a pile of rubble in the blink of an eye.

Judging from the impact, what Uchiha Nanami released didn't seem to be mere flames, but a meteorite wrapped in flames. Although the Uchiha Clan doesn't seem to be known for its amount of Chakra, this ninjutsu shows to what extent Uchiha Nanami's Chakra can be condensed.

So, stereotypes are undesirable. The Uchiha's Chakra is just so-so, but that's when compared to the Senju of the Forest.

Date Kamatani was a very qualified audience. As a nobleman, he rarely had the opportunity to witness such powerful ninjutsu at close range, so his eyes were staring blankly, and he was a little stunned for a while.

Yu Zhen quietly took a few steps towards Uchiha Nanami, lowered his voice, and asked in her ear, "Is this Uchiha Madara's ninjutsu?"

Uchiha Nanami glared at Yu Zhen with some dissatisfaction and said unhappily, "This is my ninjutsu."

Huh?

Hmm.

Ah?

Yu Zhen's thoughts went through twists and turns for a while. Does this sentence seem to have some other meaning? But he didn't have time to think about it, and this wasn't the time to continue to ask questions.

The black-robed man coughed lightly, and Date Kamatani came back to his senses. He clapped his hands lightly and said:

"Very good, very good, your ninja strength is good, but... what we value is not these."

"You are ninjas, and we value the overall strength of the ninja group even more. More precisely, we value the ability to complete difficult tasks. Can you prove it?"

"This..." Fūma Gorō hesitated. He believed that the other party wanted to get a free mission, and it was the kind that was very difficult to complete.

Thinking of the Fūma Clan's unlucky experience, Yu Zhen suddenly had a flash of inspiration and began to say something that made many people feel confused:

"Our Fūma Clan is enough to defeat enemies several times our number, and we are willing to prove it to you..."

"To the west of the northern Great Forest, there is a medium-sized ninja clan called the Tsugawa Clan. This clan has more than one hundred ninjas, and the number of civilians is at least five times that of ninjas. We are willing to prove our strength by destroying this ninja clan."

Ah? Isn't this too radical? In order to prove their strength, they want to wipe out an unrelated ninja clan? What is this all about?

Date Kamatani expressed his incomprehension. His brain circuit couldn't keep up with Yu Zhen. After a while, he reacted, realizing that the other party was trying his best to show some kind of sincerity.

Looking at the ordinary clansmen of the "Fūma Clan" again, after hearing the young ninja's proposal, at least half of them had their eyes shining, and they didn't look very normal. Even if they weren't crazy, they would at least be considered battle maniacs.

How could Date Kamatani know that someone suddenly remembered that they were still carrying a personal grudge? His gaze turned to Fūma Gorō, after all, in his opinion, Fūma Gorō was the spokesperson for these ninjas.

Yu Zhen's words gave Fūma Gorō a headache, but at this time, he could only nod along.

"Very good, very good."

After thinking carefully, Date Kamatani even began to admire these ninjas. Ninjas should bite like mad dogs, otherwise, how could they prove their worth to their master?

Although a formal employment relationship had not yet been established, since the Fūma Clan wanted to pull off something big, Kikyō Castle had to show some appreciation.

"Since you want to prove your ability in this way, we have no reason not to support you. I'll give you half a month. If you can achieve your goal, you can become our ninjas... If you need anything, you can ask. I can persuade Lord Daimyo to provide you with temporary support."

A little material support was nothing to be stingy about; watching a performance required buying a ticket, didn't it?

"We need some food, medicine, and winter clothing," Fūma Gorō said immediately, afraid that the other party would go back on their word if he spoke too late.

In fact, he also wanted some armor, because the operation Yu Zhen proposed to attack a ninja village was extremely risky. However, that would seem too greedy, and if he annoyed the other party, he would get nothing.

Date Kamatani agreed. These were all small matters. After the two sides discussed some more details, he prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he said with a smile, "I hope to hear good news."

"We will certainly live up to your expectations."

Watching the other party's departing figure, Uchiha Nanami approached Yu Zhen and said, "Although I don't know what kind of feud you have with the so-called Tsugawa Clan, I can tell you that the so-called Lord Daimyo is not trustworthy. The support they give will definitely be limited."

Of course, Yu Zhen understood this point. It's good that they're not trustworthy, he thought. Otherwise, if I want to carry out a cuckoo's nest operation later, it would seem a bit ungrateful.

Well, you know, he still has a bit of a moral burden.

Kikyō Castle was a good place, quite suitable for use as a base.

"I understand, but for now, we can only take things one step at a time."

Uchiha Nanami obviously didn't understand what it meant to turn from a shareholder to a boss after speculating in stocks, or from an employee to an entrepreneur after working for someone else, so Yu Zhen didn't explain much for the time being.

Date Clan of Kikyō Castle, what a great name. It sounds particularly suitable for serving as the legal representative of 'Ashes Company'.

Date Kamatani wouldn't deceive Yu Zhen and the others. The bit of material they requested was delivered that evening.

When Yu Zhen took off the sack and put on the thick winter clothes, he couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief...

Thank goodness, he had finally ended the embarrassing situation of not even having a single set of clothes for all seasons.

During the first contact between the two sides, Date Kamatani from Kikyō Castle temporarily suppressed his initial displeasure, but suppressing it wasn't forgetting it.

On the way back to Kikyō Castle from the "Ashes" camp, Date Kamatani sat comfortably in his palanquin. As they traveled, he suddenly opened a small window on the side and asked the black-robed man,

"What do you think of those ninjas? I mean, in terms of combat power."

"Maybe two or three are usable, the rest are just cannon fodder, no different from the ninjas we recruited before," said the black-robed man.

Truthfully, this person's judgment was quite accurate. The two or three ninjas he considered "usable" definitely included Uchiha Nanami, who performed the Fire Release.

But besides his insight, the condescending attitude this person displayed indicated that he was either arrogant or genuinely skilled.

"Then do you think they have the ability to break through a medium-sized ninja village, like the one they're targeting, um..."

"The Tsugawa Clan."

"Yes, can they deal with the Tsugawa Clan?"

"Unlikely. When the basic qualities of low and mid-level ninjas are similar, the side with the numerical advantage will win. It's a simple principle."

The black-robed man made this judgment based on common sense.

This made Date Kamatani silent for a moment, then he seemed to remember something happy and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Once their operation fails and most of the dead weight is cut off, Lord Daimyo can extend an olive branch to the remaining elite ninjas... Only recruit valuable people and discard useless trash. That's how the Kikyō forces can develop and grow stronger."

The black-robed man didn't know what Date Kamatani was laughing at. He simply continued based on his responsibility.

He believed that the so-called Fūma Clan's reckless attack would inevitably fail, and most of their clansmen would die on the battlefield. If a few strong individuals remained, they would be the best pawns.

Date Kamatani listened carefully, then nodded and said,

"Let's go, inform Lord Daimyo about this matter."

Compared to the complex thoughts on the Kikyō Castle side, Yu Zhen was satisfied with Date Kamatani's performance. This wasn't to say he trusted the man, but...

Let's put it this way, although the man's attitude during the contact vaguely carried a condescending arrogance, at least he behaved like a primate with normal intelligence, not a fat, big-eared artiodactyl... Yu Zhen's expectations for the so-called noble class were that low.

At least he didn't act like, "You stinky beggar, you should kneel before us when you come here." That was already pretty good.

Yu Zhen believed that the average quality of the ruling nobles in this chaotic era was likely a bit higher than in the later Ninja World era. After all, to survive for a long time in a war-torn environment, one couldn't be too stupid.

Many ninjas died in the warring states period, and similarly, many Daimyos died as well. But later on, although there were many Ninja World Wars, the ruling power of a country was no longer in mortal danger.

In any case, Yu Zhen was very satisfied with a negotiation partner whose intelligence could reach the average level of a normal primate, especially after the other party promptly sent the supplies needed for the camp. Yu Zhen raised his evaluation of him again... He had to be viewed with the eyes of a Homo sapiens at least.

A discussion was still needed at the camp.

The Fūma Clan ninjas felt inexplicable about Yu Zhen's decision to deal with the so-called Tsugawa Clan.

But apart from them, the remaining ninjas from "various backgrounds" showed 100% support for Yu Zhen's inexplicable war order. Some, whose acting skills were lacking, even showed particularly fanatical emotions.

In this atmosphere, although the Fūma Clan's attitude was unified, if they were to vote to express their opinions, they would only count as one vote. The unified opinion held by the ninjas from "various backgrounds" could represent the will of the organization.

Fūma Gorō was very puzzled. Why were everyone's opinions so unified? Did you all have a grudge against the Tsugawa Clan?

He could vaguely guess that Yu Zhen had a reason for choosing the Tsugawa Clan as his target, but why was everyone so supportive of him?

It could only be said that Yu Zhen's decision to have everyone hide their surnames was still playing a role in confusing the public. The "motley crew" of Hagumiya's ninjas would never show any attitude other than support when Yu Zhen proposed revenge against the Tsugawa Clan.

However, Yu Zhen wasn't kidnapping the newly joined Fūma Clan for his own selfish gain. To avoid discord, he explained his attack plan before the Fūma Clan could express their opinions.

Yu Zhen planned to use small, elite squads for infiltration, assassination, and sabotage to break up the Tsugawa Clan, instead of everyone charging in headfirst in a suicidal banzai charge.

And the so-called elite squad only included three people: Yu Zhen, Uchiha Nanami, and Fūma Gorō.

In terms of assassination, Yu Zhen was the main force, so he had to participate. In recent days, he had completely mastered two types of Release techniques, and coupled with his ability to skillfully use the "White Zetsu Three Techniques," his combat ability was not what it used to be.

It was precisely because of the increase in his strength that he boldly proposed the revenge plan.

Uchiha Nanami had been in the camp for so long, and Yu Zhen had saved her, plus her body and strength had recovered to a good extent, so she wouldn't refuse to provide assistance.

The only pitiful one was Fūma Gorō, who had an injury on his hand and still had to participate in the battle. Because regardless of his strength or physical condition, he had to participate in this operation... Let's just say, those who understand, understand, and those who don't, can't be helped.

If Yu Zhen were a little more sinister, he could completely use this operation to kill the Clan Head. It could only be said that it was fortunate that he wasn't the kind of person with a politician's mindset.

In general, Yu Zhen's plan was definitely feasible. He wasn't arrogant, but rationally judged that he now had the ability to disrupt the order of an ordinary ninja clan.

Because ninja battles have certain characteristics and objective laws, that is, at the same level of strength, the advantage of the attacking side is far stronger than the defending side.

Ninja battles do not advocate frontal combat, but rather finding the enemy's weaknesses and using one's own advantages to launch a fierce attack. This is a common state of combat... using any means necessary, any tactic that can win is a good tactic.

Using the abilities of White Zetsu, Yu Zhen was very good at infiltration. As long as he entered the enemy's lair, he could make them understand what it meant to have a "center blossom."

After all, even the later Konoha, when faced with a strong enemy stealing their home, performed very poorly, and the overall combat power of the ninja village was not brought into play at all.

Yu Zhen wanted to stab the heart of the Tsugawa Clan. As for whether the knife was a one-meter-long Tachi or a ten-centimeter-long sewing needle, the effect was actually similar.

He began to simply state his battle plan:

"We will carry out infiltration operations with a three-person squad. With such a small force, it is basically impossible to slaughter a medium-sized village, no matter how strong a single person is. After all, we cannot prolong the battle for too long, so we only need to take down the high-level members of this ninja clan."

"The infiltration and assassination mission can be completely entrusted to me. This is what I am good at."

According to this statement, Yu Zhen was undertaking the most dangerous task, and no one could say anything more based on this attitude.

He didn't pursue a complete slaughter, because that was unrealistic, he didn't have that ability.

"As long as we eliminate their organizational network, the remaining ninjas of that clan will become a mess. At this time, we can create panic and then break through their village and disperse them."

"As for the rest... the current Ninja World will help us put an eternal end to all grievances and hatred."

As he said this, he glanced at Fūma Gorō. The latter was a little confused by the glance, wondering why he was being looked at at this time.

Relying on only three people to dismember a ninja clan seemed a bit presumptuous, but Uchiha Nanami didn't even frown.

For her, this level of combat intensity was really nothing.

Don't look at how she was almost killed before, and how embarrassed she was, but that depended on who she was fighting against... At that time, her opponent was the insidious Tobirama Senju.

Fūma Gorō obviously didn't have such a mental state. He looked worried and asked:

"This plan does have theoretical feasibility, but the problem is, how do we find the so-called high-level members of the Tsugawa Clan?"

Yu Zhen looked at Uchiha Nanami on the side and said, "Leave it to you?"

"No problem," Uchiha Nanami agreed.

When it comes to the ability to extract information from unfamiliar ninjas, the Uchiha Clan is arguably the strongest, basically at the level where anyone they glare at will vomit.

Under the Sharingan, extracting information is simply too easy.

Fūma Gorō didn't know Uchiha Nanami's identity. He thought to himself, Are you two doing a duet? You can get the enemy's core information just by opening and closing your lips?

It can only be said that opening and closing the lips is indeed impossible, but opening the upper and lower eyelids is possible.

As for the rest of the people, if the three-person team's operation can achieve the desired effect, Yu Zhen arranged for them to appear last as the atmosphere group.

If the Tsugawa Clan sees a large number of enemy reinforcements at the last moment, it is very likely to completely break through their psychological defenses.

To be honest, it doesn't really matter whether the "atmosphere group" appears or not, but a considerable number of "miscellaneous" ninjas need to feel involved in this operation.

After hearing such a plan, the Fūma Clan's ninjas will basically have no more objections.

The Clan Head and the alliance leader are charging ahead, and they will decide whether to enter the field depending on the situation. What's unacceptable about that?

Speaking of which, the focus of this operation is on Yu Zhen and his group, but regardless of whether the remaining people will participate in the battle, Yu Zhen cannot leave them within the sphere of influence of Kikyō Castle.

He's not joking; he has no trust in Kikyō Castle. What if they take advantage of the main fighting force being away and hire other ninjas to wipe out the remaining people?

The risk is small, but it's not impossible.

In short, it's better to be safe than sorry.

After roughly discussing the battle plan, Yu Zhen decided to rest here for another night and set off the next day.

"Thank you very much. If it weren't for your willingness to help, relying on me alone... I mean, relying on our strength alone, we wouldn't be able to complete a battle of taking on a bigger foe with a smaller force."

[Remember this site's domain name Taiwan Novel Network → 𝓉𝓌𝓀𝒶𝓃.𝒸ℴ𝓂]

After the others dispersed, Yu Zhen said to Uchiha Nanami.

The most important part of this operation's plan, in terms of their own preparations, is to freeload off Uchiha Nanami's combat power. Without the Sharingan, Yu Zhen would definitely have to spend a considerable amount of time gathering enemy information.

The difficulty of the mission would also increase exponentially.

"No need to thank me. After all, if you hadn't provided assistance to me earlier, perhaps I would be dead now," Uchiha Nanami said, shaking her head.

Her values are surprisingly normal.

Seeing that her attitude didn't seem fake, Yu Zhen smiled and didn't say anything more.

Then, the two sides parted and rested separately.

During this time, Uchiha Nanami had been silently observing Yu Zhen, while secretly constructing a profile of his personality in her mind.

Overall, she felt that Yu Zhen had a certain sense of fragmentation.

On the one hand, Yu Zhen looked very young, but most of the time he didn't show any sharp edges, and always seemed rational and gentle.

But she felt that this was just an appearance. Although she couldn't say he was "extremely evil disguised as righteous," there seemed to be a kind of extreme behavior hidden beneath his gentleness.

On the other hand, Yu Zhen integrated a group of rogue ninjas and seemed to show an overall sense of planning for the organization's development. However, a plan is just a plan, and when he really started to act, he was very "random" and unrestrained.

Sometimes, Uchiha Nanami felt that Yu Zhen seemed to be standing in a high position, arrogantly overlooking the cruel Ninja World. This detached perspective made her feel that this person seemed to be detached from the world, like an observer.

Faced with the harsh environment of the Ninja World, he neither took root in it, seemed disdainful of doing some things, nor could he jump out of it, because he didn't have that kind of strength.

This feeling of "floating on the surface" made Uchiha Nanami feel a certain "alienation" from Yu Zhen.

No, not alienation, perhaps a feeling of wanting to transcend but being unable to...

Many times, Yu Zhen was a bit like a puppet, and only by peeling away the threads pulling on him could one occasionally discover his most real and essential side.

Of course, these were just Uchiha Nanami's completely subjective and emotional thoughts. She couldn't be sure whether her feelings were right or wrong, but in any case, if Yu Zhen was a ninja from an ordinary background, then these qualities he occasionally displayed would seem very abnormal.

It has to be said, the Sharingan is indeed the Sharingan; her judgment of people and things is quite accurate.

The root cause is that Yu Zhen is not "Hagumiya Genma"; he is only playing the role of "Hagumiya Genma."

When Hagumiya Genma encounters a crisis, this so-called Clan Head will step forward.

When the survivors of the Hagumiya send a letter of help, he will go far to save them.

When he feels he has a certain strength, he will go to seek revenge.

If Yu Zhen were asked what he truly felt, were these things really something he had to do?

Although he had been in the Ninja World for over a year, he hadn't been assimilated by the locals.

He wasn't an emotionless person. If asked whether he held a positive or negative attitude towards the Tsugawa Clan, it would definitely be negative. But would that make him see them as enemies that had to be annihilated?

It didn't quite reach that level.

In short, although Yu Zhen had founded the "Ashes" organization, he hadn't really found his place in the Ninja World yet.

Uchiha Nanami only had a vague sense of these conflicting thoughts within him.

The next day, Yu Zhen led the group out of the Kikyō Castle's sphere of influence and began moving north.

Although everything seemed a bit rushed, after the discussion last night, everyone was mentally prepared for battle.

As for material preparations, they were barely sufficient, thanks to the Sarutobi Clan's selfless assistance and the Fūma Clan's abundance of basic military resources.

In any case, they would take everything they could use, and even things they couldn't.

Two days after leaving Kikyō Castle, Yu Zhen found a suitable hiding place on the outskirts and left most of the group there.

According to the plan, Yu Zhen and the others would set off first, while the remaining main force would follow in their footsteps five days later... As for the location of the Tsugawa Clan's village, he believed a significant number of people would never forget it.

The reason for splitting up was to avoid significant losses on their side, and also because Yu Zhen needed to borrow everyone's strength. After borrowing, he naturally had to give them time to recover.

Later, when everyone understood what Yu Zhen was doing, they were all shocked beyond words.

Especially Uchiha Nanami.

When she saw Yu Zhen extracting Chakra from each member of the organization and taking it for himself, her eyes began to twitch involuntarily, and she almost activated her Sharingan due to emotional overload.

Fortunately, Yu Zhen was busy collecting Chakra and didn't notice Uchiha Nanami's expression, otherwise he would have been suspicious.

After harvesting this batch of Chakra, Yu Zhen kept two-thirds for himself and distributed the remaining one-third to Fūma Gorō, which startled him.

Fūma Gorō felt like he had never been so powerful before.

As for Uchiha Nanami, it seemed she didn't need this Chakra support. Yu Zhen wasn't being unfair, but rather judging people based on their surname and background.

After finishing all this, he noticed that Uchiha Nanami's expression looked a little unnatural.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" he asked.

Uchiha Nanami came back to her senses and immediately shook her head, saying, "It's nothing, I... I just didn't expect you to have such an ability, so I was a little surprised."

Absorbing other people's Chakra and then converting it into one's own, even distributing it, was indeed a rare ability.

However, Uchiha Nanami happened to know a similar ability, except that the one she knew relied on the Sharingan and was generally much more powerful and effective than what Yu Zhen had demonstrated.

Yu Zhen withdrew his gaze from Uchiha Nanami without much explanation.

Then he saw Fūma Gorō, who had left temporarily after receiving the Chakra and then returned to his side, and almost couldn't hold back his expression:

"Why... why are you carrying so much equipment?"

At this moment, Fūma Gorō was fully armed, with various sizes of Shuriken hanging on his body, different lengths of various weapons, a ninja tool bag filled with Exploding Tags, different gauges of steel wire, gunpowder, and oil scrolls...

Fūma Gorō's voice was muffled as he said, "There's no helping it, this is how we Fūma ninjas fight."

Uh...

What could Yu Zhen say? He couldn't exactly say that the other party had a lot of useless tools.

"We're setting off, the operation begins."

The three of them immediately set off. Uchiha Nanami followed behind Yu Zhen, staring blankly at Yu Zhen's back. She seemed to open her mouth, silently uttering three words:

"Eight Thousand Spears..."

At dawn, darkness shrouded a small village.

On the eastern side of the village, at the circular outer wall, a gate slowly opened. A team of three ninjas walked out together, soon turning south after leaving the village.

It was clear that their basic skills were quite good, as they maintained a suitable level of vigilance while moving at high speed.

They traveled in silence, heads down, until nearly noon when they finally decided to stop for a short rest.

To conceal their tracks, protect themselves, and ensure the smooth progress of their current mission, they certainly couldn't just sit down by the roadside like old men taking a stroll.

The three found a dense forest, and after a brief reconnaissance of the outside, they plunged in.

Forests were ideal resting places, offering a considerable degree of concealment, while also allowing them enough reaction time in case of unexpected situations.

However, as these three ninjas from the Tsugawa Clan entered the forest, a figure suddenly hung upside down from a large tree in front of them.

"Who... is... it..."

The three ninjas subconsciously reached for their ninja tools pouches, but by the time their six eyes simultaneously focused on the suddenly appearing "enemy," it was already too late.

Before they could make any effective response, the scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan was reflected in their pupils.

Later generations would summarize the tactics for dealing with the Sharingan, which, in short, was to engage in a righteous two-on-one fight, with one person responsible for attracting attention in front and the other for launching a sneak attack from behind.

Whether these three knew about the Sharingan or understood how to deal with it, it was clear that they had no chance to execute such tactics.

So they were instantly "killed in seconds," the expressions on their faces, full of vigilance and murderous intent, immediately becoming incredibly dull.

"Tell me the basic information about your Clan Head, elders, and other high-level members, including their residences, daily routines, and the clan's organizational structure..."

"Yes..."

This person was naturally Uchiha Nanami.

While searching, she was trying to extract valuable information directly from their brains.

Seeing that Uchiha Nanami had controlled the enemies, Yu Zhen and Fūma Gorō, who had been hiding, also appeared.

In order not to arouse the suspicion of the Tsugawa Clan too early, Yu Zhen and his team were very cautious, choosing a location far from the village to take action.

Moreover, after obtaining some information, they did not intend to directly eliminate these three ninjas. Instead, they had Uchiha Nanami erase the traces of the Genjutsu, allowing the three to continue their mission.

Under Uchiha Nanami's mental manipulation, the three would not remember being attacked or controlled by Genjutsu. Instead, they would rest in the forest for an hour as originally planned, and then set off again.

They felt nothing unusual.

On the other hand, Fūma Gorō was so shocked by Uchiha Nanami's eyes that he almost forgot to record the information he had heard.

"You, you are... an Uchiha..."

When the emotionless Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned to him, Fūma Gorō immediately stopped talking and subconsciously lowered his head... Just kidding, who would dare to look directly at the Sharingan?

Yu Zhen had indeed said that there were ninjas from major clans in Ashes, but Fūma Gorō didn't expect it to be "major" to the extent of the Uchiha.

In combat missions, some topics were not convenient for in-depth discussion, but the shock brought by the Sharingan still caused some changes in Fūma Gorō's mentality.

"Continue?" Uchiha Nanami asked Yu Zhen.

"Of course, everything proceeds according to plan."

Afterward, the three of them immediately left the area.

That evening, they once again followed a team of Tsugawa ninjas on an outing. The process was almost identical to the previous time, with Uchiha Nanami once again using Genjutsu to extract information.

Then came the third time.

After verifying and integrating the information obtained from these three instances, Yu Zhen and the others gained a relatively complete understanding of the Tsugawa Clan's high-level structure.

"One Clan Head, two Elders, five Squad Captains... They have five combat squads of about twenty people each. In other words, this ninja clan's organizational structure is flat and simple. As long as we take care of these few ninjas, it's equivalent to destroying the Tsugawa Clan's brain," Yu Zhen concluded.

Fūma Gorō nodded. With clear intelligence support, he felt that the possibility of completing the mission had greatly increased.

Well, it wasn't really the intelligence that gave Fūma Gorō confidence, but rather another companion... The Uchiha name was still very useful.

"Yes, next I will launch a infiltration operation, solving the other high-level members one by one except for the Clan Head, step by step, in order to create a sense of panic. After the panic spreads... In short, I hope their resilience isn't too strong."

Yu Zhen began to calculate his goals in his heart... The village committee director would be temporarily left alone, while the remaining two deputy directors and five production team leaders would be eliminated as much as possible.

It sounded like a small-scale affair. If Yu Zhen's battle plan were to be named, it would probably be something like the "Village Committee Collapse Plan."

"The first phase of the operation has been successfully completed. After obtaining enough intelligence, the next step is to launch the second phase of the operation. Yu Zhen is responsible for infiltration, while we will stay outside the village," Uchiha Nanami said.

Of course, the two of them weren't just waiting outside. To cooperate with Yu Zhen's actions, they could freely hunt down Tsugawa ninjas who went out.

However, before the second phase of the plan began...

Uchiha Nanami first gave Yu Zhen a small vial of blood, and then she used the Summoning Technique to summon a white fox that was half the height of a person.

"I've synchronized my senses with my Summoning Beast, and then it can help you identify the main targets... Hmm, its name is Xiao Qi," she said, pointing to the white fox.

Uchiha Nanami had used Genjutsu to invade the brains of Tsugawa ninjas, and she could directly recognize the high-level members of the Tsugawa Clan. However, she believed that Yu Zhen was immune to her Genjutsu, so she naturally concluded that she could not synchronize this appearance information to Yu Zhen through Genjutsu.

So she decided to use a Summoning Beast to help Yu Zhen complete the infiltration plan.

Relying on a fox to find the target? Yu Zhen looked at the white fox. It seemed reasonable, after all, foxes were also canids.

He didn't correct Uchiha Nanami's view of him, nor would he explain that his Genjutsu resistance was not a passive skill but an active skill... No normal person would want someone else to mess with their brain.

Yu Zhen took the vial of blood, thinking that because it was Nanami's Summoning Beast, it was called Xiao Qi? What a simple naming rule.

"It may not be needed, but I'll take it anyway."

The white fox seemed to be an elegant creature, but when Yu Zhen carefully observed Uchiha Nanami's Summoning Beast, he found that it had a bit of a chubby face, so it looked very cute and silly.

There was nothing to dwell on. Yu Zhen then sneaked into the shadowy village.

Evening, a nameless village where the Tsugawa Clan resided, deep within an unremarkable alley.

The silent environment brought a sense of temporal stagnation. When night fell and human activity temporarily subsided, it best displayed a natural harmony.

Alas, all "peace" was but a facade; a scene of "all quiet on the village front" was about to unfold in this village.

Although everyone could be considered beasts of burden in sociological terms, not all beasts of burden are the same. For example, some have the habit of rising early and sleeping late.

This building, seemingly ordinary and inconspicuous in the village, along with the underground space beneath it, formed an important storage center and logistics hub for the Tsugawa Clan.

According to the information Uchiha Nanami had dug up, Yu Zhen quickly found this place after infiltrating the village.

Uchiha Nanami could not only find the enemy's material stockpiles, but even unearth information about the types and quantities of some of the materials.

In fact, the Tsugawa Clan's village was loosely guarded on the inside but tightly secured on the outside, with quite a few sentry posts arranged within. However, even without intelligence support, Yu Zhen's exaggerated infiltration ability made it difficult for these ninja to detect his tracks.

Yu Zhen used the Mayfly Technique to directly penetrate the wall, silently infiltrating the warehouse without rushing to act.

His body almost merged into the wall, using only his eyes to observe the situation in the warehouse courtyard.

One, two, three, four, there were a total of four ninja here, one of whom was the "supervisor," directing the other three in the statistics of incoming and outgoing materials.

Rather than the enemy's bigwigs, Yu Zhen prioritized destroying this place... In war, one should try one's best to prioritize striking the enemy's logistical nodes, a principle Yu Zhen naturally understood.

He was very patient at this time. These people were still gathered together, but there would always be times when they dispersed and became isolated.

Yu Zhen understood laborers very well; how could laborers working in warehousing always stay together?

More than ten minutes later, a ninja walked into a building on the side, preparing to inventory the materials inside.

Yu Zhen followed almost at the speed of light.

After following him into the room, he found that the ninja was facing a shelf, with his back to the wall, inventorying something. This position was actually very good, but he was too close to the door, so Yu Zhen temporarily suppressed his urge to act.

After the other party finished inventorying this shelf and walked a few steps deeper into the warehouse, his figure could no longer be observed from outside the door.

So Yu Zhen seized the opportunity and struck decisively and without hesitation.

He suddenly reached out from the wall with both hands, his left hand tightly covering the other's mouth and nose, pressing the back of his head firmly against the wall, while his right-hand Kunai pierced into his waist from behind.

The intense pain caused the ninja's torso to arch forward uncontrollably. He subconsciously arched his waist, seemingly wanting to get away from the blade piercing his body. However, such a fierce "kidney shot" destroyed his body's reaction ability, and his strength and Chakra rapidly left his body along with the cold stinging pain in his back.

Even if Yu Zhen didn't block his mouth and nose, he could hardly make a sound.

Yu Zhen gently rotated his right wrist, and the Kunai inserted into the enemy's body almost shattered his internal organs. The unfortunate ninja's body twitched unconsciously.

At this time, Yu Zhen moved his hand covering the enemy's mouth and nose downward, his elbow braced against the enemy's neck, and then he exerted force suddenly.

Smashing the internal organs below and almost breaking the cervical vertebrae above could be described as one plus one being greater than two. The ninja silently lost his life.

Then Yu Zhen did the same thing again, and the second and third ninja died in almost the same way.

After that, with only the last supervisor ninja left, he directly and silently appeared behind the other party, and the blade of the Kunai gave him a "throat slit" while he was completely unaware.

"Cough... Heh..."

Thump.

His short, struggling breaths and the sound of his body falling uncontrollably to the ground were almost the only sounds made by Yu Zhen's infiltration and assassination operation.

The entrance to the underground warehouse was probably set up with a barrier to guard against foreign enemies, but Yu Zhen didn't need to look for any entrance at all. He only needed to use the Mayfly Technique , plunging his whole body into the ground, and he entered the underground space unimpeded.

Yu Zhen was indeed good at tailoring his actions to the situation. If he were invading the Uzumaki Clan's village now, he would definitely not kill the supervisor directly, but would kidnap him and try to force him to lift the barrier.

But in the Tsugawa Clan's village, there was no need for such trouble.

Again, ninja villages were just makeshift teams right now. A village composed of a single ninja clan could never have so many composite talents. Some large and powerful sealing barriers were not something ordinary ninja clans could master.

If Yu Zhen chose to force his way through the barrier at the entrance to the underground space, it probably wouldn't be able to stop him.

After entering the underground space, Yu Zhen found that, as the information showed, it was indeed storing war materials.

He quickly rummaged through the boxes and soon found a large number of Exploding Tags in several dry, sealed, and cushioned boxes.

"This is a great help."

Yu Zhen took out almost all of the Exploding Tags. He took out most of them and plastered them all over the warehouse as quickly as possible, and then set up several very hidden trigger traps at the entrance.

Then, instead of using the Mayfly Technique , he blatantly passed directly through the warning barrier that had little ability to restrict him.

The enemy's reaction was very timely. Almost at the same time as Yu Zhen triggered the barrier, they realized that an outsider or enemy had entered the important supply warehouse.

A few minutes later, five Tsugawa ninjas rushed towards this place.

"They're all dead..."

Soon, someone discovered that everyone here had been assassinated.

"The important war materials in the warehouse, not good..."

Since their own people had been assassinated, it meant that this place had been invaded by foreign enemies, so he rushed towards the entrance of the underground warehouse in a panic.

"Wait, be careful..."

Someone tried to stop and remind him, but the rash young ninja had already entered the underground space first.

Then...

"Boom!"

A muffled and suppressed explosion suddenly sounded, awakening the still-sleeping village and sending the ninjas who came here to support spiraling into the sky.

After the explosion, a plume of smoke rose from the village.

Facts have proved that even the fastest ninja cannot be faster than the speed of an explosion.

This village was not big, so the explosion alarmed almost everyone. Five minutes later, more ninjas arrived at the scene.

At this time, all that was presented before them were burning ruins.

Cracks crisscrossed the originally flat ground, and flames and smoke spewed out from the cracks...

The Tsugawa Clan was better at Water Release, so they worked together and launched a fire extinguishing operation as soon as possible, trying to salvage some of the supplies as much as possible.

At the same time, another group of ninjas launched a search on the spot, trying to find the intruder who caused the destruction.

However, when the attention of the entire village was attracted here, several other explosions sounded not far away, and then a soaring fire appeared in the night.

The ninjas all turned around in horror and looked in the direction where the fire was burning.

The warehouse they were trying to salvage stored war materials, a large portion of which were iron weapons, so the fire wasn't too intense after the explosion.

But the subsequent explosion and burning involved the warehouse for living supplies. Many things, including food, were highly flammable, so the gloomy midnight sky was illuminated by the huge flames.

Simply put, Yu Zhen played a feint, fully demonstrating his artistic cultivation and achieving very good results.

The destruction of these supplies, of course, wouldn't cause the Tsugawa Clan to collapse on the spot, but it would inevitably cause some panic, accelerating the clan's fate towards an unknown future.

Last week's monthly tickets exceeded 500, so this chapter is an extra update for monthly tickets.

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In the darkness, two locations in the village were ablaze, thick smoke mingling with the endless night, creating an indescribable sense of panic.

Undoubtedly, they had been invaded by external enemies. Ninjas might have anticipated the worst-case scenario of their headquarters being directly attacked, but ordinary civilians found it hard to bear such a sudden change.

Casualties had already occurred, and the more severe situation was that the village's important reserve supplies had been destroyed.

It was clear to anyone with eyes that they might be able to salvage some of the War supplies, but the Tsugawa Clan's accumulated living supplies would most likely be completely destroyed in one fell swoop.

Water Release ninjas were being used as "fire trucks," but things like food, after experiencing a one-stop service of explosion, fire, and water soaking, were simply turned into soggy carbides. What use was that? It was probably less palatable than tree bark.

The Tsugawa ninjas were trying to control the fire, attempting to rescue the teammates who had just entered the underground warehouse, while quickly clearing the battlefield and digging out the several corpses buried under the rubble.

It seemed that a big figure had arrived to direct the scene, so after a sudden blow and a brief panic, these ninjas began to perform their duties under command.

The big figure squatted next to the corpses placed together. After a brief examination, he found that these ninjas had died in almost the same way.

"All four died from a sneak attack from behind, instantly suffering a fatal blow..."

"Three were stabbed through the Kidney, one was slashed in the throat."

"But there was still an unnecessary finishing blow, as if afraid of not killing them... A novice? Obsessive-compulsive?"

"Regardless of the enemy's identity, origin, and strength, it is certain that they are very good at hiding and sneaking."

"Death came so suddenly that our people probably never saw the enemy's face from beginning to end... They were defeated one by one, and most likely didn't make any noise when they died."

"Moreover, the enemy was able to sneak into the underground warehouse silently, set traps, and then deliberately triggered the Barrier, using it to eliminate several of our ninjas."

"If not, it would have been difficult for us to detect someone invading the village in time."

"Report this matter to the Clan Head."

"Yes, Elder." A ninja left in a hurry.

"Everyone, increase the search efforts. The top priority is to find the enemy's tracks and make sure they are not still lurking in the village."

"Understood, Elder!"

After the Elder issued the order, another ninja hurried to the Elder's side and reported another Bad News:

"Elder, Captain Daisuke is dead."

Hearing this, the middle-aged ninja who was trying to get more information from the corpses suddenly stood up:

"Who? Daisuke? Tsugawa Daisuke is dead?"

He seemed a little incredulous that a squad captain had died so silently.

"Yes, Elder, unfortunately... it is indeed Tsugawa Daisuke."

"Died from a sneak attack from behind?" The Elder subconsciously asked, his voice trembling slightly.

The ninja nodded and said, "He had just left home and seemed to be planning to come here when he was attacked on the way."

"Take me to the scene... You guys protect their remains."

The ninja who brought the Bad News was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting the Elder to make such a decision. Under the Elder's compelling gaze, the ninja finally reacted:

"Elder, please follow me."

Led by this ninja, the two hurried to another incident location.

Soon, they found a body lying at the corner of a small alley. His legs were sprawled out, his upper body leaning against a wall, and a large amount of blood flowing from his back was smeared on the white wall.

This "Tsugawa Daisuke" was a ninja highly regarded by this Elder. In his opinion, the other party might be able to shoulder the fate of the clan in the future. However, who would have thought that he would die so wretchedly?

He didn't even put up any resistance before his death, just like those ninjas in the warehouse.

Stimulated by the pain of losing a talented person and the grief of an old man mourning the death of a younger one, the Elder looked very distressed. He quickly walked a few steps to the deceased, squatted down, and looked at the corpse's waist.

"Another kidney? If the enemy is good at sneak attacks, why are they so obsessed with the location of the attack? Wouldn't it be simpler and more efficient to pierce the heart directly?"

In his opinion, stabbing the heart must be much more decisive than cutting the kidney. Why is the enemy so obsessed with the lower back?

The ninja behind him thought for a while, and then cautiously tried to explain:

"Is it to reduce struggling? As someone who is neither a doctor nor an assassin, he probably only heard that attacking the kidney is more likely to reduce the victim's range of motion than attacking the heart? After all, not everyone knows enough about the structure of human organs..."

"This..."

The Elder's expression was thoughtful. He looked at the dead man's face, which was full of pain and confusion, and then suddenly noticed something was wrong.

Wait, the way this ninja behind him speaks is a bit unfamiliar. The Tsugawa Clan has a total of about a hundred ninjas. The Elder wouldn't say he's familiar with every ninja, but he can detect certain incongruities.

Moreover, looking at the bloodstains left on the ground, it doesn't seem to be from one person. There's a bit too much bleeding.

"You..."

However, just as he was brainstorming, with a soft sound, the Elder felt a chill behind him. Then, no matter how much he opened and closed his lips, he could no longer make a sound.

He subconsciously looked down at his waist, and a large amount of blood was gushing out...

Did I also encounter a backstab?

Well, now he can confirm that the other party's so-called "hearsay" is probably correct.

Afterward, a hand rested on the Elder's shoulder, and then he felt his vitality and Chakra rapidly leaving his body.

So he turned his head with difficulty and saw that the face that originally belonged to his clansman quickly turned into a completely unfamiliar appearance.

For Yu Zhen, the so-called flaw is a weakness, and he is too good at stealing butts.

In the process of his consciousness being rapidly drawn away, something even more surprising happened to the Elder. The intruder's figure quickly grew taller, and his face changed back into a familiar appearance... The Elder's brain was a little hypoxic. He thought hard and realized that it was actually his own appearance.

"What Transformation Technique is this..."

The thought that flashed through his mind was the last doubt of this Elder's life, and it was destined to go unanswered.

Yu Zhen had already noticed that these ninjas' clothes were very standardized, so he didn't need to do much. After sneakily killing the Elder, he transformed into his appearance and then took the corpse to a nearby courtyard as quickly as possible.

After entering a room, he quickly dug a hole and buried the Elder's body.

This courtyard belongs to the captain named "Daisuke," and this captain is a bachelor. After his death, there is no need to worry about the Elder's body being discovered in a short period of time.

After all, this village is already in chaos.

The first person Yu Zhen transformed into was a ninja who was acting with "Captain Daisuke." It was from the other party that he learned that this person was a captain. So, after sneak attacking the two, abandoning one corpse and hiding the other, he returned to the first crime scene again.

Then, he learned the Elder's identity from the surrounding ninjas.

However, he didn't expect the other party to choose to follow Yu Zhen to see Captain Daisuke's corpse.

Captain Daisuke was truly a good person and helped Yu Zhen quite a bit.

It seems that in this operation, he doesn't need Uchiha Nanami's Summoning Beast. It's quite amazing. Even though it's his first time doing this, Yu Zhen feels like he's a natural at this kind of troublemaking work.

Next, he plans to start playing the role of this Elder whose name he doesn't yet know.