Chapter 36

In the dimly lit basement, four iron basins were raised high, with flames raging inside.

"This is the Uchiha clan's secret chamber. I've only been here once." Sasuke curiously examined the spacious basement while introducing it to Su Zhong.

The wheelchair was pushed to the center of the secret chamber, and Su Zhong supported himself with both hands, standing up directly from the chair.

"Is this the Uchiha Stone?" Su Zhong muttered to himself, looking at a short rectangular stone in front of him.

"Sasuke, activate your Sharingan and see if there's anything strange about this stone." As Su Zhong's eyes scanned the stone, his mutated Insight Eye immediately noticed something different.

The characters on the entire stone were clearly visible, but there were faint shadows of different characters overlapping, making it hard to see clearly when trying to focus.

"Hey! It really is different!" Sasuke exclaimed, "It says..."

"Sasuke, no need to say it." Su Zhong interrupted Sasuke, who was about to tell him the content.

"What's written here is meaningless. Only with enough power can one do as they please." Su Zhong clenched his fist and said.

Being unable to gather chakra effectively blocked Su Zhong's path to learning ninjutsu. This was not good news.

If he could learn ninjutsu, with the Uchiha's strong talent and the enhanced insight after the development of the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, Su Zhong believed he would quickly return to the peak of the world.

But the world would not change according to his will. Su Zhong needed to find his own path to power.

"Sasuke, what I'm teaching you now is called the Silent Killing Technique!" This technique was something Su Zhong had developed while sitting in the wheelchair, bored.

It mainly relies on the powerful observation ability of the Insight Eye. By perceiving the flow of air currents and moving like a fish in the wind, one can move quickly without causing any disturbance or noise.

"Attack me!" Su Zhong commanded.

"Alright!" Sasuke's face was serious.

If it were before, he would still be concerned about Su Zhong's injuries. But after seeing Su Zhong kill a member of the Anbu, he knew that this unfamiliar clan member had a hidden strength.

His strength was absolutely not something his current self could match, or even a regular ninja.

The teachers at the Ninja Academy definitely did not have the ability to kill an elite Anbu in one move.

This was an opportunity! Sasuke clenched his fists.

He exerted force with his feet and quickly rushed towards Su Zhong. Sasuke focused all his strength into his fist and struck heavily. A typical Konoha-style taijutsu.

Su Zhong stood expressionless, and when the fist reached his face, his body relaxed, like a leaf drifting in the wind. Silently and swiftly, he moved to Sasuke's side.

Bang!

Sasuke was punched and sent flying.

Sasuke got up, about to attack again, when a cold finger pressed against the back of his neck.

"You're dead now." Su Zhong said coldly.

"Wow. Is this the Silent Killing Technique?" Sasuke was shocked, rubbing his numb arm.

During the first attack, he could see Su Zhong's movements. But the second attack truly made him experience the power of the Silent Killing Technique.

Unconsciously, Su Zhong had already stood behind him. If the finger were replaced with a kunai? Sasuke shuddered.

"This is just a small technique, no need to be surprised. Activate your Sharingan and watch my hands." Su Zhong raised his hand.

Sasuke closed his eyes and reopened them, his eyes turning blood red.

Su Zhong glanced at the one of the three strongest dōjutsu in the world, then focused on his hands.

His fingers loosely held, as if gripping a soft, elastic balloon, a faint white mist appeared. Su Zhong's muscles twitched, and his whole body shuddered strangely. Suddenly, his hand had already grabbed Sasuke's neck.

"Did you see clearly?"

"Clearly!" Sasuke said excitedly.

"Use the air, borrow the air, and blend with the air. This is a small technique for the Uchiha. Only with the exceptional dynamic vision of the Sharingan can you see the air currents. But you must practice this technique to the point where you don't need the Sharingan to use it." Su Zhong instructed.

"This is what you need to train from now on. Don't forget to practice your hand seals every day." Su Zhong ordered.

"Yes!" Unconsciously, Sasuke had adopted a slightly respectful attitude.

"This is just your daytime task. Your current task is to help me train. From now on, I will train here at night, and you will assist me. And don't tell anyone." Su Zhong said.

"What can I do? Why not train outside?" Sasuke asked curiously.

Su Zhong handed the wooden stick he had prepared to Sasuke.

"I don't want anyone to come and assassinate me again. I need to hide my strength. Use these wooden sticks and attack me with all your might!" Su Zhong said.

"Ah!"

"Don't be surprised, just do it."

With that, Su Zhong stood in the center of the secret chamber, his heart beating stronger, and his blood flowing faster.

Su Zhong was practicing the hard qi gong technique known as the Golden Bell Cover.

Whether in the real world or the world of "Smiling Proudly," it was said that the legendary Dharma had once dominated with this hard qi gong, being immune to poisons, water, and fire.

But no one except Dharma had achieved such success. Others said it was due to insufficient Buddhist cultivation. Su Zhong used to think so too.

But he discovered that by controlling the speed of blood flow, one could gain tremendous power.

Especially by using this power to kill an elite Anbu.

Su Zhong had a hypothesis.

Dharma was Indian, and India has yoga. Yoga can control heart rate and blood flow. Could it be that Dharma combined yoga with hard qi gong to achieve his invincible body?

Su Zhong decided to try.

Speaking of controlling blood flow and increasing strength, the internal martial arts in the real world seemed to have similar effects. If internal martial arts were combined with hard qi gong, would this be a combination of internal and external cultivation?

But Su Zhong knew neither internal martial arts nor yoga. He could only explore on his own.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, looked at the wooden stick in his hand, and raised it to strike Su Zhong's back.

Bang!

Su Zhong stood steadily, frowning. "Did you not eat? Attack with all your might!"

Crack!

Su Zhong stumbled, almost falling. He gritted his teeth and controlled his blood to flow quickly to his back. A tingling sensation arose where he was hit.

"Continue!"

Bang, bang, bang...

In the secret chamber, the sound of rapid strikes echoed.

...

"Danzo, the person you sent." The Third Hokage stated, his voice flat, showing no emotion.

But Danzo knew this meant the Third Hokage was extremely angry.

"Yes, I sent them. The death of the Root members clearly indicates that this Uchiha Qiu is a problem. At such a young age, he can kill an Anbu, and he dares to kill an Anbu. This talent is terrifying. And he is an Uchiha. He must be eliminated!" Danzo said darkly.

His right side was wrapped in bandages, and a faint smell of medicine wafted, supposedly from the backlash of his ninjutsu research. But no one believed it, and no one pursued it. As a giant in the shadows of Konoha, no one dared to question Danzo.

"Look at this report." The Third Hokage said, barely suppressing his anger.

Danzo took the report with a puzzled look. It was a physical examination report from Konoha Hospital.

Danzo skipped the details and found the conclusion.

"Uchiha Qiu, due to severe cell damage, has undergone an unknown mutation, and is determined to be unable to generate chakra for life..."

Danzo's mind went blank. No chakra?

Without chakra, there is no power, a common knowledge in the ninja world. How could he know about Su Zhong, this monster?

Who killed his subordinates?

Danzo subconsciously looked at the Third Hokage, whose face was dark. Impossible, the Third, though dissatisfied with Root, would never silently kill his own people.

Years of comradeship, almost telepathic understanding, the Third instantly saw through his thoughts.

"It wasn't me." The Third's face darkened even more.

Danzo's expression changed. "Uchiha Itachi?!"

"I hope it wasn't him, but it's very likely. However, it could also be an outsider trying to mislead us."

Both were silent, and the Hokage's office fell into silence.

Uchiha Itachi was a sharp blade, willing to do anything for Konoha's safety, including killing his own clan.

But he was also a powerful explosive tag, and the secrets he held could blow Konoha sky high.

"This matter ends here. Strengthen Konoha's defenses. Root will mobilize to investigate the population, to see if there are any outsiders causing trouble. With the Uchiha clan gone, Konoha's strength is weakened, and stability is needed now." The Third Hokage said.

Danzo didn't speak, nodding in agreement. He knew the Third was right; this was a matter concerning the survival of Konoha.

"Put the Uchiha matter aside. An Uchiha without power is not an Uchiha. Don't worry about this matter anymore." The Third said coldly.

"Alright. I'll investigate the spies." He left the Hokage's office.

The Hokage turned to look at the massive Hokage Rock.

He had been worried about Uchiha Qiu, but unexpectedly, the boy couldn't generate chakra. This was almost a death sentence for a ninja.

Even a taijutsu specialist needed chakra to support them.

In this case, having one more Uchiha was not a bad thing. He could very well become a stake to anchor Sasuke.

Thinking of the dead man with his heart dug out, the Third muttered, "Itachi? Is this a warning? Sigh..."

...

Once a person focuses, they tend to lose track of time.

Two years passed quickly.

In the secret chamber of the Uchiha shrine.

Clang!

Su Zhong, bare-chested, his body tinged with a faint bluish-black color. An iron rod as thick as his arm struck his back, producing a metallic sound.

Due to Su Zhong's control of his blood flow, accelerating the training of his muscles and bones, he grew quickly. Two years had passed, and Su Zhong was nine years old, but he had already grown to 1.63 meters, the height of a 14-15-year-old child.

He was a head taller than Sasuke.

His face was still slightly childish, and his body was slender.

Apart from his steel-like buzz cut, there was nothing particularly special about him.

But Sasuke would never underestimate the power of his clan member, even if he couldn't generate chakra.

"Qiu, today the jōnin instructor will test us. It's almost time, I need to go to the assembly." Sasuke said.

"Your instructor is Kakashi?" Su Zhong asked with interest.

"Yes." Sasuke was a bit surprised. Two years of interaction had shown him that Su Zhong was focused only on power. But today, he noticed Su Zhong had other interests.

"Since it's him, you don't need to be so punctual. I've heard he's notoriously late. Rest well, eat a good meal, and go around nine o'clock. It won't be too late."

Sasuke thought about it and nodded. Over the two years, Su Zhong's decisions had always been accurate.

"Also, if you're being tested, show all your abilities except the Sharingan. Let Kakashi see your talent, so he will teach you his unique jutsu." Su Zhong suddenly said.

"Unique jutsu?" Sasuke was excited, "Alright, I will."

"Good. I'll go with you. I want to see your two new teammates." Su Zhong said.

Sasuke was even more puzzled. Su Zhong seemed to be in high spirits today.