Chapter 41

As night fell, a bright and clear starry sky hung overhead, and the forest was filled with the intermittent chirping of insects.

A bonfire burned quietly. Three thick wooden sticks, tied together in a cross, formed a simple frame over the fire.

Below the frame, a small black pot hung from a rope.

The lid of the small black pot was closed, and white steam rose from it, accompanied by a bubbling sound. A rich aroma spread through the forest.

"Kakashi! When can we eat?" Naruto squatted by the bonfire, tapping his chopsticks on his bowl, drooling uncontrollably.

Sakura stood far away from Naruto, muttering to herself, "What a failure..."

Suzhong chuckled and said, "Soon, just a little longer."

"You've said that many times already," Naruto pouted, clearly dissatisfied.

Suzhong sat cross-legged by the bonfire and smiled. He looked up at Sasuke, who was hanging upside down from a tree branch, and said, "Sasuke, come down now."

Sasuke performed a beautiful backflip and landed, walking coolly to sit cross-legged next to Suzhong, slowly restoring his chakra.

Sakura's eyes sparkled.

Naruto pouted, looking disdainful, "Pfft, what's so great about that."

Sakura's face changed, and she kicked Naruto's butt. Naruto, caught off guard, fell headfirst into the fire.

He immediately started screaming, his bright blonde hair scorched and blackened.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke with a complex expression, "At your age, to have such chakra control is already very impressive. Kakashi, you are a good teacher."

Suzhong shook his head, "I can teach him only so much. Just taijutsu and chakra control. The rest depends on him. And I don't have the time to guide others."

Kakashi was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "Why are you so obsessed with the power of hatred? Hatred can give you strength, but it can also destroy a person."

Suzhong looked at Kakashi with a smile, "I am indeed obsessed with power, but who told you I am obsessed with hatred?"

Kakashi looked at Suzhong in surprise.

Sasuke turned his head in confusion, looking at Suzhong. He had always thought that Suzhong trained so hard to avenge Itachi.

This made Sasuke feel guilty. His brother had killed the entire Uchiha clan, including the family of Uchiha Kakashi.

But now, hearing Suzhong say he had no hatred, was this a comfort or a deception of Kakashi?

Suzhong patted Sasuke's back, "Sasuke, you bear the burden of hatred. I don't have the time to focus on such trivial matters."

Kakashi looked unconvinced.

Suzhong, unwilling to explain further, suddenly said, "Kakashi, since you are Sasuke's jōnin instructor, shouldn't you teach him some special techniques?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, half-smiling, "What do you want me to teach him?"

"Of course, Chidori," Suzhong said matter-of-factly.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "Why should I?"

Suzhong smiled, but the smile in his eyes faded, "Because of that eye of yours."

Suzhong pointed to the eye under Kakashi's forehead protector.

"You can refuse to teach him, but I will take back that eye. It belongs to a person, but it also belongs to the Uchiha," Suzhong said calmly.

Kakashi's face changed, his eyes cold, "Are you threatening me?!"

Suzhong ignored the coldness in Kakashi's eyes, "I'm just reminding you."

"Those who live by the sword die by the sword," Suzhong turned his face, speaking with a serious tone.

Kakashi: "..."

"Oh, such delicious food, how can we not have some wine? Come, come, let's all have a drink," Tazuna's cheeks were red, his eyes gleaming with cunning.

The old man was very smart. Even though the mission had encountered a setback, he could still persuade Kakashi and his team to continue.

Seeing the tension between Suzhong and Kakashi, he immediately stepped in to smooth things over. He didn't want the mission to fail due to disputes. This was a matter of life and death for him.

Suzhong took the wine bottle without hesitation, sniffed it, and threw it back. In his previous life, he drank the best wine, and now, the cheap wine from Tazuna held no appeal for him.

Kakashi's eyes were full of gloom. Even the dull Naruto could feel the oppressive atmosphere. They ate their meal quietly, assigned night watch, and then each went to rest.

Suzhong lay in his sleeping bag with his eyes closed, but he had no sleep. He was thinking about the attack during the day.

The attacker could use genjutsu to evade the Insight Eye, forcing Suzhong to reconsider the nature of the Insight Eye.

In Suzhong's view, he could see everything within five meters. But what he saw was not just a simple image, but a combination of sounds, images, smells, and more.

He had never paid attention to it before, but now, he realized that what the Insight Eye saw was actually a combination of the five senses.

So, the so-called Insight Eye was actually an amplified version of the five senses. It just appeared visually because of the special nature of the Uchiha eyes.

Suzhong suddenly understood why the Insight Eye had progressed rapidly over the past two years but had now stagnated.

This was a capability that was completely bound to his body.

The stronger his body, the sharper his senses, and the more powerful the Insight Eye.

Previously, Suzhong had harbored some侥幸心理 about the Sharingan, but now he had completely given up hope.

He had thought the Insight Eye was a mutation of the Sharingan. Now, it seemed that it was actually the result of the Sword Intent integrating into his body, stimulating his senses.

To be precise, it was the result of the Sword Intent, the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, and his physical strength working together. In the world of "Smiling Proudly," his senses had already been particularly sharp.

In this world, his sharp senses were even more pronounced.

This led Suzhong to understand why he was affected by genjutsu.

The Insight Eye saw the physical world, which was a visualization of the five senses.

Genjutsu simulated the physical world, disrupting the five senses and interfering with consciousness.

Suzhong frowned. With such sharp senses, wouldn't genjutsu be his greatest weakness?

But after some thought, he realized this was not entirely correct.

Genjutsu was ultimately an illusion, while the Insight Eye saw the truth. As long as the Insight Eye was fine-tuned and powerful enough, it would not be affected by genjutsu.

Most importantly, genjutsu ultimately affected the mind or soul. As long as his soul was strong and his willpower was firm, genjutsu would not interfere with his consciousness.

Insight Eye, willpower, soul strength, physical strength... These terms kept swirling in Suzhong's mind.

He was constantly thinking about his direction.

...

In a spacious courtyard, the rock formations and flowing water were arranged beautifully, creating a pleasant atmosphere.

Not far away was a grand wooden house. Inside, there were many decorative items.

There were rusted long swords, bizarre and colorful masks, and more ornate gold objects.

A short, fat man sat boldly on a mat. In front of him knelt several strangely dressed ninjas, their faces painted with mysterious designs, and they carried weapons on their waists or backs.

"You bunch of failures! Just to kill an old man, and you failed! Failures! Failures! I spent a fortune on you, and you just waste food!"

"Lord Gato, Tazuna hired Konoha ninjas, we... we couldn't match them," a tall, green-haired man explained, trembling. He knelt at the front, seemingly the leader of the group.

Gato reached for a silver teacup beside him and smashed it on the tall man's face. The tall man did not dodge, and his face was immediately cut, blood flowing down.

"Failures..."

The tall man trembled, kneeling on the ground, not daring to argue. Blood dripped onto his clothes.

Gato, with a fierce expression, scolded them one by one and then kicked them out. He sat alone in the room, fuming.

Gato had countless riches and controlled a vast dark force. But even with all his power, he was just a rootless reed.

This time, he had spent a fortune and carefully planned to completely control the Land of Waves.

With a country as a backdrop, many things would be much easier. For example, he could openly form a ninja village and raise ninjas.

But Tazuna's bridge construction had completely disrupted his plans.

"Tazuna must die! It seems I need to send Zabuza," Gato muttered to himself.

After making up his mind, his face became even more grim: "Damn Tazuna, making me spend so much money to hire people. Damn! Damn!"

Zabuza, as a top-tier ninja, was not cheap to hire. Gato was in pain.

Not far away, the green-haired leader, who had been submissive, now had a cold expression. Beside him stood two black-haired ninjas, one tall and one short.

Both wore gray clothes, their faces pale, as if they had not seen the sun for a long time. They carried straight swords on their backs and arm shields on their forearms.

The three of them standing together gave a strange sense of similarity.

They looked different, but had the same numb, cold eyes. Their consistent behavior made them seem like one person.

"When do we act?" the short, gray-clothed ninja asked.

The green-haired man, no longer showing weakness, had a blank face and a cold voice, "Not yet, let Zabuza wear them down first."

His face, which should have been scarred, was now smooth, with no blood on his body.

"Why not kill Uchiha Kakashi directly? Our mission is to kill him," the tall, black-haired man asked indifferently.

"Nine-Tails has ANBU following. We will act when they separate. We can't cause trouble for Danzō. Understand?" the green-haired man stared at the two, speaking sternly.

"Yes!"

These three were members of Danzō's Root. Their mission was to assassinate Suzhong. Somehow, they had infiltrated Gato's forces and even replaced the original leader of the rogue ninjas.

"What about Gato?" the short ninja casually glanced at the nearby room.

"After the mission, we will take over all of Gato's assets. Root needs the funds," the green-haired man sneered.

To him, Gato and his subordinates were all fools. A simple genjutsu had fooled them all. Dealing with them would be easy.

"Will there be any problems?" the tall ninja squinted, thinking.

"Are you talking about Gato the failure, or Uchiha Kakashi the failure?" the green-haired man said disdainfully.

"Have you not read the intel? Uchiha Kakashi has some strength, but as a chunin specializing in taijutsu, what can he do? I will take care of him personally!" the green-haired man glared at the two.

The two looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

They knew that the green-haired man had been punished by Root for not effectively monitoring Uchiha Kakashi. Now, he was planning to take revenge personally.