Chapter 52

In a vast, open field of grass, the distant forest stretched beyond the horizon.

Kakashi and Sasuke stood facing each other.

"Sasuke, your taijutsu has been taught by Aki, so you don't need my training," Kakashi said. "You've already mastered Chidori, and how you use it from now on is up to you."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. Su Zhong had once told him that Chidori was like a mother technique for lightning release, and how it developed further would depend on his imagination and practical ability.

"Kunai throwing, your clan, the Uchiha, is already very skilled at it, so you don't need my training either," Kakashi analyzed point by point.

Kakashi had thought long and hard about how to train Sasuke. He found that Sasuke's various abilities were already excellent, reaching the peak for his age.

He didn't realize it until he analyzed it, but Kakashi found that Sasuke had already surpassed his peers by a wide margin.

"At this age, to have this level of strength, Sasuke, you are already a genius," Kakashi remarked.

Sasuke was unmoved: "It's not enough."

"There's still a big gap between me and Itachi. Besides, I can't even beat Aki," Sasuke said calmly. What he wanted to hear was not praise, but how to improve further.

Kakashi inwardly admired him: "Not arrogant or impatient, truly more impressive the more I look at you. However, you can't let go of your hatred."

Kakashi hoped Sasuke could let go of his hatred, but he knew this was too naive. Coldness, cruelty, hatred, and bloodshed were the constant colors of the shinobi world.

"Genjutsu, taijutsu, and kunai throwing, I have nothing more to teach you in these areas at this stage. As for genjutsu, your clan, the Uchiha, is naturally talented, so you don't need my guidance," Kakashi continued his analysis, feeling a sense of admiration.

"Truly worthy of being from one of the founding families of Konoha. Your various talents are outstanding."

"Your basic qualities are already sufficient, but you lack enough combat experience," Kakashi said with a seasoned eye.

Sasuke's eyes lit up. Su Zhong had always focused on building Sasuke's foundation, both physically and in knowledge, making his foundation very solid.

But combat experience was indeed Sasuke's biggest weakness. This was something Su Zhong couldn't teach; it needed to be learned through actual battles.

"In the next month, I will constantly engage in combat with you. You need to be mentally prepared," Kakashi said seriously.

Sasuke's eyes shone even brighter: "I am ready."

Kakashi became serious: "Begin!"

His figure instantly disappeared from the spot.

Bang!

Sasuke was kicked away by Kakashi.

"You need to stay alert, or you'll suffer more than you can bear!" Kakashi said coldly.

He struck very skillfully, not fatally, but enough to cause pain.

Pain is what makes people remember the lesson clearly.

Sasuke struggled to get up from the ground, one hand holding his stomach, the other supporting him. His eyes burned as he stared at Kakashi.

What influenced Sasuke the most from Su Zhong was not the increase in strength, but the passionate pursuit of power.

Bang!

Sasuke was hit away by Kakashi again.

...

"Perverted Sage, teach me something powerful quickly so I can defeat Sasuke. You don't know, Sasuke already knows that Chidori thing," Naruto said, crossing his arms and looking at Jiraiya, who was lying in a pile of grass, with dissatisfaction.

After much deliberation, Jiraiya still became Naruto's teacher.

As a jinchūriki, Naruto was unreliable with any teacher.

Only Jiraiya was the best. This was not a coincidence but a necessity.

Jiraiya turned his head, his face flushed with satisfaction, as if he had drunk fine wine.

Naruto was even more dissatisfied. No matter how he looked at it, this perverted old man seemed unreliable.

"Chidori? Is that what you mean? To master Chidori at this age, I should say, 'Truly worthy of being an Uchiha,' shouldn't I?" Jiraiya thought to himself.

He had seen too many Uchiha on the battlefield, and their brilliance had made him somewhat numb.

"But in that case, Naruto seems too weak. What should I teach him?" Jiraiya was unsure.

"Rasengan? It's a bit too early. Naruto can't even walk on water properly. We'll have to wait a while. In a month, I think the only thing left to teach is the summoning technique."

"Perverted Sage, can you do it or not? If not, I'll go to Grandpa Third and report you for peeping!" Naruto threatened.

Jiraiya still had a self-indulgent look: "Go ahead, go ahead. Don't disturb me while I gather information. Anyway, that old man isn't clean either."

"..."

...

In the backyard of the Uchiha compound, a sharp whistling sound echoed continuously.

Crane Hand!

Su Zhong formed his fingers into a blade and stabbed fiercely into the air in front of him.

A sharp cry pierced the sky. The air rippled, and a shadow of a strange bird appeared above his body.

The body was invisible, but the black, sharp beak was clearly visible.

Sss!

A visible conical air blade shot out from Su Zhong's hand.

Boom!

The artificial lake was instantly splashed with a several-meter-high wave.

Su Zhong retracted his hand to his side, took a deep breath as if he were trying to inhale all the air in the space.

His muscles vibrated rapidly, and his right hand, retracted to his side, suddenly turned as black as ink.

Great Dragon Fist!

His eyes widened, and his fist shot out like a cannonball.

Roar!

A dragon-shaped shadow shot out from his fist. The lake, which had just calmed down, exploded again with a wave over ten meters high!

Su Zhong exhaled a long breath, but there was no joy in his eyes.

He had combined the air techniques with the previous combat techniques, making the Crane Hand and Great Dragon Fist much more powerful.

It could be used for both long-range attacks and close combat!

But this didn't excite Su Zhong for long.

He found that his hard qi gong had fallen into a bottleneck again.

Since his spirit had merged with his body, his hard qi gong had advanced rapidly, almost changing every day. Under the constraints of the sealing technique, Su Zhong's strength and speed had improved quickly.

Just as Su Zhong was preparing to make rapid progress, this improvement suddenly stopped. He returned to his previous bottleneck state.

After three days of deep thought, Su Zhong had some ideas, but the results made him even more troubled.

The first bottleneck represented that Su Zhong's body had reached a certain limit.

After the spirit and flesh merged, Su Zhong thought he had found the direction. The improvement in strength seemed to confirm this idea.

But the stagnation shattered Su Zhong's illusions.

"My body has indeed reached its limit," Su Zhong thought unwillingly. "The integration of the spirit added a kind of energy to the body, allowing it to break through the limit. But now this energy is exhausted. To improve, I need more energy."

Su Zhong couldn't help but smile bitterly: "The power of the spirit is the power of the soul. Where can I find such a thing?"

The ninja world indeed had mysterious jutsu, and there might be secret techniques to devour souls to increase spiritual power. But what belongs to others will always be others'.

Integrating those mixed things into the body would not end well.

Like the Northern Dipper and the Absorbing Star techniques, they seemed to have incredible functions, but where was there a good outcome for any practitioner?!

"What can increase the soul?" Su Zhong had been thinking about this problem for days.

...

In the dark underground chamber, Danzō stood at the center of the platform as usual.

"What are Orochimaru's movements?" Danzō asked the three Root members kneeling before him.

"There has been no unusual activity these past few days. However, based on previous intelligence, someone is spying on the Uchiha. Orochimaru is the most likely suspect," the front Root member answered respectfully.

"Uchiha Aki is still training every day?" Danzō nodded to indicate he knew, then asked.

"Yes, he trains in taijutsu every day. According to observations, his strength has reached the level of an elite jōnin," the Root member said.

Danzō pondered in silence: "An elite jōnin? In such a short time? It seems he really can't be left alone."

"Pass the message to Orochimaru. Since he wants the Uchiha, get rid of the other Uchiha. Tell him that person is an obstacle," Danzō said.

"Yes."

Swish!

The three ANBU quickly disappeared from the spot.

"Orochimaru, on the surface, you claim to seek revenge on the Third. In reality, you are coveting the Uchiha clan's bloodline. Do you really think I can't see your intentions? Hmph!"

...

"An obstacle? Whose obstacle? I think it's your obstacle, Danzō," Orochimaru said with a sinister smile.

"Kabuto, what do you think of Uchiha Aki?" Orochimaru asked the medic-nin behind him.

Kabuto's face changed: "Very powerful!"

Orochimaru glanced at Kabuto in surprise: "Heh, so he's the one who made you suffer."

Kabuto didn't argue. He had planned to design a scheme against Su Zhong, but he didn't expect Danzō to have the same idea.

"From this, it seems he is indeed very powerful. What does Danzō's intelligence say?"

"His taijutsu is very powerful, reaching the level of an elite jōnin. But he doesn't know any jutsu, and genjutsu is likely his weakness," Kabuto said.

He added: "I have seen his taijutsu. It is somewhat similar to Might Guy's."

Orochimaru's face showed interest: "He can't synthesize chakra, right?"

"That's correct."

"This is an excellent test subject. How can he not produce chakra?" Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.

Kabuto was very familiar with Orochimaru's gaze, but this was not what he wanted to see: "Lack of chakra means he is useless. It's just a side effect of excessive physical damage."

Seeing Orochimaru's thoughtful expression, Kabuto knew he had achieved his goal. Orochimaru's obsession with forbidden jutsu surpassed everything, and useless test subjects would be discarded without hesitation.

"Right now, the most important thing is to implement the plan. The Uchiha bloodline is the key," Kabuto said calmly.

Orochimaru nodded in agreement.

"Kabuto, it seems you are very concerned about this failure," Orochimaru said without warning.

Kabuto was startled, knowing his thoughts had been seen through by Orochimaru.

But so what?

"Useless, of no value."

Orochimaru stared at Kabuto for a while, then smiled sinisterly.