Chapter 64

"Could a foolproof mission fail? Damn it!" Danzō raged.

"Please punish me, sir." The kneeling ninja trembled with fear.

"You truly deserve to die!" Danzō was uncontrollably furious.

These people were the force he had personally cultivated, the foundation of his power.

It was because of this force that he could stand against the Third Hokage.

Orochimaru's attack on Konoha caught him off guard, and he also lost many of his men.

But compared to the Hokage's forces, the Root division, which always operated in the shadows, suffered relatively less.

Moreover, the death of the Third Hokage was a huge blow to the Hokage's lineage.

The loss of elite forces was like a dragon without a head. Without a strong leader to control the situation, a major force would quickly disintegrate.

With the Root division he personally cultivated as his foundation, he was originally the best candidate.

But now, the Root division had lost more than thirty Jōnin, greatly weakening his power.

The balance of power, and even the slight advantage, had suddenly changed. He was now at a disadvantage.

The two elders knew him inside and out. If not for a significant power disparity, they would never have agreed to him becoming Hokage.

Now that his power was at a low point, Danzō had completely lost the opportunity to become Hokage and control Konoha.

He could almost imagine that the two elders would definitely choose a strong candidate from the Hokage's lineage to succeed the Hokage.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, or perhaps the next generation's Kakashi?

In any case, it wouldn't be him, Danzō.

"Damn it!"

Danzō took a deep breath, barely suppressing his anger.

"What's the situation now? Where is Uchiha Aki?" Danzō asked coldly.

"He is confronting Uchiha Itachi outside Konoha," his subordinate immediately replied.

"Uchiha Itachi?" Danzō's brows furrowed deeply.

"Another troublesome guy." Glancing at his bandaged right arm, Danzō thought to himself.

"Monitor closely. Mobilize the remaining forces of the Root division to strengthen the defense of Konoha. We can't let others take advantage of the situation!" Danzō instructed calmly.

"What about Uchiha Itachi?"

"Leave him alone, just follow my orders!" Danzō snorted.

The ninja vanished in a flash.

Danzō stood in the dark, quiet underground space, his mind filled with various thoughts.

He wasn't afraid of Uchiha Itachi entering Konoha. As long as Sasuke was still in Konoha, the other side wouldn't act rashly.

But now there was another Uchiha Aki.

"Uchiha Aki..."

Danzō felt as if a thorn had been stuck in his heart, unable to be removed, causing him constant pain. This made him extremely uncomfortable.

Orochimaru had deceived him, using the pretext of personal revenge to openly ally with the Sand ninja, intending to destroy Konoha.

This caused immense destruction to Konoha.

A surge of anger welled up in his chest, and now with the emergence of the troublesome Uchiha Aki, Danzō felt even more frustrated.

"From today, designate Uchiha Aki as a rogue ninja of Konoha! Offer a bounty of sixty million ryō for his head!" Danzō said with hatred.

As long as Su Zhong was alive, he felt as if a sword was hanging over his head.

Repeated escapes from assassination attempts made Danzō wary of Su Zhong's mysterious nature. He was determined to eliminate this threat at all costs, even if it meant expending a huge amount of resources!

...

Su Zhong glared at the two figures as they disappeared, then turned and walked back to the river.

Kakashi looked at Su Zhong with a serious expression.

"Uchiha Aki, are you going to be an enemy of Konoha? Aren't you afraid of being hunted down by Konoha?"

Su Zhong rolled his eyes and ignored Kakashi.

In a flash, he was by Sasuke's side.

Kakashi was startled and immediately appeared not far from Sasuke, kunai in hand, watching Su Zhong nervously.

Su Zhong and Uchiha Itachi had fought fiercely, and just a few exchanges were enough to make him clearly feel Su Zhong's strength.

He didn't dare to underestimate him.

"What do you want to do to Sasuke? He is your clansman," Kakashi said coldly.

"Do you want to take him away from Konoha? That would be good for him. Can you always guard against Uchiha Itachi? He has accomplices, and if they attack together, you might not be able to stop them."

Everything that happened today meant that Su Zhong would leave Konoha.

Kakashi had no confidence in persuading Su Zhong. They were essentially strangers. But Sasuke was his student, and he didn't want his student to betray Konoha.

Without looking up, Su Zhong squatted down and carefully examined Sasuke.

Through his Insight Eye, he sensed that Sasuke had no substantial physical injuries.

But under the perception of his essence energy, Sasuke's spirit seemed to be in a state of intense fluctuation.

Su Zhong knew this was a symptom of Sasuke being affected by Tsukuyomi.

Placing his hand on Sasuke's head, a subtle essence energy flowed into Sasuke's brain.

The chaotic spirit gradually calmed down, and the distorted, pale face slowly relaxed.

Soon, Sasuke's breathing stabilized, and his body relaxed from its stiff state.

Su Zhong knew that Tsukuyomi had been dispelled. Sasuke's unconsciousness was just his body forcing itself into a state of rest to recover his spirit.

Knowing that Sasuke had overcome the crisis, Su Zhong stood up.

Hiding in the distance, Haku appeared behind Su Zhong.

"Sir? Are you leaving?"

"Yes, it's time to go," Su Zhong glanced at Sasuke on the ground.

He hadn't really helped Sasuke much, just laid the foundation. But he had taught him quite a bit.

Though not in a master-apprentice relationship like Xiao Sheng in his previous life, it wasn't far off.

But Su Zhong was still Su Zhong, and there wasn't much that could stay in his heart.

"Are you not taking Sasuke with you, sir?" Haku asked tentatively.

He thought of his own background.

The departure of one relative after another, and now Su Zhong was leaving. To him, Sasuke seemed like he was in the same situation as he was back then.

Su Zhong glanced at Haku.

"He has his own path, and I have mine. Let's go."

Su Zhong turned and glanced at Kakashi, who was hesitating to speak, then sneered and left Konoha without looking back.

Kakashi lifted his foot, hesitated for a moment, and then put it down.

According to Konoha's rules, any ninja who leaves Konoha without permission is considered a rogue ninja, and all ninja in the world have the duty to hunt them down.

But the current Konoha was like a bird frightened by an arrow, unable to withstand any more turmoil. He didn't dare to provoke the clearly powerful Su Zhong.

Moreover, he remembered a fact that everyone had forgotten.

Su Zhong was not a ninja.

He had never been a ninja. In Konoha's ninja records, there was no record of his identity.

But his strength seemed to make everyone forget this point, and also forget that he was someone who had no chakra.

Without chakra, he was already so powerful. What if he had chakra? He didn't dare to think.

Kakashi had been recognized as a genius since childhood. But he had to admire this ninja who was more than ten years younger than him.

All signs indicated that Su Zhong had discovered a new method of physical training, a method that didn't require chakra.

He could see this in Sasuke's physical techniques, which formed a new system different from the current physical techniques.

And it was very powerful, enough to match Uchiha Itachi with the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Looking at the more than thirty Root members lying in pools of blood not far away, Kakashi gritted his teeth. In the end, he didn't react.

He restrained the other Konoha ninja who were about to act, making them maintain order and clean up the scene.

Bending down, he picked up Sasuke and quickly headed for the Konoha hospital.

Everything had to wait until the new Hokage appeared. The most urgent task was to ensure the stability of the village.

...

Su Zhong leaped several hundred meters in a few bounds and splashed into a river.

Stepping on the water, he moved quickly.

Each time his feet touched the water, essence energy shot out from the soles of his feet. With the enhancement of his physical strength, each step was as solid as walking on land.

The powerful reaction force instantly created a large hole in the water.

Water splashed up like a blooming water lily.

His figure appeared and disappeared, covering more than a hundred meters in a single leap. In a few blinks, Su Zhong had run several kilometers.

Haku had to use his full strength to keep up.

As soon as he left Konoha, Su Zhong felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from his body.

His mind and body felt incredibly refreshed. With the new essence energy, Su Zhong immediately had the urge to race along the river.

In the distance, he saw two huge statues standing on either side of a waterfall.

Su Zhong's heart stirred, and he quickly ran to the base of the statues.

Using the protrusions of the statues for leverage, he leaped a few times and soon reached the top of the statues.

He stood on the head of Hashirama Senju, looking at Madara Uchiha on the opposite side.

He always felt that among the two statues, Madara Uchiha's was more majestic and fierce.

Now, standing there, he indeed found Madara Uchiha to be more impressive.

"Are these the ancestors of the adults?" Haku appeared behind Su Zhong, slightly out of breath. After regaining his composure, he asked.

"Sort of," Su Zhong said indifferently.

He could be considered an ancestor of Uchiha Aki, but not of himself, Su Zhong.

Moreover, with the generation of essence energy, Su Zhong increasingly felt a change.

He was no longer an Uchiha!

His body had undergone a fundamental transformation.

Just as he knew he would never be able to activate the Sharingan, his body seemed to be moving further away from the Uchiha bloodline.

The Boundary Pearl had consumed the residual sword intent and continuously transformed him. Now, his body and soul were completely fused.

But he still couldn't synthesize chakra, instead forming a type of essence energy that had never existed in this world.

Essence energy was the unification of three forces, representing the high integration of nature, flesh, and soul.

It also represented the perfect match between Su Zhong's body and soul.

Su Zhong thought back to his initial hypothesis about the body and soul.

The reason he couldn't produce chakra was that his body had been transformed by his soul.

His soul did not belong to this world and lacked the imprint of the world's rules.

Similarly, his body also lacked the imprint of the world's rules.

"How can someone who doesn't belong to this world produce chakra?"

Su Zhong had a sudden realization.

"All the problems lie in the soul."

With the formation of essence energy, Su Zhong had become a complete information entity, a collection centered around his own soul.

In other words, he no longer had the Uchiha bloodline.

Su Zhong couldn't help but think back to the moment when the Boundary Pearl activated and generated essence energy, and two black wisps rose and dissipated from his eyes.

"Those were probably the Uchiha bloodline powers," Su Zhong mused.