Chapter 80

The bright moonlight bathed the entire world.

A thousand meters away from the Akatsuki base, on a high mountain, two people stood.

Both wore black robes with red clouds and had identical rings on their hands.

One had a strange spiral mask that only exposed one eye.

The other was even more bizarre, with two serrated leaves growing from his shoulders, resembling a pitcher plant.

The person in the middle had an abnormal head, as if a straight line had been drawn down the middle, one side as black as ink and the other as white as snow.

The two of them looked up at the round, large moon in the sky, their eyes gleaming with an indescribable light.

"Why did you choose to meet here, so far from the destination? Have you been playing around these past few days?" the masked man, Tobi, complained.

The black face of the pitcher plant man was full of impatience: "Do you think I want to?! Uchiha Shū's Sharingan seems to have mutated. He doesn't have chakra or the Sharingan activated, but his perception is very strong. Several times, he almost discovered my trail."

His voice was rough and hoarse, like the cawing of a crow.

The white face of the pitcher plant man immediately chimed in, his voice soft and lazy: "Yes, yes, very impressive. Be careful. Actually, there's nothing wrong with staying here a bit longer; we can see clearly soon."

The black face of the pitcher plant man was even more impatient: "Shut up, there's no time to waste on this little bug!"

The white face of the pitcher plant man was used to being scolded by the black face: "Can we leave a few spores here? We don't need to worry about their abilities."

Tobi curiously glanced at the stone fortress in the distance.

"You said he almost discovered you?"

He knew the strength of this monster duo. They could hide underground, and almost all plants were their eyes and ears.

As long as there was soil, they could almost monitor everything. And this monitoring was very discreet.

Who would pay attention to a small, easily crushable grass by the roadside, let alone a spore as tiny as dust?

The black face of the pitcher plant man, unusually solemn, said: "Every time I get within about 500 meters of him, he reacts. During the last test, if I hadn't abandoned a clone and retreated a thousand meters away, I would have been discovered."

He had roamed the ninja world, stealing secrets from various clans as easily as taking something from a pocket. All surveillance and defense measures were mere trifles to him, easily bypassed. This was the first time he encountered such a difficult problem.

Tobi looked at the black face of the pitcher plant man with surprise. In his impression, the black face was arrogant and strange, never as cautious as this. But he soon didn't care much.

"Even if he discovers us, it doesn't matter. The organization doesn't lack a few people. Besides, he can't activate the Uchiha bloodline, so he's just a useless waste. He will eventually merge with the whole."

The black face of the pitcher plant man, unusually, didn't show his domineering personality but instead advised Tobi: "This person is a bit strange, be careful." He seemed to have sensed something different.

Tobi nodded without speaking, but in his heart, he didn't agree. Talents have always existed, but even with exceptional talent, they need time to grow.

Moreover, Su Zhong had created his own system, a move that was indeed powerful and could be called a master, but it required even more time.

How old was Uchiha Shū? Fifteen or sixteen years old. How powerful could he be? Even Madara, at that age, was no more than that. It was only after countless brutal wars that he developed his formidable abilities.

"These past few days, I've made a significant discovery," the white face of the pitcher plant man said with a soft, pleased voice.

The black face of the pitcher plant man snorted: "There are many spies nearby, including ANBU from Konoha. It seems Konoha is also interested in him."

Tobi chuckled, but there was no joy in his voice: "It seems my fellow clansman is quite capable, causing a lot of trouble."

The white face of the pitcher plant man, like a child without candy, sounded resentful: "And Jiraiya is here too, with the Nine-Tails jinchūriki."

Tobi turned to look at the pitcher plant man in surprise.

The black face of the pitcher plant man was expressionless: "Hmph, Jiraiya sent him to the Mountains of Myōboku long ago. What's there to talk about!"

"Jiraiya went in?"

The white face of the pitcher plant man, not waiting for the black face to speak, quickly answered: "He disappeared soon after entering the Land of Waves. The Nine-Tails was sent away yesterday."

Tobi was not surprised that the pitcher plant man failed to track Jiraiya. Although the black and white faces were powerful, it was extremely difficult to track and monitor a Kage-level ninja.

If not for the black face's ability to track the Nine-Tails, he would have been long gone.

"Let's wait and see. We have plenty of time."

The black face of the pitcher plant man didn't speak, while the white face nodded with a pleased expression.

"I've been saying, plant a few trees and wait..."

"Shut up!"

"Hey? It seems someone died." The white face of the pitcher plant man, ignoring the black face's disgust, suddenly said with joy, his face like a child who had eaten honey.

...

A thousand meters away from the Akatsuki base in another direction, in a low, secluded area, three people in gray robes stood silently together, wearing strange masks.

"Jiraiya went in? Are you sure?" The leader, wearing a demon mask, half his face illuminated by the moonlight, his red, grotesque mouth like a gushing blood mouth.

A man with an owl mask stepped forward and whispered quickly.

"Based on various intelligence and analysis from the village, there's a 70% chance that Jiraiya entered the base."

"70%? Not enough!" The demon-masked ninja's voice was cold.

"Go kill people, on both sides, to cause chaos and disrupt the base. Ideally, destroy it. Danzō has ordered that, without revealing our identities, we should minimize the cost and maximize the weakening of Uchiha Shū's power. This is our ultimate mission!"

This plan was simple yet extremely vicious.

Sowing discord is the most disgusting and hateful strategy, but it is also the most vicious and effective.

The other two did not hesitate, nodding and immediately disappearing from the spot.

They were clearly used to it, not caring about the bloody consequences.

The demon mask was half in the moonlight and half in the shadows, listening quietly to the occasional screams of pain rising in the darkness.

...

Jiraiya followed the lights in the base, soon reaching the top floor via the stairs.

According to Jiraiya's understanding, the top floor was where Uchiha Shū lived.

"It seems we've really been discovered."

Jiraiya thought solemnly: "What a bad start. I was just about to take action and was caught red-handed by the owner."

As he walked, he pondered the cause and effect. He believed it was due to that strange surveillance method.

At first, they didn't expose him, possibly because there were too many people during the day, or because the technology had flaws. But regardless, that wasn't the main point.

"What is Uchiha Shū up to?" Jiraiya was puzzled, and this was the key.

So far, the other side didn't seem hostile, which slightly relieved Jiraiya.

Otherwise, they would have used their forces to ambush and kill him.

As he thought, he found himself at a room's door.

Without hesitation, Jiraiya pushed the door open.

He saw a young man sitting on a cushion, facing away from the room, admiring the moon.

His hair was short and spiky, he wore a black robe, and had black gloves on his hands.

Except for the lack of the Uchiha clan symbol on his back, Su Zhong matched the intelligence reports.

Seeing the unguarded back, Jiraiya had a moment of impulse but ultimately held back.

"Uchiha Shū," Jiraiya said confidently.

Su Zhong turned around, grabbed a cushion, and threw it over.

"It's me. Jiraiya-sama, can you reveal your true face now?" Su Zhong said with a smile.

Jiraiya chanted a jutsu, revealing his true appearance. White hair, a scroll on his back, a red vest, and the strange face paint. It was the legendary Jiraiya.

He was truly quite old.

Jiraiya kicked the cushion back to Su Zhong and sat down on the floor.

"Speak. What do you want from me?" The more relaxed and casual Su Zhong appeared, the more cautious Jiraiya became.

Even Jiraiya found it strange. He was just a talented young man, why was he so alert?

He didn't know that since entering the base, the strict rules, the novel training equipment, and the enthusiastic ninjas had continuously surprised him.

This changed his initial dismissive attitude to one of deep suspicion.

Adding to that, he was caught here as soon as he started his mission.

Although this wasn't unprecedented, Su Zhong's strange attitude made him even more cautious.

Su Zhong looked at Jiraiya with amusement.

"It's not that I wanted to find you, but that you came to find me. Why don't you tell me what you want?"

Su Zhong was unconcerned by Jiraiya's caution.

Jiraiya was a legendary figure in the ninja world. He had taken on three apprentices, each more powerful than the last.

The first became the Fourth Hokage; the second became Pain and founded Akatsuki; the third was even more remarkable, being the Six Paths Sage's successor.

Naruto, a character with a cheat-like ability, was clearly a person favored by the world's fortune.

His persuasion skills were incredibly sharp!

To take on such a heaven-defying mission as an apprentice, Su Zhong even wondered if Jiraiya was a projection of the world's will?!

But clearly, this speculation was baseless.

The world's fortune is the trend of the times, the greatest alignment of all living beings' wishes. The existence of a world's child is possible.

But there is no such thing as a world projection.

For example, can anyone project themselves into their stomach, making it jump around inside and interfere with liver and kidney functions?

Obviously, it's impossible.

The world's will is everywhere and nowhere, both one and all.

But this didn't bother Su Zhong. He was still curious about the legendary Jiraiya.

Jiraiya cautiously said, "Your talent is rare. Why leave Konoha and become a rogue ninja, making enemies of the world? This is very disadvantageous for you."

Suppressing the urge to attack, Jiraiya controlled his emotions and tried to persuade Su Zhong to return to Konoha.

Su Zhong chuckled. Making enemies of the world? So what!

"Your ninja rules don't bind me." He waved his hand, unconcerned.

Jiraiya frowned, remembering the records about Su Zhong.

Although Su Zhong was not a registered ninja of Konoha, Konoha still issued a rogue ninja warrant for him, thanks to Danzō's influence.

Jiraiya's frown deepened, feeling the situation was tricky.

He found Su Zhong very slippery, and with a small slip, he broke Jiraiya's intentions.

After just one conversation, he felt his plan to bring Su Zhong back to Konoha was failing.

Su Zhong's attitude showed no foundation for returning to Konoha.