Third Kazekage Disappears

More than a month ago, Uchiha Yu had wiped away a day's worth of Old Man Xin Yin's memories. But he had not been too heavy-handed, leaving the old man with vague impressions of many things.

To thank the old man for his generous "gift," and to let time blur those stronger and weaker impressions, Uchiha Yu hinted to Shisui that he should bring the old man over often to sit, eat good food, and drink fine tea.

Later, there was even a medicinal porridge every day, and the old man got a bowl too. It was greatly beneficial to his health.

After more than a month of focused research, Uchiha Yu had dealt with a large batch of bitter medicinal ingredients. He used opposing properties to weaken their bitterness, then cooked them with plenty of honey into delicious sweet soups, or added them to fish-and-mutton broth to make savory meat porridge.

He had money, so he could do as he pleased.

Still, he was spending far too much. Uchiha Yu had no choice but to use Shisui's money as cover. Otherwise, his expenses alone would have been enough to attract the attention of the clan and the village, perhaps even invite a thorough investigation.

So he dragged Uchiha Shisui and Old Man Xin Yin along every day to try the various medicinal dishes that had succeeded in his experiments.

Sometimes the medicinal effects were too strong. The old man would eat until his whole body felt warm and content, yet he would still be burning up when bedtime came. He ended up drenched in sweat all night, and when he woke in the morning, he felt completely dried out.

One medicinal dish was packed with yang energy and did Old Man Xin Yin tremendous good, but it was not friendly to Shisui, a child. The relevant functions of his body had not yet developed, leaving the medicine nowhere to go except rushing straight to his head, making his nose bleed profusely. It was quite frightening.

Even with the occasional scare, Uchiha Shisui still loved medicinal cuisine. The difference between eating it and not eating it was simply too great. Even within a single day, the results of hard training were visibly different.

As a genius and a ninja-in-training who pursued power, how could Uchiha Shisui give up food that was both delicious and so potent?

Miwa Masayo was another beneficiary of the medicinal cuisine. Beyond the meat she needed in her daily diet, her primary energy intake had completely shifted to medicinal dishes, which met the enormous energy demands her body faced while cultivating Senjutsu.

The Tabby Cat no longer had to eat three or four times her own weight in meat at once, imitating her owner's rapid digestion. That in itself had been a burden and a drain.

Such a huge burden took time to digest. For the past two months, Miwa Masayo had done nothing but eat and sleep, able to cultivate Senjutsu only in her dreams. That life might have looked carefree, but it was unbearably dull. Cats were not piglets; their nature still demanded play, activity, and hunting.

For the Cat Sage, being full was a mysterious sensation. It was not a matter of how many pounds of rice or meat she ate. No matter how much ordinary food she consumed, it could only make her stuffed, never truly full.

In the past, even after finishing an entire pork leg and using rapid digestion, her bloated stomach would ache, yet she would not feel the satisfying fullness of having eaten enough.

Now, all Miwa Masayo needed was a bowl of thick porridge made from angelica root, goji berries, crucian carp, mutton, and eggs. It gave her a sense of fulfillment in both body and mind, letting her know clearly that she was full.

Once full, she was energetic. Miwa Masayo greeted her owner, waved a paw to scatter a ball of flame, then leaped into the fire and headed for Cat Castle.

As Cat Castle's only Cat Sage, she had to train the little cats. It was an interesting job, and Miwa Masayo never tired of it.

By the time Uchiha Yu finished a whole bucket of porridge, lunch was officially over.

Uchiha Shisui put on the weighted vest Uchiha Yu had modified for him and practiced the Uchiha clan's traditional swordsmanship in the yard, tempering his muscles and bones. Shisui weighed only sixteen kilograms, yet under eighty kilograms of weight, his muscles, tendons, and bones cried out in agony, while his heart was forced to beat at an excessive rate.

It was precisely in this state that the medicinal effects of the food were fully activated, like a flame rising from his lower abdomen, warming and nourishing his entire body so that it could withstand the crushing pressure of the weights.

Under this state of heavy loading and rapid recovery, Uchiha Shisui's body was strengthened to the greatest extent. In just one month, his bone density, muscle toughness, and fascial elasticity had surpassed those of all his peers, even reaching the physical condition of most genin.

The foundation of a ninja was ninjutsu, the foundation of ninjutsu was chakra, and the foundation of chakra was the mind and body. Starting several days ago, Uchiha Shisui's chakra had begun growing explosively.

The grueling weight training also toughened Uchiha Shisui's mind, strengthening his willpower, confidence, and powerful bodily control. It could be called the best and most comprehensive training method.

But this was not training that just anyone could undertake. They needed sufficient nutrition to keep up, yet the nutritional demand was so immense that it far exceeded the limits of the human digestive system. Only someone as wealthy as Shisui could replenish it through medicinal cuisine.

Shisui's tremendous progress naturally caught the attention of the clan head and elders. They also obtained Uchiha Yu's medicinal cuisine recipes and verified their powerful effects.

To Shisui and Yu, the only problem with medicinal cuisine was that its cost was simply too high for widespread use.

But to the clan head and elders, that was its greatest advantage. It could be used to widen the gap between the main family and ordinary clansmen, ensuring that their bloodlines occupied high positions for generations to come.

Uchiha Shisui merely found it somewhat regrettable, but Uchiha Xin Yin had deeper concerns. He asked Uchiha Yu, "If this continues, won't a clan within the clan emerge?"

Uchiha Yu merely smiled and shook his head. "If the current situation in the Ninja World could remain unchanged for a hundred years, then that would indeed become a problem. But how could that be possible?"

"What remained unchanged for a hundred years was the Warring States Era. That era has already passed."

"The ninja village era created by the First Hokage and Madara has only seen the difference between drastic change and gradual change, but change has never stopped. Its pace is only getting faster. This is an age of change."

"A mere medicinal cuisine recipe cannot preserve anyone's position."

Of course, if the Otsutsuki family's dispute erupted on schedule and ended smoothly according to the script Otsutsuki Hagoromo had arranged, ushering in an age of peace under the deterrence of two absurdly overpowered figures, then that was another matter.

Uchiha Shisui was not yet five years old. Although his physical condition was already comparable to that of a genin, he was still immature and growing rapidly. His weight training had to be strictly limited to forty minutes.

The moment time was up, Uchiha Yu called a halt. He swiftly removed Shisui's weights and gave him a full-body massage, correcting misalignments in his muscles, tendons, bones, and joints to prevent mistakes in their growth as the medicine restored him.

Only after repeatedly warning Shisui not to add extra training after returning home did Uchiha Yu let him and the old man leave. Then he began his own stance training.

Uchiha Yu's training had entered a crucial period. Even simple stance training was no longer suitable to display before others.

After naturally transitioning from the Hunyuan Stance into the Horse Stance, wisps of flame would manifest around Uchiha Yu's body. They were dense Fire-Attribute Natural Energy, surrounding him and forming a localized high-energy external environment.

The external Fire-Attribute Natural Energy combined with the Earth-Attribute Natural Energy within him, the forces inside and out jointly driving the bodily evolution of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

If anyone saw that sight, anyone with half a brain would know there was something wrong with Uchiha Yu.

Would Uchiha Fugaku not come bother him? Would Uchiha Setsuna let him go? And Shimura Danzō—would he not send people to watch him, assassinate him, and frame him?

How could Uchiha Yu continue to stay peacefully in his little home and cultivate in comfort?

That evening, Miwa Masayo brought the latest intelligence: the Third Kazekage had disappeared.

Uchiha Yu knew that his comfortable stay-at-home days were over.