Target: Senju

Hidezawa's goal was clear: he would simply replace Naruto and become the new generation's Asura!

It might be a counterfeit, but once his strength truly reached a certain level, who would dare say a counterfeit could not defeat the original?

However, Hidezawa still had a long way to go if he wanted to become the new Asura.

If an Uchiha wanted to replace Sasuke as Indra, it would actually be comparatively easier.

After all, Madara Uchiha had genuinely told them the path of how to grow stronger in the future!

As long as you had a brother and were lucky enough to awaken the Mangekyo, it was not impossible to try and reach his level.

Even if you failed, you would still be hard-pressed to find an opponent during a certain period!

And even without a brother, as long as you had the chance to awaken the Mangekyo, you could at worst reach Obito's level.

But Asura had it much worse, because the path was simply too unclear.

"Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, Naruto's Tailed Beast Chakra Mode."

Tailed Beasts were still something Hidezawa did not dare think about, so Hashirama Senju's Wood Release was the only thing he could consider.

"Sure enough, Indra only needs to think about leveling up the Sharingan, while Asura has so much more to consider."

Especially for an ordinary person like him without a bloodline, there was even more to consider.

Fortunately, he had cheats!

"Yang Release, Water Release, and Earth Release must reach the same level before fusion becomes possible."

The higher the level of a single nature transformation, the deeper Hidezawa's understanding of it became. And the deeper that understanding became, the more he could discover the points where it could fuse with other elemental transformations!

But such points were truly difficult to find. Normal people might never come into contact with them in their entire lives.

Otherwise, with so many ninjas in the vast ninja world, why were Kekkei Genkai clans so scarce?

But that was nothing to Hidezawa. As long as he had Free Points, everything was negotiable!

"But aside from these attributes, my physical condition and Chakra must keep up as well."

Chakra was the foundation of everything, and only a powerful body could carry more Chakra!

Especially after he had reviewed the Scorch Release experience and insights he obtained from Pakura, he understood just how terrifying the amount of Chakra required to fuse a Kekkei Genkai was!

Actually, with Hidezawa's current physical condition, the Chakra he cultivated himself would not be bad either. But how could cultivation compare to simply adding points?

Moreover, the Chakra he added, combined with his own physical condition, gave him an extremely terrifying recovery rate!

"Come to think of it, should I consider fusing Scorch Release first?"

Hidezawa thought as he walked. Through that experience report, he had already roughly understood how Scorch Release was fused. He could completely "copy the homework" and make it happen!

The problem was that he had inherited Konohagakure's traditional spirit: the principle that Land of Fire ninjas were best at anything but Fire Release.

The strength of his Fire Release was still only LV2.

"Forget it. I'll take it one step at a time. The most important thing is to see whether I can create Wood Release."

Hidezawa shook his head. Wood Release was extremely crucial, and he was even counting on it to bluff people!

If he wanted to find out whether that Uchiha buried deep underground existed, or even dig him out, he had to figure out quite a few things.

He could not count on the Uchiha. Those people did not even know where their "ultimate weapon" had fallen.

Otherwise, they would have gone to retrieve it eventually. That was a Mangekyo, after all!

"The only ones I can set my sights on are the Uzumaki, Sarutobi, and Senju who took part in the siege."

Unfortunately, the Uzumaki Clan had been wiped out. Their information was basically inside Konohagakure, and Hidezawa did not have the nerve to steal it.

The Sarutobi Clan.

He might as well try sneaking into Konohagakure's Secret Vault to steal the Uzumaki Clan's records!

No matter how he looked at it, only the Senju Clan—seemingly gone but actually still around, with someone as influential as Tsunade—seemed realistic.

Especially since Hidezawa had now set his sights on Wood Release. No matter how he looked at it, the best target seemed to be the Senju!

But as he walked, Hidezawa suddenly frowned.

Not far away, he seemed to vaguely see a shadow flickering.

Besides that, he seemed to sense a distinctive Flying Thunder God Mark suddenly appearing.--

"Obito, that kid is preparing to set out."

At the highest peak of Konoha Back Mountain, Obito was overlooking all of Konohagakure.

But at that moment, a Pitcher Plant Monster emerged from the ground and said in a low voice.

"I think now would be a good opportunity."

Black Zetsu and White Zetsu had been watching Itachi Uchiha these past few days. Obito's plan was tactfully described as "not perfect enough."

But whether it was perfect enough did not really matter sometimes. What mattered was planting a seed in someone's heart.

Doubt was the most terrifying weapon. Once doubt arose in one's heart, a crack would inevitably appear, then gradually worsen.

In the end, without any answers, everything would only head toward destruction!

Obito was not afraid that such doubt would fail to arise. According to his investigation, Hidezawa was a member of Root.

"Interesting. That brat is actually carrying out a mission so late at night. He's really giving us an opportunity."

Obito nodded and said with a faint smile. Black Zetsu nodded as well.

"He has just become a Chunin, so he is highly motivated. Moving at night is less likely to attract attention, so it is a relatively cautious approach."

"Then what about Shihara Hidezawa? How is he doing now?"

Obito nodded. Back when he carried out missions, he had also been incredibly enthusiastic.

It was just that back then, his enthusiasm had been for the sake of being with someone.

But unfortunately, things had changed, and that person was no longer there.

"Shihara Hidezawa has made contact with the new Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki."

At that moment, half of White Zetsu's face spoke.

"Honestly, that guy looked way too rude. The Jinchuriki treated him to food, yet he nearly beat that child up."

"Food?"

Obito was somewhat baffled. He had long grown accustomed to White Zetsu's tendency to go off on tangents. Nothing this guy said would surprise him.

"Yes, food."

White Zetsu's half nodded, his face full of regret.

"The Jinchuriki child worked so hard picking mushrooms on the back mountain for half the day, and that's how he treated him. Obito, I support your plan."

"..."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Obito had a headache. Fortunately, Black Zetsu knew what Obito wanted to know, so he spoke up.

"However, Shihara Hidezawa has already separated from the Jinchuriki brat. I think we can go draw his attention now."

"Good."

Obito nodded. At least there was someone relatively reliable.

"Then prepare to act. Give him a huge surprise tonight!"

"No problem."

Black Zetsu nodded as well, while his other half was still shaking its head and sighing.

"What a pity about that huge basket of mushrooms. They looked so nice and seemed delicious."

Hearing that, Obito nearly stumbled.

No matter how dumb he was, he knew those damn things were not edible!

A newbie sincerely begs for follows. Current follow-up readership determines everything for a book; letting it sit in your library can easily kill it.

Thank you, everyone. Onz