Job Hunting

"Huh? Seriously?" Yuzhen subconsciously expressed doubt.

He wasn't a sensory Ninja, so he generally lacked the ability to sense the Chakra of third-party Ninjas. Therefore, he could only judge whether the other party had cast Genjutsu on him based on his own mental feedback.

But he currently had no feedback at all.

"Look at my eyes, do you think I'm joking?"

Uchiha Nanami felt very surprised by Yuzhen's "disregard" for her Genjutsu.

Although her Sharingan wasn't of the Genjutsu type, as a standard Uchiha, her mastery of Genjutsu was definitely not bad.

Uchiha Nanami wasn't overly confident in her Genjutsu, believing it could make her invincible. However...

If someone fell into her Genjutsu and instantly broke free, she would consider it normal. It would be a case of her making a move and the opponent countering, which was reasonable.

But Yuzhen's reaction seemed to imply that her Genjutsu wasn't working at all. She had never encountered such a situation before.

If Genjutsu were a "pitfall" set by the caster, then normally, a Ninja dealing with a Genjutsu crisis would first fall into the pit and then climb out. But what about Yuzhen? The pit was clearly there, yet he could walk over it as if treading on flat ground.

This defied common sense.

However, Chakra was not something so inflexible.

After his White Zetsu Transformation, Yuzhen might have been squatting at the bottom of the biggest and deepest pit. To dig a small pit within this pit, one would have to dig through the center of the earth first.

So, while responding to Yuzhen's question, Uchiha Nanami even released the same Genjutsu again. As a result, Yuzhen still showed no reaction.

"Alright, then... can you try a stronger Genjutsu?"

Yuzhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His lack of reaction to the Genjutsu meant his previous guess had been confirmed to some extent.

Since he was unaffected by ordinary Genjutsu, it was natural to try more powerful ones, so he made a new request.

"...Okay."

Uchiha Nanami had a competitive streak when faced with such an unreasonable situation. So, while using her Sharingan, she formed hand seals and cast a rather powerful Genjutsu.

Yuzhen... his eyes were exceptionally clear. He watched the other party's Sharingan intently. Seeing Nanami's eyes wide open, seemingly glaring with great effort, he even wanted to ask if her eyes were dry.

"Still not working?"

This time, Uchiha Nanami used a powerful mental control Genjutsu. Theoretically, her Chakra should have invaded the target's mind and forcefully extracted the desired information. However, now she felt like she had invaded a blank space, and all she pulled out was emptiness.

What was going on? Did the theory of Genjutsu control no longer exist?

After this Genjutsu also "failed," Uchiha Nanami gritted her teeth. The Three Tomoe pattern in her eyes slowly rotated, soon transforming into a more complex pattern...

She had activated her Mangekyo Sharingan.

With the enhancement of these eyes, even a mediocre Genjutsu would produce top-tier mental control effects. However...

Yuzhen blinked and said, "It's quite marvelous, even looking at it makes one's heart pound. I must say, it's worthy of being called the Sharingan of Sharingan."

These eyes represented power and risk. When stared at by them, all Ninjas would involuntarily feel a sense of trepidation, as if their life and death were in the hands of another.

"Why didn't my Eye Power take effect?"

"How should I know? It's your Eye Power, you should ask yourself that question."

Yuzhen had obtained the answer he wanted. Genjutsu had once been his most feared technique, but now he could relax. Truly... a very good Sharingan Genjutsu, making my mind even clearer.

Uchiha Nanami deactivated her Mangekyo and looked at Yuzhen thoughtfully, feeling that Yuzhen's identity and origin were definitely unusual, and he seemed to be hiding some secret.

Someone who could calmly face the Mangekyo Sharingan could certainly not be an ordinary Ninja.

But it was normal. Anyone who could gather a group of rogue Ninjas in the Ninja World must have something hidden about them—perhaps an unknown past, a thrilling plan, unheard-of Ghostly Tricks, or perhaps...

Unheard-of secret Ninjutsu.

Uchiha Nanami was filled with curiosity about Yuzhen's method of resisting Genjutsu. However, she couldn't directly ask about such a crucial trump card.

She wanted to ask but couldn't, almost scratching her ears and cheeks. Yet, Yuzhen left as if nothing had happened, his merits hidden.

The next day, the two groups merged in a small forest.

Given that the Fuma Clan was still very weak, Yuzhen proposed a mixed formation to achieve one-on-one "support" within small units as much as possible. In essence, it was to disrupt the Fuma Clan's organizational structure and reorganize them into small teams.

Yuzhen's approach was normal, even aboveboard.

Forming cliques was not good; true camaraderie came from sticking together for warmth.

As for the Clan Leader Fūma Kotarō, Yuzhen appointed him as his deputy, with a status roughly equivalent to Morinaga Kenshin and Hayasaka Ryunosuke.

Although there were only a little over fifty people, numbering about two middle school classes, reorganizing them still took considerable time and effort. They were delayed in the same spot for a whole day, and after another night, order was restored, and they set off again.

With more than double the number of people, Yuzhen's supplies naturally became strained. Thus, they could no longer move while hiding from towns as before. Instead, they had to actively approach towns.

Yuzhen wanted to purchase supplies in a town and gather some information.

Previously, the Genjutsu in "Big Brother Town" was mental interference. The events he experienced before breaking free from the Genjutsu were a mix of truth and falsehood, but fortunately, the money he found was real.

The strange thing was that even with money, it was difficult to spend it. When Yuzhen stopped his team near a town and took two people to buy food, they were unexpectedly refused service.

Because Yuzhen and his group were strangers, and the food merchants here only traded with acquaintances... In times of chaos, such restricted commercial activity was understandable.

But the frustration of being unable to spend money made Yuzhen incredibly indignant. He almost couldn't help but start "picking up" on the spot in a fit of anger.

Fortunately, Yuzhen knew restraint. He found an opportunity, saw another Ninja successfully make a purchase, and took the chance to steal some of their Chakra. After transforming, he became a standard regular customer.

He spent all the money, and Yuzhen bought enough food to last a few weeks.

While Yuzhen was trying to figure out how to make a deal, the ninjas he had sent out had gathered some useful information... A certain Daimyo to the west was urgently looking to hire a group of ninjas.

A short distance outside a certain town, in the ruins of an inconspicuous village, was the temporary camp of "Ashes."

After the food crisis was alleviated, the people in the camp felt at ease.

At this moment, Yuzhen, Morinaga Kenshin, Hayasaka Ryunosuke, and Fūma Kotarō gathered together, listening to a ninja bring in intelligence.

"It's said that the Date Clan, the Daimyo of Kikyo Castle to the west, is actively recruiting ninjas."

"Kikyo Castle... and the Date Clan?"

Yuzhen muttered the somewhat familiar place name in his heart.

"What about the ninjas who originally belonged to them?" Morinaga Kenshin asked.

For a Daimyo, or simply a secular power, to establish themselves at this time, they would inevitably need to possess affiliated armed forces, meaning they had to win over a ninja force.

Whether it was top-down control, or broader cooperation or appeasement, it was impossible without ninjas. A Daimyo might not have ninjas, but a Daimyo definitely had ninjas.

"It's said that due to a mission conflict not long ago, they were wiped out by another ninja force. So, the Date Clan has effectively lost some of its military strength and urgently needs new power to fill the void," the ninja continued to recount the news he had gathered.

His intelligence was very general, but Yuzhen couldn't demand more. With an incomplete organizational structure and being in an unfamiliar environment with almost no information, it was good enough to have gathered this much.

"It seems like a good opportunity."

"But we might also face great danger because of it."

"There's no help for it if there's danger. Isn't that what ninjas are all about?"

Yuzhen remained silent, while the others assessed the benefits and hidden risks of "applying for a job" with the Date Clan.

The logic was simple: accepting a Daimyo's employment meant completing the tasks assigned by them, and these tasks were very likely to result in sacrifices.

"But we are very fragile right now, basically with no ability to bear risks."

"But we are just ninjas, we can't escape our inherent constraints and certain subtle limitations..."

"Only by bleeding can we earn space to survive."

"No one can deny this point."

Alright, the conversation gradually turned bitter.

Yuzhen just listened silently, appearing to weigh the pros and cons, but in reality, he wasn't thinking that much.

He couldn't say that he would make sure no one would sacrifice anymore. Because that statement was too presumptuous, to the point of seeming incredibly naive. In fact, even Hashirama Senju couldn't say such a thing.

Even the "God of Ninjas" couldn't protect every member of his clan, let alone the fact that he wasn't the "God of Ninjas" yet.

To survive in a chaotic world, ninjas could only rely on their strength. Since they were walking this path, they would always face victory or defeat.

Victory means life, defeat means death. There was nothing difficult to understand about this, nor anything unacceptable.

Moreover, even if there was anything else to rely on in this world, Yuzhen would only rely on his own strength, because only strength was the most reliable.

A ninja's life might seem worthless, but in this era, it was actually only ninjas who had the right to control their own destiny. Precisely because ninjas were the most dangerous, they were the safest.

The logic was simple: those who can kill can protect themselves.

Daimyo, who controlled more resources and the right to distribute them, seemed to be the upper class to ninjas, but in reality? The hand holding the sword hilt could be severed at any moment.

The current basic situation in the Ninja World was this: different ninja forces were fighting fiercely, and the entire ninja class had reached a fragile balance with the "Daimyo" class that ruled over commoners.

Ninjas were busy going mad at other ninjas and generally didn't go mad at Daimyo.

Theoretically, Daimyo would not directly send ninjas to eliminate other Daimyo, because no one could afford the potential risk of opening Pandora's Box.

But with the escalating warfare, this political tacit understanding probably wouldn't last long. Sooner or later, someone clever would appear.

Those holding a hammer always wanted to smash something with it.

As long as there was a button on the table, it would always be pressed.

Yuzhen had sufficient understanding of what a ninja was. He didn't participate in the discussion, and now he had made up his mind: he would work before starting his own venture.

After everyone had discussed enough, he parted his lips and said in a calm tone:

"Very well, then let's set off..."

"To Kikyo Castle."

A final decision was made.