The Benefits of Having a Path to Follow

In the dim mountain cave, a white-haired old man leaned against the Statue with his eyes closed. He gave off no sign of life at all, as though he were already dead.

But if you drew closer, you would sense an aura of Natural Disaster surrounding him.

It could erupt at any moment and devour the entire world.

In a corner of the cave, a white-faced monster was using a branch to draw something on the ground.

Time passed like this within the cave, as though neither of them had any awareness of it.

Suddenly, a mound of earth rose from the ground, and a Yin-Yang Face emerged from it.

"Lord Madara, I'm back."

His gloomy voice echoed through the cave.

"Hey, Zetsu, you're back! Can I go out and play?"

Upon hearing Zetsu's words, the white-faced creature at the edge of the cave jumped up excitedly.

"No, Tobi. You need to stay here and protect Lord Madara. I can handle the scouting work."

Zetsu looked wearily at his fellow kind. They were both products of the Ten-Tails, so why was the gap between them so enormous?

"Zetsu, how are things outside? Has anything major happened recently?"

The white-haired old man, Madara Uchiha, opened his eyes, revealing a pair of Striped Eyes. His aura erupted completely, making the entire cave feel oppressive.

"Hi, Lord Madara! You're awake! Let's go out and play. Tobi's so bored here, and Zetsu won't let me leave."

Tobi looked at Madara Uchiha excitedly. He desperately wanted to go outside. Since his birth, he had only gone out a few times, and each time, he had not stayed out for long.

Ignoring the excited Tobi, Madara stared at the black-and-white-faced Zetsu and waited for his reply.

"Nothing major has happened. The Ninja World is still at war. If I had to mention something, the Land of Whirlpools was wiped out, and one branch of the Uzumaki Clan migrated to Sunagakure.

"Also, Sunagakure opened a Ninja Academy, and the Third Kazekage sold Sunagakure's land at the price of gold."

As the Ninja World's dutiful son and a part-time schemer of a thousand years, Black Zetsu could do anything except govern a nation.

He simply could not see Sunagakure's changes for what they were. Naturally, he told Madara Uchiha about them as a joke to cheer him up.

"Ahem. Selling land at the price of gold? He's forcing people to buy it, isn't he? What use is all that sand in Sunagakure?"

Madara Uchiha wore a disdainful expression as he spoke indifferently.

As one of the Ninja World's two greatest cheats, Madara Uchiha had no emotional intelligence, nor did he understand politics or domestic affairs. If placed in the twenty-first century, he would have been illiterate.

"Tell me about something else. Have you found anyone who can bear these eyes of mine?"

Madara Uchiha changed the subject and continued staring at Black and White Zetsu.

Before his lifespan ran out, he only wanted to find someone to inherit his eyes, then find someone else to inherit his will.

"Well, if I had to name someone, the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure would do. His strength and talent are sufficient, and his status would save us a lot of trouble."

After pondering for a long time, Black Zetsu finally voiced his thoughts.

As a schemer of a thousand years, Black Zetsu had seen many people. Aside from the descendants of that unfilial son Six Paths, the person he thought most highly of was Yunqing.

That terrifying strength and astonishing talent were beyond imagination.

Black Zetsu believed that if Yunqing continued growing for a while longer, surpassing Madara Uchiha would not be a problem.

"The Third Kazekage? Tell me about him. What kind of talent could those poor bastards in Sunagakure possibly raise?"

Madara Uchiha replied arrogantly.

In his eyes, there were only two clans in the entire Ninja World worth looking at: the Uchiha and the Senju.

The rest were all trash. He had even beaten up users of the so-called Kekkei Tōta.

Zetsu automatically ignored Madara's arrogance. He had long grown accustomed to Madara Uchiha's pride.

Over the next while, Black Zetsu gave Madara Uchiha a detailed account of everything he had "seen and heard" in Sunagakure.

When it came to gathering intelligence, Black Zetsu was number one in the Ninja World.

"Interesting. A unique Kekkei Genkai, Chakra comparable to the Senju and Uzumaki Clan, and terrifying talent."

After hearing Zetsu's description, Madara Uchiha became interested as well.

"A head of red hair... Investigate carefully. He might have Uzumaki Clan blood. If he does, passing these eyes on to him would not be impossible."

As a proud man, Madara Uchiha snorted coldly.

"Yes, Lord Madara. I'll investigate immediately."

After giving Tobi a provocative glance, Zetsu leisurely used Earth Release to leave beneath Tobi's envious, jealous, and resentful gaze.

After Zetsu left, Madara Uchiha fell back into slumber. With no one paying attention to him, Tobi once again immersed himself in the world of drawing.

Year after year, day after day, Tobi's drawing skills advanced by leaps and bounds. At the very least, the poop he drew looked more and more realistic.

The cave became quiet once more, and the great Madara Uchiha sank back into slumber.

Yunqing, in Sunagakure, had no idea that he was about to come into contact with the Ninja World's thousand-year schemer and the previous generation's greatest cheat. If he had known, Yunqing would have been very excited.

Finally, he could test his own strength.

Ever since he had perfectly absorbed Irene's power and the rate at which he received Grandpa Hua's template had grown faster and faster, Yunqing truly had no idea what level his strength had reached.

He only knew that he could do everything Naruto's Chakra Mode could do in the original story. His exceptionally developed brain and powerful body could barely sustain the calculations of the Black Hole Engine.

After all, in the realm of the mysterious, a powerful bloodline and immense energy reserves could turn one's own body into a computer.

Yunqing hoped that his next draw would get him the Dark Matter Quantum Computer. His own energy was enough to support the computer's operation, and with the Black Hole Engine added in, he could truly fight anyone.

Creating a black hole was not something just anyone could do.

At the Sunagakure training grounds, Yunqing, who had been free recently, was training Pakura in combat techniques.

Though calling it training was not quite right. It was more like a one-sided beating.

Whether it was Irene's or Grandpa Hua's template, both had quite impressive taijutsu and swordsmanship.

In their original worlds, they might not have ranked among the strongest, but they were still worth ninety points.

"Tsk, tsk. Your attack direction is far too obvious, your strength is too weak, and your attack path is too easy to read."

"Your chakra fluctuations are too strong, and your use of your bloodline limit is terrible."

"Your taijutsu is too weak. With a bloodline limit like yours, you should pair it with taijutsu. Only then can your strength improve by leaps and bounds."

"Think about those famous ninjas, those Kage-level fighters from every village. Which one of them doesn't have decent taijutsu? How dare you train only ninjutsu and look down on taijutsu?"

Yunqing held an iron rod. After adding various attributes to it, he gave Pakura a brutal beating, all while verbally mocking her.

Seeing Pakura panting for breath after casually using her bloodline limit a few times, Yunqing felt both helpless and frustrated.

Were the people of the Ninja World all blind? Hadn't they noticed that every famous ninja possessed decent taijutsu?

The Raikage lineage of Kumogakure called their ninjutsu Nintaijutsu. Kirigakure's Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, could create the Seven Ninja Swords—did they really think his taijutsu could be weak? As for Iwagakure's people, there was no need to mention them. They wrapped their hands in rock and used the Heavy Rock Technique. Just ask yourself whether that scared you. And Konoha? The Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Slash involved swordsmanship. The First Hokage relied on taijutsu in his earliest battles, and the foundation of the Monster Strength Technique was his legacy. The Third Hokage's Summoning Technique summoned Enma, who could transform into the Adamantine Staff.

All in all, one basic requirement for becoming a Kage was having sufficiently strong taijutsu to support one's combat ability.

"Huff, but aren't taijutsu ninjas recognized as the weakest type of ninja? Huff. Besides, don't the Kage of every village rely on powerful ninjutsu? I've never heard of anyone becoming famous through taijutsu."

Pakura panted as she tried to argue back.

She thought Yunqing was talking nonsense and merely teasing her.

Even Yunqing himself had not become famous through taijutsu.

"Heh. Then tell me, what did I use to defeat you just now?"

Yunqing sneered in rebuttal.

"Don't be stupid. Taijutsu can deal with all kinds of close-range situations. It can strengthen your endurance in battle and keep you from becoming out of breath after casually using a few ninjutsu, only to get cut down with one slash.

"A powerful physique also allows you to refine chakra more quickly.

"You silly girl, haven't you noticed that every Kage has more chakra than most people, even if their chakra reserves are considered low?"

Yunqing explained to Pakura with great helplessness.

"I think I should still summarize my experience and put it into textbooks. Otherwise, this process of blindly figuring things out will harm countless people."

Seeing the look of sudden realization on Pakura's face, Yunqing sighed inwardly.

The Ye Clan had never produced a Kage-level fighter, so naturally they did not know some of the basics of being Kage-level.

Look at Kakashi in the original story. Though he was a ninjutsu expert known throughout the world, he could still open the Eight Inner Gates. Even if he could not open many of them, it still showed that he understood the importance of taijutsu to a ninja.

That was the benefit of having a path others had already walked. He had an Old Father who was a powerhouse renowned throughout the Ninja World.

There was nothing to be done about knowing more than other people's families.

Sorry, this chapter was yesterday's.

There was too much going on yesterday. I was busy until evening, fell asleep halfway through writing, and hurriedly finished it after waking up this morning.