Strange Gaze

Yamanaka Kizuki's perception range reached 22 meters, surpassing Uchiha Yuan's Mind's Eye. This was good news, at least!

And this was just the beginning. Uchiha Yuan and Yamanaka Kizuki had found an opportunity to exploit a bug.

Yamanaka Kizuki's perception range could be improved through confrontations with Genjutsu.

This meant that if Uchiha Yuan mastered other Genjutsu in the future, he could also apply them to Yamanaka Kizuki.

However, the two Genjutsu Uchiha Yuan knew were both passed down through generations since the founding of Konoha.

He had only mastered the D-rank Genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique. The B-rank Genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death, was merely introductory, with its success rate and effects inferior to Hell Viewing Technique.

Once he became proficient with Tree Binding Death, it should also be able to increase Yamanaka Kizuki's perception range.

Of course, this didn't mean Mind's Eye was useless just because Yamanaka Kizuki's perception range had increased.

Uchiha Yuan had discovered earlier that compared to the Yamanaka Clan's perception, Mind's Eye had a remarkably strong effect in perceiving all types of life.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Yuan activated Mind's Eye, and all life within 20 meters was perceived by him.

Like Teleportation, Mind's Eye could only be upgraded through repeated use. He just didn't know how many times it would take to level up.

Although Mind's Eye had no consumption, Uchiha Yuan found that activating it and receiving feedback from so many lives made him uncomfortable.

It was like being in a bustling market, with loudhailers constantly shouting all around. Because of this, Uchiha Yuan didn't keep Mind's Eye activated all the time.

However, with Yamanaka Kizuki's perception range increasing today, Uchiha Yuan felt his own Mind's Eye needed to be upgraded quickly. So, he decided to activate Mind's Eye frequently from now on to gain proficiency.

Uchiha Yuan, with Mind's Eye active, returned to the Uchiha Clan's camp.

As soon as he entered the camp, Uchiha Yuan's steps faltered.

Because his Mind's Eye had sensed an unusually powerful life force beneath the camp. This life force was stronger than anyone Uchiha Yuan had ever encountered.

What Uchiha Yuan found even more terrifying was that the owner of this life force seemed to have been staring at the Uchiha Clan members in the camp, yet they were completely unaware.

Uchiha Yuan was about to report this situation to Uchiha Mei when he suddenly stopped, thinking of something: "Wait! Could this be White Zetsu!"

Beneath the camp, a strong life force that could evade the detection of both Uchiha Mei's and Uchiha Aya's three-tomoe Sharingan – wasn't this the characteristic of White Zetsu?

White Zetsu's Mayfly Technique allowed it to merge its body with the earth and vegetation, achieving high-speed movement. It could become one with the earth and then travel at high speed to any location by infiltrating the organic network of roots and groundwater present in the earth. During this technique, all traces of its presence could be severed, making it difficult to detect.

White Zetsu itself was formed from those who fell under the Infinite Tsukuyomi in the previous era, making it a product of the God Tree and possessing powerful vitality.

White Zetsu also had a reason to monitor the Uchiha Clan's camp. Madara Uchiha was likely still searching for someone to inherit his will after his death.

This person had to be a member of the Uchiha Clan, which was why Madara Uchiha would dispatch White Zetsu to observe the Uchiha Clan members on the battlefield and select suitable candidates.

Thinking this, Uchiha Yuan became increasingly convinced that what was beneath the camp was White Zetsu, or rather, a spore clone of White Zetsu.

Uchiha Yuan currently had no way to deal with troublesome beings like White Zetsu. It was best not to make any moves.

Madara Uchiha wasn't dead yet! Who knew if directly exposing White Zetsu's existence would attract Madara Uchiha's attention?

Although the current Madara Uchiha was an elderly man who moved with difficulty, hooked up to tubes, he was still Madara Uchiha. Even at this age, Uchiha Yuan dared not show the slightest disrespect.

Thus, Uchiha Yuan decided that as long as White Zetsu didn't do anything, he would simply pretend not to know of its existence.

The next day, Yūhi Shinkō arrived at the Land of Bears' camp with ninja reinforcements from the village.

With the new troop replenishment, Orochimaru's tent was filled with meetings all day.

That evening, all the reconnaissance team captains were summoned to Orochimaru's tent.

An hour later, under the cover of the pitch-black night, Konoha's reconnaissance teams were all deployed, their target the main battlefield ahead.

"Teacher Shibi, what is our mission this time?" Hyuga Asana asked as they moved through the forest.

"To check for enemy ambushes and traps on the battlefield," Shibi Aburame replied.

"Is the village going to have a decisive battle with Kirigakure?" Yamanaka Kizuki asked.

"How is that possible! On the Land of Bears side, we are inferior to Kirigakure in both numbers of ninja and strong individuals. The village's goal has always been for us to hold back Kirigakure and prevent them from fully occupying the Land of Bears. A full-scale war with Kirigakure is absolutely out of the question," Shibi Aburame replied.

"Then why are we clearing traps and ambushes on the battlefield?" Yamanaka Kizuki continued to ask.

This time, Shibi Aburame didn't answer Yamanaka Kizuki's question directly. Instead, he turned to Uchiha Yuan and asked, "Yuan, what do you think?"

"I think it's probably because we've been consistently suppressed by Kirigakure, and our morale is low. With the arrival of reinforcements from the village, Lord Orochimaru wants to launch an offensive against Kirigakure to boost morale!"

Shibi Aburame nodded upon hearing this. "Your analysis is good. Lord Orochimaru and Shikaku's main objective this time is indeed to boost morale."

"Main objective? Are there other objectives?" Hyuga Asana asked.

"Indeed, there are. It's just that it has nothing to do with our reconnaissance team; it's something others should worry about."

Seeing that Shibi Aburame didn't want to elaborate, they didn't ask further.

However, Uchiha Yuan seemed to have guessed something. He thought Orochimaru was likely interested in Kirigakure's high-end combat power, such as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the strong individuals from their Kekkei Genkai clans.

Orochimaru probably wanted to take advantage of this war to annihilate some of Kirigakure's high-end combat forces.

If conditions permitted, he could take the opportunity to collect the corpses of Kirigakure's Kekkei Genkai ninja for research.

This was indeed the case. Orochimaru intended to target the strong individuals from Kirigakure's Kekkei Genkai clans this time. The clan heads of the Uchiha Clan, Yūhi Shinkō, and the Ino-Shika-Cho formation would jointly be responsible for tying down the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Then, Orochimaru would deal with the strong individuals from the Kekkei Genkai clans.

Uchiha Yuan and the others couldn't get involved in this part of the battle, and it also involved the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, which was why Shibi Aburame hadn't fully explained the situation to Uchiha Yuan and the others.

New book seeking collection and recommendations. Thank you for your support.