Illusion Chamber, Hidden Enemy

The second floor of the Police Force.

"This is where we train illusions."

Naoshu pushed open a room that looked like a shooting range and pointed to three dummies leaning against the wall, introducing them:

"These are lifelike dummies custom-made at great expense by the clan. Let's take a closer look."

As he spoke, he pried open a dummy's eyelid with Sou. The pupils looked very similar to those of ordinary people, but interestingly, they were engraved with three circles.

"These three circles represent three zones, indicating the strength of the illusion you cast on them. The innermost is weak, and the outermost is the strongest. Currently, no one except the clan leader can fully fill all three zones."

"The clan leader?"

Sou's brow twitched upon hearing this.

That old man, his illusion skills are that strong?

He was somewhat unsure before, but now it seemed this old man definitely possessed those heaven-defying forbidden techniques of Izanagi.

Otherwise, his pupil power wouldn't have developed to that extent.

"How is it?"

Naoshu glanced back at him with a half-smile. "Can't you tell? When I joined the Police Force two years ago, I also found it hard to believe. He usually just slams the table and glares..."

Sou casually added, "When he has nothing to do, he likes to show off with that tea cup he's worn smooth..."

"Right, right, right!"

Naoshu seemed to have hit a nerve, his face flushing with excitement, and he agreed vehemently: "Several of us in the squad realized it. He doesn't really like tea, yet he's always holding that ridiculous tea cup, turning it around. In reality, nine out of ten times it's just plain water.

And also, during several Police Force meetings, he was the one who farted, but he always blamed us. If it weren't for his age, we would have..."

"And that time..."

As they walked, the two of them complained about the clan leader.

What was originally a small second floor, the two of them took half an hour to walk through, stopping and starting.

Of course, the introductions didn't stop. However, apart from the novel illusion training room, the others were quite conventional.

Such as the training grounds for shuriken techniques, sparring grounds, and the mission reception room.

When they reached the bulletin board in the mission reception room, Naoshu stopped and tapped the regulations posted on it with his knuckles.

"Right, the most important rule is here. The missions and rewards in the squad are mainly divided into two modes: one is the 'monthly salary mode.' Each month, you must complete one A-rank mission assigned by the clan, either independently or as a team. The rewards are split fifty-fifty with the clan. It's relatively free, you earn more, but the pressure is also high."

He paused, pointing to another path: "The other is the 'Permanent Duty' mode. It requires participating in village patrols daily and receiving a fixed salary. It's quite stable.

But even so, you must complete at least one A-rank mission issued by the clan every quarter. However, for such missions, the clan takes seventy percent of the reward, and the individual only gets thirty percent. It's considered a basic 'obligation' to ensure a foundation."

Naoshu shrugged and looked at Sou: "You're new here, so you'll probably have to start with 'Permanent Duty' to get familiar. But you can choose based on your situation later. What do you think? After hearing all this, are you still sure you want to live here?"

At this moment, Naoshu pushed open the door to a lounge, his eyes sincerely advising:

"Although the dormitories here are cleaned daily, you'll often run into Clan Leader Qiongyue. With his temper, sometimes blowing a fuse is the least of it."

In these past thirty minutes, although Naoshu hadn't spent much time with Sou, he felt a sense of having met a kindred spirit.

Of course, it wasn't because they shared common interests. It was purely because they bonded over complaining about Qiongyue.

"Sigh..."

Sou let out a long sigh, as if making this decision was a reluctant choice. He said:

"You know my parents died early. Besides Brother Jing, I don't have any other relatives in the village. Living here is perfect. It'll save me the trouble of cleaning later, and it'll be convenient for missions.

Being able to interact more with the team members can also help foster better relationships."

Although he said these words, his true intention was to exchange for Izanagi.

Even though Qiongyue had rewarded him with S-rank merit, for a forbidden jutsu like Izanagi, Qiongyue would definitely not agree unless he was a trusted confidant.

As for forcibly taking it, he hadn't ruled out that method. However, considering his current combat power, the chance of being killed in retaliation was probably over ninety percent.

The reason he made this judgment was his suspicion that the old man had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan long ago. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold onto the position of clan leader for so long.

It was better to play it safe.

"Sigh... Alright then."

Naoshu let out a long sigh, reached out, and patted Sou's shoulder in understanding.

"I'll have those two downstairs send up your ninja tools later. Get familiar with the room here first. If you need any help when you move tomorrow, remember to call me."

"Oh, that's too kind. I'm already indebted to you."

Sou waved his hands repeatedly, then took the initiative to invite: "Speaking of which, are you free tonight? If you are, I'd like to treat you to a drink. If it weren't for your guidance today, I really wouldn't know how long it would take me to get familiar with the Police Force."

"Another day. I'll invite a few colleagues then so you can meet them."

After a few more pleasantries, Naoshu took his leave.

However, just as Sou was about to close the door, he noticed Naoshu standing at the entrance for a long time without leaving. He immediately asked in confusion:

"Naoshu, is there something else?"

"..."

Naoshu stood there, silent for a long time. He glanced around, saw no one, and then turned back, speaking in a rapid, hushed tone:

"Recently, you need to be careful of someone named Uchiha Yōha. He's Uchiha Setsuna's cousin. You got your spot in the Police Force by bumping him out of the last position."

As he spoke, he cautiously looked around again. "I heard... this person holds grudges. You'd best be vigilant lately."

"Thank you."

Sou's gaze sharpened, and he nodded solemnly. "I'll be careful."

"..."

Naoshu nodded silently, then his voice changed as he deliberately shouted, "No need to see me out! I'll call you up another day, and we can get together."

"Huh? Oh!"

Sou instantly understood and replied loudly, "Okay, I'll definitely be there when the time comes."

Naoshu then left quickly without looking back, seemingly wary of something.

Watching Naoshu's hurried departure, Sou's eyes flickered.

Setsuna's cousin?

It seemed his recent promotion had unintentionally offended quite a few people.

Setsuna was a clan expert on the same level as Brother Jing. His cousin must not be too weak if he could get into the Police Force.

If this Yōha really intended to assassinate him, then he truly had to tread carefully.

He was well aware of the deceptive nature of the Sharingan's genjutsu. Even if he strengthened his body further, he could still fall victim if he wasn't careful!

However, he couldn't completely trust this information.

After only half an hour of contact, although Naoshu appeared honest on the surface, he might belong to some faction behind the scenes.

Perhaps he wanted to instigate a conflict between Sou and this Yōha, thereby causing Brother Jing and Uchiha Setsuna to fall out.

Or perhaps he wanted to use Sou's hands to eliminate Yōha.

Thump!

Sou closed his door and let out a cold laugh.

"I've just taken my position, and some schemers are already impatient to make a move against me?"

But this was within expectations. To gain greater benefits, you had to face more enemies in return.

There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against. The only way forward now is to increase my strength. Once my strength is sufficient, I can break through any scheme or trick with a single blow.

In a world where individual power reigns supreme, playing mind games is just plain stupid.

With that thought, Sou didn't wait for the two from logistics to come up. He took the initiative to go and collect the chakra blade and all the basic ninja tools.

However, to his surprise, these tools were conveniently stored in a spatial scroll about thirty centimeters in diameter and half a meter long.

From what he understood, these scrolls weren't cheap. Even at the ninja tool shop, they would cost at least a hundred thousand ryo.

"Is this the benefit of the police force..."

Sou looked at the scroll, which he could carry with one hand, and chuckled, shaking his head. "No wonder they're so hated."

He had taken a rough look inside, and only a little more than half the space had been used. So, he detoured to the clan's equipment store and bought all the training equipment he had ordered yesterday, placing it into the spatial scroll.

By the time he got home, it was already past noon, around twelve o'clock.

"No rush to eat."

Sou muttered, then took a beef-flavored soldier's ration pill from his pocket and popped it into his mouth, crunching it loudly.

He had already practiced a round of Thunder Breathing in the morning, depleting most of his chakra. Since he wasn't hungry anyway, he might as well strike while the iron was hot.

Besides, he was eager to see what level of ninjutsu Thunder Breathing would become once its progress was maxed out!

With that thought, he looked at the skill panel in front of him.

[Thunder Breathing: 98/100]