Misaka Sister 0002

As Uchiha Fucheng walked through the Uchiha Clan Compound, he experienced firsthand the truth of that witty observation.

"The Uchiha Clan is full of spiky-haired troublemakers. Only Itachi uses Pantene."

Uchiha Fucheng ran a hand over the ends of his hair.

"Is it because of the texture?"

Nearly eighty percent of the Uchiha Clan's shinobi, including Fucheng himself, had spiky, bristly, or Saiyan-style hair.

Among the shinobi on active duty, the Uchiha with bristly hair were especially common.

Before Uchiha Itachi was born, Uchiha Fugaku had been the one with the smoothest, flattest hair—the "Pantene boy."

Fucheng's current hairstyle, on the other hand, looked more like Uchiha Sasuke's would in the future.

"Ah, who cares? As long as I look good."

Fucheng preferred his own bristly hair, and he also liked his face, with its shallow tear troughs and nasolabial folds.

In that respect, Fucheng and Fugaku really did resemble Sasuke and Itachi a little.

Watching the Uchiha Clan members grow more and more ambitious, Fucheng himself felt cheerful.

"Everyone has to get competitive if the Uchiha Clan is going to have a future. Otherwise, if I'm the only one working hard, even if I awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, I'll work myself to death."

As soon as Fucheng entered the house, he saw Mikoto and the three-member team kneeling in the main room, engrossed in studying ninjutsu scrolls.

Ever since they'd returned to Konoha, Uchiha Hezi, Hatake Jiangyi, and Yakushi Nonō had been as happy as if it were a festival.

In addition to the ninjutsu scrolls he'd already given them as extra rewards, Uchiha Fucheng had also opened up access to some D-rank and C-rank ninjutsu for them to learn.

After the Uchiha Clan's reforms, their ability to copy ninjutsu meant that the Uchiha might have the widest variety of techniques of any clan in the entire Shinobi World.

Immersed in a sea of ninjutsu knowledge, the three of them hadn't left the house for several days.

When they got hungry, they grabbed some dry rations or Military Ration Pills.

Once they learned a technique, they went out to the training ground in the back yard to try it out.

After using up their chakra, they returned to the house to rest, recovering their chakra while continuing to study the scrolls.

And so the cycle continued.

In less than a week, the three youngsters under Uchiha Fucheng's watchful eye had each mastered more than five C-rank ninjutsu, with the exception of Mikoto.

Mikoto didn't need to focus so much on ninjutsu.

She'd gained a new talent: Superpower LV5. What she needed was to familiarize herself with different types of ninjutsu, so she could exploit their weaknesses when she encountered them on the battlefield.

Her main training now focused on the fundamentals of "electricity, magnetism, and waves" that Fucheng had assigned her, and how to use them in combination with her Electro Master ability.

During breaks between her intensive training sessions, Mikoto also had another important task to complete with Fucheng.

They were searching around Konoha for the next hidden White Zetsu scout.

Now that she'd gotten to know Misaka Sister 0001, Mikoto had grown fond of the mutant clone, who shared some of her memories and had a personality all her own.

They didn't just look alike. Misaka Sister 0001 had also inherited Mikoto's tough side.

That gave Mikoto a special sense of closeness toward the "Misaka clone transformed from White Zetsu."

Mikoto got up, made sure Hezi and the others continued their training, and called over the masked Misaka Sister 0001, who was standing nearby with the guards.

"Come on. Let's find another one and transform it, so Sister 0001 will have a companion."

Mikoto was full of energy, looking confident and spirited.

The two of them and one White Zetsu left the Uchiha Clan Compound, but this time they didn't head away from Konoha through the main gate.

Instead, they wandered around inside the village, following its outer walls.

Mikoto had brought a special backpack with a fishbone antenna attached.

Every so often, she used her electromagnetic abilities to control the antenna on her back and send out electromagnetic waves centered on herself to scan the area.

Faint sparks, difficult to see with the naked eye, flickered across the antenna's surface, which occasionally hummed and vibrated.

During the search, Misaka Sister 0001 could also act as a small relay station for "wave detection," expanding Mikoto's scanning range in whichever direction she was facing.

The two of them and the White Zetsu scanned as they walked.

When they reached an abandoned training ground, Mikoto abruptly made a rabbit-ears signal.

Fucheng's eyes lit up.

His pupils instantly changed into the shape of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

They'd agreed on this signal beforehand: the rabbit ears meant something was coming up from underground.

In a village like Konoha, where Earth Release wasn't a mainstream technique, anything coming up from underground was most likely a White Zetsu.

Fucheng silently mouthed a warning to Mikoto.

He told her and Misaka Sister 0001 to hold back while he quietly approached the spot Mikoto had indicated on his own.

After all, they were inside Konoha. Mikoto's railgun was powerful, but it made far too much noise.

It was more convenient for him to handle things with Mikoto backing him up.

After advancing a little over fifty meters, Fucheng had just circled around a small, tree-covered mound when he spotted a creature that looked like a White Zetsu.

"Pure white, with half its body above ground. That's the one!" Fucheng stared at the target and happily confirmed its identity.

He was just about to attack when he pulled back into the shadows of the trees.

"Something's wrong. This White Zetsu seems to be watching a tree hollow farther away."

With his Sharingan activated, Fucheng could see even the tiniest details.

He immediately realized that the White Zetsu was watching a tree hollow in the distance.

The hollow was over a meter wide, with weeds growing thickly around it and vines covering its entrance.

If the White Zetsu hadn't been staring fixedly at the spot, Fucheng wouldn't have noticed it.

Now that he'd spotted the hollow, the subtle marks left by broken plants told him it was a concealed entrance to an underground facility.

Underground, an entrance, a White Zetsu keeping watch?

"Could it be Root?" Danzo, the Pot Kage with one eye covered, flashed through Fucheng's mind.

The vines at the hollow's entrance suddenly swayed.

A small shinobi wearing Root's painted mask cautiously crawled out of the hollow, carrying a finely crafted box studded with copper rivets.

The White Zetsu moved!

It slipped underground and cautiously used Earth Release to approach the Root shinobi.

The Root shinobi carefully tidied up the entrance to the hollow and looked around. Seeing nothing amiss, he set off toward the edge of the woods.

One step, two steps, three steps...

He hadn't even finished taking another step when two vines shot up from beneath him. One wrapped around his legs, while the other sprouted a mass of thorny spikes and stabbed straight into his mouth.

The hidden White Zetsu shot out of the ground like a blur. Its entire right arm had transformed into a sharp, spear-shaped wooden limb that pierced through the Root shinobi's chest.

Pfft!

The White Zetsu's attack hit home. The Root shinobi barely bled at all. He only managed a muffled grunt before slumping to the ground, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

This White Zetsu seemed emotionally unstable.

It was unusually violent and bloodthirsty. Even after its target stopped moving, it repeatedly struck the body with its spear-like arm.

By then, Uchiha Fucheng had already crept up behind the White Zetsu without making a sound.

Slash, slash!

His newly mastered Hatake Kenjutsu gave the White Zetsu no time to react. Fucheng severed both its arms and legs from behind.

Gripping the White Zetsu by the neck with his right hand, Fucheng turned the creature—which had just been reduced to a human stump—to face him.

Sharingan Genjutsu!

A triple-layered Mangekyō-level genjutsu.

It left the White Zetsu staring blankly, its eyes unfocused.

Clearly, the violent White Zetsu couldn't withstand the Mangekyō Sharingan and had fallen captive to the genjutsu.

Following behind Fucheng, Mikoto happily watched the White Zetsu in his grasp. She began constructing the Misaka Network by touching its forehead.

Assimilating the White Zetsu clone!

The Misaka Network was established.

The White Zetsu transformed, and Misaka Sister 0002 was born!