Zhixin had seen through the plan in Nawaki's mind after just a few words, but he wasn't surprised in the least. He had long known that this young clan leader was even more intelligent than he was, so he smiled humbly. "There's no way I could hide my little schemes from you, Clan Leader. I'm sorry for the trouble!"
"Since you still have some influence and authority among these rogue ninja, it should be easy to summon them one by one under the pretense that you need support, right?" Nawaki turned to look at the flowers and plants in the courtyard and spoke casually.
Zhixin smiled. "You want them to walk right into a trap, then take them down one by one?"
"It's always easy to talk to a clever man. That's right. I'll mark these rogue ninja with Cursed Seals and have them join the branch family of the Senju Clan as your subordinates. Then I'll need you to 'persuade' them to abandon the darkness and embrace the light.
"I imagine these rogue ninja are in a similar situation to you, Zhixin. After training at the Consortium for so many years, their chakra reserves and physical abilities should be above those of ordinary Chunin, right?
"Not everyone has your talent, of course, but they should become stronger once they've learned the appropriate ninjutsu. The Senju Clan specializes in all five elemental releases, so we should have something to suit everyone.
"Oh, right! Here are the advanced Wind Release techniques you need, Zhixin. My Sensory Technique picked up some Fire Release chakra in your body, too. That should be the second affinity you trained on your own, right? You can have this Fire Release scroll as well!" Nawaki had stored a large number of ninjutsu scrolls in Tree Seed Space in case he ever needed them. Now they came in handy for winning Zhixin's loyalty.
Judging by Zhixin's reaction, the offer had worked exceptionally well. He dropped to one knee and raised both hands to accept the ninjutsu scrolls he had long dreamed of obtaining. His voice shook with excitement. "Thank you for your generous gift, Clan Leader! I'll make sure the other rogue ninja in the Consortium are 'persuaded' one by one to willingly accept the 'mark' of the Senju Clan's branch family!"
Zhixin hadn't expected to obtain the scrolls he had sought in vain so easily. In his excitement, he volunteered to capture his former subordinates and turn them against their old masters himself. After seeing Nawaki's demonstration, he was sure he could handle the task with ease. It would just take some time.
"Ding! Zhixin has pledged his sincere loyalty to the host. His relationship with the host has changed to unwavering loyalty. He will provide the host with 10 Wish Power every day!"
The system notification rang out at the same time. Zhixin was the third person to form a bond with Nawaki, after Tsunade and Mito. The bond was equivalent to an extra 10 points of reputation for Nawaki. Unfortunately, people like this were very rare. Nawaki had spent all these years using his silver tongue, but had never formed a bond with anyone. He hadn't expected to succeed today with someone suffering from Stockholm syndrome! It seemed this method was worth promoting!
Nawaki patted Zhixin on the shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Since you want to prove your loyalty, I'll leave this to you. With your abilities, Zhixin, I'm sure you won't disappoint me!"
"Thank you for trusting me, Clan Leader. I swear I'll complete the mission!" Zhixin stood up and bowed his head as he made his promise.
Seeing his response, Nawaki nodded in satisfaction and asked, "By the way, the civilians you've captured are supposed to be sent to the headquarters, right?"
"Yes, Clan Leader. Baran is responsible for regularly escorting these civilians to the Consortium's headquarters. After they're trained, they're sold as slaves to the nobility of various countries!"
"When will Baran arrive?"
"Baran will arrive within two days at the latest, bringing the civilians captured by the Consortium's various mountain strongholds to the headquarters. Since our stronghold is the Consortium's outpost, Baran will come here first to gather information and reduce the risk, then take the civilians to the other strongholds." Zhixin's expression turned serious. He was clearly wary of Baran. Any ninja who had taken part in the coup that shook the Shinobi World and managed to escape with his life was no simple opponent!
Nawaki merely nodded, looking relaxed. "Don't worry. I have a way to deal with Baran. Focus on persuading the others, and do it as quickly as possible!"
Zhixin's expression sharpened. "Yes! I'll send word right away and summon them here to 'persuade' them one by one!"
"There's no need to rush. Recover your chakra and make all the preparations first. Also, my main body and four teammates are still outside the stronghold. Find a way to bring us inside later. My team leader is Torifu Akimichi. You've probably heard of him." Unlike Nawaki, whose reputation as a genius had spread only among the great ninja villages because Konoha had deliberately suppressed the news, Torifu Akimichi was a long-established Konoha jonin whose name even a rogue ninja like Zhixin would have heard.
Zhixin looked shocked. "Torifu Akimichi? The Second Hokage's disciple? I can't believe this mission brought someone of his stature here! But even more astonishing is that you managed to defeat me with a clone, Clan Leader! I still haven't noticed the difference. Your strength is even more unfathomable than I thought!"
"You flatter me! And don't underestimate yourself, Zhixin. If the flowers and plants hadn't distracted you, and if my Wood Release weren't so unusual, it wouldn't have been so easy to defeat you. Ninja battles have too many unpredictable factors; one careless moment can lead to utter ruin. Sometimes brains matter more than strength. It's not uncommon for powerful ninja to die because they let their guard down against a weaker enemy. Konoha's Nara Clan made its name in the Shinobi World by outsmarting stronger opponents. That's why I have such confidence in you, Zhixin." Nawaki shook his head and sighed.
Itachi had been right about one thing: every ninjutsu and every power had a weakness. What mattered was the ninja using it. In the original story, Danzo had gone to great lengths to implant Wood Release Cells and the Sharingan, yet Sasuke still killed him in the end. Apart from Izanagi, Danzo hadn't made proper use of either the Sharingan or Wood Release. Instead, he had fought with the Wind Release he was best at. That was why a ninja's ability to use and combine techniques was so important; otherwise, they couldn't bring out their true strength. Danzo may have spent so many years in a position of power that he rarely fought, leaving him inexperienced in using those two bloodline powers. That had led to his easy defeat, and in the end, he couldn't even escape—he could only self-destruct with Reverse Four-Symbols Sealing. He could be considered the weakest "Hokage" in terms of combat power.
As for Nawaki now, although his chakra reserves had reached the level of a jonin, his favored techniques consumed enormous amounts of chakra. When it came to Wood Release, for example, he couldn't even use Deep Forest Emergence yet. That technique was the foundation for all the major Wood Release techniques that came later!
Rasenshuriken could only be used once, too. After he unleashed it, if his enemy wasn't dead, he would be the one to die. Without someone to protect him, he would hardly ever use it.
As for Taijutsu, he had already mastered the Six Powers. But because he was so young, his strength and stamina hadn't reached their peak, so he couldn't keep using the Six Powers for an extended period. He could only use them as a trump card at critical moments. The same went for the Strength of a Hundred Fist he had inherited. These advanced Taijutsu techniques consumed enormous amounts of stamina. Even with the Asura Bloodline, five-year-old Nawaki had about as much stamina as eight- or nine-year-old Naruto. That was the result of years of grueling training.
As for genjutsu, Nawaki had only dabbled in it. He could use it only to bully little kids.
Nawaki's usual means of fighting were ninjutsu of various elemental releases. Although he had many trump cards and was a well-rounded fighter, and could briefly unleash the strength of an elite jonin if he used them all, he lacked the stamina to keep it up. His ordinary strength was on par with an average jonin, and he had far less combat experience than most jonin—even Chunin. So his true, consistent combat strength was that of a Special Jōnin, which matched his rank quite well.
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