Uchiha Zhuang woke in the dust motes of dawn and sat up, watching the busy people outside the window. He felt a trace of pity, a trace of mockery, and a trace of envy. With Ootama and Tsugutama attending him, he dressed and ate. Then he watched everyone train hard in the courtyard all morning. Setsuna had doubled their training load and raised the standards, yet under such harsh training, they still persevered. When lunch was ready, the sweat-soaked group first went to wash and change in the renovated, spacious shower room, then sat down at the table with Uchiha Zhuang. Seeing how tense they were, Uchiha Zhuang smiled. "If you're still this timid and cowardly after training, then something's wrong. During training, the only things you should focus on are your instructor and anything that can help you. Nothing else should be allowed to distract you." He nodded to Setsuna, then left the dining hall. After Setsuna gave them a stern talking-to, they began eating with gusto, and the room filled with lively chatter.
They had an hour for their midday break, starting as soon as they finished washing the dishes. Everyone lay down to rest. Uchiha Zhuang called Delia over and instructed her, "Find three kind, elderly, lonely women who are good at cooking to prepare meals and take care of the household. You should all be freed from these chores so you can study and develop your own skills." "Yes!" Delia replied, then withdrew.
The afternoon was devoted to even stricter combat training, with virtually no time to rest. Everyone was utterly exhausted, their legs trembling so badly they could barely stand. Wooden swords, wooden knives, and wooden daggers struck them nonstop throughout the afternoon. Any group that slacked off even a little got a vicious whipping and reprimand from Setsuna. Near the end of training, just before dusk, several of them finally collapsed. The others carried them into the house, and Uchiha Zhuang came over, took the Nano Healer from his pocket, and scanned their entire bodies. Then he had them lie down to rest. After that, Setsuna forced everyone to get massages to relax. The unusual massage techniques of the ninja world caught Uchiha Zhuang's interest, so that evening he asked Setsuna to give him one. After their day of training, the girls chattered excitedly, full of energy. Once they had bathed, they softly recited Uchiha Zhuang's lessons before sitting down to dinner. At his request, the meal included saury, pork cutlets, pan-fried dumplings, thick-cut lamb, red pears—a fruit native to the Land of Fire's border region that bore fruit four times a year—celery, natto, onsen eggs, miso soup with tofu, seaweed, and fish rolls, and a small cake for each person.
Looking at the table laden with food, Uchiha Zhuang still found himself missing dishes like barbecue, roast duck, and roast chicken. The cozy group dinner ended with everyone devouring their food. In the evenings, they studied Uchiha Zhuang's life experiences and insights, as well as general knowledge about the ninja world, geography, astronomy, and culture. These were daily lessons, taught by Uchiha Zhuang himself. After they had settled into this routine, he planned to arrange for an AI teacher machine, redeemable with shop points, to teach them.
After several days, their daily routine had gradually settled into place, and Uchiha Zhuang began thinking about heading to the second base. A few nights later, after confirming the direction Delia had given him, he set out for the western border of the Land of Fire. He traveled through increasingly lush forests and vegetation until he reached the border of the Land of Grass. Seeing the ruins of villages and towns scorched by war, Uchiha Zhuang sighed. Kusagakure was in the center of the Land of Grass and was only a small ninja village. Its leader was probably no stronger than an elite jonin, or perhaps even just an ordinary jonin. But Uchiha Zhuang had no intention of raiding Kusagakure, and he did his best to avoid contact with ninjas. He was dressed as a wandering samurai, secretly building up his own strength, and absolutely could not expose himself now. Besides, his abilities weren't enough to guarantee he could infiltrate or storm Kusagakure, seize its treasures, and get out safely.
Looking at the people in front of him, gaunt and pale, their eyes dull and vacant and their movements sluggish, Uchiha Zhuang couldn't bring himself to pity them. Unless the source of the warfare could be stopped, this would never end. And he had no way to help the civilians he encountered along the way. Kusagakure was exceptionally good at studying and deciphering other people's jutsu. It also had distinctive, even powerful techniques such as Kusagakure Style Explosive Palm and Dragon Life Reincarnation Technique. Even so, Uchiha Zhuang didn't want to get involved. During his few days in the Land of Grass, he camped outdoors, eating dry rations whenever he got hungry—jerky, biscuits, bread, canned food, and the like. Soldier pills tasted like husks and were almost impossible to swallow. When thirsty, he went deep into the mountains to drink from streams near their sources. During wartime, poisoning rivers and wells was practically inevitable. Deep in the forest, Uchiha Zhuang continually absorbed and converted Natural Energy. He even attracted many animals: deer, wild boars, wildcats, foxes, rodents, birds, and many strange, adorable creatures unique to this world whose names he didn't know. There were even some spirits and monsters capable of sensing auras and energy. Uchiha Zhuang loved the primeval forests of the Land of Grass. The Natural Energy here was generally stronger than in the Land of Fire, and the animals were remarkably spirited. As he considered taking some back to the base as pets or forming a beast squad, Uchiha Zhuang walked slowly through the forest, unaware of a pair of clear green eyes watching him from afar.
After traveling through the forest for another two days, Uchiha Zhuang had noticed the pursuer behind him. Its aura and energy were far stronger than those of ordinary animals, and it didn't feel like an animal. That meant it was most likely a monster. But the forest was its territory, and it was hard to draw it out. Even while he slept at night, it watched him from a distance without approaching. It seemed the forest's cover didn't hinder its vision. As Uchiha Zhuang pondered the problem, he came up with a plan. That night, he lit a campfire, then quietly created a clone behind a large tree. His real body concealed his presence and released a faint trace of Natural Energy, while the clone walked onward, emitting chakra. Sure enough, through Uchiha Zhuang's keen senses, he detected the pursuer slowly approaching the campfire, intending to pass through and continue following his clone. Just as it neared the tree, the pursuer stopped, sniffed lightly, then abruptly turned and ran. Uchiha Zhuang had sensed something was wrong as soon as it stopped. He used Body Flicker Technique to pursue it, moving with such speed and agility that he almost reached its back. In the dark forest, among vines, waist-high trees, low slopes, mounds of earth, and the shifting shadows of ferns, Uchiha Zhuang caught sight of the pursuer's small, humanoid body. It ran on both hands and feet and was surprisingly fast. In some places too overgrown to pass through, green light flashed in its hand, and it slipped inside with a whoosh. Uchiha Zhuang had to go around or draw his short blade and cut a path. As they raced through the shadowy forest and the distance between them continued to grow, Uchiha Zhuang had no choice but to use a jutsu. He leaped swiftly into a tree and raced up the trunk. Reaching the canopy, he sprang high into the air. "Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!" A huge torrent came crashing down from above, sweeping away everything within a hundred meters and churning up countless pieces of debris. With his Two-Tomoe Sharingan active, Uchiha Zhuang spotted the green figure floating in the water. He landed, dashed over the waves, and scooped up the unconscious pursuer. Then he slung it over his back and ran toward the campfire.
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