Meeting on the Crest of Power!

After chatting things through with Ryoka and Suzune, Shiro quickly adjusted his state of mind. Nothing unexpected happened on the road after that; it was all basically within their predictions.

Yes, including Kirigakure's nonstop attacks.

Of course, the intensity this time could not compare to Biwa Juzo's group. Most of it was basically harassment from ninja academy students who could not even be counted as genin.

The youngest among them was only nine years old. Who knew what kind of sweet talk the ninja up ahead had swallowed to let people like that in?

Along the way, the danger was gone. There were few injuries, let alone casualties. However, the endless harassment still delayed them in the end.

Needless to say, once they reached the front line, another scolding was definitely waiting for the Uchiha.

And the Kirigakure ninja they encountered along the way also greatly tempered Ayue and the others' mentality. After all, compared to killing adult ninja whose hands were covered in sin, killing children around their own age—or even younger than Shisui and the others—was a little harder to accept.

Of course, they did not kill them all. Some of the younger ones with relatively simple natures were sent back to the village through channels along the route for reeducation.

Those who performed well could be converted into the village's fighting force and would even have a chance to enter the official ranks. As for those who performed poorly—well, Root's whole set would be run through once.

This kind of thing was fairly common among the ninja villages. After all, these were people confirmed to have ninja talent. Even if that talent was a little poor, it did not matter. Leaving their bloodline behind could also increase the chances of ninja appearing.

With a little more dumb