Inside the training ground, the three lay on the ground, Binding Talismans already planted in their bodies!
This was Su Zheng's latest training achievement. Not only had he created Binding Talismans, but he had also expanded the training ground to a radius of a thousand meters. He had unlocked it through his own strength, not by upgrading it with rescue point credits.
The training ground now felt like an extension of his body, moving as naturally as an arm. He could even divide it into separate zones, spaces isolated as though by dimensional barriers. It could be said that he was the "god" here.
Uchiha En was the first to wake. He checked himself over and found that only his neck ached as if it were about to snap; nothing else seemed unusual. Seeing Kaze and Yoru still unconscious on the ground, he formed a plan.
He got to his feet, looked at the boy before him, and asked, "Who exactly are you? What are you trying to do?"
Before Su Zheng could react, En rushed at him. Su Zheng shook his head, and with a thought, Uchiha En collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently.
Su Zheng walked over and smiled. "You really don't learn, do you?"
Uchiha En clutched his heart and crawled to his feet, asking shakily, "What did you do to me?"
Su Zheng smiled. "You really are dishonest. I planted a restriction in your bodies. All you need to do is train with me."
Uchiha En found it strange. What kind of person was this? Judging by his attire, En could not tell which nation's ninja he was. When Su Zheng had done this, he had not carried anything that identified him as a ninja. He had never considered himself a "ninja." A "ninja" was merely a disguise for achieving his dream.
"Hey, you two over there, stop pretending. I knew you were awake already!" Su Zheng called.
The two, who had been trying to secretly figure out the situation, could no longer keep up the act. They obediently sat up and looked at the others awkwardly.
Su Zheng nodded. "You two are much more sensible than him. Why didn't you resist?"
Uchiha Yoru answered honestly, "Because resistance is useless. En's reaction just now proved everything."
Uchiha Kaze cut in, "And since you told us all this, it means you aren't afraid of us countering you—or you have some other means of controlling us!"
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Su Zheng applauded in praise. "Very good. Since you're mentally prepared, I won't waste words."
"I only need you to train with me. I'll provide you with basic living supplies. If you want to resist, then go ahead and try!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Zheng vanished from the training ground.
Uchiha En was a little dazed. Why did his two guards seem like completely different people? Was he the only abnormal one?!
Watching Su Zheng disappear, Uchiha Kaze was the first to confess. "Brother En, I'm actually a spy sent by Yomi to monitor you."
Crack!
As though he had heard something shatter, Uchiha Yoru drove the knife in deeper. "Brother En, I'm actually a spy sent by Raijin. I hope you won't blame us."
Boom!
Raijin and Yomi were two of the candidates. En had never expected that his closest guards were all spies for others. His convictions collapsed in an instant.
With a bitter expression, he forced out a smile. "It's fine. It's all for the clan head position. I understand."
Yoru ran across the training ground and quickly hit a barrier. He could clearly see the environment beyond it, yet it was as though an "invisible" wall had sealed off the entire space.
Uchiha Yoru returned to the others and analyzed, "This space is huge, but we can only move within a circular area about sixty meters in diameter."
"He said he planted a restriction in our bodies. Can either of you sense what it is?"
Uchiha Kaze shook his head, while En was still unable to pull himself out of his shattered world.
Within their squad, Yoru specialized in intelligence analysis, Kaze leaned toward ninjutsu combat, while En was the most versatile—and the strongest.
Yoru naturally could not watch Uchiha En continue sinking into despair. He held En by the shoulders, looked straight into his eyes, and shouted, "En, don't be like this! We still have to escape together. We can talk about these things after we get out alive, okay?"
The emptiness in Uchiha En's eyes finally began to change. In his blood-red pupils, three tomoe swayed.
"Alright!" Uchiha En finally regained his spirit.
He paused, then recalled, "I think he placed the restriction in our hearts. After I attacked him, I felt abnormal spasms around my heart."
Uchiha Yoru hurriedly asked, "Do you know this kind of restriction?"
"I think I've seen it before. It's an extremely powerful restriction, placed in the target's heart to control their movements and prevent them from destroying the restriction."
Uchiha Kaze suddenly thought of something and shouted, "Then we can just destroy each other's restrictions!"
Uchiha Yoru refuted, "Can you guarantee we'll survive after the restriction is destroyed?"
Uchiha Kaze froze. "That's right. It only matters if we can stay alive after destroying it. Otherwise, what's the point?"
Uchiha En lay on the ground and said, "Stop thinking about it. An ordinary person's body cannot survive with a destroyed heart. Not even a ninja can."
"Unless you know Medical Ninjutsu and can avoid damaging the heart with extreme precision."
The three fell silent. They were all combat-oriented ninja and had never learned any medical knowledge. All injuries and illnesses were handled by medical corpsmen, and the idea of medical ninja had not yet gained traction.
Kiyokawa Village.
Orochimaru had already received intelligence that Uchiha En's squad had disappeared. He arrived at the scene with Tsunade and Jiraiya to investigate.
After examining the scene, Jiraiya said gravely, "There are only minor signs of fighting here, and only one jutsu was used."
The roof of one house bore scorch marks from Fire Release, while in the room across from it, the ingredients in a pot had burned completely dry.
Tsunade added, "Other than this, there are no further traces. The other party should have left using Earth Release, and there was only one person."
"One person?" Orochimaru thought.
The three wore grim expressions. If that was the case, then there was only one possibility: Hanzo had come.
But what Orochimaru could not understand was why Hanzo would do such a thing. Was it to obtain intelligence on Konoha's ninja?
Suppressing his thoughts, Orochimaru ordered, "Suspend the reconnaissance missions of every squad. Reorganize them and maintain strict vigilance!"
"Yes!" That was the end of the missing squad.
Konoha's main camp, inside the Uchiha Clan tent.
Dozens of Uchiha Clan members sat in a circle. Four tables stood side by side at the front. There should originally have been five, but Uchiha En had already been "declared dead," leaving only four.
Uchiha Kage was the first to speak. "Does anyone know what happened to En's squad?"
He and En had been close brothers. Although their identities as clan head candidates had made them rivals, Kage had wanted an honorable competition.
Uchiha Yomi said playfully, "Who knows? Maybe the demigod of the ninja world wanted to study the Kekkei Genkai of our Uchiha Clan."
With one competitor suddenly gone, he could not have been happier.
Uchiha Kage snapped, "What do you mean by that?"
"Now, now, don't get angry." Uchiha Raijin stepped in to mediate. Slowly, he said, "I seem to have heard that En had one of Yomi's people by his side."
Uchiha Yomi raised a brow and said flatly, "So what? En trusted me, so he let my man stay by his side as a guard."
Uchiha Raijin rolled his eyes. Everyone knew it was surveillance. Trust, my ass.
Uchiha Hikari spoke up. "I don't think Hanzo was responsible. A ninja of his level has no reason to target us."
After a pause, he continued, "I think this may be a trap—one someone deliberately arranged."
Uchiha Yomi shot back, "Who do you think arranged it? Don't speak in veiled insinuations."
Raijin curled his lip and retorted, "Yomi, just admit it. When we return to the village, you can at least give an explanation."
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Every Uchiha Clan member present turned to look at Uchiha Yomi. This was the kind of thing one could do but not say aloud. Otherwise, who would dare follow him?
Uchiha Yomi's face reddened as he cursed, "How could it have been me? I would never do such a thing."
Seeing Uchiha Kage staring at him with a dark expression, Yomi grew annoyed and laid it all out. "En's other guard was Raijin's man."
Boom!
It was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a pan of boiling oil—the room erupted in crackling chaos.
At this point, the four candidates had no mood to discuss what came next. They all wanted to know whether there were enemy agents among their own people. The gathering ended in farce.
Outside the Uchiha Clan's tent, several dark figures watched the place closely.
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