"A brat?"
"Don't let your guard down, he's an Uchiha!" One of the Cloud Ninja spotted the red in Mo's eye sockets and immediately warned the others.
As the words "Uchiha" spread through the crowd, the Cloud Ninja immediately dropped their contempt, their expressions gradually turning serious.
"Tap!"
Mo took a step forward and charged at the Cloud Ninja. At the same time, his blood-red eyes spun rapidly, occasionally glancing underground.
"Not here... not there either..."
The distance between both sides rapidly closed, and in the blink of an eye, they collided.
The first Cloud Ninja raised his blade high and roared as he swung it horizontally at Mo's neck!
Mo's eyes turned. Under the Sharingan's dynamic vision, these people's movements were simpler than even a paramecium's thoughts.
He lowered his body slightly. The long blade whipped up a gust above his head, and Mo immediately raised his left arm, using the force of his charge to slam hard into the Cloud Ninja's chest.
Bang!
With a muffled impact, the Cloud Ninja spat out a mouthful of blood and flew away!
The two companions behind him hurriedly tried to catch him, but both were knocked to the ground by the tremendous force.
"What kind of strength was that? Did Mo always have that much power?"
Obito widened his eyes and looked at the three members of Team 8 in confusion.
The three exchanged glances for a moment before shaking their heads in unison.
"We don't know."
"Mo's past battles focused mostly on evasion. He rarely clashed head-on with adult ninja like this, so we couldn't tell," Kurenai Yuhi said as she stared at the figure below.
On the battlefield, Uchiha Mo clenched and unclenched his fist, feeling somewhat surprised himself.
"I didn't expect Big Brother's first-stage ability to be this effective..."
"No, maybe it wasn't just Big Brother. The reason I can unleash so much power is also because Third Brother's ability strengthened my body's capacity to bear it. These two abilities complement each other..."
Mo could feel that he could now knock down a large tree with one punch, rivaling monstrous strength.
The war had begun anyway, and once the Third Shinobi World War ended, Mo planned to take the Uchiha Clan and leave Hidden Leaf. There was no longer any need to hide himself. He just had to keep things under control and avoid being too outrageous.
As his thoughts raced, he raised a hand and grabbed the hilt of a Cloud Ninja's incoming blade. Then he punched the man beneath the armpit. The Cloud Ninja's pupils contracted at once, and he clutched his shoulder as he screamed in agony.
Mo seized the long blade in passing, spun around, and slashed at the shoulder of a Cloud Ninja preparing to ambush him from behind.
The blade struck the white shoulder guard of the Cloud Ninja's armor, instantly shattering into fragments. Yet the remaining portion still sliced diagonally through half of his shoulder.
Mo kicked him flying, and a sharp whistle cut through the air from the side as another long blade swept toward him.
Without even looking, Mo ducked and launched a spinning back kick. He spun past the blade's edge while his heel smashed the Cloud Ninja straight into the ground. The ninja blade spun continuously through the air before falling into Mo's hand.
"Yaaah—!"
One Cloud Ninja seized the chance to rush forward, roaring as he prepared to chop down with his blade. At the same time, another Cloud Ninja to Mo's left thrust a kunai at him!
Mo swept the kunai aside with his left hand, then killed that Cloud Ninja with a diagonal slash. He immediately lowered himself and lunged forward, charging at the Cloud Ninja bringing down his blade.
The Cloud Ninja gritted his teeth. Just as his blade was about to land, Mo suddenly raised his head directly in front of him, and a pair of scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan filled his vision.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
His entire body shuddered, and he froze on the spot.
The blade swept upward...
Splat!
Blood sprayed as another mangled corpse flew away.
Holding the broken blade, Mo turned and drove it into a Cloud Ninja's neck before kicking him away. But at that moment, crackling explosions suddenly sounded behind him.
Lightning Release: Ground Flow!
Arcs of electricity rapidly spread across the ground, about to crawl beneath Uchiha Mo's feet. Yet he suddenly seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He bent his knees and sprang into the air, then stomped hard on a Cloud Ninja's head, sending himself soaring even higher.
His hands flashed through seals before him before ending instantly on the Tiger seal.
Clap!
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique!
Four enormous fire dragons burst from Mo's mouth and shot toward the few remaining Cloud Ninja on the ground!
Boom—!
The ground trembled slightly as fireballs blasted terrifying craters into it, wrapping the entire battlefield in thick smoke and dust.
On the tree branches, Kakashi and the others stared blankly at the sight.
"So strong!" Obito said numbly. He had only heard his clansmen talk about what a genius Mo was, but only after seeing this scene for himself did he truly understand how terrifying the gap between them was.
"Is that guy... really our age?"
"Heh." Asuma snickered and immediately teased, "Obito, look at you, acting like you've never seen the world. Didn't I tell you? The person assigned to lead my team would definitely be incredibly strong!"
As the words fell, Obito came back to his senses, his face flushing red in irritation.
"Shut up! I... I know that better than you do! Mo is my clan cousin!"
"Clan cousin? Then why do you look so afraid of him...?"
Asuma raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile on his face.
On the battlefield, every Cloud Ninja had fallen to the ground, without the slightest sign of life.
Uchiha Mo stood amid the thick smoke, his pupils narrowing slightly as he quickly scanned beneath the ground under the cover of dust.
The smoke gradually dispersed. Mo rapidly shifted his gaze, but he never discovered the slightest clue.
Seeing the thick smoke thinning and about to vanish, Mo had no choice but to withdraw his gaze.
The sense of that seemingly present yet absent gaze had become even stronger after Mo wiped out the Cloud Ninja.
He slowly turned and walked toward Kakashi and the others. But at that moment, something extremely out of place suddenly appeared at the edge of his vision.
It was a patch of black, gelatinous substance clinging to the deeply buried roots of the tree beneath the group's feet!
Mo did not stop walking. He shifted his eyes away and continued forward as before, without revealing the slightest abnormality.
"Black Zetsu..."
Underground, the instant their eyes met nearly scared Black Zetsu's heart out—if he had one.
Fortunately, Mo shifted his gaze away after only an instant. It looked like nothing more than a coincidence during an ordinary movement of his eyes.
Black Zetsu steadied his emotions, recalling Uchiha Mo's performance. The feelings that had only just calmed down immediately surged up again.
After returning to confirm that Madara would not have any issues in the short term, Black Zetsu had hurried back to hide near Mo, monitoring him almost without pause.
The more he observed, the more shocked Black Zetsu became!
At only ten years old, Mo had independently developed an astonishing technique and sensory ability, along with an Invisibility bloodline limit whose depths even Black Zetsu could not discern. Especially that Fire Release ninjutsu—the more Black Zetsu learned about it, the more brilliant he found it.
As an ancient relic who had wandered the Ninja World for a thousand years, Black Zetsu's personal strength was mediocre, but his knowledge was unmatched in the current Ninja World. Others only saw that Fire Release as fierce, but Black Zetsu alone knew how unimaginable it was to control Fire Release chakra nature transformation condensed to such an extreme degree in this manner!
But when he remembered that the one who had accomplished this was Indra—the creator of ninjutsu—Black Zetsu accepted it.
Then, after Mo displayed his abilities in "technique," he gave Black Zetsu a demonstration of his talent in "combat."
Compared to a thousand years ago, "Indra" lacked the naturally powerful starting point, but his talent for battle had not diminished in the slightest. Outsmarting Orochimaru, assassinating Danzo... Black Zetsu had witnessed every one of those battles.
Recalling the terrifying combat techniques Mo had just displayed, Black Zetsu could not help but sigh.
"As expected of Indra... Compared to him, even Madara at fifteen was far inferior."
Madara Uchiha was already the strongest reincarnation of Indra's chakra Black Zetsu had seen in a thousand years. If Senju Clan Hashirama's performance had not been so absurd, Black Zetsu would have even felt he had no chance to guide Madara into carrying out the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"But this is perfect. The stronger Indra is, the more perfect Mother's revival plan will be. Once I find an opportunity to extract the Power of All Creation from Madara, I'll make Indra serve me!"
The mouth formed from yellow spots on that mass of black mud immediately stretched into an exaggerated grin.
Black Zetsu was not worried that he would fail to beguile Indra. His intense surveillance now was meant to thoroughly analyze Uchiha Mo's personality.
It seemed that even after a thousand years, even after reincarnation and the loss of his memories, Indra was still Indra—self-centered and cold.
And self-centered people were the most likely to fall into obsession...
"Hehehe! Even now, it feels like a dream! The Rinnegan has appeared, and the strongest reincarnation of Indra's chakra and the reincarnation of Indra's soul have emerged in the same era! Hagoromo, even heaven is helping me. How can you fight me?"
While Black Zetsu was secretly rejoicing, Mo had already led the team away once more.
"So it wasn't White Zetsu watching me, but Black Zetsu..."
The group of seven moved swiftly through the forest as the scenery streamed backward. Mo stared expressionlessly ahead, calculating in his mind.
"No matter what, once we reach the Hidden Stone battlefield, I need to investigate Madara's current condition first. And that pile of rotten mud, Black Zetsu, actually has his sights set on me..."
At dusk, the first probing battle between Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf came to an end.
The team led by Uchiha Mo had been stationed near the rear of the battlefield, so they quickly completed their withdrawal and returned to camp.
The members of Team 7 and Team 8 had already returned to their tents to rest, while Mo headed alone into the woods beside the camp.
He found an open patch of ground, removed his Jonin vest covered in blood and grime, then turned his gaze toward the illusory panel. After briefly scanning it, Mo did nothing, because that gaze was still fixed on him.
"Come out. You've already been exposed."
Mo stood expressionlessly in the clearing and spoke inexplicably to the empty space.
"..."
The entire forest instantly fell silent.
Black Zetsu hid underground beneath Mo's feet. His two orange eyes widened round, and his mouth stiffened into a straight line. Even without facial features, the shock in his gaze and the shape of his mouth were unmistakable.
"How... how is this possible? Is he trying to bluff me?"
"You've been watching for a long time, haven't you? A nobody like you has learned all my secrets. If you don't come out within three breaths, I can only consider you an enemy. And then... I won't show mercy."
Truthfully, although he knew Black Zetsu's general location, Mo was not confident he could kill him directly.
Black Zetsu was not strong in battle, but taking his life was far from easy. Even sealing him was much easier than killing him. If Mo could not kill him in one strike, Black Zetsu would inevitably use the Mayfly Technique to escape at once. Acting rashly would cause considerable trouble.
Uchiha Mo knew very well what Black Zetsu wanted. Since Black Zetsu had targeted him, he definitely had some scheme in mind. Provoking him with words was a wiser choice than attacking directly. This was also the result Mo had reached after careful consideration on the journey.
After Mo's words fell, the surroundings became silent again. Time slowly passed.
"Should I come out? Indra did create a sensory ninjutsu, but if he could detect me, he should have discovered me long ago. He couldn't have waited until now..."
One breath passed.
"For a thousand years, I have acted ever since Hagoromo passed away, but aside from that Senju Clan Hashirama, no one has ever discovered me..."
"A child barely over ten... How could that be possible... But... this is Indra... If it's him..."
Two breaths passed.
"No! Back then, Indra only discovered my traces because I approached him first. This guy couldn't possibly..."
Three breaths...
"Should I run... No! I can't! Whether it's true or false doesn't matter! No matter what, I can't keep hiding anymore. Even if he's bluffing, I can't! If Indra learns in the future that I was the one behind this, someone like him will definitely reject and suspect me. The impact on the plan would be too great. I can't gamble on it..."
Before you continue