Uchiha Mikio Returns to the Pure Land

A few days later, Feng returned to the Tea Country.

"Senior Mikio, thank you for everything you've done during this time."

In the rear courtyard of the Daimyo Palace, Feng respectfully bowed to Uchiha Mikio and offered his sincere thanks.

Now that he possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique — Minato Namikaze Version and Susanoo — Uchiha Fugaku Version, along with the nearly limitless Nine-Tails serving as a chakra battery, Feng had grown strong enough. He planned to let Uchiha Mikio return to the Pure Land and rest in peace.

"Heh heh, Feng, don't be so sentimental. We're both Uchiha. I'm happy to have been able to help you."

Uchiha Mikio waved his hand and replied with a genial smile.

When Feng had first brought him back through Impure World Reincarnation, he had only been reluctantly willing to help because they were both Uchiha.

It was only after discovering that Feng could lead the Uchiha toward prosperity and greatness that he had wholeheartedly allowed Feng to command him.

Now, it was time to part ways. After all, he was still a dead man. Remaining in the human world for too long in the state of Impure World Reincarnation left both his body and mind deeply uncomfortable.

"Heh, Senior, don't get too attached to the Pure Land. We'll meet again."

This was not a parting of life and death, so Feng spoke with a smile as well.

"Mm. I'll wait for you to lead the Uchiha above all living beings in the Ninja World, then bring me back with Impure World Reincarnation."

Thinking of his agreement with Feng and his greatest hope, Uchiha Mikio nodded with a smile.

But then, Feng suddenly revealed a meaningful grin.

"Heh heh, that may not be certain. Maybe the next time Senior comes out, there'll be some other unexpected surprise."

"?? Feng, don't do anything reckless.

Put the clan's prosperity first. Don't waste your effort on me.

If you delay the clan's development because of me, then when you summon me back to this world, I'll be the first to deal with you."

Uchiha Mikio was both puzzled and worried by Feng's words.

He did not want Feng to affect the clan's development because of him. If that happened, he would not be able to rest in peace even after returning to the Pure Land.

"Senior, you should know me.

I've always planned before acting. I'm not someone who acts recklessly.

Don't worry. It's merely a possible surprise. Whether it succeeds is still unknown, and it won't affect my plans for the future."

As he spoke, Feng patted Uchiha Mikio on the shoulder, reassuring him.

"...That's true. You really aren't someone who acts recklessly.

Then I'll entrust the Uchiha to you. You must lead the clan to prosperity."

Uchiha Mikio likewise placed a hand on Feng's shoulder, looking at him with anticipation and longing.

Then, after seeing Feng nod with certainty and confidence, Uchiha Mikio, to Feng's slight surprise, actually released the Impure World Reincarnation himself. He slowly turned into drifting ashes and began to disappear.

But in the blink of an eye, Feng's surprise gave way to understanding.

One way to undo Impure World Reincarnation was for someone without regrets in the mortal world to release it themselves, allowing their soul to ascend and return to the Pure Land.

Uchiha Mikio's regret had been the Uchiha's difficult and miserable existence in Konoha. He had wanted to help the clan escape that suffering.

Without question, he could not accomplish that himself.

But in Feng, he had seen a great future that was almost certain to come true: the Uchiha escaping Konoha's sea of misery and standing above all living beings in the Ninja World.

That undoubtedly left Uchiha Mikio with no regrets in his heart.

Therefore, with no regrets left, it was only natural that Uchiha Mikio would undo the Impure World Reincarnation himself and return to the Pure Land.

As Feng watched Uchiha Mikio, who was about to vanish, he smiled and waved, bidding him one final farewell.

Winter passed and spring arrived. In the blink of an eye, it was the spring of Konoha's fifty-third year.

Kuniyoshi, the Iron Country samurai brought back through Impure World Reincarnation, had taught Feng and the Samurai Corps for more than half a year. He had taught them nearly everything that could be taught, while organizing the things that could not into books.

Feng then sealed him back inside the coffin.

As for releasing his Impure World Reincarnation, with Orochimaru and Konoha both known to be researching the technique, Feng would not give them an opportunity to uncover his information.

What about Uchiha Mikio?

Even if Orochimaru or Konoha brought him back through Impure World Reincarnation, he could return to the Pure Land on his own now that he had no regrets. There was nothing to worry about.

At the same time, perhaps Uzumaki Ayaka was simply talented, or perhaps the Eight Trigrams Seal was not particularly difficult once one understood its principles.

Of course, it was also possible that she fully acknowledged Feng as half a clansman.

After several months of painstaking research, Ayaka successfully learned the Eight Trigrams Seal and inscribed it onto Feng.

With strength that could already overwhelm many people through sheer numerical superiority, Feng entered a period of rapid growth.

He personally focused on three things: swordsmanship, Modified Great Fireball — Blazing Fireball Technique, and the Body Flicker Technique.

Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, along with Fire Release — Majestic Destroyer Flame and Rasengan, which had newly joined his training list, were each assigned a Shadow Clone to train as Feng gradually entered the era of chakra by the ton.

As for why he did not create more Shadow Clones to assist with training—

Feng had tried it. Without protagonist plot armor, once he created more than ten Shadow Clones and dismissed them, his mental consciousness could not bear the strain. He would pass out instantly and need a full three days to recover.

Even as his own strength steadily increased, Feng never stopped training his subordinates.

Drawing on a hodgepodge of military training knowledge from his previous life, he copied whatever he could and put it all to use.

He did not demand much from his men, only three things: loyalty, loyalty, and strength.

After all, this was the Ninja World. Loyalty without strength meant that no matter how many people you had, they would only be throwing away their lives before the strong.

He just did not know whether he had taught them wrong, or whether his subordinates had learned the wrong lesson.

He had clearly taught them to salute in order to cultivate an awareness of "maintaining order and following rules," as well as the discipline to obey commands without question.

Yet lately, whenever more and more of his men raised their right hands at a forty-five-degree angle in salute upon seeing Feng, they would shout, "Loyalty!"

It made Feng feel as though the spot beneath his nose was getting itchy, as if a mustache were about to grow there. The words "Western Sea" and "Ura" also kept surfacing in his mind without reason.

After another day of grueling training, Aiko Hamuro wiped the sweat from Feng's body while Feng picked up a gazette to see whether anything significant had happened recently in the Ninja World.

He quickly finished reading the paper. Nothing major had happened.

But there were two interesting pieces of news.

One was that an Uchiha genius named Shisui Uchiha had appeared among the Uchiha stationed on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water.

The other was that Kirigakure had a new Mizukage named Karatachi Yagura. Though he looked like a little child, he was said to be the perfect Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, with extremely formidable strength.

These two pieces of news immediately gave Feng a sense of urgency. Shisui was beginning to make a name for himself, which meant it would not be long before that weasel, Itachi, made his appearance.

And that meant the Uchiha Massacre from the original story was not far off either.

If Feng still wanted to pull out the Uchiha clan members with Three-Tomoe Sharingan and use them to control all the daimyos of the Ninja World, he needed to start making preparations now. Otherwise, he could only change plans.

Meanwhile, the appearance of the perfect Jinchūriki Karatachi Yagura signaled that Kirigakure's new "Bloody Mist Village" era was about to begin again.

Kirigakure would then fall into endless bloody internal strife. Its ninja clans would be nearly wiped out, and its talents would almost all flee.

For Feng, this would be an excellent opportunity to secretly recruit talent and increase the strength of his forces. If the conditions were right, he might even have a chance to annex Kirigakure in one stroke.

"Someone, go summon the Grand Minister and the Left Minister."

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, he decided to act immediately.