A few days later, Feng returned to the Tea Country.
"Senior Mikio, thank you for everything you've done during this time."
In the backyard of the Daimyo Palace, Feng respectfully bowed to Uchiha Mikio and sincerely thanked him.
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 intended to let Uchiha Mikio return to the Pure Land and rest in peace.
"Hehe, Feng, don't be so sentimental. We're both Uchiha. I'm happy I could help you."
Uchiha Mikio waved his hand and replied with a smile.
When Feng had first summoned him through Impure World Reincarnation, he had only reluctantly agreed 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 truly become willing to follow Feng's orders.
Now, it was time to part ways. After all, he was still dead. Remaining in the human world for too long in the state of Impure World Reincarnation felt deeply uncomfortable, both physically and mentally.
"Heh, Senior, don't get too attached to the Pure Land. We'll meet again."
This was not a farewell between the living and the dead, 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 summon me again with Impure World Reincarnation."
Thinking of his agreement with Feng and his greatest hope, Uchiha Mikio nodded with a smile.
But immediately afterward, Feng suddenly revealed a meaningful smile.
"Hehe, that may not necessarily be the case. Maybe the next time Senior comes out, it'll be as some other unexpected surprise."
"?? Feng, don't do anything reckless.
The family's prosperity must come first. Don't waste your efforts on me.
If my sake affects the family's development, then the first thing I'll do after you summon me back to this world is deal with you."
Uchiha Mikio was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this, but also somewhat worried.
He did not want Feng to affect the family's development because of him. Otherwise, he would not be able to rest peacefully even after returning to the Pure Land.
"Senior, you should understand me.
I've always planned before acting. I'm not someone who acts recklessly.
Don't worry. It's only a possible surprise. Whether it succeeds is still unknown, and it won't affect my plans for the future."
As Feng spoke, he patted Uchiha Mikio on the shoulder, putting him at ease.
"...That's true. You really aren't someone who acts recklessly.
Then I'll entrust the Uchiha to you. You must lead the family to prosperity."
Uchiha Mikio also reached out and placed a hand on Feng's shoulder, looking at him with expectation and hope.
Then, after seeing Feng nod with certainty and confidence, Uchiha Mikio actually released the Impure World Reincarnation himself under Feng's slightly surprised gaze, slowly turning into flying ash as he began to disappear.
But in the blink of an eye, Feng's expression turned to one of understanding.
One method of releasing the Impure World Reincarnation was for someone without regrets in the real world to release it themselves, allowing their soul to ascend to heaven and return to the Pure Land.
Uchiha Mikio's regret had been the Uchiha's difficult and miserable life in Konoha. He had wanted to help the family escape that hardship.
Without question, he could not accomplish that himself.
But in Feng, he saw a great future that was almost certain to come true—the Uchiha escaping Konoha's sea of suffering and standing above all living beings in the Ninja World.
This undoubtedly left Uchiha Mikio without regrets.
Therefore, it was only natural that the now regret-free Uchiha Mikio released the Impure World Reincarnation himself and returned to the Pure Land.
Watching Uchiha Mikio, who was about to disappear, Feng waved with a smile and gave him his final farewell.
Winter passed and spring arrived. In the blink of an eye, it was the spring of Konoha Year 53.
Kuniyoshi, the Iron Country samurai summoned through Impure World Reincarnation, had taught Feng and the Samurai Corps for more than half a year, passing on nearly everything he could teach and compiling what he could not teach into books.
Feng then sealed him back into his coffin.
As for releasing his Impure World Reincarnation, with Orochimaru and Konoha both researching it, Feng would not give them an opportunity to uncover his intelligence.
Uchiha Mikio??
Even if Orochimaru or Konoha summoned him through Impure World Reincarnation, Mikio, who no longer had any regrets, could return to the Pure Land on his own. There was nothing to worry about.
At the same time, Feng did not know whether Uzumaki Ayaka was simply talented, or whether the Eight Trigrams Seal was easy once its principles were understood.
Of course, it was also possible that she completely accepted Feng as half of her kin.
After several months of painstaking research, Ayaka successfully learned the Eight Trigrams Seal and inscribed it onto Feng.
With his strength now able to overwhelmingly surpass many people, Feng directly entered a period of rapid improvement.
He personally focused on swordsmanship, Modified Great Fireball · Blazing Fireball Technique, and the Body Flicker Technique.
As for the Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, as well as Fire Release · Majestic Destroyer Flame and Rasengan, which had newly joined his training list, he assigned one Shadow Clone to train each of them as he gradually entered the era of chakra abundance.
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 then released them, his mental consciousness could not bear the strain. He would immediately faint and need three full days to recover.
While his own strength continued to rise, Feng's instruction of his subordinates did not stop either.
Drawing upon all kinds of miscellaneous military training knowledge from his previous life, he used everything he could, copying what he could as best as possible.
And he did not demand much from his subordinates—only three things: loyalty, loyalty, and strength.
After all, this was the Ninja World. Loyalty without strength meant that no matter how many people there were, they would merely be feeding themselves to stronger opponents.
He just did not know whether he had taught them incorrectly or whether his subordinates had learned the wrong lesson.
Clearly, he had taught them to salute in order to cultivate awareness of "upholding order and following rules," as well as strict discipline in carrying out commands.
Yet recently, whenever his men saw Feng raise his right hand at a forty-five-degree angle in salute, more and more of them would shout, "Loyalty!"
It made Feng feel as though the space beneath his nose was itching, as if a mustache were about to grow there, while the words "West Sea" and "Ura" kept involuntarily popping into his mind.
After another day of hard training, Aiko Hamuro wiped the sweat from Feng's body while Feng picked up a newspaper to see whether anything major had happened recently in the Ninja World.
Very quickly, after scanning through the paper, he found that nothing major had happened.
However, there were two interesting pieces of news.
One was that among the Uchiha stationed along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, a genius named Shisui Uchiha had appeared.
The other was that Kirigakure had changed to 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, possessing extremely powerful strength.
These two pieces of news instantly gave Feng a sense of urgency. Since Shisui had begun to emerge, 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 away either.
If Feng still wanted to bring out the Uchiha clansmen with Three-Tomoe Sharingan to control all the daimyos of the Ninja World, he needed to start making preparations now. Otherwise, he could only change his plan.
The appearance of the perfect Jinchūriki Karatachi Yagura also signaled that Kirigakure's new "Bloody Mist Village" era was about to arrive.
At that time, Kirigakure would descend into endless bloody internal conflict. Its ninja clans would be almost completely wiped out, while its talented people would almost all flee.
For Feng, this would be an excellent opportunity to secretly recruit talent and strengthen 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.
Before you continue