The Peak of Shinobi Shouldn't Be So Far Away...

The next day, just past noon.

An isolated courtyard built within a mountain ravine, with babbling streams and drifting clouds, possessed a rather idyllic atmosphere.

"!? "

Mu suddenly opened his eyes from the freezing darkness, greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Where is this... "

Mu propped up his creaking, aching body, barely managing to sit straight on the futon and scanning the unfamiliar surroundings.

It was a fairly spacious quiet room with simple furnishings, though it had all the necessary furniture and was cleaned quite neatly, making it a good place for peaceful rest.

"Teacher Mu, you're awake! "

Ōnoki, who had fallen asleep nearby, noticed the movement and immediately woke up, rubbing his eyes and calling out happily.

"It's you, Ōnoki. Right now I am... "

Mu shook his head, his mind groggy and his thoughts in a jumbled mess.

The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was the overwhelming blue sword qi rushing toward him, and then he blacked out until now.

Judging by the situation, he should have been saved.

"Teacher Mu, the situation is like this... "

Ōnoki had already prepared his narrative, vividly and meticulously summarizing for Mu all the various events that had transpired after he passed out last night.

"If that's the case, I really do owe someone a massive favor. "

After hearing the account, Mu could not help but sigh with emotion.

Having lived through the Warring States Era, he had witnessed far too many tragic instances of shattered countries and destroyed homes.

Behind the collapse of many small nations was the push of the major Land of Earth.

He had always believed that true peace treaties could never truly exist between nations.

Being targeted by Madara's intimidation this time and nearly getting killed was the ultimate proof.

However, Yayoi's kindness toward him was indeed far too great.

Purely from a personal standpoint, Mu felt that Yayoi might just turn out to be a very decent person.

"Right, where is Lord Oda? I need to go thank him in person. Ōnoki, help me up. "

Ōnoki wanted to say something, but seeing his teacher's resolute gaze, he knew he couldn't change his mind, so he had no choice but to step forward and support Mu, bringing him outside to look for Yayoi.

At that moment, Yayoi was sitting on the veranda of the courtyard conversing with Tobirama.

Kakuzu stood behind Yayoi, acting as a bodyguard.

"I never imagined you would hold my Shadow Clone Technique in such high regard, and even come up with so many scenarios for applying shadow clones. Some things hadn't even crossed my mind. "

Tobirama uttered a sigh of amazement.

Just now, he and Yayoi had been discussing ninjutsu, and Yayoi had exchanged for the training method of the Shadow Clone Technique from him.

He had also obtained other techniques from Yayoi in return.

What surprised Tobirama the most was that Yayoi seemed to hold the Shadow Clone Technique in extremely high regard.

He even came up with the peculiar idea of creating shadow clones to accelerate training.

Honestly, as the creator, these things hadn't even occurred to him.

After all, his initial purpose in developing the Shadow Clone Technique was to counter the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.

Ordinary Clone Techniques would be seen through at a glance by the Sharingan, but only the Shadow Clone Technique was different.

Every single shadow clone possessed the exact same chakra pathway system as the main body; never mind the Sharingan, even the Byakugan was similarly incapable of seeing through the difference between a shadow clone and the original.

Just like how he specifically trained in Water Release, it was precisely to suppress the Fire Release ninjutsu of the Uchiha Clan.

The techniques he pioneered were enough to prove that his 'love' for the Uchiha was truly deep-seated to his very bones.

Just as the two of them were exchanging ninjutsu experiences, Mu, supported by Ōnoki, stepped closer to the area.

"It looks like your injuries are probably out of danger now. "

Yayoi glanced at Mu's complexion, knowing that from here on he would only need a brief period of proper recuperation to make a full recovery.

"I must thank you for the treatment, otherwise, being hit directly by that kind of attack, there's no way I'd still be alive. "

The expression on Mu's face did not change much, but his voice revealed deep gratitude.

He was no longer wrapped in bandages, having recovered his original appearance as a poker-faced man in his thirties.

"Speaking of which, I have a bit of confusion. You actually ended up appearing directly in front of Madara in that completely undefended posture. Could it be that you were still hiding some ultimate trump card that you didn't use? "

Yayoi was puzzled by this.

In his conception, with Mu's strength, as long as he wanted to dodge, it was practically impossible to land himself in such a miserable state.

No matter what, Mu was also an outstanding sensory ninja, and in terms of premonition of danger, he was definitely stronger than him, capable of evading in advance.

Not to mention, he was also a flight ninja, possessing truly exceptional speed and evasion capabilities.

Because of this, Yayoi couldn't help but guess whether Mu was hiding a trump card other than Dust Release to turn the tables, which was why he appeared within Madara's attack range in that manner.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't hiding any ultimate technique at all. I simply didn't expect the stealth capability of the Dustless Haze Barrier to be seen through by Madara. By the time I noticed, his attack had already arrived, and there was simply no time to dodge."

Mu's voice was low, and his words were filled with dread and fear toward Madara.

Madara was the first ninja capable of seeing through him to this extent.

The stealth technique known as the Dustless Haze Barrier was a skill he had created specifically to complement Dust Release.

This secret technique could even conceal his own chakra, making it impossible for ordinary sensory ninjas to detect his whereabouts.

Only formidable ninjas proficient in Sensory Ninjutsu could be on guard against him.

Precisely because of this, in the Land of Earth, aside from the moniker of a Dust Release ninja, he also held the title of "No-Man".

He was rather puzzled as to how Madara had seen through his stealth ability, since as far as he knew, Madara was not a sensory-type ninja.

However, the moment he spoke those words, both Yayoi and Tobirama were stunned.

Kakuzu also looked at him with a strange expression.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Mu didn't understand why everyone was looking at him this way; had he said something wrong?

Ōnoki also wore a blank expression, having no idea what had happened.

"Mu, could it be that in the past, you've never fought against a ninja from the Uchiha Clan?"

Tobirama couldn't help but speak up, yet inwardly he had confirmed something.

Only this could explain Mu's actions in front of Madara, which had clearly been akin to courting death.

Mu nodded, making no concealment regarding this matter.

"In the past, most of my time was spent in the Land of Earth, and I had few opportunities to cross paths with the Uchiha Clan. Although I've encountered Uchiha ninjas before, it was merely a passing glance without any genuine combat... This is my first time fighting against the Sharingan of the Uchiha."

For the most part, the Uchiha Clan was active within the borders of the Land of Fire, only occasionally accepting commission missions from other countries to travel abroad.

As far as Mu knew, the number of times nobles within the Land of Earth hired the Uchiha Clan was not very high.

The noble factions that hired him had never invited the Uchiha Clan in past rivalries either; he had only occasionally run into passing Uchiha clansmen within the borders of the Land of Earth by chance. Naturally, as long as there were no conflicts of interest, Mu wouldn't proactively invite trouble.

Therefore, he didn't have much understanding of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, knowing only that those eyes possessed formidable genjutsu capabilities and could also copy other people's ninjutsu.

"No wonder." Yayoi smiled helplessly, not knowing how to evaluate the situation, and then explained amidst Mu's puzzled gaze: "Everyone knows the Uchiha's Sharingan is an illusion eye and a copy eye, which is information that's relatively easy to determine. But in fact, the Sharingan has a third function, and that is the Insight Eye!"

"Insight!"

Mu's expression suddenly shifted as he abruptly realized something, understanding why he had been seen through by Madara.

"That's right. In terms of insight, the Sharingan is just like the Byakugan, able to see the chakra flowing within the human chakra pathway system... From the very beginning, your pathway system betrayed your location. If it were an ordinary Sharingan, it would indeed be very difficult to see through your stealth technique, but Madara's Sharingan is the highest-tier Sharingan; you can't lump them together."

Tobirama cast a pitying glance at Mu, figuring the guy's mental defenses had likely shattered right then and there.

One could only say that Kekkei Genkai were simply too overbearing.

Yet upon closer inspection, it was also within reason; the one who understood the Uchiha Clan best was still his own Senju Clan.

And the one who understood the Senju Clan best was likewise none other than their mortal enemy, the Uchiha Clan.

Outsider ninjas found it very difficult to intervene in the conflicts between the Senju and the Uchiha.

In times past, as long as one side hired the Senju, the other side would inevitably go hire the Uchiha.

Coupled with the closed-off nature of intelligence among various clans—which basically didn't circulate—not understanding the characteristics of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan made it very easy to stumble during a first-time battle.

"I thought you approached Madara so openly because you had some secret ultimate technique you hadn't used yet. Now it seems I overthought it."

Yayoi's expression was also somewhat awkward, knowing this had been a farce.

If only they had exchanged intelligence beforehand, Mu wouldn't have been slashed down to his last breath.

Yet Yayoi never imagined that a formidable ninja like Mu—who could fly, turn invisible, possessed sensory capabilities, and had even created the Kekkei Tōta Dust Release—would be so utterly ignorant of the Sharingan's abilities.

Mu stood frozen in place like a sculpture.

Ultimately, even though he had a thousand things to say inside, they all turned into a deep sigh.

To nearly be killed because of such a low-level mistake truly left him at a loss for words.

"Don't get discouraged either. That fellow Madara's strength is truly unfathomably powerful. The only one who can fight him head-on is my elder brother alone."

Tobirama consoled Mu, having seen too many ninjas whose wills became decadent after witnessing Madara's strength.

"But the one who fought us last night was merely a clone, wasn't it?"

Mu's tone was gloomy; although there was no decadent or despondent look in his eyes, the combat power Madara displayed last night had burned itself into the depths of his soul like a nightmare, perhaps impossible to ever forget.

A mere clone could be strong to that degree—it was simply incomprehensible.

In the current Hidden Rock Village, the only ninja who could trade blows with that clone head-on and suppress it was his superior: the First Tsuchikage Ishikawa.

Yet suppressing a clone was nothing to be proud of; on the contrary, it was a humiliation.

"The pinnacle of ninjas shouldn't be so distant..."

As soon as Mu said that, it directly ruined Yayoi's and Tobirama's moods as well.

Although it was the truth, did he have to speak without reading the room?

This guy really knew how to touch a sore spot.

(As for the other First Kage in the original work, their specific power levels are unknown. In this book, my positioning for these four First Kage is that they are currently four top-tier ninja second only to Hashirama and Madara.

They possess a not-insignificant gap compared to Hashirama and Madara, but it still requires Hashirama and Madara to resort to some methods to crush them.

After all, they are also ninja capable of suppressing the four major nations; otherwise, the various ninja clans within the borders of the major nations certainly wouldn't have submitted and allowed the four of them to serve as the First Kage.

The ninja clans of this era generally had rather hot tempers and murderous intentions, and only by making them see a clear gap could they be subdued.

Additionally, the insight ability of the Sharingan is relatively covert. In the original work, Deidara knew Itachi for so long and even used Itachi as his hypothetical enemy, yet he didn't even know the Sharingan had this function, which led to his C4: Garuda being seen through and having its flaw exposed by Sasuke's Sharingan.)