Jing Xiu left his training room and found Hatake Ryuichi standing guard outside the door.
"Ryuichi, what kind of sword do you need?"
Ryuichi touched the long sword on his back, then recalled his usual sword practice.
"Young Master Jing Xiu, I use lightning release chakra. Although I can unleash sword energy now..."
"That consumes too much stamina. It would be far better to combine it with lightning release chakra."
"If I could coat my sword in lightning, both its destructive power and speed should improve dramatically."
Jing Xiu considered this, and someone came to mind: Hatake Ryuichi's junior, Hatake Sakumo.
Ryuichi's description was almost identical to the way the "White Fang of Konoha" fought.
Jing Xiu nodded. "Qingming and I forged quite a few ninja tools recently. In my opinion, most of them are defective."
"But with a little reworking, a few of them should meet your needs."
"Go ask Aburame Zhihong and Kurama Natsuki what kind of blades they need, too."
Hatake Ryuichi nodded in acknowledgment and committed Jing Xiu's words to memory.
"Has anything changed in the Land of Whirlpools?"
At Jing Xiu's question, Hatake Ryuichi's expression grew grave. "It seems Uzushio Village has discovered our operation, but then again, perhaps not."
Jing Xiu stopped and gave Ryuichi a puzzled look.
Ryuichi gathered his thoughts. "Uzushio Village has indeed sent a large number of shinobi out, and they seem to be searching for something."
"But their suspicions seem to be directed toward the Land of Lightning, not the Land of Crafts."
"We didn't leave any clues pointing to the Land of Lightning, so I suspect Uzushio Village has been so active because something else serious happened in the village."
Jing Xiu nodded, agreeing with Ryuichi's assessment. "Has the Senju Clan made any moves?"
Ryuichi shook his head. "Zhihong has been keeping watch on the Senju jōnin stationed in the Land of Crafts, but he hasn't discovered any moves against us Uchiha."
A year earlier, Jing Xiu had arrived in the Land of Crafts and eliminated Uchiha Lieshan, the Uchiha special jōnin stationed there.
Afterward, the Senju Clan had replaced its own special jōnin stationed there with a powerful jōnin from the clan.
After receiving the news, Uchiha Tajima had sent Jing Xiu no reinforcements.
In Tajima's eyes, Jing Xiu was already contributing to the clan by tying down a Senju jōnin with a single chunin squad.
Whatever happened, he had to maintain that situation.
Now his other son, Uchiha Izuna, was likewise occupying a Senju jōnin's full attention.
Although the Uchiha and Senju were mighty shinobi clans, neither had more than a hundred jōnin.
After the battle at Greenleaf Cliff, the Uchiha had considerably fewer jōnin than the Senju.
After all, the Senju possessed tenacious vitality. When at a disadvantage in battle, many of them chose to try to take their Uchiha opponents down with them.
The outcome was often a dead Uchiha and a critically wounded Senju clinging to life.
Ever since Hashirama Senju had gained an unusual insight on the battlefield at Greenleaf Cliff and mastered basic Wood Release...
The Senju Clan's medical capabilities had improved exponentially.
As a result, many battle-hardened Senju had been saved.
Their inferior medical capabilities had also put the Uchiha at a disadvantage in their confrontation with the Senju.
Recently, there had even been word that the Senju intended to strengthen their cooperation with the Uzumaki Clan.
The pressure of the times forced Uchiha Tajima to make the cruelest choice. "Jing Xiu, Izuna! For the glory of our Uchiha, I have no choice but to sacrifice you both."
"But as a father, I still hope you both survive!"
"Butsuma Senju, this time it's my turn to make a move."
"Let's see how your Senju Clan responds!"
In Butsuma Senju's study, he too stared at the intelligence before him, silently contemplating it.
"Summon Hashirama... no, summon Tobirama and Yunjian."
"This mission is better suited to those two."
Beneath Jing Xiu's courtyard in the Land of Crafts lay a sizable underground prison.
Kurama Natsuki's sickly, pallid face instinctively inspired fear in those who saw her.
A red-haired chunin was imprisoned in this underground dungeon.
His red hair was already hopelessly disheveled, with even traces of scorching.
"Uzumaki Qingzhi, my patience is limited."
"I've spent half a month playing with you here. If you can't give me any useful intelligence, even I'll be in a difficult position."
"Is your life really worth less than a few sealing jutsu?"
Beneath the weedlike red hair was a numb, vacant face.
Half a month in the Genjutsu Maze had left Uzumaki Qingzhi utterly drained.
By now, he could no longer tell whether he was in reality or in Kurama Natsuki's dream world.
At first, Kurama Natsuki had only known how to blend five-sense genjutsu with reality, then strike to kill without warning, catching her opponent off guard.
But Jing Xiu had told her that genjutsu could conceal another genjutsu within it.
Thus, Kurama Natsuki had learned to layer two genjutsu, and she had named the technique the "Genjutsu Maze."
Sometimes, what you believed to be reality was actually a world constructed from genjutsu.
Sometimes, you believed your powerful will and abilities had allowed you to escape the world of genjutsu.
In truth, you had merely escaped from one genjutsu into another.
Uzumaki Qingzhi had revealed quite a few of the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu as a result.
But Uzumaki Qingzhi was only a chunin, and the sealing jutsu he knew were not particularly advanced.
Aside from the Five Elements Seal, which interested Jing Xiu somewhat, the other sealing fundamentals were less sophisticated than those he had obtained from the Uchiha clan archives.
In terms of comprehensiveness and systematic structure, however, the sealing fundamentals obtained from Uzumaki Qingzhi were superior.
Unable to distinguish reality from illusion, Uzumaki Qingzhi had simply shut his mouth and refused to utter another word, terrified of revealing his clan's core secrets.
"How long has he been like this?"
Just as Kurama Natsuki was about to cast another genjutsu to torment Uzumaki Qingzhi, Jing Xiu's voice came from the darkness.
"Young Master..."
Jing Xiu interrupted Kurama Natsuki. "You're carrying out a mission now. During missions, we use code names. There is no young master."
Kurama Natsuki's expression tightened. She had thought she was different from Ryuichi and the others, and that one day she would become the young master's woman.
But after nearly two years, her relationship with Jing Xiu had not progressed at all. She had even become the least valued member of his three-person guard detail.
"Reporting to Mei: Uzumaki Qingzhi has been like this for three days."
Jing Xiu nodded and looked at Uzumaki Qingzhi in the cell. "I know you were Uzumaki Ashina's first teacher, as well as his older cousin."
"In other words, the Uzumaki Clan's eldest princess, Mito Uzumaki, is your older cousin. Is that right?"
On the surface, Jing Xiu seemed to have asked a pointless question.
Yet such a pointless question about common knowledge could greatly lower the other person's psychological defenses.
"Before you were captured, what coded messages or marks did you leave for the Uzumaki Clan?"
"Has the Uzumaki Clan discovered your disappearance and begun searching for you with everything they have?"