Chapter 383: Uchiha Sōkai's Goal
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" Ishiro immediately burst into loud, unrestrained laughter upon hearing his words.
The fact that Sōkai had this idea meant that, in his heart, he had completely designated Konoha as the enemy. In the current Sōkai's heart, the Uchiha clan might be above Iwagakure, but Konoha's position was certainly below it.
"If Fugaku can unify the voices within the Uchiha clan, then it's not impossible for me to intervene. I could even bring the entire village's elite forces to coordinate," Ishiro said with certainty.
This was the truth. If that really happened, Konoha's pitiful three Kage-level shinobi would be no match for the combined forces of Ishiro and Fugaku. As the rebelling party, the initiative would be in Ishiro's hands. He could even help divert a batch of Konoha's elites before the uprising.
"But, it's the same old story: Fugaku Uchiha is not up to the task. I will not bet the village on him," Ishiro continued.
"However, if your strength improves a little faster, and you are able to participate in a Kage-level battle by then, I could take you to Konoha. The two of us could help your clansmen together."
Sōkai's eyes lit up. "Really?" he blurted out.
Ishiro smiled. "You are already my disciple. To make your heart turn completely towards Iwagakure, I should also take this risk."
"However, regardless of the outcome, you must promise me that you will live peacefully as an Iwa-nin in the future."
Sōkai nodded. "I understand, Master Ishiro. Rest assured, I am not an ungrateful person. If, after trying my best, things still cannot be changed, then I will, as an Iwa-nin, personally raze Konoha to the ground."
"Good. Very good. You have ambition," Ishiro gave Sōkai a thumbs-up. "Now, hurry up and go train."
"Yes." After acknowledging, Sōkai ran towards his two training comrades. "Chiga, Ayumi, wait for me!"
From the tone of his voice as he called out to them, one could tell that he had finally let go of a great weight in his heart. Or rather, it was only at this moment that he had truly made a certain decision.
This conversation with Sōkai was not long, mainly because the current Sōkai was already quite mature in his disposition. He had, in fact, already found the answers to many of his questions before the conversation. Coming to Ishiro was more about seeking an excuse to convince himself.
Watching Sōkai let go of his burdens and begin to live and train like a true Iwa-nin, Ishiro stood up, patted the non-existent dust from his clothes, and smiled with satisfaction.
Having also let go of a trace of worry in his own heart, Ishiro began to formulate a training plan for himself: when to take the three on missions, when to train together, and during training, how much time he could use to practice Wind Release.
After making a detailed plan, Ishiro began his monotonous training life once more.
Sometimes, Ishiro was actually very grateful to the disciples who had accompanied him in turns over the years. It was precisely in the process of supervising his disciples' training that his own tedious practice did not seem so unbearable.
For example, right now, Ishiro was taking the three rookie genin on various D-rank missions every day. While the three were miserably carrying out their tasks, Ishiro felt that his own training had become much more relaxed.
One day, during a break from a D-rank fruit-picking mission, Ishiro was reading the training notes on developing Blaze Release written by Ogura Saki.
The three rookie genin were chatting on the side.
Sasagawa Ayumi asked curiously, "Chūkō, are you really from the Uchiha clan? What was your original name?"
During this time, the three had become quite familiar with each other, so it was not abrupt for her to ask this question.
Sōkai said, "My original name was Uchiha Sōkai. The name Tenbin Chūkō was given to me by Lord Third after I came to the village."
Chiga also chimed in, "Then, Sōkai, how did you come to the village? Didn't Konoha stop you?"
Sōkai said very honestly, "I was captured by Master Ishiro."
Chiga and Sasagawa Ayumi were both dumbfounded. Then, Chiga stammered, "Th-then, you... why are you now..." She was at a loss for words.
But Sōkai smiled. "Don't overthink it. Although I was captured by Master Ishiro, I have now genuinely joined the village. And I'm quite grateful to him for bringing me out." Then, he added in his heart: Otherwise, if I had stayed in the village, I might have died without ever knowing what was happening.
Seeing that Sōkai's expression was normal, Chiga looked back at Ishiro. Seeing that he couldn't be bothered with them, she finally relaxed.
Sasagawa Ayumi said, "Then Sōkai, are you the only Uchiha clansman in the village?"
Sōkai thought of his younger brothers and sisters, a smile touching his face. "I'm not the only one. I still have many younger siblings."
Chiga blurted out, "Heavens, just how many children did Master Ishiro capture?"
After speaking, she quickly looked back at Ishiro. This time, before she could even see his face, she was tapped on the head.
Chiga stuck out her tongue, clutched her head, and stole a glance at Ishiro. Seeing that he wasn't angry, she sheepishly turned her head back.
Sōkai laughed out loud at this. "They weren't captured by Master Ishiro. They were sent by the patriarch of our Uchiha clan."
"Huh?" Chiga and Ayumi were confused.
But Sōkai didn't plan to explain. He changed the subject. "Alright, that's enough rest. Let's continue the mission."
After speaking, Sōkai charged menacingly towards the remaining fruit trees. Chiga and Sasagawa Ayumi, seeing this, also hurried to follow.
Ishiro, meanwhile, continued to read his book.
This orderly life continued for a month, until Sōkai started clamoring to take on higher-ranked missions.
One day, after finishing another boring D-rank mission, Sōkai could no longer hold it in. He insisted on taking on a high-level mission.
Watching Sōkai incite his two comrades to constantly complain to him about how boring D-rank missions were, Ishiro felt a little dazed. Has another month passed so quickly? It's also time to start developing Blaze Release.
This past month, Ishiro hadn't been idle. Although he was said to be on missions with his three disciples, the missions were basically completed by the three of them. During the missions, Ishiro was mentally deducing the process of fusing the two chakras of wind and fire in his mind. When his three disciples were training, his own Wind Release training had not fallen behind either. Now, his proficiency in Wind Release was no worse than his proficiency in Lightning Release when he was developing Storm Release.
All the preparatory work was now complete. It was time for his long-stagnant main quest to take another step forward.
"Master Ishiro, Master Ishiro, are you listening?" Sōkai's dissatisfied voice pulled Ishiro's thoughts back.
Ishiro smiled faintly. "Tomorrow, we'll take a C-rank mission."
"Oh! Great!" the three of them cheered in unison. It seemed they had really been cooped up.
The next day, a massive convoy left Iwagakure, heading for the Iwa branch in the Land of Snow.
The convoy was primarily escorted by five full Anbu squads, with five regular squads providing support. Ishiro's squad was one of them.
The core of this team was Ishiro's student, Akino Atsumi. She had been commissioned by the village's high command to go to the Land of Snow branch to establish a new Heavenly Transfer Technique pedestal to facilitate the emergency transport of goods between the two locations.
The mission of the five Anbu squads and five regular squads was: to escort Akino Atsumi and a large quantity of materials for constructing the technique, ensure their safe arrival at the branch, and their safe return after the setup was complete.
The configuration of this team was very high. Four of the five Anbu squads had a jonin or elite jonin with powerful combat strength as their captain. The remaining squad was a temporary one specially formed: all members were jonin. And the four regular squads, apart from Ishiro's, were also led by jonin. Although their squad members were genin, they were not rookies but veteran genin who had experienced war.
Such a massive lineup, all for one person. All the squad leaders had received an order when they accepted the mission: protect Akino Atsumi at all costs. Iwagakure was already treating her as a strategic-level ninja; absolutely no harm was allowed to come to her.
Of course, the mission levels they received were all B-rank or A-rank. Only Ishiro's squad was C-rank.
In fact, in the original plan, there were only nine squads. Ishiro's team of four was completely superfluous. It was because Ishiro was worried about Akino that he had used Sōkai's words as an excuse to take on this non-existent mission.
The village's high command naturally had no objections. They had originally been discussing whether to send Ikura as an escort. Now that Ishiro had taken on the job, they were happy to save themselves the trouble.
Sōkai, Chiga, and Ayumi were very excited, completely unaware that they were dispensable from the very beginning. They believed that the village sending them on such a large-scale mission was a recognition of their strength. The three of them were very serious throughout the journey, completing every task Ishiro assigned them to perfection.
As someone who had been through this, Akino Atsumi felt a little amused seeing this scene. She knew that her unreliable teacher must have said something to these three junior disciples; otherwise, they wouldn't be working so hard. Thinking back to how she had been like this at the beginning, Akino felt a little nostalgic for her teammate, Riori Uzumaki. Riori was the only one in their squad back then who, even when the team was about to be disbanded, still believed that what Ishiro said was correct. That silly child. I wonder how she's doing in the Anbu? Is she causing any trouble?
Ishiro walked to Akino's side. "Akino, what are you thinking about?"
Akino came back to her senses, looked up at Ishiro, and said, "I was thinking about Riori. I wonder how she's doing in the Anbu. Is she causing any trouble for her captain?"
Ishiro smiled. "Riori is right behind you. The Anbu escorting you to the Land of Snow branch this time includes her squad."
"Eh? Really?" Akino looked around but couldn't see any sign of the Anbu.
Ishiro said, "Stop looking. Under normal circumstances, the Anbu won't come out. So, even though you know Riori is nearby, you won't be able to see her."
"Oh," Akino nodded, a little disappointed.
They had been separated for some time, and she really missed that good sister who had always been the most lively in the team.
Ishiro, on the other hand, was helpless. He wouldn't dare send Riori Uzumaki out on a normal Anbu mission. A mission like this, with him accompanying them, was a perfect opportunity for her to gain some experience.
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