What resources did Yūshin still have at his disposal?
Nothing more than the corpses of Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear and the White Zetsu.
But after those White Zetsu had willingly helped Yūshin enhance his power, the remaining corpses were essentially like squeezed-out soybean meal or peanut cake—still useful, but not very useful.
After much consideration, Yūshin felt that the greatest potential use for White Zetsu corpses might be as some kind of cultivation medium.
Although they were precious materials, finding the most appropriate way to utilize their effectiveness wasn't an easy task.
Yūshin couldn't come up with suitable ideas for the moment, so he could only set them aside temporarily... Anyway, however he used the White Zetsu corpses later, it would certainly be more efficient than using them as compost.
Comparing the two, Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear's corpse naturally contained higher direct value, but the question was how to "extract" this secret technique from the corpse.
Even if he could obtain the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, Yūshin actually hadn't decided whether he wanted to learn it himself.
On one hand, he was quite self-aware—the more powerful a secret technique's combat effectiveness, the greater its learning difficulty, and he had no advantage in this regard.
On the other hand, he deeply understood the principle of biting off more than you can chew.
For Yūshin, the "White Zetsu path" was clearly a better route to take. Using White Zetsu lives as stepping stones for advancement, gaining strength while "ridding the world of evil"—it was practically perfect.
Aside from the White Zetsu Protection Association, Yūshin's actions wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings.
So Yūshin didn't envy Earth Grudge Fear's five-element abilities, because White Zetsu would eventually offer these to him. Even his fantasized acquisition of other Kekkei Genkai wasn't impossible.
As for the physical strength, vitality, and damage resistance that Earth Grudge Fear brought, Yūshin could equally plunder these traits from White Zetsu.
The biggest difference between the two was that Earth Grudge Fear was ready-made, while the benefits White Zetsu could bring required Yūshin to spend time seizing them one by one—currently just a possibility, not an absolute reality.
Simply put, for Yūshin, Earth Grudge Fear was a "quick method," while White Zetsu could bring him broader, higher prospects.
Of course, the two didn't conflict, nor were they mutually exclusive—having one didn't preclude having the other.
In fact, quite the opposite: their functions had certain overlaps, which was precisely why Yūshin felt conflicted.
To put it bluntly, this was his "cleanliness obsession" psychology at work again. He really didn't want to undergo major body modifications, and definitely didn't want to become a monster covered in "hair."
This was a matter of personality. Yūshin pursued power but wasn't extreme about it. Just as he hadn't targeted Shichimi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan back then, now he harbored doubts about the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique.
Or to put it the other way: if Yūshin were truly ruthless in pursuing power, he should have a pair of red eyes in his sockets by now. In that case, he wouldn't need Earth Grudge Fear at all—piloting a Gundam would be the only correct answer.
Of course, his desire to obtain the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique was still quite urgent. Although he had doubts, someone in the organization would surely appreciate such a powerful secret technique.
If they could safely and efficiently mass-produce Earth Grudge Fear ninja within the organization, wouldn't that mean entering a prosperous society at a run?
One could only say Yūshin was being overly optimistic. What he currently had was just a corpse that had learned the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, not a complete training manual for it... Before imagining a beautiful future, he needed to obtain this secret technique first.
So the question became: how do you pry open a dead person's skull? After all, human brains aren't hard drives.
Could the Sharingan work? Yūshin wasn't certain. He was inclined toward denial, but currently, this seemed to be his only available method to try.
No rush. Once several buildings were constructed at the camp, Yūshin planned to use one as a "laboratory." With a suitable venue, he could proceed with further attempts... He certainly couldn't fiddle with corpses in tents with people coming and going, or in broad daylight with constant foot traffic.
Anyway, the organization had already applied for a large construction fund from Kikyō Castle, freeloaded a large batch of building materials, and with ninja physical capabilities being especially suited for hard labor, the buildings would be completed quickly.
Just as Yūshin was struggling with how to extract value from the dead, a Fūma Clan ninja hurried to his presence.
The person seemed to bring good news.
"Chief, good news—we've welcomed our first customer..."
Yūshin raised an eyebrow. Recently, something strange had been happening in the organization.
Led by the Fūma Clan ninja, they no longer called him "Captain" but had started calling him "Chief."
As if Yūshin commanded a massive ninja alliance, when in reality, Yūshin's subordinates didn't even amount to half a company's worth.
Regarding this change, Yūshin found it inconvenient to say much. He asked calmly, "Is it ninja tool business? It seems the Fūma Clan's reputation remains as strong as ever."
Hearing such praise for the Fūma Clan, this ninja couldn't help but smile.
Yūshin had been feeling somewhat stifled staying in the tent. Since this was the first customer, after brief consideration, he decided to go see the excitement.
"Come on, let's see what's happening."
However, when Yūshin arrived at the Fūma Clan's ninja tool workshop and saw the so-called buyer, his mood for watching excitement quickly subsided... because this "customer" definitely wasn't here merely to purchase ninja tools.
The reason was simple: the visitor was a young ninja in black clothing, with long hair and half-body dark red armor.
Yūshin had seen him last night. He was Uchiha Madara.
Indeed, since Uchiha Madara had undertaken the task of bringing Shichimi Uchiha back to the Uchiha Clan, he couldn't possibly choose to leave so simply.
In just this short time, Uchiha Madara had already investigated and learned that the ninja occupying Kikyō Castle were the so-called "Fūma Clan," and that Shichimi Uchiha was in frequent contact with this ninja clan.
Precisely because of this, Uchiha Madara had appeared here.
Yūshin instantly became extremely vigilant.
Step by step, he maintained his rhythm as he walked forward.
Immediately, Yūshin's newly acquired sensory ability came into play. When he brought Uchiha Madara within his sensing range, he felt a massive energy capable of shaking one's soul instantly manifest.
Without even launching any attack, this chakra was sufficient to display tremendous impact force.
The oppressive feeling Uchiha Madara brought Yūshin was unprecedented. In comparison, Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear, whom he had barely managed to defeat at the cost of his life, was nothing at all.
If forced to describe Uchiha Madara's chakra, Yūshin could only say it was nuclear bomb-level.
However, a moment of shock wouldn't make Yūshin lose his thinking ability. Soon he noticed something else... there were no White Zetsu appearing in the vicinity again, very likely indicating that the deaths of those four White Zetsu hadn't been detected by the White Zetsu collective yet.
If possible, Yūshin needed to send Uchiha Madara away as quickly as possible.
Just as Yūshin sensed Uchiha Madara's chakra, this person suddenly turned around, his eyes precisely locking onto Yūshin.
"Truly perceptive..."
If you didn't consider brain organs and intelligence level, Uchiha Madara was practically a perfect ninja. However, with Hashirama existing, even a ninja of this caliber could only rank second in this era.
After seeing Uchiha Madara's calm eyes, Yūshin almost instantly read a certain dangerous aura.
Not good—this guy probably had ill intentions.
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