Since the other side had already raised the white flag, Lexon didn't continue to provoke them. He dispelled the dozen or so Wood Clones and asked, "Which one of you took out the Chunin Exams' location?"
"He did." Number Three pointed to Number Four, who was still twitching in agony.
Universal Pull.
Lexon pulled the oversized child toward him. With a light tap on Number Four's body, the massive, childlike frame suddenly shrank, returning to Number Four's normal appearance. However, his body now looked even more gaunt than before—skin and bones with almost no fat left. He had fallen into a coma.
Clearly, the physical toll had been too great.
Lexon deactivated the state of pain and even injected a sliver of Six Paths Yang Power into him, causing him to gradually wake up.
"Where are the people from Konoha?" Lexon asked directly, disregarding his weakened state.
"I've already... forcibly consumed them..." Number Four spoke weakly.
"In other words, they're all dead?" Lexon's voice remained flat, showing no ripple of emotion. It seemed as though whether the people of Konoha lived or died held no personal significance to him.
"Yes." Number Four nodded slightly.
"All dead, huh..." Lexon mused briefly. "This might make things a bit difficult..."
By "difficult," he was thinking of Naruto and Sasuke. Neither of them wanted to see Konoha destroyed. He was on quite good terms with those two familiar kids, and his impression of them was decent.
Of course, in Sasuke's case, that was contingent on him not discovering that he was "Uchiha Lexon." Otherwise, the Second Pillar would likely try to skin him alive.
Speaking of which... on his way here, he had dropped the Genin trio off near Orochimaru... The members of the Akatsuki seemed to be there too... which meant... Itachi was there as well?
Wouldn't that be a case of brothers meeting, and eyes turning red with fury?
Lexon felt like things were about to get rowdy over at Orochimaru's place.
As for what to do about Konoha... He turned his thoughts back to the village. If the Chunin Exams couldn't be held, it would likely mean the Main God's mission would end in failure, wouldn't it?
Then again, killing all the hostile Reincarnators might also count as mission success. But he still needed to keep these guys alive for his daily Check-ins...
Should he kill them on the final day? He was worried about the timing. If a specific moment triggered a requirement to "Maintain the Chunin Exams" and he was judged to have failed for not taking action, it would be troublesome.
Lexon's mind raced, searching for a solution.
"Don't move, alright?" Lexon suddenly said to Number Two.
'Was I seen through?' Number Two's body froze. In secret, he lowered the finger he had raised and stopped moving. He had just been trying to open a zipper to escape on his own, but he abandoned the attempt the moment Lexon noticed.
As for why Lexon, who arrived late, knew his abilities... it was because once a Wood Clone is dispelled, its memories return to Lexon's mind for him to process. Therefore, he already understood the abilities of these Reincarnators perfectly.
Seeing Number Two settle down, Lexon stopped overthinking. He decided to leave the choice to the two children he knew best in this world: Sasuke and Naruto. He would let them decide.
"Stay here for now." As Lexon spoke, he created over a dozen Wood Clones to watch the Reincarnators and prevent them from escaping. Then, his figure abruptly vanished.
...
"UCHIHA ITACHI!!!!"
The moment Lexon arrived at Orochimaru's location, he heard the Second Pillar's high-pitched roar, accompanied by the sound of crashing thunder.
It was Sasuke's signature jutsu from the original story, "Chidori." Lexon had never obtained this move through a Check-in, so he hadn't taught it. It had been taught by Kakashi, the substitute teacher from Lexon's days as a "salted fish" slacker.
Sasuke charged forward, Chidori in hand, thrusting toward Itachi. However, Itachi, possessing Shadow-level strength, found dealing with his green younger brother incredibly easy. He shifted his body continuously, dodging Sasuke's attacks with room to spare.
For some reason, Itachi didn't counterattack. He simply kept dodging.
"You really are a good brother, Itachi. After finally meeting again, you're actually training your brother's skills." Lexon saw through Itachi's intentions instantly and spoke as he landed beside them.
Uchiha Itachi stood still, his gaze toward Lexon turning complicated. Sasuke's movements also came to a sudden halt. Because Lexon hadn't used a mask to hide his face or changed his aura, Sasuke's hatred flared even brighter upon seeing the newcomer.
"UCHIHA LEXON!!!" he screamed. His Two-Tomoe Sharingan transformed into a Three-Tomoe Sharingan in an instant.
In the next moment, he lunged at Lexon with his Chidori.
"Three-tomoe... Not bad, not bad." Even as he praised the boy, Lexon grabbed Sasuke's forearm and sent him flying with a shoulder throw.
"Damn it!" Sasuke, covered in dust from the impact, scrambled up and charged at Lexon again.
"Wait, Sasuke!" At that moment, someone rushed between Lexon and Sasuke—it was Naruto!
"Get out of the way!" Sasuke barked at Naruto. The chirping of lightning in his hand was deafening, the tomoe in his eyes spinning rapidly. Hatred seemed to seep from his very sockets.
Naruto looked tense. Since Lexon appeared, Naruto had recognized him as his good friend and hurried over to intervene.
"There must be some kind of mistake! Sasuke, calm down first!" Naruto pleaded.
"These two are the bastards who wiped out my clan! How am I supposed to be calm? Get out of my way now!" Sasuke snarled, his face contorted.
"Lexon..." Naruto glanced back at Lexon. He didn't want to believe his friend was that kind of person, yet Sasuke's reaction was undeniably real and raw. Lexon was his friend, but so was Sasuke. He truly didn't know what to do.
"So, have you forgotten almost everything I taught you?" Lexon said to Sasuke with a calm expression.
"Taught? Those jutsus you taught me back then?" Sasuke remembered the time he spent being tutored by Lexon as a child, which led him to think of his parents. His rage intensified. "I'll use the jutsu you taught me to kill you!"
"I'm not talking about things from that long ago." Lexon's hand moved, and a cat-faced mask appeared.
He held the cat mask halfway up, obscuring half of his face, and spoke in a voice that was hauntingly familiar to Sasuke and the others: "I'm talking about this."
As the words fell, Sasuke's face went blank. The Chidori in his hand gradually dissipated.
"Sensei?" Haruno Sakura, who had been too afraid to make a sound, cried out in shock.
"Yes, it's Sensei," Lexon said with a gentle smile.
"Lexon... you... you're our teacher?" Naruto felt like the amount of information was a bit too much to process, his voice hesitating.
'Hmph, this old man knew it all along! You brat, Naruto, you actually didn't see through it...'
Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama suddenly spoke up, sounding quite pleased with himself. For once, the great fox wasn't playing games or watching anime in the sealed space; he was actually observing the outside world.
If anyone could peer into the fox's psyche, they would likely see one thought: 'How could I miss a show this good? Jie-jie-jie-jie-jie...'
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[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]