His gaze drifted quietly toward the window. The tranquility had been shattered—just how long could the peace that followed truly last?
Hiruzen looked at the peaceful and comfortable Konoha, and gradually felt powerless.
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"No matter how you put it, you really caused too big of a commotion this time, didn't you?"
That was what Ruri said to Hakushi after returning from her mission.
The attack on Hidden Grass Village was such a significant event that it had already spread throughout every country in the Ninja Realm.
During the assault, it was said that Hidden Grass Village lost nearly dozens of ninja in the battle, with over a hundred wounded.
While the civilians weren't affected, all the major facilities were blown up, reduced to nothing—the losses were enormous.
"Honestly, I didn't think the two of them would make such a scene either. In fact, they're even stronger than I expected."
Hakushi gave a helpless smile. As is often the case, plans run into all kinds of unexpected situations that lead to unanticipated outcomes.
And whether such accidents lead to better results or worse ones is always unpredictable.
But in this case, while it did provoke the hostility of Hidden Grass Village, it also indirectly proved the strength of his two avatars, Amaterasu and Raidenmaru, which was probably a positive outcome.
In the future, if he needed to break through a ninja village's defenses, there was no reason not to use similar methods to achieve his goals.
After all, just the ability to fly was enough to give most ninja a headache.
As far as Hakushi knew, ninja who could fly were exceedingly rare in the Ninja Realm, and all ninja techniques had range limitations. No matter what form the battle took, controlling the skies meant having a natural advantage—able to attack or retreat as needed.
If they'd started battling the Hidden Grass ninja on the ground, Amaterasu and Raidenmaru wouldn't have had it nearly so easy.
"The remaining survivors of the Uzumaki Clan have basically all been settled. So far, a total of forty-seven people have migrated from all over the world to the Land of Demons. That's an extremely valuable pool of potential—if every single one of their talents could be fully realized, there'd be nothing to worry about on our side in the Land of Demons."
Hakushi made this assessment.
Their general traits were an abundance of chakra beyond any normal person's, and extremely potent life force, matching perfectly with the natural energy system. The clan had a wide range of future possibilities and could produce many talents for unique fields within the organization.
"In any case, you still have to be careful. The Uzumaki Clan case is a delicate matter. If anyone finds out, it could easily attract a lot of the wrong sorts of attention."
"Of course, I understand that. Don't worry, I've already had them arranged to live in the underground areas of headquarters. Most of their training and daily activities happen there, cutting off the possibility of contact with outsiders."
Besides, there were plenty of Perception-type Ninja at headquarters, as well as Byakugan Ninja. When it came to surveillance and security, there was nothing to worry about.
After the Hidden Grass attack, Hakushi had Amaterasu and Raidenmaru stationed there to make up for the lack of high-level combat power on that side.
With the strength of those two, paired with the personnel at headquarters, he believed they could handle most emergencies.
And as time went on, once the Uzumaki survivors were trained into the backbone of the organization, there'd be no further reason to worry about their safety.
By estimation, by then the Ninja Realm would be in the midst of a great war, with all the Five Great Nations focused on the fronts. They would never allocate so much attention to a neutral country like the Land of Demons, tucked away on the edge.
Seeing how thorough Hakushi's arrangements were, Ruri had nothing more to say in the way of concerns.
It was just that this time, the event had caused such a stir that she couldn't help but remind Hakushi a bit.
"There's something else. My body has already gotten used to this wristband—do you have a stronger restrictor?"
Ruri took off her chakra restriction bracelet and tossed it in front of Hakushi, asking him to switch it out for one with even stronger limiting capabilities.
"That quickly?"
Hakushi was slightly surprised—he remembered it took Ruri more than half a month to overcome the first restrictor.
But after putting on the second restrictor, paired with the first one, the chakra limitation increased several times over. Based on Hakushi's initial calculations, it should have taken another month or two for Ruri to overcome the dual restrictors.
He hadn't expected her to finish so many days ahead of schedule.
"Probably because I've been practicing Sage Techniques recently. Besides, I feel like my Sharingan has reached its limit—any further, and the only path left is toward the Mangekyo Sharingan."
After mastering Sage Techniques, Ruri could feel her donjutsu get even stronger.
In the Sharingan's Three Tomoe state, she'd already hit a wall.
If the Sharingan had powers that hadn't yet been awakened, those would have to belong to the higher-level Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Mangekyo Sharingan? That legendary eye? Come to think of it, does that really exist?"
Hearing Ruri mention the Mangekyo Sharingan, Hakushi couldn't help but think of the Uchiha Clan records Ruri had given him a long time ago, which documented some information about the Mangekyo Sharingan.
The Uchiha Clan's legendary ultimate pupil technique—yet ever since the defeat of Uchiha Madara, the Mangekyo Sharingan had basically faded into myth, with no one else in the Uchiha Clan ever awakening those eyes again.
"It's definitely not a myth. I can feel it—above the ordinary Sharingan, there absolutely exists a higher level of power."