"Come out, Natural Energy!"
Obito yelled impatiently, but nothing happened, and he couldn't sense any Natural Energy.
"Aaaaaah, why can't I sense anything!"
Obito fell to the ground, starting to despair.
"I already told you, you need to calm your mind and train, don't let your thoughts wander."
Hakushi sighed.
Taking on such an idiot as a disciple, Hakushi suddenly regretted it a bit.
He initially thought that Obito, having awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, must have some special hidden talent, but after some testing, he was completely disillusioned.
This guy's hidden talent was merely in the advancement of his Sharingan.
Apart from that, his Taijutsu, Fire Style, and Illusion Techniques were all average at best.
At this rate, his other abilities couldn't effectively complement the Mangekyo Sharingan, becoming a burden to the Kekkeigenkai.
Therefore, Hakushi decided to start teaching the basics of Natural Energy.
Taijutsu is the most basic, and also a necessary skill for a ninja.
Once you master Natural Energy, your Taijutsu can't be weak.
"But I've already tried to calm my mind and train."
Obito had an expression of genuinely trying to focus on training.
"Really? It's really not because Lin is nearby, and that's why you can't concentrate?"
Hakushi stared at Obito with a doubtful look.
"Wha-what are you talking about? What does this have to do with Lin? I think it's just your teaching methods that are the problem."
Obito used a clumsy excuse to defend himself.
His eyes occasionally glanced over to Lin, and Lin would sometimes sense Obito's sneaky gazes, feeling puzzled at first, then showing him a gentle smile.
This made Obito blush, with his heart racing like a lovestruck, bashful young girl in love.
"You're quite the impressive pervert, constantly thinking about that girl."
"I said I'm not! Why am I a pervert?"
Even though Obito tried hard to argue, Hakushi had already labeled him as a pervert.
"If you can't train yourself to sense Natural Energy, then Lin will have to go elsewhere to train alone. Otherwise, you'll never calm your mind at this rate."
"Got it, I'll focus seriously. In the end, you're just leeching off our Uchiha name, and yet you're so arrogant."
Damn, always using Lin as leverage, Obito, who had no way to counter Hakushi's slyness, could only glare at him angrily.
"It's also for your own good, you know..."
Just as Hakushi was about to say something, he was interrupted by the voice of a living slug:
"Master Hakushi, there's a letter for you."
A slug the size of an adult crawled to Hakushi's side to pass the message.
"Got it, I'll be right there."
Hakushi nodded, then looked at Obito and said, "Continue training, I'll step out for a bit. If you slack off, Lin will be responsible for cleaning the Shikkotsu Forest alone this month."
"..."
Obito was so angry his teeth were itching, but he dared not speak up.
He must become stronger, and then he could beat this sinister bully who keeps bothering Lin with one punch.
After bidding farewell to Obito, Hakushi followed the slug's division to a simple wooden cabin.
Inside the cabin was a black box-like machine encased in a plastic exterior, a long-range communication device unique to the military of the Land of Demons. To ensure timely reception of external information, Hakushi had installed one here in the Shikkotsu Forest this time.
The white paper had already been printed with text and slid out from the machine.
Hakushi looked at the information displayed on the paper with a frown.
"That ended too quickly..."
He murmured.
"What ended too quickly, Master Hakushi?"
The slug asked curiously.
"The battlefield at the Land of Grass, Hidden Rock lost, Konoha won."
Hakushi answered.
The information presented on the paper was such a report.
—Konoha Jonin Hatake Kakashi, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Chouza destroyed the Hidden Rock's key supply route, Kannabi Bridge. Following that, Namikaze Minato alone took advantage of the situation, destroying all five critical supply points of Hidden Rock stationed in the Land of Grass within two hours, with dozens of Hidden Rock Jonin perishing at the hands of the Yellow Flash as well.
The Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, utterly ended Hidden Rock's advantageous position in the Land of Grass with his unparalleled blitz tactics.
This news had already spread throughout the Ninja Realm, shocking those concerned with the war everywhere.
Nobody anticipated that the Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato would be so formidable, almost single-handedly overturning Konoha's disadvantaged position in the Land of Grass battlefield.
Even Hakushi didn't expect Hidden Rock to fail so quickly.
Despite losing Ayane's assistance, by Hakushi's estimation, Hidden Rock shouldn't have squandered such a favorable situation this quickly, let alone by one person's hand.
As things stand, Konoha's weakened forces post-war are extraordinarily limited.
"What an unbelievably resourceful village, is this the true legacy left by the First and Second Hokage? It's terrifying."
Hakushi chuckled bitterly.
The Sannin alone, who can hold their own, already serve as a deterrent to all sides, and now there's another more troublesome entity than the Sannin, the Yellow Flash. Hakushi wondered what kind of extraordinary luck swung to Konoha, a village with such chaotic political dynamics, for repeatedly having these world-turning ninjas emerge in critical moments.
Envy and jealousy are natural.
Even Hakushi felt some jealousy towards the village of Konoha.
It leaves no chance for the other ninja villages to survive.
"Does Master Hakushi find it troublesome? After all, Namikaze Minato is the Child of Prophecy from Mount Myoboku, so it's understandable that he isn't comparable to ordinary ninjas; it's expected to some extent."
The slug said nonchalantly, as if just stating a trivial fact.
To it, the Child of Prophecy of Mount Myoboku was no different from the multitude.
"It's not really troublesome, as long as Minato doesn't ascend to the position of the Fourth Hokage, there's no need to worry. Even if he does become the Fourth Hokage, it's unlikely he'll accomplish much within a few years. Right now, Konoha's established interests and high officials absolutely won't allow a new Hokage to seize a part of their power."
Even if Minato eventually won the political struggle, Konoha would become incredibly weakened due to excessive political infighting at that time and couldn't recover in the short term.
Overall, the Konoha that many ninja villages fear right now is the one that Hakushi worries about the least.
In the matter of being disappointing, the top of Konoha never disappointed him.
This is the confidence from which Hakushi believed that Konoha wouldn't pose a threat to himself and the Land of Demons for a long time in the future.
However, confidence is one thing. When Konoha's political state becomes chaotic, Hakushi doesn't mind adding more fuel to the fire.