Yamanaka Kagetsu's sensory range reached 22 meters, surpassing Uchiha En's Minds Eye, which was good news!
And this was just the beginning. Uchiha En and Yamanaka Kagetsu had found an opportunity to exploit a bug this time.
Yamanaka Kagetsu's sensory range could be improved through confrontation with genjutsu.
This meant that Uchiha En could use other genjutsu on Yamanaka Kagetsu in the future once he mastered them.
However, the two genjutsu Uchiha En currently knew were techniques passed down through generations in Konoha since its establishment.
Moreover, he had only mastered the D-rank genjutsu Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, while the B-rank genjutsu Demonic Illusion: Wood Binding Kill was merely at an introductory level; its success rate and effect were inferior to the Hell Viewing Technique.
Once Wood Binding Kill became proficient, it should also be able to increase Yamanaka Kagetsu's sensory range.
Of course, this didn't mean that Minds Eye would become useless if Yamanaka Kagetsu's sensory range expanded.
Uchiha En had previously discovered that, compared to the Yamanaka Clan's sensing, Minds Eye had a very powerful effect in sensing various types of life.
Thinking of this, Uchiha En activated his Minds Eye, and all life within 20 meters was sensed by him.
Minds Eye, like teleportation, could only be upgraded by increasing its usage, but he didn't know how many uses it would take to upgrade.
However, although Minds Eye consumed no chakra, Uchiha En found that after activating it, the feedback from so many life forms made him somewhat uncomfortable.
It was like being in a bustling market with loudspeakers constantly shouting all around, so Uchiha En didn't keep Minds Eye activated all the time.
But today, Yamanaka Kagetsu's sensory range increased, and Uchiha En felt that his Minds Eye also needed to be upgraded quickly, so he decided to keep it activated frequently from now on to grind for proficiency.
Uchiha En returned to the Uchiha Clan's camp with his Minds Eye active.
As soon as he entered the camp, Uchiha En stopped short.
Because his Minds Eye sensed an abnormally powerful life force beneath the camp, a life force stronger than anyone Uchiha En had ever encountered.
What made Uchiha En even more terrified was that the owner of this life force seemed to be constantly staring at the members of the Uchiha Clan in the camp, yet they were completely unaware.
Uchiha En was about to report this situation to Uchiha Mei, when he suddenly remembered something and stopped: "Wait! This couldn't be a White Zetsu, could it!"
Beneath the camp, a strong life force, able to evade the detection of Uchiha Mei and Uchiha Cai's Three Tomoe Sharingan—weren't these the characteristics of a White Zetsu?
White Zetsu's Mayfly technique allowed its body to merge with the earth and vegetation for high-speed movement, integrating with the ground. By intervening with the network of organic matter like plant Roots and underground water flows, it could move rapidly to any location. During this technique's activation, it could completely cut off all chakra signatures, making it extremely difficult to detect.
And White Zetsu itself was formed from those who fell under the Infinite Tsukuyomi in the previous era, a product of the Divine Tree, possessing powerful life force.
White Zetsu also had a reason to monitor the Uchiha Clan's camp. At this stage, Uchiha Madara should still be looking for someone to inherit his will after his death.
This person had to be a member of the Uchiha Clan, which was why Uchiha Madara would dispatch White Zetsu to observe the Uchiha Clan members on the battlefield to screen for suitable candidates.
Thinking of this, Uchiha En increasingly felt that what was beneath the camp was a White Zetsu, or rather, a White Zetsu spore clone.
Uchiha En currently had no way to deal with troublesome things like White Zetsu, and it was best not to make any moves.
Uchiha Madara wasn't dead yet! Who knew if exposing the existence of White Zetsu would attract Uchiha Madara's attention?
Although the current Uchiha Madara was an old man with tubes and limited mobility, he was still Uchiha Madara. Even at this age, Uchiha En dared not show any contempt.
So Uchiha En decided that as long as White Zetsu did nothing, he would simply pretend not to know of its existence.
The next day, Shinku Yuhi arrived at the Land of Bears camp with the Ninjas reinforced by the Village.
With new troops supplemented, meetings were held all day in Orochimaru's tent.
That evening, all reconnaissance squad captains were summoned to Orochimaru's tent.
An hour later, under the cover of the dark night, all Konoha reconnaissance squads moved out, their target being the main battlefield ahead.
"Shibi-sensei, what is our mission this time?" Asana asked while moving through the forest.
"To clear out enemy ambushes and traps on the battlefield," Aburame Shibi replied.
"Is the Village going to have a decisive battle with Kirigakure?" Yamanaka Kagetsu asked.
"How could that be! Here in the Land of Bears, whether in terms of Ninja numbers or the number of powerful individuals, we are inferior to Kirigakure. The Village's goal has always been just to tie down Kirigakure and prevent them from fully occupying the Land of Bears.
As for an all-out war with Kirigakure, that will absolutely not happen," Aburame Shibi replied.
"Then why do we need to clear out the traps and ambushes on the battlefield?" Yamanaka Kagetsu continued to ask.
This time, Aburame Shibi didn't directly answer Yamanaka Kagetsu's question but turned to Uchiha En and asked, "En, what's your opinion?"
"I think it's because we've been suppressed by Kirigakure recently, and morale is low. Taking advantage of the reinforcements from the Village, Lord Orochimaru wants to launch an attack on Kirigakure to boost morale!"
Aburame Shibi nodded upon hearing this and said, "Good analysis. Lord Orochimaru and Shikaku's main purpose this time is indeed to boost morale."
"Main purpose? Is there another purpose?" Asana asked.
"There is, but it has nothing to do with our reconnaissance squad; it's something others should worry about."
Seeing that Aburame Shibi didn't want to elaborate, everyone didn't ask further.
However, Uchiha En seemed to have guessed something. He felt that Orochimaru probably had some ideas regarding Kirigakure's high-level combatants, such as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and the strong individuals from Bloodline Limit clans.
Orochimaru most likely wanted to use this war as an opportunity to eliminate some of Kirigakure's high-level combatants.
If conditions allowed, he could take the opportunity to collect a wave of corpses of Kirigakure Bloodline Limit Ninja for research.
This was indeed the case. Orochimaru did intend to target the strong individuals of Kirigakure's Bloodline Limit clans this time. At that point, the Uchiha Clan, Shinku Yuhi, and the heads of the Ino–Shika–Chō Three Clans would jointly be responsible for containing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Then Orochimaru would deal with the strong individuals of the Bloodline Limit clans.
Uchiha En and his team couldn't participate in this part of the battle, and it also involved the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, which was why Aburame Shibi didn't fully disclose the situation to them.
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