"Will this child become a second Madara?"
The Great Elder watched Uchiha Gen spar with Mikoto, his eyes momentarily dazed before he quickly dismissed the thought. Throughout the thousands of years of the Warring States period, how many existences with such mighty power had truly emerged?
Even though the Great Elder thought highly of Gen, he only felt that the boy had the potential to become a top-tier powerhouse in the future and revitalize the Uchiha Clan. And Gen's performance at this moment made the Great Elder even more convinced of this.
This was already enough for the Great Elder to make several new decisions.
Ten minutes later.
"Sister Mikoto, you're amazing. Fighting you really puts quite a lot of pressure on me."
Uchiha Gen was panting heavily as he and Mikoto stopped their exchange at the same time.
"The truly amazing one is you, Gen. If the version of me that had just graduated were to fight you, I'm afraid I wouldn't even last a minute."
Uchiha Mikoto brushed back the locks of hair on her forehead that were soaked with sweat. The smile on her face remained gentle, but it now held a hint of genuine cheerfulness.
This was just a spar, not a life-and-death struggle. Neither of them had reached the point of fighting desperately. Having reached this stage, everything that needed to be shown had been displayed, so they could naturally stop. Even so, the young lady of the Great Elder's house was shocked by the strength Gen had displayed.
So this is what a true genius is like?
"Alright, Mikoto, Gen, both of you come over here."
The Great Elder had regained his calm and composed demeanor. He led the two toward the Clan Treasury while offering guidance on techniques for using the Sharingan.
Having awakened the single-tomoe Sharingan, Gen was already qualified to browse the items on the third floor of the Clan Treasury. Certain secret techniques related to the Sharingan could also be practiced at this time.
An hour later, Gen returned home carrying several scrolls.
"Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu: Volume 2," "Daily Training and Maintenance of the Sharingan," "Sharingan: Manipulating Windmill Triple Blades"...
"Tsk, I just finished reading those torturous medical books, and now new ones arrive."
Uchiha Gen let out a weary sigh.
From the time he graduated until now, although life had been fulfilling and his progress rapid, he was truly busy, with almost no time for rest. However, in this era, every bit of strength gained was capital for surviving the future. No matter how exhausting it was, he had to grit his teeth and endure to survive in this peril-filled world.
In any case, he had to survive the next two Great Ninja Wars the ones with the highest intensity and longest duration before he truly became strong enough.
That night, after a gathering at Yakiniku Q, the Orochimaru Squad announced their temporary disbandment.
The next day, in the early morning, outside Konoha.
A Kumogakure Diplomatic Mission of considerable size was arriving at the village gates under the escort of Konoha Anbu. Hokage Advisor Homura Mitokado, along with Jonin Commander Orochimaru, led members of the Administrative Department to receive them.
As for the Third Hokage, he did not personally appear to welcome them. The status of the two sides was not equal. For the Third Hokage to personally receive them, the Third Raikage would have to come. Otherwise, it would make Konoha look too eager and diminish their prestige.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Gen, along with his two teammates, was looking at the tall, white-haired man in front of them with total suspicion.
"Hey, hey, hey! You brats, what's with those looks?"
Jiraiya said with a face full of shame and annoyance.
Uzuki Ruri let out a sigh: "We don't want to look at you like this either."
Gen stared with dead-fish eyes: "But what kind of team leader is still peeping at the bathhouse when it's already time to meet?"
Sarutobi Enjun covered his face and said, "I feel like it would be really embarrassing if word of this got out. How about we just leave Senior Jiraiya behind and go train by ourselves?"
"Haha, don't worry, this Great Me is always very careful! With my superb infiltration techniques, I am generally not discovered. After all, this kind of thing could easily have a negative impact on my lofty reputation and grand image in the village."
Jiraiya laughed loudly, but his eyes glanced at Gen. It wasn't self-praise; his infiltration ability really was very strong. Even if he had let his guard down while peeping at the bathhouse because he was in Konoha, he hadn't expected to actually be caught by this kid.
You, an Uchiha who has awakened the Sharingan, actually know Sensory Ninjutsu too?
"Ahem, I thought so too. So, Senior Jiraiya, you wouldn't want word of this to get out either, right?"
A mischievous, knowing smile appeared on Gen's face as he spoke to Jiraiya. The latter's expression immediately went blank.
"Stinky brat, where did you learn a line like that? Care to share?"
"Senior Jiraiya, you're overthinking it."
"Tsk, you brat. It seems if I don't pull out some good stuff today, I really won't be able to get rid of you. That guy Orochimaru is really something, dumping such big trouble on me."
Jiraiya scratched his head, then reached out to form hand seals and slapped the ground.
"Ninjutsu: Summoning Jutsu!"
A summoning array spread across the ground. Accompanied by a burst of white smoke, a toad over two stories tall, emerald green all over and wearing lipstick on its large mouth, appeared before their eyes.
"Little Jiraiya, calling me from so far away, is there something you need?"
A deliberately coquettish and seductive male voice rang out, and the toad even blew a kiss toward Jiraiya.
"Gama-riki, I called you here this time because these youngsters want to ask you to train them a bit."
Jiraiya pointed behind the toad. Gama-riki hopped around to turn, looking at the trio. Its gaze shifted between Gen and Sarutobi Enjun.
"Don't worry, I'll entertain these youngsters well. Slurp!"
The ominous premonition seemed to be coming true. Gen turned his head and found that Sarutobi Enjun's face had turned green with fright.
"Ahem, that brat from the Uchiha Clan doesn't need to train his Genjutsu resistance. He has already awakened the Sharingan, so I'll take charge of him."
"Ah, is that so? What a pity. Even though this young man from the Uchiha Clan is the most handsome."
Gama-riki said with a face full of regret.
Gen quietly let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, I escaped a disaster. Having the Sharingan meant being naturally resistant to Genjutsu; there was no need for this specific torture.
Thank you, Uchiha bloodline. Thank you, Young Madara's Sharingan, for sparing me from this.
"This... Senior Jiraiya, Genjutsu resistance isn't necessary, right? Orochimaru-sensei also gave us a tool for training it, so..."