"Ha… ha..."
Sasuke Uchiha panted heavily. The absolute exhaustion of his spiritual energy left him with a splitting headache, and the overexertion of his ocular power and chakra from maintaining the Susanoo sent needle-like pains piercing through his entire body.
The moment he realized he was out of danger, he stopped forcing himself to stand and dropped to one knee. Having deactivated the Susanoo and extinguished the black flames, he didn't even have the time to survey his surroundings before immediately closing his eyes.
Once the lethal fatigue eased slightly, he slowly opened his left eye again. Only then did he notice a small white snake rearing its upper body beside his foot, silently flicking its tongue.
Looking up, Sasuke discovered an incredibly massive white snake looking down at him with immense interest.
This giant white snake coiled atop a massive stone platform. Its body looped round and round, sprawling across the platform and the ground below, extending so far into the dark depths that its tail was nowhere to be seen—god only knew how long it actually was.
It possessed highly anthropomorphic features: a spherical ornament hung below its head, it wore a black cap, and long, orange-red hair seemed to flow from the back of its head.
As Sasuke's field of vision expanded slightly, he saw a massive relief of a dragon's head behind the white snake. The dragon held a giant scroll in its mouth, upon which three large characters were written: Ryuchi Cave.
It was safe to say that Sasuke's efforts to contact the snakes when he first arrived in this world hadn't been in vain. Now they were returning his call—and the corporate president herself was personally on the line.
"If my child hadn't found you first, you would have been in grave danger just now," the White Snake Sage spoke.
"The White Snake Sage…"
Sasuke glanced at the little snake by his feet, then refocused his gaze on the Great White Snake, directly calling out her identity with his usual blunt straightforwardness.
Of course Sasuke knew about Ryuchi Cave; after all, he had mastered summoning snakes to an art form. However, because the White Snake Sage held a strong distaste for Orochimaru, Sasuke—much like Orochimaru—had never reached the deepest, hidden sanctuary of Ryuchi Cave to see the actual White Snake Sage before.
It was only natural for the White Snake Sage to dislike Orochimaru. A soul that had reincarnated countless times, as contaminated and tainted as a dye vat, was destined to receive no favor.
"You know of me?"
The White Snake Sage hadn't expected this pleasant surprise.
"I am a shinobi from the future, active in an era roughly sixty to seventy years from now. Back then, I was a contractor of Ryuchi Cave, capable of summoning the snakes here to battle," Sasuke explained.
Fortunately, no one exposed how Sasuke actually utilized his summoned snakes, otherwise things wouldn't have turned out well for him.
Sasuke wasn't the type to go around introducing himself as a time traveler to just anyone. It was mostly because he felt there was no harm in sharing this information with a secluded, mythical creature like the White Snake Sage. In a sense, the White Snake Sage played the role of a transcendent, otherworldly wise figure.
Having lived for countless years, the White Snake Sage had seen it all. Thus, she was only mildly surprised by Sasuke's origins and chose to believe him directly.
"That explains why someone who previously had no connection to Ryuchi Cave was attempting to summon our snakes."
"So, after coming to this era, what are your impressions?"
Sasuke fell silent for a long time before finally speaking:
"It's terrible…"
The White Snake Sage's attitude was ten thousand times better than Madara Uchiha's, so Sasuke inadvertently voiced his true feelings.
"Hehe, because of your recent defeat? Actually, you don't need to take it to heart. I paid some attention to the shinobi world a while ago. The shinobi who defeated you is named Sasuke Sarutobi. He is considered one of the absolute strongest at the apex of the shinobi world. It is only normal for you to lose to him."
Was it really normal? One had to know that Sasuke Sarutobi was renowned for mastering all five nature transformations, yet Sasuke Uchiha had only witnessed the man's Lightning Release from start to finish—and that Lightning Release was used purely for defense, not offense.
Actually, it was normal. There was nothing more normal in the world than a fan being unable to beat their idol. After all, the reason Sasuke Uchiha was named "Sasuke" was precisely because his father, Fugaku, admired the shinobi Sasuke Sarutobi.
"It seems… my strength is lacking."
Evidently, once a person starts speaking the honest truth, it becomes somewhat hard to stop.
"That Uchiha shinobi…"
"What about him?"
"The Uchiha shinobi summoned by Xiao Qi hasn't returned."
Genma and Lan were walking toward the eastern gate of Yinghuo Village. Lan, who had remained silent along the way, suddenly brought up Sasuke's whereabouts to Genma.
"He has his own things to do. I don't place restrictions on him, so he can come and go as he pleases… After all, I have no interest in constantly babysitting a problem child."
To be exact, Sasuke was free to leave, and Genma didn't hold any particular designs on him. In all seriousness, Genma was truly a kind-hearted person—no joke.
"Could there be any trouble?" Lan seemed slightly worried.
Genma thought it over carefully but still concluded that it wouldn't be a major issue. Logically speaking, Konohagakure would still be established normally in the future, so Sasuke wouldn't cause any major disruptions in this era.
"There won't be. With his strength, he might not be able to accomplish anything massive, but as long as he doesn't stubbornly provoke certain specific shinobi, he has more than enough capability to protect himself."
"That's good then."
Whether out of respect for his summoner or a lingering affection for the young man, Lan viewed Sasuke much like one would look at a small animal; she didn't want to see him die a pointless death.
The logic was sound, but when Genma said those words, Sasuke had actually already stubbornly run into trouble several times.
The two quickly arrived at the village entrance, where a few shinobi had already gathered. Leading them was Tokuya, the leader of the Yamanaka clan.
Speaking of Genma's gains from the recent war, the first was emotional validation—the primary catalyst driving Genma's actions was executing his will for vengeance. The second was the spoils of war harvested from the Hagoromo clan. The third was that the Yinghuo Organization had established friendly relations with several shinobi clans, gaining mutual methods of contact.
Right now, the guests they were waiting for were from the Uzumaki clan. Genma had invited them to help Yinghuo Village set up various barrier systems.
Logically speaking, given the mutual wariness between different shinobi clans, a clan or village would never invite another clan to deploy their barriers. Otherwise, wouldn't the former be completely defenseless against the latter?
But Genma wasn't worried about this. The Uzumaki clan was not an expansionist or inherently aggressive clan, and Yinghuo Village simply lacked the capability to set up a complete barrier system on its own.
Under such circumstances, going out as Client A to hire Company B was practically the only choice.
After a short while, six Yinghuo shinobi escorting five Uzumaki shinobi appeared within Genma's line of sight.
"Lady Ruri Uzumaki, and everyone else, thank you for accepting my invitation. Welcome to Yinghuo Village."
As the group arrived before him, Genma immediately greeted them with a welcoming smile.
According to prior information, the shinobi leading the team was named Ruri Uzumaki. She looked to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, and her sealing and barrier techniques were beyond any doubt.
"Lord Genma, it is a pleasure to meet you." Ruri Uzumaki seemed to be in a very good mood.
According to Genma's prior knowledge and stereotypes, the Uzumaki clan should have been a very insular and traditional clan, filled with stern, unsmiling old men. Yet contrary to expectations, they had readily accepted Genma's invitation, and the people sent over were all remarkably enthusiastic. This was quite surprising.
"Please follow me."
Genma led the guests who had traveled from afar into the village.
As they walked, Ruri Uzumaki suddenly leaned in close to Genma, her nose wrinkling slightly as if sniffing the air.
Genma: "..."
What kind of habit is this, lady? Ever heard of personal space? For one shinobi to get this close to another can easily trigger a bloody incident.
"Ahem, I just feel that Lord Genma's chakra is… well, very unique. It gives off a sense of closeness."
What kind of description was that?
Yet, as if to prove she was telling the truth, the several shinobi behind her actually nodded in unison.
Genma's mind raced, and he quickly found a logical explanation. What, do you guys feel the urge to "return to the tree" too?
As everyone knew, the Uzumaki clan possessed a branch lineage of the Otsutsuki bloodline, and the Otsutsuki were intrinsically linked to the God Tree. With so many White Zetsu integrated into his body, Genma was essentially a substitute for the God Tree itself.
"Is… is that so? Not long ago, someone was actually complaining about my chakra."
Genma was a bit overwhelmed. He slightly regretted coming out to personally receive the Uzumaki clan members. Why are you guys, young and old alike, crowding around me? I'm just a smelly White Zetsu clone base, not some magical ginseng baby. There's no need for this, right?
This was terrifying—even more terrifying than facing Madara Uchiha alone. Genma could only hurriedly wrap up the routine reception of these guests, hand the remaining matters over to Tokuya Yamanaka, and make a swift exit.
The sensory abilities of the Uzumaki clan were indeed remarkably sharp, nearly sniffing out Genma's true nature. But what a bizarre situation.
He had already intended to go out and hunt White Zetsu, and to avoid being exposed to the Uzumaki shinobi's perception for too long, Genma felt he should put this plan on the immediate agenda.
Having secured a stable external environment and participated in a large-scale battle, Yinghuo Village now needed to digest the fruits of victory. They wouldn't be taking any external actions anytime soon. Since Genma was free anyway, it was the perfect time to head into the mountains for some hunting.
As for Sasuke Sarutobi's upcoming wedding in the near future, Genma planned to send a high-specification squad to offer congratulations, while he himself would abstain. The word "wedding" gave him a headache, inducing a strange urge to flee for reasons unknown.
His shift toward actively and aggressively targeting the Black and White Zetsu factions wasn't just born out of vengeance. From a practical standpoint, he truly needed to further elevate his strength.
On the other hand, after careful contemplation, he realized that Black Zetsu wasn't actually that terrifying anymore. Or rather, now that he possessed a certain level of power and had witnessed the absolute powerhouses of the shinobi world, Genma had completely achieved his own demystification of Black Zetsu.
The most terrifying aspect of Black Zetsu was simply that you couldn't detect him—but that point didn't apply to Genma at all.
Previously, Genma hadn't wanted to expose himself too much to Black Zetsu's gaze because he feared Black Zetsu would concoct underhanded schemes, drawing in shinobi of Madara Uchiha's caliber and bringing utter destruction upon their side.
But what about now? While establishing a good relationship with Hashirama Senju, Genma had already thoroughly offended Madara Uchiha.
So, what was left to fear about Black Zetsu?
Black Zetsu possessed absolutely no direct combat power. Later on in history, even an ordinary broadsword from a random Mist Village extra could injure him. Didn't Genma have a broadsword of his own?
Perhaps one should worry about Black Zetsu's body-possession and control abilities, but would the current Black Zetsu dare possess Genma? What would happen to his plan to resurrect his dear mother then?
Therefore, to someone who could see him, Black Zetsu was actually quite weak.
In short, Black Zetsu wasn't a powerful foe; he was a soft target. Even if Genma couldn't permanently eliminate him in the end, what tricks could Black Zetsu possibly pull?
Since Genma had grown stronger, the Black and White Zetsu looked like a vulnerable demographic in front of him. That being the case, why should Genma show any courtesy?
As the old saying goes:
"What Heaven offers, if you do not take it, you will suffer for it; when the time comes, if you do not act, you will face disaster."
White Zetsu was exactly a gift from the heavens, serving as Genma's stepping stone to ascend into the ranks of truly elite shinobi. If he didn't make full use of them, wouldn't he be letting down White Zetsu's heartfelt sincerity?
However, before setting out, Genma gathered several shinobi clan heads and other management-level shinobi to hand them an important task.
"The Five-Tier Shinobi System?" Naoyuki Nara pondered the phrase coming out of Genma's mouth, feeling that this leader could always conjure up some new ideas.
"Yes. Specifically, the five ranks of Leader, Jonin, Tokubetsu Jonin, Chunin, and Genin. To better structure teams and assign missions, such a grading system is highly necessary."
Genma wasn't doing this just for fun. With the organization's scale expanding, establishing ninja ranks allowed for better management of the internal shinobi.
A classification similar to Jonin, Chunin, and Genin wasn't Genma's unique invention; certain shinobi clans already used these titles as honorary designations. However, institutionalizing it as a formalized system was likely a first here, courtesy of Genma.
"What is a Tokubetsu Jonin…?"
"A shinobi whose strength exceeds a Chunin and possesses a highly outstanding specialized ability, but whose overall capabilities aren't as well-rounded as a Jonin, can be called a Tokubetsu Jonin."
"Understood. We will formulate an assessment plan as soon as possible."
"Don't rush. The key is to avoid any oversight and ensure the absolute fairness of the evaluation."
"Yes, Lord Genma."
After giving these instructions, Genma left the meeting room, leaving the discussion space to the senior executives.
"Lord Genma…" Naoyuki Nara mused for a moment, selecting a fitting term before continuing, "His ideas are truly unconstrained and brilliant."
"Indeed. Leaving the Leader rank aside for a moment, normally, shouldn't a three-tier system of Jonin, Chunin, and Genin be implemented for a while first, and only after flaws are discovered should a Tokubetsu Jonin rank be added as a supplement?"
"Lord Genma's thinking has always been incredibly meticulous."
"Lord Genma is excellent. It would be even better if he could just stay idle for a while."
Everyone present was intelligent, so they naturally understood the significance of the so-called Five-Tier System. But the problem was… when the boss says a few words, the subordinates run themselves ragged.
Genma seemed to have some form of hyperactivity, never resting for a single moment, so it was inevitable for everyone to complain a bit. But after complaining? They still had to go back to working like beasts of burden.
Having handed the critical task over to his subordinates, the restless Lord Genma was already preparing to head into the mountains to hunt, getting ready to meet Black Zetsu at the next crossroads.
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