Recruitment threshold raised. No rewards will be granted for recruiting individuals with low potential.
Reward optimization. You can now choose to change existing talent traits.
Dream Simulator upgraded. Environmental simulation feature added.
It also supports multi-person combat simulations. Yes, exactly what you're thinking—Kawasaki alone against a group. But environmental or multiplayer simulations could only be run once per day.
The talent cultivation task was quite interesting. There was a selection box where he could drop in the portrait of a person he wanted to train. For his own Uchiha clan, success was defined as surpassing their limits. For outsiders, success meant doubling their original strength. Each successful cultivation granted one chance to designate a specific trait.
It took Kawasaki a while to figure it all out. First, he had to rule out Naruto. In the original timeline, Naruto had already reached the level of the Sage of Six Paths. How could he possibly double that strength?
As for his own bloodline breaking through their limits… didn't that just mean awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan? This felt like he was back where he started. Was the system trying to force him to initiate the Rumbling?
Kawasaki's interest was piqued, and his imagination ran wild. He decided to find someone who was laughably weak in his past life. Doubling their strength would be a piece of cake. So, what was this box for? Did he just drag and drop?
Kawasaki widened his eyes and searched the list for a long time, finally concluding that the ninja from the Hidden Sound Village were the most suitable candidates. He decided to pick Kidomaru. Kawasaki dragged Kidomaru's portrait into the box.
[Ding… This individual does not possess cultivation value.]
So, it was a tool for detecting whether someone was worth training?
Kawasaki tried tossing in some of the elite Uchiha in their twenties who had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The feedback for most was that they possessed cultivation value. It seemed having a bloodline and not having one were two completely different matters. There were far too few people without a Kekkei Genkai who had exceptional talent.
As for those nameless followers of Orochimaru from the Hidden Sound, dragging them into the box revealed that none of them had any cultivation value. It made sense. If they had value, they wouldn't have remained unknown.
Individuals with value would also display a recommended cultivation path and other specific information. For instance, for Uchiha Katsura, the one in the Hidden Sound Village, the recommended path was genjutsu. However, the people Kawasaki had brought back were all geniuses who just never had the chance to shine in their previous lives. After all, they had either died young or been marginalized. Kimimaro and Haku had both met their end far too early.
Besides his current subordinates, Kawasaki remembered a few other talented individuals in the ninja world. But going through the trouble of recruiting someone only to find their talents were of little help to him would be a waste. Among the Sound Four, two were practically useless. Besides, he could already make a good guess as to what kind of talents a person could provide. But now that he could exchange talents, he could at least try to recruit promising individuals he encountered in the future.
The faction template upgrade allowed him to directly view the status of his own people. Kawasaki was too lazy to scroll through the template, especially since he became the clan head. With too many people, all the Uchiha clan members had been included. Fortunately, he could sort and search for individuals. Otherwise, with over a thousand names, his eyes would have glazed over.
Previously, the Kotoamatsukami on Orochimaru had failed, causing his loyalty to drop. It was only after a great deal of persuasion from Kawasaki that he had agreed to return. He had promised to come back soon, but there was still no sign of him.
Kawasaki took a look and saw that Orochimaru's portrait had turned red. The status bar read: Soul and body are rejecting each other.
Kawasaki sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. He had forgotten. After his last reincarnation, Orochimaru had decided to improve his Living Corpse Reincarnation technique based on the research topics Kawasaki had left him, aiming to create the perfect vessel. Did this mean his current body was reaching its limit?
Doing a quick mental calculation, he realized the time was about right. In fact, Orochimaru must have used some method to extend the use of this body. Why hadn't Kabuto mentioned something so important?
The new mission was a bit of a stretch. The criterion for becoming the strongest faction was to suppress the Five Great Nations, which wasn't something he could hope to achieve in the short term. Still, establishing his own nation was only a matter of time.
After familiarizing himself with the system, Kawasaki's shadow clone dispelled, feeding its information back to him. He sorted through his thoughts and stepped outside. The Uchiha, who had been celebrating all day, were gradually dispersing. Some went home, while others stayed to clean up the venue. The guests Kawasaki had invited came one by one to bid him farewell. They had already obtained the intelligence they needed.
But Kawasaki didn't let them leave. Instead, he invited them to a private meeting room, saying he had more to discuss. First up was the Hidden Sand. They had basically reached an agreement last time, but now that Kawasaki wanted to train new Uchiha, a new idea popped into his head.
Only Yashamaru was in the guest room. As the one in charge, his presence was what mattered; the other two were juniors just there to make up the numbers.
"We Uchiha are planning to form an elite squad to accept any mission from any ninja village."
Yashamaru was stunned. The Uchiha were not short on funds, so why were they getting into such a deadly trade? Although ninja villages typically accepted missions based on payment regardless of their nature, they still refused tasks that involved aiding enemies or targeting their own village. Taking private jobs was a risky business; if discovered by one's own village, the consequences could range from a simple reprimand to being labeled a rogue ninja if the village's interests were harmed.
Individuals or groups that accepted any and all work were usually involved in dirty business, which was why most of them were rogue ninja. Of course, such an organization already existed in the ninja world: the Akatsuki. However, the Akatsuki had yet to reveal its true power and surface publicly. Or rather, anyone who had witnessed their strength was either recruited or dead. There were also some bounty hunter organizations, but Yashamaru couldn't understand why the Uchiha would venture into this line of work.
Kawasaki smiled. "Danzo has escaped prison. We must be proactive."
His words were ambiguous, sending Yashamaru's mind racing. It seemed Konoha's attempt to win over the Uchiha had failed. Did the Uchiha have their own plans now?
"I have a piece of intelligence and a proposal for cooperation here." Kawasaki took out a letter and handed it to Yashamaru. "Take this back to Rasa and see if he's interested. If he wants to cooperate, just send me a reply."
Yashamaru nodded. Since it was written in a letter, it was clearly not for his eyes. He carefully tucked it away for safekeeping before taking his leave.
Kawasaki had been busy picking up Kabuto earlier and hadn't had time for the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone delegations. The venue had been chaotic, so the formal meetings were scheduled for today. Kawasaki met with the Cloud delegation first.
Logically, the relationship between the Cloud and the Uchiha wasn't great. Kawasaki had single-handedly thwarted the Cloud's plans back then, not only killing their pawn but also sending Killer Bee back in disgrace. But from a political standpoint, there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Moreover, Kawasaki had defeated Killer Bee in a fair fight. For the Hidden Cloud, a village that revered martial prowess and believed might makes right, their hatred for Kawasaki wasn't that deep. As long as the Uchiha could offer sufficient benefits, the Cloud wouldn't mind mending their relationship.
Within the Uchiha territory's guest room, Kawasaki entered to find only Samui. Her two squadmates were somewhat unreliable, so she hadn't brought them along. Kawasaki nodded at her before taking the host's seat. This woman was deeply trusted by the Fourth Raikage, A, making her another one of his confidants besides Mabui.
Samui was also a renowned beauty. Kawasaki looked her up and down. She was tall and curvaceous, with a slender figure and delicate features. Her straight, shoulder-length, pale-blond hair was cut in a neat, clean style. She wore a low-cut, light gray outfit with mesh armor underneath, paired with a black skirt, giving her a captivating allure.
Kawasaki was a little puzzled. Weren't people from the Land of Lightning usually dark-skinned? Was this fair-skinned, blond beauty a result of some unique bloodline? He openly admired her for a few moments before retracting his gaze. A fleeting glance was enough to appreciate beautiful people and things.
Samui noticed his gaze, but seeing him look away so quickly, she didn't feel offended.
"Our Uchiha clan plans to form an elite squad that will accept missions from any village," Kawasaki said, repeating the same line he had used with the Sand. Although Samui didn't understand his endgame, she decided to hear him out.
"I also have a piece of intelligence I'd like to sell to the Hidden Cloud," Kawasaki continued. "I can guarantee its authenticity on the Uchiha's name, but you'll have to pay for it."
"Oh?" Samui's interest was piqued. "How much?"
Kawasaki smiled. "I can tell you the intel first. You decide what it's worth. If I agree with your price, you can take it back with you. If we can't reach a deal, I'll just place a small curse on you to ensure you can't leak it."
Samui considered this. Although she didn't know what information he possessed, his posture suggested it was definitely useful to the Cloud. "Fine, I agree," she replied.
Kawasaki nodded. "The Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure, in the Land of Water, is dead. Along with him, the Three-Tails, Isobu, has also perished." He paused, calculating the timeline. "And… Utakata of the Six-Tails has fled."
Samui's eyes narrowed sharply, but she managed to maintain her composure.
"Most of the powerful clans in the Hidden Mist were purged by the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi. The current Hidden Mist is incredibly weak." Kawasaki's voice was like the devil's whisper, dripping with temptation. He returned to his normal volume. "How much do you think this intelligence is worth?"
Samui asked calmly, "Can you guarantee its authenticity?"
"Of course." Kawasaki then let out a soft laugh. "The Uchiha's development has hit a bottleneck. We need more territory."
His words couldn't have been more blunt. Samui connected the dots and looked at Kawasaki with utter disbelief. The Uchiha's new clan head was actually targeting the Hidden Mist! He even wanted to cooperate with them to attack it. What elite squad? This was clearly the Uchiha's expeditionary force!
The Hidden Cloud had always been the most proficient at warfare; even their Daimyo resided within the village. The blood of warriors flowed through the veins of every ninja and civilian alike. Samui instantly grasped the new clan head's intentions. She had always thought of the Uchiha as just a powerful clan rooted in Konoha. She never imagined that Uchiha Kawasaki's ambitions were so vast.
The Uchiha might be small in number, but they were not short on powerful individuals. Killer Bee was once able to spar with the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, yet he was defeated by Kawasaki in a single move years ago. The former clan head, Fugaku, and his son, Itachi, were both Mangekyo Sharingan users. The Uchiha might even have other hidden Mangekyo users, like Shisui perhaps…
It would be a waste for so many Mangekyo users to sit idle at home. It was only natural for Kawasaki to have such ambitions.
Kawasaki propped his chin on his hand, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. "Samui, how much do you think this information is worth?" The soft tapping sound put immense pressure on her.
Gazing at the smiling Uchiha Kawasaki, Samui felt like she was truly seeing this new clan head for the first time. She forced herself to remain calm. "Lord Kawasaki, please name your price. The Hidden Cloud will not haggle."
Kawasaki raised an eyebrow, surprised by her decisiveness. He held up a single finger.
Samui frowned. "Ten million ryo?"
Kawasaki shook his head.
"One hundred million?" Kawasaki shook his head again but didn't let her continue guessing. "Neither. Just one hundred ryo."
Samui immediately understood his meaning. "I understand, Lord Kawasaki. Here is your one hundred ryo." She took some change she had received from a purchase in Konoha and placed it on the table.
Kawasaki tapped the coin. "Send my regards to A and Killer Bee. I will await your reply."
Samui bowed and left. After she exited, Omoi and Karui rushed over.
"Samui, what was that about?" Karui asked impatiently.
Omoi muttered beside her, looking worried. "It's over, it's over. Are the Uchiha going to war with Konoha? Who should we side with? Are we going to die on the battlefield?"
Normally, Samui might have scolded Omoi, but right now, she had no time for it. Her expression was grave. "This is a matter of great importance. I can't tell you. We're returning to the village immediately. I must report to the Raikage."
Their expressions changed drastically. If even the ever-calm Samui said the situation was serious, then it was truly no joke. Omoi broke into a cold sweat as a thought crossed his mind.
Samui waved her hand dismissively. "Let's go!"
Kawasaki flicked the coin on the table into the air and caught it. Tails. It was time for the Uchiha to play the villain. Was he really going to attack the Hidden Mist? Of course not. While it was true that the Uchiha's development had hit a bottleneck, military conquest wasn't the only way to expand territory. There were other methods, and Kawasaki was already prepared.
People easily limit themselves. Kawasaki had only given them a few ambiguous pieces of information, and the Cloud had already concluded that the Uchiha were planning to expand. From their perspective, with so many powerful ninja, starting a war was a simple matter. Annihilating a ninja village would be easy. In fact, it wasn't surprising that the Cloud thought this way. They were always the most active participants in every Great Ninja War.
In the original timeline, the Cloud didn't attack the Mist because they had just signed a truce with Konoha and had been preoccupied with the Hinata kidnapping incident. The Mist was an isolated nation, so the Cloud was unaware that Yagura had killed himself and Isobu had died with him. Yagura was widely acknowledged as a perfect Jinchuriki, his combat prowess on the battlefield undisputed. The outside world was also oblivious to Utakata's escape, believing the Mist still had two Jinchuriki.
The Cloud had its own Jinchuriki, but its attention was focused entirely on Konoha. Having just ended a war with them, the Cloud feared retaliation. By the time the Mist recovered some of its strength under Mei Terumi's leadership and news of Yagura's death spread, the Akatsuki was already on the move. The Cloud's Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, had been captured, and Killer Bee was also a target, leaving them unable to spare the resources for an invasion.
In this lifetime, although Konoha was stronger, its deterrent power had weakened. The conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha was known throughout almost the entire ninja world. Konoha had to guard against internal strife from the Uchiha, preventing it from launching large-scale attacks or providing aid to other villages.
From Samui's reaction, Kawasaki could see that his earlier concerns were likely to come true. Faced with this opportunity, the Cloud would definitely make a move on the Mist. Rather than letting them plot in the shadows, Kawasaki decided to give them a push, making them believe the Uchiha were also planning to expand. With their high-level combatants, the Cloud could easily conquer the Land of Water. Whether they would share the spoils with the Uchiha afterward was another question entirely.
But the Uchiha wouldn't play by the Cloud's rules. Instead, they might just give the Mist a helping hand. As for how, and how to profit from it, that brought to mind an organization that specialized in just that kind of work: the Akatsuki. The Hidden Cloud was currently the strongest power. Only a heavy blow would force them to curb their aggressive ambitions.
Next, Kawasaki went to meet the delegation from the Hidden Stone. They had sent a sizable group this time. Besides the representatives, Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi, they brought fifteen bodyguards. After all, the true power of the Stone's Earth Style techniques was most evident with numbers. Rapidly altering the terrain was a simple task for them.
Only Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi entered the meeting room. Kitsuchi was over two meters tall, with a large nose, a full beard, and a build as thick as a wall. He was exceptionally muscular. Kurotsuchi was still young, not yet the woman who would wear a high-slit cheongsam to show off her long legs years later. For now, she wore shorts with fishnet stockings. Kawasaki could only say it was far too conservative. Both were direct descendants of Onoki, so it was logical for them to come together.
Kawasaki repeated what he had told the Sand delegation and then produced a letter. "Please deliver this to Lord Onoki. It contains a proposal for cooperation. If he is interested, please have him contact me."