Chapter 345: Unpolished Jade

Chapter 345: Chapter 345: Unpolished Jade

Cultivating a force that belonged entirely to him was not something Hyuga Kagami had decided on a whim.

In truth, Kagami had been considering this for quite some time. Especially lately, with one problem coming after another and leaving him overwhelmed and stretched thin, he had increasingly come to feel that cultivating a group of loyal subordinates was absolutely necessary.

After all, the shinobi world was vast. If he had to personally handle every single matter, his own Kekkei Mōra Plan would undoubtedly be severely affected.

Shisui and Itachi were both extremely powerful. In the entire shinobi world, there weren’t many things the two of them couldn’t accomplish if they joined forces.

But ultimately, their first loyalty was to the village.

Although, to a certain extent, they could also be considered Kagami’s subordinates, there were many private matters of his—especially those involving his experiments—that it was inconvenient to involve them in.

What Kagami needed were loyal subordinates who would ask no questions and unconditionally carry out every order he gave.

In this regard, there was quite a lot he could learn from Orochimaru.

While Orochimaru was still alive, whether it was the relatively weaker Sound Four or stronger subordinates like Kabuto and Kimimaro, every one of them had been utterly loyal to him.

Even after the Third Hokage sealed Orochimaru’s arms with the Reaper Death Seal, leaving him unable to perform ninjutsu and drastically weakening his strength, none of his core subordinates, with Kabuto at their head, betrayed him.

It could be said that, aside from his encounters with the Uchiha, Orochimaru rarely suffered any serious setbacks.

By comparison, the awe-inspiring Uchiha Madara was a complete failure in this regard.

Perhaps aside from his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, Madara never had another subordinate who was wholeheartedly loyal to him. Back when he fell out with the First Hokage and angrily chose to leave Konoha, not a single member of the entire Uchiha clan was willing to follow their immensely powerful clan head.

Later, Black Zetsu, whom he had created from what he believed to be his own will; Obito, whom he had manipulated and controlled; and even Nagato, whom he had deliberately chosen as the vessel for his Rinnegan—all of them betrayed him one after another.

As a result, the elaborate arrangements he had made for his resurrection after death became nothing more than a ridiculous joke.

If not for Kabuto, an entirely unexpected figure who resurrected him with the Impure World Reincarnation, Madara, the shinobi who had once stood at the very pinnacle of the Uchiha clan, might never have had another chance to return to the shinobi world.

Orochimaru’s methods of winning people’s loyalty were worth learning from, while Uchiha Madara’s series of baffling decisions were equally worth taking as a warning.

After switching back to his Yin Release true body, Kagami returned to Gaara’s room.

He explained which areas of the aerial fortress were living quarters that Gaara could freely enter and leave, and which areas were forbidden zones that he was absolutely prohibited from setting foot in. Kagami then introduced the Third Kazekage Human Puppet to Gaara, telling him that the puppet served as both the steward and guardian of the aerial fortress and that, under normal circumstances, Gaara was to follow its arrangements.

Naturally, Gaara had no objections whatsoever.

In the young boy’s heart, Hyuga Kagami was unquestionably the strongest person in the entire shinobi world—a figure worthy of spending his whole life looking up to and striving to catch up with.

Because of the Four Symbols Seal, Kagami wasn’t worried about Gaara going berserk anytime soon. So after settling Gaara in, he didn’t linger in the aerial fortress. Instead, he immediately entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode and flew toward Kusagakure.

Kagami was the kind of person who, once he made up his mind, would act immediately without the slightest delay.

Since he had already decided to cultivate his own forces, naturally, the sooner he started, the better. Moreover, five or six years old was precisely the ideal age to begin shinobi training. Even in Konoha, children with the potential to become shinobi generally began entering the Ninja Academy around this age.

Gaara’s personality was also far too withdrawn and gloomy. Finding him a companion would not only help improve his temperament and make him more positive, but would also give him a rival to measure himself against.

Therefore, the person Kagami had chosen this time was none other than Karin, a cheerful girl who possessed the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan.

As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Karin’s talent was beyond question. In the original timeline, not only had she never received any shinobi education tailored to the unique traits of the Uzumaki clan, but she had even suffered considerable abuse during her childhood, growing up in an extremely harsh environment.

Yet despite all of that, relying solely on the innate gifts of her bloodline, she still grew into an exceptionally capable shinobi proficient in sensory abilities, medical ninjutsu, and even sealing techniques.

That alone showed just how extraordinary her talent truly was!

For such a piece of unpolished jade to be scattered across the shinobi world because of war and subjected to endless mistreatment was, in Kagami’s eyes, an enormous waste. That was why he was so eager to uncover this piece of unpolished jade and bring her under his wing.

At the same time, Kagami was also somewhat curious.

Under his guidance, just what kind of brilliance would this piece of unpolished jade named Karin eventually reveal?

Meanwhile, just as Shisui and Kagami’s Shadow Clone returned to Konoha and reported to the Third Hokage that Sunagakure had agreed to participate in the surprise attack, and that the Fourth Kazekage would attend the secret meeting on schedule, Kagami’s true body arrived at Kusagakure.

Kusagakure was actually not small in scale. It was said that there had once been a brief period when the village flourished, but for some unknown reason, it quickly fell into decline again and was reduced to the status of a minor shinobi village.

After disguising himself, Kagami strolled through the streets of Kusagakure

Having only recently left Sunagakure, he was surprised to discover that Kusagakure was actually livelier than Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. The streets bustled with people coming and going, and even the mission center, where commissioned missions were accepted, had quite a few clients.

Driven by curiosity, Kagami stopped by the Kusa shinobi mission center and discovered that their commission rates were noticeably lower than those of the Five Great Shinobi Villages—and considerably cheaper than Konoha’s in particular.

"Can the Kusa shinobi really afford to charge prices this low?"

With that thought in mind, Kagami slowly left the mission center.

Shinobi weren’t machines. They needed rest, and after being injured, they required a considerable amount of time to recover and readjust. So while this kind of price war over commissioned missions might be sustainable for a while, it could never last in the long run.

After all, there was still an obvious gap between the foundations of Kusagakure and those of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

However, this behavior also showed that life wasn’t easy for Kusagakure. They had no choice but to lower their prices in order to compete with the Five Great Shinobi Villages for commissioned missions.

Secretly activating his Byakugan, Kagami surveyed the entire Kusagakure and soon discovered several unusual chakra signatures.

Among them were two chakra signatures with extremely similar characteristics situated close together.

Both possessed the immense volume and vigorous vitality characteristic of the Uzumaki clan’s chakra. However, one of them seemed abnormal, as though it were faintly teetering on the verge of complete decline.

Following the direction of those chakra signatures, Kagami soon arrived outside a dilapidated little house.

Before Kagami could even enter the little house, a bandaged shinobi dressed as a Kusa ninja walked out.

As he left, he muttered curses under his breath.

"The effect’s getting worse and worse. I bit her so many times, and my injuries still haven’t healed. What a useless piece of trash!"