Chapter 98: Pure

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Pure

Outside Konoha Village.

Uchiha Shinichi took the lunchbox and began wolfing down the food. With his mouth full, he mumbled, "Didn’t I already tell you? You don’t need to bring me food. I brought Military Ration Pills with me."

The girl beside him smiled.

"Eating Military Ration Pills all the time isn’t good for you."

The girl looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old. She had short hair and wore ninja attire bearing the Uchiha clan crest. She clearly wasn’t some ordinary, delicate girl, but a proper ninja in her own right.

Shinichi was too busy eating to answer and merely shook his head. Only after swallowing the rice ball in his mouth did he say, "It’s not safe outside the village. Don’t come here again."

The girl’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

"Shinichi, there are training grounds in the clan compound. Why do you insist on coming outside the village to train?"

Shinichi gave a cold snort.

"I don’t want to train with them."

The "them" Shinichi was referring to were none other than the clansmen who had mocked him for losing to Hyuga Kagami.

In the eyes of his fellow clansmen, Uchiha Shinichi, who hadn’t even managed to withstand a single move from Hyuga Kagami, had utterly disgraced the Uchiha clan.

So when they mocked Shinichi, they did so without the slightest restraint.

The girl puffed out her cheeks angrily.

"When I get back today, I’m going straight to the clan head. I’ll have him teach those guys a lesson!"

Feeling as though his pride had been trampled on, Uchiha Shinichi suddenly flew into a rage.

"Yui, stay out of my business!"

The girl named Yui looked somewhat hurt. She snatched the bowl and chopsticks from Shinichi’s hands and replied petulantly, "Fine! I won’t!"

In the distance.

The masked man sat on a tree branch, watching Uchiha Shinichi and Uchiha Yui from afar.

At that moment, Zetsu’s body slowly emerged from the tree trunk.

"I’ve already made all the preparations you asked for."

The masked man said coldly, "Then begin."

Zetsu also looked toward Uchiha Shinichi, a strange expression crossing his face.

"Do you really think this method will work?"

The masked man shot Zetsu a cold glance.

"What do you think?"

Zetsu gave an awkward chuckle.

"Maybe."

Back on Uchiha Shinichi’s side.

After placing the bowl and chopsticks into the bamboo basket, Uchiha Yui completely ignored Shinichi and started walking back toward the village with the basket in hand.

Uchiha Shinichi opened his mouth, originally intending to tell her, ’Be careful on the way back.’

But his pride wouldn’t let him say it.

In the end, he could only lower his head and let out a quiet sigh.

After leaving the training ground Uchiha Shinichi had carved out for himself, Uchiha Yui continued sulking as she walked, all the while thinking about how she would complain to the clan head and have him teach those clansmen who had been bullying Shinichi a lesson.

Clatter...

Just then, Uchiha Yui’s body suddenly stiffened.

She stopped dead in her tracks, and the bamboo basket slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a soft clatter.

As a ninja of the Uchiha clan who had already awakened the Sharingan, Yui naturally understood that she had been attacked.

Knowing that Uchiha Shinichi was nearby, she hurriedly tried to shout for help. But when she opened her mouth, she discovered that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t force even the slightest sound from her throat!

"How can this be!?"

Uchiha Yui immediately began to panic.

Then, she felt something attaching itself to her body, gradually taking control of her limbs.

In the bushes.

The Root ninja responsible for monitoring Uchiha Shinichi also noticed something strange about Uchiha Yui.

His brows furrowed slightly.

"What’s wrong with her?"

But before the Root ninja could take a closer look, the previously frozen Uchiha Yui suddenly moved—

and lunged straight toward him!

Because of his predecessor’s mysterious disappearance, the Root ninja who had taken over the task of monitoring Uchiha Shinichi remained constantly vigilant, determined not to meet the same fate.

So when Uchiha Yui lunged toward him, he didn’t panic in the slightest.

He immediately drew a kunai and charged forward to meet her, shouting sternly,

"Are you trying to betray Konoha?!"

Uchiha Yui’s eyes were filled with panic, yet her movements were crisp and precise. In an instant, she hurled more than a dozen shuriken at the Root ninja.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After knocking aside each of Yui’s shuriken with his kunai, the confusion in the Root ninja’s heart only deepened.

As a ninja of Root, he had heard of all manner of strange and unusual ninjutsu. So when he noticed the panic in Uchiha Yui’s eyes, he immediately realized that something wasn’t right.

He called out,

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Tears were already streaming down Uchiha Yui’s face.

But she couldn’t speak, and her body was completely beyond her control. There was no way for her to explain what was happening.

She could only move like a puppet, launching one vicious attack after another at the Root ninja.

After briefly weighing his options, the Root ninja decided to retreat for the time being.

After all, the situation before him was simply too bizarre. He had no idea how he should deal with it, and more importantly, he suspected that an enemy was hiding somewhere in the shadows, manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

But just as he was about to withdraw—

his body suddenly froze as well.

He couldn’t move!

"What!?"

The instant he lost control of his body, a storm of shock and horror erupted in the Root ninja’s heart.

At that moment, Uchiha Yui had already lunged toward him—

her body slamming straight into the kunai clenched tightly in his hand!

Puchi...

The kunai pierced her chest, and blood immediately sprayed from Uchiha Yui’s body.

Having heard the commotion, Uchiha Shinichi rushed over just in time to witness the scene before him.

His face flushed crimson with rage as he roared,

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The moment Uchiha Yui was stabbed, the Root ninja discovered that he had regained control of his body.

His heart sank.

He immediately realized that he had fallen into a trap.

Rather than waste time trying to explain himself to the furious Uchiha Shinichi, he turned around and sprinted toward the village at full speed.

Uchiha Shinichi, meanwhile, stumbled toward Uchiha Yui and dropped beside her, pulling her into his arms.

"Yui! Are you okay?!"

Already on the verge of death, Uchiha Yui summoned the last of her strength and slowly reached toward Shinichi’s cheek.

In an incredibly weak voice, she whispered,

"Shinichi... be careful..."

Before she could finish speaking, Uchiha Yui’s hand fell limply to the ground.

"No! No! NO!"

Uchiha Shinichi desperately pressed his hands against Yui’s wound while screaming himself hoarse.

Having completely lost all reason, he failed to notice—

the three tomoe within his Sharingan were spinning faster and faster...

In the distance.

Zetsu asked curiously, "How did you know he had the potential? His strength isn’t exactly among the best in the Uchiha clan, is it?"

The masked man fell silent for a long while before answering,

"It has nothing to do with strength. The purer an Uchiha’s heart is, the greater their potential to awaken those eyes—whether it is pure good... or pure evil..."

As he spoke, the masked man gradually sank into his memories.

He himself no longer knew whether he should be considered someone of pure good...

or pure evil.

Zetsu’s gaze shifted slightly.

He didn’t seem to agree with the masked man’s words...