Escape from Konoha.

Tsunade, who was organizing lesson plans in her office, heard footsteps beside her and knew without guessing who it was.

"Hey kid, you're a little late today... What's wrong with your complexion? You look terrible."

Tsunade turned her head and was startled to see Shiraishi's pale face and how weak he looked. She quickly asked him what had happened.

"I got an upset stomach from eating something yesterday."

Shiraishi made up such a story without even blinking.

“You don’t look like this when you have an upset stomach.” Tsunade sighed, walked over and patted Shiraishi on the shoulder, and said earnestly, “I can understand if young men and women living under the same roof might have some minor mishaps, after all, you are both teenagers. But you are a medical ninja, you should know that even a ninja’s body has its limits, so please exercise some restraint.”

"..."

"By the way, did you take any precautions? Don't get that young girl pregnant before you're married."

Tsunade leaned close to Shiraishi's ear and whispered to him, as if afraid that someone might be eavesdropping.

But Shiraishi clearly saw the mischief in Tsunade's eyes.

"Don't worry, Tsunade-sensei, I've always been in good health."

"So, you still did it after all?"

"...I will report such rumors to the Hokage."

"You really have absolutely no sense of humor."

"I do not understand humor, but that has nothing to do with humor."

Seeing Shiraishi's weak and dejected appearance, Tsunade immediately felt bored.

"But are you really alright like this? Would you like to rest here for a bit?"

To be honest, Shiraishi's current state is quite worrying; I wonder if he might suddenly collapse on the ground while working.

"Thank you for your concern, but it's not a big problem. I'll go to the classroom in a little while."

Shiraishi thought about it and also felt that Tsunade's concerns were very necessary. The Sharingan he encountered after using the Spirit Transformation Technique yesterday still made him feel lingering fear. The aftereffects of being hit by the genjutsu had caused him to feel weak since this morning.

"Then you should rest here and don't push yourself too hard."

Tsunade didn't ask Shiraishi what he had done yesterday to cause this situation. Everyone has secrets they don't want to share with others, including herself.

After watching Tsunade leave, he was left alone in the office.

Because of physical weakness, Shiraishi lay down on the chair, closed his eyes, and cleared his mind.

About half an hour later, feeling much more comfortable than when I first arrived, I slowly stood up from my seat and walked towards the experimental class for training medical ninjas.

After class in the experimental class ended, Shiraishi greeted Tsunade and headed out of the ninja academy. There, at the school gate, he saw Ruri waiting for him.

Wearing that black, tight-fitting ninja outfit that showed off her beautiful figure, Shiraishi stood there pleasing to the eye, and could be recognized at a glance.

"Liuli, what brings you here?"

Shiraishi walked over and asked, somewhat puzzled.

I just stopped by to take a look.

Liuli glanced at Baishi's slightly pale face, her tone remaining largely unchanged.

"That must be a long detour. But are you leaving get off work this early today?"

"I found someone else to cover my shift."

As she spoke, Liuli took out a thermos and tossed it to Baishi.

Shiraishi caught the thermos, unscrewed the lid, and as expected, it contained clean, drinkable hot water.

"Thanks, I was feeling a bit thirsty."

"Don't overthink it, it was just brought out of the guard unit without our notice."

Upon hearing Ruri's explanation, Shiraishi simply smiled understandingly.

After taking a sip of hot water, he asked Liuli:

"Shall we go back together now?"

He knew that Ruri was waiting for him at the entrance of the ninja academy because she was concerned for his safety, and he felt a surge of indescribable warmth in his heart.

However, it would probably be difficult for Liuli to directly express her concern for him.

Sometimes she isn't very frank either.

If it were Ayane, she would probably be serious and pretend to be innocent while saying some unexpected flirtatious things.

"Ah."

Liuli did not object.

She was indeed worried about Shiraishi's safety, because Shiraishi's mental state was certainly not good at the moment.

Even in villages, safety is not always absolute.

She had been waiting here since Shiraishi arrived at the ninja academy two hours earlier.

Walking along the road with Shiraishi, Ruri suddenly remembered something and whispered:

"By the way, I went to the security team during the day to check and went through the information of every clansman again, but no matter what I did, I couldn't find a clansman who has stronger Sharingan power than me, as you said."

This statement is not just Ruri being complacent; her understanding of the Sharingan does indeed surpass that of most Uchiha clan members.

Even disregarding the Sharingan, her taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu are all top-notch, especially her taijutsu and ninjutsu, while her genjutsu is slightly weaker.

Even after thoroughly investigating the intelligence of the security forces, Ruri had no clue how to find the Sharingan user who was far superior to her.

"If you can't find it, there's no need to force it. I think the mastermind behind it might not be hiding in the village."

Shiraishi shared his opinion.

"Not in the village?"

Ruri didn't quite understand what Shiraishi meant by that.

What do you think of Sakumo-sensei's abilities?

Bai Shi didn't answer but asked a question instead.

"Above me."

"What are the specific differences?"

"If we fight to the death, I will most likely die, and Professor Sakumo will be seriously injured."

Liuli was not being modest when she said that.

Rather, it's because her strength has already reached this level.

Sakumo's strength lies entirely in his swordsmanship, along with his incredibly fast body-flickering technique, which, combined with his exquisite swordsmanship, makes him invincible.

However, as a result, Sakumo, who specializes in swordsmanship, lacks many means of fighting enemies.

Ruri might be the type that Sakumo finds most difficult to deal with.

His ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu are flawless; he is a perfect all-around ninja.

With her taijutsu and the three-tomoe Sharingan, she was able to keep up with Sakumo's speed and reflexes, but due to the enhancement of her swordsmanship, Ruri felt that she would be at a disadvantage in close combat.

However, she also possesses advantages that Sakumo lacks: wide-range fire jutsu and mysterious illusion techniques, which can also be used to restrict Sakumo's movements.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi nodded and shared his opinion:

"The chakra displayed by that Sharingan, and the immense pressure it exerted on me, are even greater than those of Sakumo-sensei. Moreover, this is only a contest of Sharingan power; he has already far surpassed you. In other aspects, he is probably no weaker than you."

"Is that so? There are indeed no such experts in the current Uchiha clan, but isn't it a bit hasty to conclude that this person is not in Konoha?"

"Then think about it from another angle. If there really were such a master among the Uchiha clan in the village, our secret would probably have been exposed long ago. We wouldn't be so indifferent now. After all, the other side has subordinates with strong infiltration capabilities, so our secret simply cannot be hidden."

"..."

Liuli frowned.

"Since that white creature can be sensed by natural energy, it means that they weren't monitoring us before I researched natural energy. Our first contact was unintentionally detected by Akatsuki. Immediately afterwards, this strange white creature came to Konoha and infiltrated the Uchiha clan's territory… The mastermind behind this is targeting Konoha, perhaps to monitor the Uchiha clan; this operation has only recently begun. As for Akatsuki…"

It was about a month or so ago that he sent the insect-man and his group to contact Akatsuki.

Shiraishi had no idea when the mastermind behind the scenes started sending people to monitor Akatsuki.

But that's enough to determine.

An Uchiha ninja who is not in Konoha.

Related to the Tailed Beasts and Wood Release, the Sharingan's eye power surpasses even that of glass; it dispatches subordinates to infiltrate the Uchiha clan's territory to collect [something].

These are all key pieces of information for interpreting accurate intelligence.

Liuli clearly understood this as well.

Even with so much crucial information, Ruri still found it difficult to determine which Uchiha ninja was the mastermind behind it all.

"Speaking of which, have any Uchiha ninjas defected or left Konoha in the past?"

"In the last thirty years or so, only Uchiha Madara has done this."

Liuli gave this answer that seemed like something out of a fairy tale.

"That answer is utter nonsense. Madara Uchiha died at the hands of the First Hokage after the battle at the Valley of the End. This is common knowledge..."

Shiraishi forced a smile and shook his head.

But only he himself knows what he is really thinking.

After all, it's not like there's no such probability, is it?

Wood Release, Tailed Beast, Sharingan.

This is either a ninjutsu that Madara Uchiha used in the past, or something he controlled, or a power that Madara himself possessed.

Haven't all the conditions been met?

Seeing that Ruri was also deep in thought, she was probably also wondering whether the ancestor of the Uchiha clan was really dead.

Shiraishi reopened the thermos, took a sip of hot water, and smiled, "Alright, don't look so gloomy. Whether the other person is dead or alive, as long as we don't get involved with him, that's fine. You said it yourself, instead of guessing about such useless things, shouldn't we put all our time and energy into strengthening ourselves?"

"No, I was thinking, if he really were still alive... I would love to witness that legendary power that could split the heavens and the earth."

Liuli clenched her fist.