I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

"Ye Lan's summoned beast is quite extraordinary; you can inquire about it with Longdi Cave."

Even with Black Zetsu's knowledge, his explanation was somewhat vague, telling him that the only way to understand was to start with the three holy lands.

Orochimaru was somewhat displeased. His relationship with Ryuchi Cave was on the verge of collapse because, due to Manda's death, he could only summon some insignificant giant snakes at the moment.

If you want to get some detailed information, you'll definitely have to pay a considerable price.

The White Snake Immortal is not some kind of virtuous person.

After a moment of silence, Orochimaru spoke again.

"However, I have some information that you should be quite interested in."

"Those who remained in Konoha told me that on the day Ye Lan left, she took all of Danzo's Sharingan, including Uchiha Shisui's eyes."

This information took Orochimaru a lot of effort to gather, and some people might think that Ye Lan simply didn't want his clan's eyes to be humiliated.

However, after Orochimaru learned about the side effects of the Sharingan, he felt that it might not be just that.

Sure enough, a slight ripple appeared in Obito's exposed eyes.

Damn it, I should have realized this sooner. If Ye Lan could resurrect Shisui using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, then Shisui would definitely tell him the whereabouts of his eyes. If Ye Lan obtained Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan...

Obito was extremely relieved that he hadn't attacked Sasuke, otherwise he might have been relentlessly pursued by Ye Lan.

Orochimaru had already noticed the change in the other party's eyes; there was indeed a secret of the Uchiha clan involved.

Orochimaru didn't ask any further questions, but pretended not to see them and continued, "What also interests me is that Ye Lan, who joined Akatsuki, seems to have some other ideas."

"No matter how strong he is, he's trapped in his clan. What kind of character can someone who keeps talking about the Uchiha clan have?"

Obito's tone was slightly disdainful. In his eyes, Ye Lan was just a fanatical Uchiha clansman who had strength but only thought about revenge. No matter how strong he was, he would look down on him.

Orochimaru smiled without saying a word. His purpose was only to study how to achieve immortality, and he didn't care about such things. His cooperation with Obito was only to explore the secrets of the Sharingan.

Both of them were aware of this, and the day they were no longer useful to each other would be the day they turned against each other.

...

Konoha, Hokage's office.

Tsunade bit her lip, looking at the mission report Asuma had given her with a worried expression.

"Sasuke is now teamed up with Kisame Hoshigaki, you didn't read that wrong, did you?"

"How could that be? Although we didn't fight, we did talk about it."

Asuma muttered to himself, "Logically, when you encounter a rogue ninja, you should go all out to take him down, but instead he's talking to him."

"Moreover, he said himself that he had killed Uchiha Itachi."

Tsunade put down the report, a hint of confusion in her eyes. Sasuke had grown to this point; he wasn't just ahead of his peers, he had surpassed most of the ninjas in Konoha. Had she really done the right thing back then?

However, as the most famous female ninja in the ninja world, Tsunade quickly rallied, the confusion in her eyes vanished, and she regained her serious expression.

"What is Sasuke and Kisame's purpose in going to the Land of Iron? Is there news of the Tailed Beasts there?"

Tsunade knew more about the inside story than these ninjas. The Jinchuriki of each village were not well-liked, and it was quite possible that some Jinchuriki had run away to other countries.

They might have received a tip and were looking for lone Jinchūriki.

"No, they didn't do anything. I even saw them once before they left. Nothing happened during my time in the Land of Iron..."

"Are you suggesting they went to the Land of Iron just for tourism?"

Tsunade said irritably, "When did the Akatsuki become so idle? It would be understandable if they were carrying out some bounty missions, but nothing has happened."

"But that's the truth. I even went to inquire about it during my free time in the Land of Iron, and nothing really happened!"

Asuma was covered in sweat. No one had done anything, so he couldn't very well force the other person to kill. Perhaps, as Tsunade had said, they were just out for a vacation to relax.

Just like Tsunade let Shikamaru out.

"Something's not going well. There must be something we don't know. Let's leave this to Jiraiya to investigate."

Tsunade couldn't figure it out either, so she simply left it all to Jiraiya, since investigating Akatsuki was his job anyway.

"What about Shikamaru? Has his condition improved?"

The main purpose of this mission was to help Shikamaru open his heart. Meeting Sasuke was just an accident. Upon hearing that she hadn't fought Sasuke, Tsunade didn't intend to blame him and simply ignored the matter.

Asuma stroked his beard, looked up thoughtfully, and said somewhat uncertainly.

"Shikamaru should be fine now. He seems to be training hard at home. When he came back, he told me he wanted to become a Jonin."

Chapter 158 Shikamaru's Day (Part 1)

"Is the kid already done for?"

Lu Jiu looked at his son, who was lying on the ground, and teased him.

Something happened during this mission, and as soon as Shikamaru returned, he asked his father to train him.

As the Jonin class leader, Shikaku not only possesses outstanding intelligence but also formidable strength, easily outmaneuvering Shikamaru.

"I really don't know how you have the nerve to say such a thing. Do you feel a sense of accomplishment for beating me?"

Shikamaru struggled to his feet, and the bruises on his body made him gasp.

"I wouldn't say I felt a sense of accomplishment, it just made me feel better."

Shikaku wasn't embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he seemed proud of it, as if he were doing something enjoyable.

"What a disgusting and perverse sense of humor!"

As he spoke, Shikamaru threw out a kunai, as if in a final struggle.

Shikaku turned slightly to the side, glancing out of the corner of his eye, and saw that there was an explosive tag attached to the back of the kunai.

"Kid, are you trying to kill your old man?"

This kind of thing certainly wouldn't harm Shikaku, but Shikamaru's decisiveness surprised him. Explosive tags are different from kunai; they are controlled items and cannot be used lightly outside of missions.

A cloud of smoke covered the area, and Shikamaru, enduring the pain, moved quickly.

He found a place that was neither too far nor too close to Lu Jiu, and directly formed a Zi-character seal.

Shadow Imitation Technique Activated

Shikamaru's shadow moved swiftly towards the smoke, attempting to capture Shikaku's body. If he succeeded, he would win the match.

"Kid, you're still too green to think you can use Shadow Imitation Technique against me."

Shikaku's lazy voice sounded from behind Shikamaru, and he had somehow appeared behind Shikamaru.

Shikamaru, who was using ninjutsu, showed no panic whatsoever; instead, he revealed a confident smile.

With a bang, Shikamaru, who had used the Shadow Imitation Technique, turned into smoke.

Was the Shadow Clone Technique prepared from the very beginning?

Shikaku quickly looked around, trying to find Shikamaru's whereabouts.

"Successful."

Seizing this only opportunity, Shikamaru leaped out from the hidden tree the instant the shadow clone dissipated.

Under the blinding sun, their shadows were about to touch.

As if alerted, Shikaku's shadow suddenly began to move, like an extended arm that directly stopped Shikamaru's movement.

"This is the Shadow Tentacle. Kid, you still have a lot to learn."

Shikaku looked at Shikamaru, who had been stopped by the shadow, and said with a smile that it would be too difficult for Shikamaru to deal with him now.

Shikamaru gave up struggling and returned to his listless state. He knew that he could only defeat his father if his father was careless, but he didn't expect that his father would not give him any chance at all.

"You should really work on your taijutsu. While you're decent enough for a Chunin, your taijutsu is far from sufficient to become a Jonin."

There's something Shikaku didn't say: the amount of chakra is a combination of physical constitution and spirit. The stronger these two things are, the more chakra you have. So, training in taijutsu is still very necessary.

"Asma, that long-winded fellow."

From Shikaku's words, Shikamaru understood that Asuma was about to tell his father about his desire to become a Jonin.

"Asuma is a pretty good guy. He can see himself clearly. There aren't many people like him in the ninja world."

Shikaku said thoughtfully, "I was actually a little worried about entrusting the descendants of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to Asuma, but I didn't expect him to do so well."

"Not everyone is as complicated as you think."

Shikamaru's words became somewhat sarcastic, and as a smart person, he immediately understood what Shikaku was talking about.

"It seems that some things have caused you to misunderstand me."

Shikaku stopped grinning and looked at Shikamaru with a serious expression.

However, Shikamaru had no intention of listening any further and stood up to speak directly.

"Let's call it a day for training. I'd like to take a break."

Shikaku thought for a moment and then stopped talking, letting Shikamaru leave.

Arriving on the streets of Konoha, Shikamaru, feeling somewhat aimless, didn't know where to go.

Looking up, I saw a ramen shop.

Ichiraku Ramen, a place where Class 7 often gathers.

Speaking of which, because of Choji, Shikamaru rarely goes to this place for meals.

Just consider it a change of pace.

With that thought in mind, Shikamaru quickly arrived at the ramen shop.

"Shikamaru?"

As soon as he entered the ramen shop, two familiar voices rang out. Shikamaru looked over and saw Ino and her best friend Sakura.

"You're here too."

Since they were all acquaintances, Shikamaru sat down next to Ino.

"Hey buddy, what would you like to eat?"

Uncle Ichiraku greeted us warmly, explaining that the ramen shop's current success was inseparable from Ichiraku's enthusiasm.