Chapter 52: The Show Begins

"Bam!"

"Bam!"

Walking into the Konoha training ground, an unusual commotion could be heard.

Following the sound, Raijin walked over and took a quick look.

He saw a little kid with a middle part kicking a wooden post.

The wooden post was covered in small, uneven dents.

There were also many bloodstains that had turned black and solidified.

The kid had bandages wrapped around his legs, and his face would twitch every time he kicked the post.

"342...343...344..."

He counted out loud, putting all his strength into each kick.

"Crack!"

Raijin walked forward, stepping on leaves and twigs without any intention of hiding.

The crisp sound was extremely jarring in the quiet forest.

"Huh?"

Rock Lee stopped his movements and turned around to see a person wearing the unique black robe of the Uchiha clan.

He had a ninja headband on his forehead and looked much older than him.

The young man stood not far away, looking at him calmly.

"Is this your training ground? I'll leave right away."

Rock Lee wiped the sweat from his face and said cautiously.

He picked up the towel from the training ground and limped away.

"What's your name?" Raijin stopped Rock Lee and asked, sizing him up.

"M-My name is Rock Lee!"

"Kid, you don't have the talent for ninjutsu, so why are you working so hard?"

Raijin spoke, his intimidating gaze fixed on Rock Lee.

His words were incredibly direct, piercing Rock Lee's heart like a sharp blade.

Rock Lee's movements stopped, his head lowered, making it impossible to see the changes on his face.

But after half a minute, he suddenly raised his head and looked directly at Raijin.

"I want to prove that even if I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, I can still become a great ninja."

"Even if all I know is taijutsu, I still want to become a ninja."

Rock Lee met Raijin's gaze with determination, without any hesitation.

There were no distractions in his heart, only the thought of how to prove himself.

He had never had much talent for ninjutsu since he was a child.

He was even worse at chakra control.

And he was even worse at ninjutsu.

He couldn't even properly master the most basic Clone Technique.

So he could only focus on taijutsu, which didn't require much chakra control and could still make him a ninja.

But even then, Rock Lee still lagged behind others in taijutsu.

"Such determination? In that case, I'll give you a chance."

"We can teach you the taijutsu of the Uchiha clan, but you have to become my student." 

"Are you willing?"

Raijin nodded and asked directly.

He had originally come for Rock Lee.

But now there were too many onlookers around, and he couldn't directly take him into the Kamui dimension.

So he might as well make Rock Lee his student, so he could take him away justifiably.

"The Uchiha clan? I greet you, teacher!"

Rock Lee's eyes lit up.

Had his hard work moved the ninja adult in front of him?

As an orphan, Rock Lee didn't know much about the Uchiha clan's reputation in Konoha.

But he had heard of the Uchiha clan's name.

Every time he saw people from such a big clan, he could only look at them with envy.

He didn't expect that someone from such a big clan would be willing to take him as a student.

But having a ninja take a liking to him might be his only chance in his entire life.

Rock Lee didn't hesitate and agreed immediately.

"Hahahahaha, good, come with me to the Uchiha clan first."

Raijin laughed loudly and put a hand on Rock Lee's shoulder, walking towards the Uchiha clan's territory.

He left behind two teams of Anbu who looked at each other in confusion, unable to figure out what Raijin was trying to do.

He was taking a useless person who couldn't even use ninjutsu as his student.

But everything Raijin did in Konoha had to be reported to the Hokage.

After Raijin brought Rock Lee back to the Uchiha clan's territory.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the tracking report in his hand, his wrinkles deepening on his face.

What the heck?

He even took a liking to someone who only knew taijutsu?

Even if he was hardworking, he was still useless.

What on earth was Raijin up to?

"Is Jiraiya back yet?"

It had been a day since he sent the message, and although Jiraiya, like Tsunade, was traveling the ninja world without a trace.

But he still had a specific way to contact Konoha, and in case of emergency, they could easily find him.

"Lord Jiraiya has replied, but..."

The Anbu in front of him lowered his head and presented a scroll.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took the scroll and after reading it, the wrinkles on his face deepened even more.

Konoha was truly in a troubled time.

Jiraiya did reply.

But Tsunade was missing.

She went missing within the Land of Fire, Konoha's territory.

Currently, Konoha couldn't spare so many people to investigate Tsunade's disappearance.

If he had known earlier, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have investigated it no matter what.

But it had to happen at this time.

"Tell Jiraiya not to investigate anymore, come back and deal with Konoha's matters first."

"As for Tsunade's matter, let him investigate after this is over."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the scroll Jiraiya sent back with disgust.

He had been too lenient with this kid in the past, and now at this critical time for Konoha, he didn't even plan to come back.

"Yes!"

The Anbu immediately turned and left.

Silence returned to the office, and Hiruzen Sarutobi once again summoned the clan heads of various clans.

He asked them to go to the Uchiha clan and carefully observe what Raijin was trying to do.

An eerie silence fell over Konoha Village.

Merchants didn't dare to open their shops during this time.

Some people seemed to sense the smell of gunpowder in the air.

Several clans had noticed something was amiss.

But some things had nothing to do with them and wouldn't affect them.

So they just stood on the sidelines and watched the changes in Konoha.

Three days ago, Jiraiya returned to Konoha. The reputation of the Sannin was immense.

Hearing that Jiraiya had returned to Konoha, the various clans breathed a sigh of relief.

In Raijin's residence, two people stood facing each other, while a servant girl poured tea beside them.

"It doesn't matter if Jiraiya is back, it won't affect our plan."

"You don't have to deal with Jiraiya, there are people in our Uchiha clan who can handle him."

Raijin held a teacup and said with a relaxed smile.

Hearing that Jiraiya had returned to Konoha, Obito seemed a bit panicked.

But Jiraiya, that carefree guy, was no Minato Namikaze.

You were able to defeat your teacher Minato, so why would you be afraid of a mere Jiraiya?

Raijin's face showed a hint of amusement, this kid was a bit cowardly.

"Jiraiya is fine, I never took him seriously, but I heard..."

"Uchiha Shisui has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, who will deal with that guy?"

"With Uchiha Izumi's power? I'm afraid she hasn't fully mastered her Mangekyo's power yet."

Obito wasn't too worried about Jiraiya.

But the information he got in Konoha was that two people in the Uchiha clan had awakened the Mangekyo.

At that time, Obito's face was full of question marks!

Was the Mangekyo so easy to awaken now?

Why did it feel like anyone could awaken the Mangekyo now?

Moreover, Shisui's Mangekyo ability was a bit tricky, and they might get overturned if they weren't careful.

This was what Obito was worried about!

"I'll handle Uchiha Shisui, he won't disrupt our plan."

Raijin assured Obito that he could deal with Shisui.

After a moment of silence, Obito finally nodded.

"Then let's see your performance tomorrow night."

Before leaving, Obito looked at Raijin meaningfully.

What was Raijin trying to do...

Was everything he had been doing really to overthrow Konoha's regime?

No matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense!

Only tomorrow night would he truly know what this guy was thinking.

Oh, it seems some brothers in the comment section asked me to take the Uchiha Itachi family away.

Mikoto and Sasuke can be taken, but Itachi is really unnecessary.

That guy is simply a madman.

(End of chapter)