Chapter 26: Aunt Mikoto Would Never Do Such a Thing

Fire Source City Mansion.

Inside the training room.

"Hahaha, Izumi, is this all your Uchiha swordsmanship can do?"

Uzuki Yugao blocked Uchiha Izumi's short sword and leaned close to Izumi's face, taunting her.

After spending a long time together, Uzuki Yugao and Uchiha Izumi had become very familiar with each other and often sparred together.

The two were close in age and strength, making them well-matched sparring partners.

Uzuki Yugao used Konoha-style swordsmanship, while Uchiha Izumi used Uchiha swordsmanship, and neither respected the other's style.

Uzuki Yugao had greater talent in swordsmanship, while Uchiha Izumi had the assistance of her Sharingan.

They were evenly matched, like a needle against a wheat awn, or a tortoise against a green bean.

"Hmph!"

"Today, I'll show you the true power of the Sharingan!"

Uchiha Izumi snorted coldly, her eyes revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan, and began to attack Yugao fiercely.

"Tch."

Uzuki Yugao, dissatisfied, pouted and concentrated fully on defending.

As the two engaged in rapid combat,

The clashing sound of weapons was incessant.

"How is it?"

Uchiha Mikoto, her face slightly flushed, stood at the training room door, watching Yugao and Izumi, and spoke to Shishou beside her.

"Why isn't Izumi using genjutsu?"

Shishou was puzzled, watching Uchiha Izumi holding her own against Uzuki Yugao.

Izumi had already awakened her three-tomoe Sharingan, and if she combined it with ocular genjutsu, her strength would greatly increase.

"Even among the Uchiha, not everyone has high talent in genjutsu."

"Izumi's talent in genjutsu is lacking."

"And my genjutsu isn't good either, so I can't teach her much."

Uchiha Mikoto sighed, somewhat helpless.

"I see."

Shishou nodded thoughtfully at Mikoto's words.

If he remembered correctly, Sasuke's genjutsu in the original story wasn't very strong either.

To deal with Itachi, he had to rely on Orochimaru's help to create a genjutsu reflection technique.

Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan was mostly used for controlling Manda or bullying weaker opponents, and he rarely used genjutsu in other battles.

It was evident that he wasn't very skilled in genjutsu either.

Although Sasuke did use genjutsu to control Killer Bee after awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan, there was a huge difference between the Mangekyo and the three-tomoe Sharingan, making them incomparable.

Moreover, Sasuke was immediately beaten by Killer Bee and would have died if not for Karin and Jugo.

To instantly defeat enemies like Itachi and Shisui did with a glance, one needed extremely high talent in genjutsu; having the Mangekyo Sharingan alone wasn't enough.

It seemed that Itachi and Shisui had single-handedly elevated the perception of the Sharingan's genjutsu to a new level.

Terrifying indeed.

After Uzuki Yugao and Uchiha Izumi finished their sparring,

Shishou prepared to lead Mikoto, Izumi, and Yugao to Kusagakure to find Karin.

First, to see how the three women's skills had developed,

And second, to recruit Karin in advance.

Before meeting Orochimaru, Karin lived in Kusagakure, where the ninja treated her as a chakra battery, living a miserable life.

Shishou needed powerful sensory techniques to further his study of the Flying Thunder God technique.

Thus, he targeted Karin's Kagura Mind's Eye.

"Izumi, Yugao."

"Have you two been sneaking glances at me because of my handsome and elegant appearance?"

As they walked, Shishou teased the two girls.

Throughout their journey, he noticed Uzuki Yugao and Uchiha Izumi occasionally sneaking glances at him.

In contrast, Uchiha Mikoto kept her distance from him due to Izumi and Yugao's presence.

Hearing Shishou's words, Uchiha Izumi blushed and didn't speak.

Uchiha Izumi had always thought their rescuer was a famous ninja, if not at least an adult.

She was surprised to find that Shishou looked younger than she did.

Thinking about his relationship with Uchiha Mikoto,

Uchiha Izumi found it absurd.

She suspected that Aunt Mikoto might have seduced him.

However, she quickly dismissed this thought.

As the wife of the Uchiha clan leader, Aunt Mikoto would never do such a thing.

Izumi firmly believed this.

"Tch, stop flattering yourself."

"I just thought you looked familiar."

"It's like I've seen you somewhere before."

Uzuki Yugao pouted and retorted boldly.

Last time, her interaction with Shishou was brief, and she hadn't observed him closely, so she didn't find anything suspicious.

Today, seeing him up close, she felt he looked familiar.

Shishou naturally understood Uzuki Yugao's confusion.

During his survival training in the wild, it was Uzuki Yugao who secretly watched over him.

Shishou had known this at the time.

However, he had appeared as a seven-year-old in front of Yugao back then.

Seeing Shishou's teenage appearance now, Uzuki Yugao naturally couldn't recognize him.

Or perhaps she did recognize him subconsciously but didn't think in that direction, hence the familiarity.

Hearing Yugao's words, Uchiha Mikoto also looked at Shishou curiously.

In her memory, the Aburame clan only had a seven-year-old named Aburame Shishou, who was Sasuke's classmate.

None of the other teenagers in the Aburame clan were named Shishou.

Because of this, Mikoto always thought "Aburame Shishou" was a pseudonym.

Otherwise, the current Shishou couldn't possibly be that little kid.

But since Shishou didn't voluntarily reveal his identity to Izumi and Yugao, Mikoto wouldn't ask either.

She hadn't even mentioned the name "Aburame Shishou" to Izumi and Yugao.

"You'll find out in time."

"Just call me Shishou."

Seeing the puzzled looks of the three women, Shishou smiled and said calmly.

"Tch!"

Uzuki Yugao clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned her head away.

"Alright, traveling is too tiring, let's take Bus 101."

Shishou stopped, forming a seal with his hands.

Poof!

With a puff of smoke, a giant centipede appeared at Shishou's feet.

It was the same giant centipede Shishou had spared from being devoured by the destructive bugs in the Forest of Death and kept as his summoning beast.

According to system feedback, this centipede was a rare species called the Red-armored Centipede, huge but non-venomous.

Shishou jokingly called it "Little Red."

Currently, the Red-armored Centipede was still not as large as Orochimaru's Manda, not even half its size.

Shishou didn't mind this.

Once he obtained Hashirama cells and could freely use the Mangekyo, making the centipede as large as Manda would be easy.

If he evolved it further in the bug cultivation space, it might even grow as big as the centipede elder in One Punch Man.

Unfortunately, only bugs in Shishou's cultivation space could be evolved by the system.

Although the Red-armored Centipede was a rare species, it was still just that—a rare species.

Realizing that the cultivation space was very limited, Shishou wasn't planning to give the centipede a spot just yet.

Seeing the summoned centipede, Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Izumi weren't surprised, having encountered it many times in the Forest of Death.

Uzuki Yugao, on the other hand, was a bit startled. Although large creatures weren't rare in the ninja world, few could be tamed.

Otherwise, the animals and insects in the Forest of Death would have been taken by Konoha as summoning beasts to increase their combat power.

Seeing the three women standing behind him, Shishou waved his hand:

"Let's go!"

At Shishou's command, the Red-armored Centipede moved quickly through the forest, heading towards Kusagakure.