"I've met him, but we're not close. He's a subordinate of Senior Shibi, and Asana, Lord Orochimaru's new disciple, is on his team. Hokage-sama also pays close attention to him," Minato Namikaze said.
"The Old Man pays close attention to him? Isn't he a member of the Uchiha Clan?"
"Hokage-sama believes he is different from ordinary members of the Uchiha Clan, but I don't know the specifics of how."
"I see! Looks like I'll have to go ask the Old Man myself," Jiraiya said, stroking his chin.
For the next three days, Uchiha En was unusually idle. Aside from the three hours he spent training daily, he did nothing else. Most of his time was spent researching genjutsu exclusive to the Sharingan, occasionally sparring with Uchiha Shisui.
Before he knew it, the day of departure arrived.
Uchiha En arrived at the Village entrance 15 minutes early, and Aburame Shibi arrived a few minutes later.
Having not seen each other for half a year, Uchiha En and Aburame Shibi briefly caught up.
During the conversation, Uchiha En learned that Aburame Shibi had been transferred to the Land of Hot Springs for the past six months, which was the main battlefield between Konoha and the Kumo Shinobi.
Compared to the Kirigakure, the Kumo Shinobi were much more brutal, acting like maniacs who fought as if they didn't care about their lives.
Even someone as strong as Aburame Shibi had been injured several times over the past six months.
After Uchiha En and Aburame Shibi chatted for a while, Minato Namikaze and Kakashi finally arrived.
"Everyone's here, so let's set off!" Minato Namikaze said, placing his hands on Aburame Shibi and Kakashi's shoulders.
Seeing this, Aburame Shibi also placed his hand on Uchiha En's shoulder.
Then the four of them vanished from the spot.
The spatial transportation of Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique felt completely different from standard instantaneous movement.
Uchiha En could clearly feel that the spatial transit of the Flying Thunder God Technique was much "gentler," and the spatial resistance was relatively weaker.
Swoosh—The four people who had just been at the entrance of Konoha Village arrived in a forest in the blink of an eye.
Minato Namikaze activated the Flying Thunder God Technique again, and after seven consecutive transfers, the four appeared in a desolate desert.
After seven consecutive transfers, Kakashi felt dizzy, and Aburame Shibi also felt slightly unwell, but Uchiha En felt nothing at all.
Minato Namikaze looked at Uchiha En in surprise. It was the first time he had seen someone remain completely unfazed after being teleported so many times by the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"En, don't you feel uncomfortable from the spatial shifts?" Minato Namikaze asked.
Uchiha En shook his head.
"Then did you have any special feeling just now?"
"It felt a bit like rapidly moving through gateways."
Minato Namikaze's eyes lit up upon hearing this—Uchiha En seemed to possess spatial talent!
Such talent was extremely rare in the Village. Currently, those with spatial talent in the Village could be counted on one hand, and they only possessed the spatial talent, not the other requirement for learning the Flying Thunder God Technique—super-fast reflexes.
Uchiha En was already proficient in the Body Flicker Technique, meaning his neural reflexes were definitely up to par. In other words, this child might be able to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Unfortunately, Uchiha En belonged to the Uchiha Clan. Even setting aside Hokage-sama, those three figures probably wouldn't agree to let a member of the Uchiha Clan learn the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Thinking of this, Minato Namikaze sighed. In his view, everyone was a comrade in the Village. During this war, he had performed missions with members of the Uchiha Clan many times, and they were fighting wholeheartedly for this Village.
Why couldn't the Village and the Uchiha Clan understand each other?
"Minato, we should be inside the Land of Wind now, right?" Aburame Shibi asked.
"Yes, this is indeed the Land of Wind, but we are already at its border. If we walk a few more kilometers south, we will reach Loulan, the target of this mission."
Everyone hastened their journey, and before long, Loulan appeared before them.
There weren't many people guarding the outskirts of Loulan, and the four easily bypassed the guards.
After infiltrating Loulan, Kakashi looked at the bustling town and exclaimed, "What a prosperous country! Untouched by war, everyone can live in peace and contentment."
"Don't jump to conclusions too quickly, Kakashi! This country looks harmonious on the surface, but upon closer inspection, something feels strange," Minato Namikaze said.
"Minato is right. I also think it's better to be cautious. Let's not venture deeper for now. We should first check the area around the town for anything suspicious."
Aburame Shibi's suggestion was approved by everyone. The group of four split into two pairs to gather intelligence in the surrounding area.
Minato Namikaze was paired with Kakashi, and Uchiha En was naturally paired with Aburame Shibi.
"En, have you noticed anything unusual?" Aburame Shibi asked Uchiha En, who was observing the surroundings with his activated Sharingan.
Uchiha En nodded and replied, "I have indeed noticed a few things. On the surface, this truly looks like a peaceful paradise untouched by war.
But Sensei Shibi, there is a Giant Tower soaring into the clouds in the center of the town. My Sharingan can clearly see an enormous amount of Chakra being transmitted from that tower. This Chakra is connected to the pedestrians on the street, manipulating them as if they were Puppets."
Hearing Uchiha En's words, Aburame Shibi frowned slightly. He released several Parasitic Insects to try and approach the pedestrians on the street.
A moment later, the Parasitic Insects flew back. Aburame Shibi said with a serious expression, "En, my insects tell me that the people walking on the street are not humans, but extremely realistic Puppets."
Upon hearing this, Uchiha En immediately feigned a surprised expression.
Afterward, the master and disciple continued to investigate the surroundings. Fortunately, they did not encounter any danger along the way, nor did they run into the Puppet Soldiers that appeared in the original work, and naturally, they did not hear Sara's singing.
While Uchiha En and Aburame Shibi did not encounter any enemies, Minato Namikaze and Kakashi were not so lucky.
They hadn't walked far before they encountered Loulan's Armored Puppets from the original work.
Initially, Minato Namikaze did not want to destroy these Armored Puppets. After all, his mission was to deal with the person attempting to control the Dragon Vein, and clashing with Loulan's military forces was unfavorable.
However, once these Armored Puppets identified someone as an enemy, they would pursue relentlessly. Left with no choice, Minato Namikaze had to destroy the Armored Puppets chasing him.
But to Minato Namikaze's surprise, the Armored Puppets repaired themselves at a visible speed right after being defeated.
Seeing this, Minato Namikaze decisively used the Flying Thunder God Technique, jumping back with Kakashi to the spot where they had separated from Uchiha En and the others.
I've mostly recovered today. This sickness really is exhausting!
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