Was Uchiha Madara taking this opportunity to seize power? Objectively speaking, yes. After all, his actions were equivalent to "clearing the ruler's side." However, Hane Genma felt that subjectively, Madara didn't view his own actions as a politically motivated purge.
The man's thought process was likely quite straightforward; he simply couldn't stomach the actions of certain people, so he took the opportunity to act.
Regardless of whether Uchiha Madara possessed political sensitivity, his ability to seize an opportunity was undeniably impressive.
What was unfolding before them could barely be considered a good show, but Genma had no desire to keep watching.
Consider this: if this was the situation within the Uchiha clan, were there similar incidents occurring within the Senju clan? If Madara could use this to gradually consolidate power, could Senju Hashirama do the same? Once these two began to truly lead their respective houses, would the two rival shinobi clans finally have a foundation for reconciliation?
Optimistically speaking, could Genma say he was seeing the dawn of peace?
One had to realize that after the formation of Konohagakure, the speed at which other major shinobi clans followed suit was rapid. Although the internal composition of a village was complex and various conflicts required time to mediate, ending the state of scattered disunity meant that the decisions of the major shinobi clans would gain consistency—at least within the broad scope of a single country.
Consequently, the frequency of wars would drop rapidly, but correspondingly, the scale of warfare would expand... Therefore, the next conflict following this peace would come to be known as a "Great Shinobi War."
The grand drama within the Uchiha settlement still had its second act to play, but Genma quietly slipped away from the crowd without batting an eyelid. After evading all lines of sight, including that of White Zetsu, he executed the Kagerō (Mayfly) technique and departed.
Nanami and the Nameless One's separation from the clan was now a foregone conclusion. With the internal Uchiha forces suppressed by Madara, there would be no further variables. Now, Madara led the Uchiha shinobi to turn back and purge the other group of invaders.
Because the current Madara had not yet become as solitary and arrogant as he would be in later years, he actually understood the necessity of uniting with allies. Therefore, he chose not to exterminate those invaders completely. He even intentionally let some escape, leaking the news that the pair of Sharingan had already been destroyed.
By acting this way, Uchiha Madara felt he had done all that benevolence required. If the Hagoromo clan still didn't know what was good for them, he wouldn't hesitate to meet them on the battlefield.
Of course, the reason he showed such tolerance was that the enemy hadn't caused any substantial loss to the Uchiha... In this incident, those who suffered were the forces under the traditional high-ranking elders. To the Uchiha clan, they were equivalent to rotting flesh emitting a foul stench.
It didn't matter if someone stabbed the rotten flesh a few times; after all, draining pus was not the same as shedding blood.
A major reason Genma chose to leave directly was that he didn't want to watch that scene of lancing boils and draining pus. Just thinking about digging out rotting sores was nauseating.
After quietly leaving the Uchiha settlement, he didn't blindly attempt to catch up with Nanami. One could imagine that the movements of Nanami and her companion would be incredibly cautious, leaving virtually no trace during their retreat. So, Genma simply didn't chase; he chose to go ahead and wait.
Genma dove headfirst into the soil and rapidly headed toward the first rendezvous point agreed upon by both parties.
At a location roughly fifty kilometers away from the Uchiha clan, Genma waited for over an hour before Nanami finally arrived, carrying the Nameless One.
"You're a bit slow. Nanami, you're overly cautious. You can actually trust Uchiha Madara; he had the situation completely under control just now," Genma said as he revealed himself.
Nanami shook her head and replied, "It's not that I don't trust Madara, it's that I don't trust the bottom line of certain people in the clan. Madara controlling the situation doesn't mean he instantly purged those people's forces. You have to realize their tentacles reach everywhere within the clan... In the final moments, it doesn't hurt to be cautious. I don't want to capsize the boat due to carelessness."
"Makes sense."
Genma helped support the Nameless One from Nanami's back, letting her lean against a nearby large tree... Indeed, Nanami's reasoning was sound, but the extra time taken meant the Nameless One had lost a lot more blood.
"This... can I perform hemostatic treatment directly?"
Looking at the Nameless One's condition, Genma hesitated slightly. It was common knowledge that the Uchiha clan's eye sockets and eyes possessed a 'hot-swap' function; generally, they could plug and play eyes from their kin. But if he healed the injury directly, would it also repair—or perhaps remove—that capability?
"Of course you can, what is there to hesitate about?" Nanami said. She was worrying about the Nameless One's condition; she didn't have time to consider such trivial details.
Genma nodded, then placed his palm over the Nameless One's eyelids. You said it yourself, he thought. If any side effects occur, it's not my fault.
Chakra filled with vitality covered her eye sockets, promoting the healing of the wounds in an incredibly gentle manner.
"Thank you," the Nameless One said.
"It's nothing. In the future... well, you should be able to become a member of the organization too."
Perhaps Nanami had already explained Genma's background to her on the way, so she understood why two people had come to rescue her from prison.
As Genma's hand covered her eyes and forehead, he sensed a severe fever. It seemed the violent act of breaking the seal hadn't just damaged her eyes, but perhaps also impacted her cranial nerves... This actually made sense. A Fūinjutsu capable of suppressing the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan would naturally have some wicked aspects to it.
However, this girl was indeed ruthless. The endurance she displayed completely contradicted the first impression given by her physique and appearance. She bore the eye damage and the shock from breaking the seal all on her own, without uttering a sound.
Genma asked himself honestly: if his eyes were injured, he would definitely be screaming in pain on the spot. It wasn't just physiological pain, but psychological phantom pain as well... Everyone knew the eyes were such important and fragile organs; the mind defaulted to treating them as parts that shouldn't suffer the slightest harm.
She was worthy of being someone who could instill fear in a significant portion of the Uchiha shinobi; she was truly an Uchiha among Uchiha. Genma felt that a shinobi like this would become a powerhouse beyond ordinary imagination, even without the Sharingan.
While treating her injuries, he made small talk to try and distract her.
"By the way, since you've abandoned the Sharingan and broken away from the Uchiha clan, shouldn't the title 'Nameless' (Wuming) be changed? Do you want to restore your original name, or do you need a new one?"
She thought carefully and realized the Uchiha held no memories worth clinging to. Thus, she spoke:
"I can't remember my original name. The word 'Nameless' brings me nothing but bad feelings, so a new name is exactly what I need..."
Nanami actually remembered her original name, but she felt the girl hadn't forgotten, but simply didn't want to mention it again. Therefore, reading the atmosphere perfectly, she didn't say anything unnecessary.
"A new name, let me think..."
Genma pondered carefully, preparing to utilize his talent for naming. However, names should prioritize simplicity and clarity, so there didn't seem to be much room for him to show off.
"I have it. How about 'Ran' (Ripples)? Wind walking on water waves is called Ran. I think it's a pretty good name."
Simply put, the meaning of "Ran" implies waves that are even bigger than ordinary waves. It carried a beautiful expectation... that after breaking away from the Uchiha, she could continue to surpass the Uchiha.
However, neither of the other two present grasped this beautiful expectation. Genma's good intentions were essentially wasted.
"Okay. Ran. It is indeed good."
She agreed without a second thought. She didn't care about the implications of the new name; no matter how bad it was, it couldn't be worse than "Nameless."
Under Genma's continuous treatment, the bleeding stopped quickly. Perhaps because she had escaped the tension-filled environment, the girl who had been holding on by sheer will—who should now be called "Ran"—quickly fell into a deep sleep.
"Let's go. Since we need to be cautious, we should be cautious to the end. It's best not to stay here too long," Genma whispered to Nanami.
Nanami nodded, agreeing entirely with this suggestion. "Right, we should return to Kikyo Castle as soon as possible."
Genma gently lifted Ran onto his back, and the trio began to move under the cover of night, heading further away from the Uchiha territory.
Nanami was in a very good mood. She felt the operation to return to the Uchiha had gone quite smoothly overall. Aside from Ran destroying her pair of Sharingan without hesitation, the rest had proceeded without any unexpected mishaps.
After reaffirming her feelings toward the current Uchiha clan, Nanami now felt an eagerness to return to Kikyo Castle.
Genma, on the other hand, wasn't so optimistic internally. Nanami couldn't sense White Zetsu, so naturally, she didn't fear him. But Genma was different.
For a split second, he felt Nanami had been thoroughly targeted by White Zetsu. This made him incredibly nervous, not even knowing how to handle the situation.
But now he was doubting himself slightly. If White Zetsu was watching Nanami closely, they should have been tracking her. It wasn't impossible for Nanami to receive the same surveillance service as Uchiha Madara. Yet, the fact remained that White Zetsu was not following behind Nanami and Ran.
Genma was momentarily confused. Could it be that the large number of White Zetsus that appeared around Nanami earlier were just there to sightsee?
The return journey to Kikyo Castle was uneventful.
Genma first sent Ran to the hospital... well, calling it a hospital was a bit of an overstatement. Currently, the medical department of the Firefly organization was at most a small clinic. The only staff were barefoot doctors like Genma and Akimichi Jinsei's wife... Only after that did he start paying attention to what had happened in the organization over the past few days.
The good news was that nothing major had occurred. The situation in the Land of Rivers was generally stable. Occasionally, there were hostile force intrusions, but they were discovered in time by Yamanaka Megumi, and the organization dispatched shinobi to repel them.
After dealing with some trivial matters, Genma finally had time to take stock of his personal gains from this trip to the Uchiha.
First was the improvement in his constitution and basic chakra quality. Although Genma hadn't placed enough importance on the White Zetsu cells' ability to enhance personal constitution—always feeling that a slight physical improvement wouldn't bring any direct increase in combat power—one shouldn't forget the concept of accumulation.
To use an analogy: if an ordinary shinobi's constitution was a 1, then before going to the Uchiha clan, Genma's constitution was only around 1.3 or 1.4. But after returning, his constitution was definitely over 2.0.
This kind of physique could basically no longer be classified as an ordinary shinobi. At the very least, it was akin to the common shinobi within the great clans... Of course, Genma certainly couldn't compare to the outstanding physiques of elite shinobi, let alone god-like figures like Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama.
Enhanced constitution, along with an increase in the quality and quantity of chakra—if judged by the ranking system of future generations, Genma had undoubtedly reached the Jōnin level. If he could fully utilize his strengths in combat, calling him an Elite Jōnin wouldn't be an exaggeration.
His strength seemed quite impressive already, yet he would never be satisfied with just this... Genma had a clear understanding of his own strength and what constituted a "genius shinobi."
It seemed that Elite Jōnin was a high-level rank, yet above the head of an Elite Jōnin lay an insurmountable chasm, one impossible to cross through personal effort alone.
Genma's self-proclaimed title of "Enkage" (Shadow of Flame) was merely a joke; Kage-level powerhouses were one in ten thousand.
Elite Jōnin, to put it another way, could be called "Elite Cannon Fodder." In this power bracket, they were better than those below but severely lacking compared to those above... In a fight against the same level, it was a struggle of life and death. But if suppressed by a higher level, it would likely be an instant kill.
So, was Genma any different from before? Actually, not really. The forces he couldn't afford to provoke before, he still couldn't afford to provoke now.
Secondly, another gain Genma valued most was that during this trip, he had proficiently mastered Earth Release nature transformation.
Possessing three natures—Water, Fire, and Earth—the variety of Kekkei Genkai available for cultivation seemed to have suddenly increased.
With the experience of "developing" Futton (Boil Release), Genma felt that mastering another Kekkei Genkai wouldn't be difficult. He had planned this long ago; he wanted to obtain Mokuton (Wood Release), which would be of immense help to his self-recovery abilities.
Although White Zetsu wasn't wood, as a product of the God Tree, it possessed properties similar to wood. If his body was damaged, using Mokuton abilities could instantly restore the injury...
According to Genma's vision, once he had Mokuton, even if his vital organs were in a semi-destroyed state, he wouldn't be threatened by death and could even recover quickly.
This situation was different from the First Hokage's recovery ability. The First Hokage had autonomic recovery; even without Mokuton, he could achieve seal-less self-healing because he possessed the powerful "Sage Body."
But Genma was different. He would be patching holes in his body with wood after they appeared; the difference between the two was vast.
Anyway, back in Kikyo Castle, with no other business entangling him, Genma immediately began attempting to develop Mokuton.
Then he discovered something was wrong. Water and Earth just wouldn't fuse. They couldn't achieve that "perfect harmony" like Water and Fire did.
After repeated attempts, Genma discovered the crux of the problem... He didn't just need the elemental chakra; he needed the meridian circulation methods for both chakras.
Thinking back to the process of learning Futton, Genma suddenly had a realization.
Damn it. In his body, it seemed this stuff fused portion by portion. The Water nature transformation he obtained from White Zetsu had fused with his own Fire nature transformation to acquire the Futton meridian circulation method. That specific portion of Water nature change could no longer be synthesized with other attributes.
That meant...
The worst-case scenario was that Genma could never obtain another Kekkei Genkai related to Water or Fire natures.
There was also another possibility...
"To obtain Mokuton, do I have to scrape another portion of Water nature transformation off White Zetsu? What kind of logic is this?"
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