In an open space in a remote village in the Land of Rain, two figures, one big and one small, were training under the scorching sun.
"Too slow and not decisive enough!" Obito quickly knocked Yoshida Ichiro on the head with his hand and corrected him.
Obito's blow was very well calculated, with the strength just controlled to the point where it would not hurt but would be extremely painful.
As for why Obito can control it so well, it’s just because he practices more and more. He will naturally get the hang of it.
After failing to persuade Nagato last time, Obito has been teaching Yoshida Ichiro in the Rain Country, and then looking for the traces of the families of other Akatsuki members.
Yoshida Ichiro cried out in pain after being hit, but did not stop. Instead, he completed the next action more seriously until Obito saw that there was too much sweat on his head and his eyes were a little blurry, and then he stopped.
Yoshida Ichiro wiped the sweat off his face with a towel, and then couldn't help asking, "Teacher, is my talent really that poor? I have never been able to meet your requirements."
Despite his own efforts, Obito always pointed out his shortcomings and mistakes, which made Yoshida Ichiro a little discouraged.
"Your talent is not bad, if you are not compared with those geniuses." Obito thought for a moment and replied.
Yoshida Ichiro's talent is not bad, it can even be said that he has some talent. According to Obito's estimation, with his guidance and Yoshida Ichiro's own efforts, Yoshida Ichiro will be able to reach the level of a graduated Genin in two years.
The reason why Ichiro Yoshida had the illusion that he had poor talent was simply because Obito had higher expectations of him.
With Obito's current strength and vision, helping Yoshida Ichiro become a ninja is naturally not as simple as an ordinary Genin.
Otherwise, it would be enough to leave training materials and some money. Obito was training Yoshida Ichiro to become the elite of Konoha, so Yoshida Ichiro would naturally feel pressured.
"Is that so? But I have never satisfied you." Yoshida Ichiro said with some doubt.
"That's because I am strict with you. If you want to survive in this cruel ninja world, you need more than just passing, but good or even excellent." Obito said.
Because he has been wandering around small countries such as the Land of Rain, the Land of Fields, and the Land of Grass, Obito can feel things that others cannot.
Now the ninja world appears to be peaceful on the surface, and it seems that peace has come again, but undercurrents are surging secretly.
Nagato created the Light Village and aggressively recruited soldiers and horses in the Land of Rice to build a powerful force. The Rain Village controlled by the Akatsuki organization was suspected to be secretly planning something with the Grass Village. The originally weak Hot Spring Village suddenly received financial support from the Daimyo of Hot Spring Country.
Just recently, Obito received news from Nagase, about the incident in which Rasa was attacked and nearly died.
Even the Kages of the five major ninja villages nearly died in the attack. This was a major event that was enough to trigger a war in the ninja world, but the murderer was nowhere to be found.
Obito longs for peace, but he also knows the dangers of troubled times. People without strength will have their lives controlled by others in troubled times.
"I understand. I will work hard and live up to your teachings." Yoshida Ichiro said seriously.
"Don't take my teachings too seriously. I'm just fulfilling the promise I made to your father." Obito shook his head.
Thanks to the care and teaching over the past few months, Ichiro Yoshida has lost his initial wariness and is very respectful to Obito.
It's a good thing for a disciple to respect his teacher, but the relationship between Obito and Ichiro Yoshida is a bit complicated.
No matter what, Obito was the one who killed Yoshida Ichiro's father with his own hands.
Although Yoshida Ichiro will most likely never know the truth as long as Obito doesn't tell him, but if one day Yoshida Ichiro learns the truth and finds out that the teacher he has always trusted and respected is the murderer who killed his biological father, how desperate he will be.
Therefore, Obito tried his best to downplay his own achievements and put the blame on Yoshida Ichiro's father, and he always behaved in a rather cold and harsh manner.
"Anyway, you have put a lot of thought into teaching me." Yoshida Ichiro said respectfully.
Even though Obito said it was just because of the agreement, Yoshida Ichiro still felt that he should thank Obito.
His father's life or death was unknown, and he had no idea about the agreement. Obito could have just pretended that nothing happened, but he still came and taught him very seriously.
Seeing Yoshida Ichiro looking at him with respect, Obito smiled helplessly and said:
"I have some matters to deal with in Rain Village. The time is not fixed. If it's short, I may be back in a week, and if it's long, it may take a month. During this time, you must practice seriously and don't slack off."
"I understand. I will complete the training on time even if you are not here." Yoshida Ichiro nodded heavily to reassure Obito.
Ichiro Yoshida was also used to it, and Obito had to go back to the Ninja Village to handle things from time to time.
Yoshida Ichiro could also understand, after all, he was a ninja, and he was already very content to be able to accompany him for such a long time.
After explaining why he was leaving, Obito left.
However, Obito did not go to the Rain Village as he said, but went to the River Kingdom, which is sandwiched between the Fire Kingdom and the Wind Kingdom.
Going to Rain Village was just an excuse. After all, Obito's current fake identity was a ninja from Rain Village and a former friend of Yoshida Ichiro's father.
Obito's real purpose is to go to River Country to investigate a River Country native named Kinoshita Tsukasa.
Yes, that was the same Kinoshita Tsukasa who came to Konoha to attack Nagase and was beaten to death.
Nagase suspected that the attacker of Sunagakure and Kinoshita Tsukasa should belong to the same organization, but there was no clue from the attacker of Sunagakure, so Nagase could only ask Obito to go to River Country to investigate and see if he could find any traces.
Although the Anbu had been dispatched, Nagase still felt unsafe and notified Obito.
After Obito arrived in River Country, he went to the base of the Hope Organization, which was actually the previous Gold Organization.
However, due to the organization's purpose and a series of problems in cooperation with Nagase, the organization's name was finally changed to Hope Organization.
The message that Nagase gave him said that the Hope Organization was the local boss of Kawano Country and had considerable influence in Kawano Country and could assist him in his investigation.
At this time, Obito was wearing a blue-purple robe and still had a mask on his face, but it was not the previous Uzumaki mask.
After all, half of his face is really scary, so a mask is necessary. He can then use transformation skills when sneaking in to investigate.
Since Nagase had also notified the Hope Organization, after Obito arrived, someone quickly came to cooperate with Obito's actions.
"You look like an extraordinary character, worthy of being from Konoha. Hello, brother. I'm here to assist you. You can tell me if you have any needs." Hayakawa Kaku walked up to Obito with a smile.
The person who came to assist Obito in this operation was none other than Hayakawa Kaku, one of the four major executives of the Hope Organization.
He is the most suitable candidate. The other cadres are either pure thugs with average ability to do things, or they have a lot of affairs to deal with.
"Kinoshita Tsukasa, do you have any relevant information about this person?" Obito asked directly.
"Nagazawa Fuza asked us about this before. We investigated for a while, but gained very little. We didn't find any ninja named Kinoshita Tsukasa, let alone any powerful one. The only thing we found related to the name Kinoshita Tsukasa was a missing person notice from thirty-seven years ago." Hayakawa Kaku answered quickly.
After confirming that Kinoshita Tsukasa was from Kawanokuni, how could Nagase be finished and still have the Hope Organization as a card in his hand? He quickly asked the Hope Organization to investigate this name, but to no avail.
"The missing person notice from thirty-seven years ago..." Obito frowned.
"Well, we learned this from an old man in a village. Thirty years ago, a child named Kinoshita Tsukasa disappeared. Later, we verified the accuracy of this information. It is true. This is also the only news we have found related to Kinoshita Tsukasa."
"The child thirty-seven years ago..." Obito fell into thought.
According to the information provided by Nagase, Kinoshita Tsukasa is an old man who looks to be around sixty to seventy years old.
Even though Kinoshita Tsukasa looks old, he is relatively young, sixty years old, but sixty years old could not have been a child thirty-seven years ago.
"Wait, it's not impossible. The information also said that Kinoshita Tsukasa mastered a forbidden technique that could explode his strength, and the side effect is that it affects his vitality." Obito thought of another possibility.
Maybe Kinoshita Tsukasa's actual age is not as old as he looks, but the use of forbidden techniques makes him look like a man in his sixties or seventies.
Anyway, this is a clue. Obito continued to ask: "Didn't you find anything further by following this clue, such as the reason for the disappearance and whereabouts?"
Hayakawa Kaku gave a helpless smile, "Young man, you think too highly of us. You have to think about it. What kind of era was that thirty-seven years ago? There were so many people kidnapping children, not just children, but adults as well. How could we investigate this?"
"Besides, the parents of the children who lost their children also died in the war, so there is no way to start."
Obito fell into silence. Sometimes, this world is worse than you can imagine.
When Obito was a child, he lived in Konoha, the strongest ninja village in the ninja world. Naturally, he didn't have to worry about such problems when he was a child.
"Tell me the address of the old man who provided the information. I want to go over and take a look." Obito said after thinking for a while.
Since this is the only clue related to Kinoshita Tsukasa at present, we must not let it go. Let's investigate this first.
Although Hayakawa Kaku felt that they had investigated thoroughly enough and did not think that Obito could obtain any more useful information, Hayakawa Kaku gave it to Obito if he asked for it.
… …
"We are all members of the Hyuga clan, why should there be a distinction between the main family and the branch family?"
Neji had been wondering about this ever since he was carved into a caged bird at the age of three.
We all have the same eyes, the same hair, and the same surname, so why should there be a distinction between the main family and the branch family
The caged bird is a curse seal mastered by the Hyuga clan.
After being carved into a caged bird, the originally 360-degree white eyes will have an additional blind spot that cannot be observed.
The most important thing is that from now on, the life of the person carved as a bird in a cage will be completely in the hands of the caster, that is, the clan.
As long as the curse is activated, the brain and byakugan can be directly destroyed, causing the person carved into a caged bird to die on the spot.
Originally, the eyes could observe everything without blind spots, but suddenly there is one thing that cannot be seen. Only those who have experienced this feeling know how uncomfortable it is.
Fortunately, Neji is not an obsessive-compulsive person, otherwise he would be even more uncomfortable.
What made Neji even more uncomfortable was that the mark of the caged bird was right on his forehead, in the shape of a cross.
It was as if he had been marked as inferior and from then on he was inferior to others. Neji didn't know if this description was appropriate.
Neji's father, Hyuga Hizashi, has been comforting Neji, saying that the Hyuga family has always been like this. The main family is responsible for developing a strong Hyuga, and the branch family is responsible for surrounding the main family.
The bird in the cage is not actually meant to imprison the branch family, but to protect the Hyuga clan members, because the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan is too powerful.
I have to say that these words are not completely without reason. The Byakugan of the Hyuga clan is indeed the most coveted bloodline limit in all the major ninja villages in the ninja world.
There is no other reason, the Byakugan is just too powerful in the Ninja War, it is equivalent to a perspective cheat.
Despite his father's comfort, Neji still felt that this was abnormal and unreasonable.
His father is obviously a biological brother of the current head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi, but Hyuga Hiashi is the head of the entire Hyuga clan, while Hyuga Hizashi can only become a branch family.
Because of the bird in the cage, Neji's relationship with his cousin, with whom he used to get along well, became worse.
Because his cousin is the daughter of the Hyuga family, the main family. Even though she is three years old, she is not like a caged bird like Neji.
In fact, Neji was not angry with Hinata, because Hinata did not show any arrogance of the main family. She was still the timid and shy cousin. It was just that Neji felt that all this was a bit too unfair.
Neji basically doesn't communicate with Hinata anymore, and rarely even says hello.
Neji is now practicing diligently. He wants to prove with reality that it is not that the branch family cannot strengthen the Hyuga clan. He wants to become stronger than the main family.
"Hinata, what's wrong with you? Why have you made such little progress?" Hyuga Hiashi frowned and scolded as he watched Hinata's performance on the training ground.
Neji stopped and looked over there, then continued practicing his gentle fist.
"As the head of a family, you should be much better than you are now!" Hinata Hiashi said, pointing at Neji.
"Look at Neji's soft fist, then look at yours, and think about why the difference is so big."
Hinata lowered her head, not daring to speak, and just endured it silently.
"Now that you have practiced the Soft Fist to this level, you should not go out this month. Put your other courses aside for the time being and focus on practicing the Soft Fist." Hinata Hiashi said.
An heir to a large family must possess many things, but in the ninja world, the most important thing for the head of the family is undoubtedly strength. Only strong strength can ensure the survival of his family.
Hinata shuddered slightly when she heard her father told her not to go out for a month.