Hearing the commotion, Kimimaro and Haku also woke up one after another and exchanged a glance.
Kimimaro spoke, "Lord Rengoku, we want to go too."
Kimimaro and Haku didn't know that during the time they had been training here, Rengoku had already used their abilities to set up two identities in the Land of Water.
It was just that staying here to train all the time was somewhat boring.
Rengoku laughed, "You're the main force this time, so all of you have to go."
"Gaara, Naruto, Hinata, Hotaru, Yakumo, and Shion will all be going too."
Everyone Rengoku mentioned was a member of the Uchiha Kindergarten.
They had all grown quite well over the years, but they lacked some real combat experience.
Letting them see more blood would naturally make their strength rise rapidly.
"Yes, Lord Rengoku."
Rengoku looked at Anko and Orochimaru as they walked out of the room.
Although Orochimaru's expression was as usual, there was still some lingering redness on Anko's face.
"Did you gain anything this time?"
Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and washed his face with it.
"Natural energy replenishes very quickly here. On average, I can iterate the markings once every three days."
"The threshold will get lower and lower from now on."
"And I also have some ideas about my own body."
Rengoku's eyes lit up, "Oh? Are you going to make yourself a new body?"
Orochimaru laughed hoarsely, "I'm still missing some materials."
Rengoku didn't ask any further. Orochimaru had his own pace.
"Is Nagato's experiment finished?"
"We need to let Yahiko get out and move around."
After being revived, Yahiko had been working hard to adapt to his body.
Nagato and Konan both had psychological scars from what happened back then, so wherever they went, they had to go together with several others.
Now that they had an opportunity to attack the Land of Wind, Rengoku was also planning to train Yahiko.
Orochimaru shook his head, "Originally, I planned to use a new type of drug to induce changes in his eyes and see if they could evolve."
"But the conditions aren't there right now, and Nagato's eyes haven't changed."
"His eyes are unstable at the moment, so it's best not to let him run around."
Rengoku thought for a moment, "It's fine. Then I'll have the others provide support."
"Let Nagato stay with you and continue the experiments."
———
[Konoha Village]
[Uchiha Clan Training Ground]
"Susanoo!"
An orange-red Susanoo rose from the ground.
Starting from its initial skeletal form, flesh gradually grew over it, and finally, it was covered in armor.
A full fifty meters tall, it was truly imposing.
"Itachi-nii! If you keep this up, we'll have to replace the barrier again!"
Shion stood in a corner with several members of the Barrier Division.
There were also large amounts of materials for barriers beside them. They had come to create a barrier that could block things from being seen and heard.
This barrier mainly blocked light, images, and sound, while Shion was responsible for creating a barrier that concealed chakra.
After all, this was the Uchiha's trump card, so they needed to keep it as secret as possible.
But the Barrier Division had underestimated the size of Itachi's Susanoo. This was already the third time this month that they had come to replace the barrier.
Itachi smiled apologetically, "Sorry to trouble you. This time, make the barrier two hundred and fifty meters high."
The Susanoo was two hundred meters tall, and with things like its swords and wings, two hundred and fifty meters was actually just enough.
Creating this kind of barrier required a large amount of materials and chakra, but Konoha had plenty of resources and didn't care about spending that much.
The members of the Barrier Division immediately began discussing what kind of technique formula they should use to create the barrier.
After obtaining the Eternal Mangekyo, Rengoku had ordered Itachi to cultivate his Susanoo to its Complete Body form as soon as possible.
Now, in just a short time, Itachi had already doubled the size of his Susanoo, which had previously been only a little over ten meters tall.
However, he still had a long way to go before reaching its Complete Body form.
"Training in isolation isn't a good habit."
Rengoku's main body walked in holding Karin's hand.
The members of the Barrier Division all bowed.
"Fifth Hokage-sama."
"You can go for now. We'll discuss the barrier again next time. I have something to take Itachi out for."
"Yes!"
The members of the Barrier Division bowed and left directly.
Shion hopped over, then very deliberately stopped and bowed to Rengoku and Karin separately.
"Clan Leader, Clan Leader's Wife."
When bowing to Karin, Shion also winked at her.
Karin proudly raised her chin, "No need to be so formal, little Shion."
Seeing Karin teasing her back, Shion immediately jumped up and pounced at her.
"Oh, Karin, you're getting all smug just because I called you fat!"
"I responded to you, and you're still not happy about it!", Karin said with a laugh as she dodged to the side.
Rengoku ignored their antics and walked straight over to Itachi.
"Senpai."
Itachi bowed to Rengoku.
"What did you mean just now?"
Rengoku pointed at Shion, who was playing around with Karin nearby.
"I'm planning to send the elite class students from their first batch to the battlefield in the Land of Wind."
"Sasuke has learned Sage Mode, so he'll be going too."
"You go with them and keep an eye on them."
Itachi understood what Rengoku meant, "I understand, Senpai."
Rengoku nodded and said to Shion, who was playing around nearby, "Shion, you're going too."
"Huh?"
Shion looked completely confused. She hadn't gone on a combat mission in a long time.
Rengoku glanced at the bell on Shion's clothes, "You won't be responsible for fighting. You'll be responsible for setting up formations and concealing the team's chakra."
"You've been staying in the village every day. Don't you want to go out and get some fresh air?"
Judging by her age, Shion was also about the right age to awaken her abilities.
However, she had been living far too comfortably in Konoha every day, so she probably wouldn't be able to break through the seal.
As soon as Shion heard this, she excitedly waved her fist.
"Clan Leader, don't worry. I'll do a good job."
"Karin, are you going?"
Shion tilted her head and looked at Karin. Karin was also a member of the Barrier Division like her, so technically, she could either go or stay.
After all, Karin hadn't gone on a mission in a long time either.
Karin proudly snorted, "Of course I'm going! I'm the only sensory ninja among all of you."
What she said wasn't completely correct. Naruto also had sensory abilities when he activated his Golden Chakra Mode.
It was just that the two of them had different types of sensory abilities.
"Yes, yes, you're the most amazing one! Clan Leader's Wife!"
Karin snorted at Shion.
"Remember to bring plenty of things. The environment in the Land of Wind isn't very good."
Shion's shrine maiden system could create things similar to space scrolls.
They looked like ordinary boxes on the outside, but they could hold many things inside.
The key was that they could be reused without wearing out, making them very useful for missions away from home.
"Then we need to put more food inside."
Shion suddenly cried out. As one half of the food-loving duo, she usually loved buying all kinds of things.
She basically spent all the money she earned from the Barrier Division on food.
She was the kind of person who would die without good food.
"Karin, let's go buy some food and stock up first."
Shion acted as soon as she had the thought, pulling Karin toward the clan compound's exit.
Karin had no choice. Being dragged along by Shion, she could only hurriedly call out to Rengoku.
"Shishou, I'll go buy some food first."
Rengoku waved his hand and smiled as he watched the two of them leave.
"Senpai, aren't you going this time?"
Rengoku touched his eyes, "I've been pretty busy lately. It's enough for you to go with them."
He turned back to Itachi and spoke, "Come, tell me if you've run into any difficulties with improving your Susanoo recently."
[T/N: New fanfic chat—"Genshin Impact: Retiring Early from the Fatui". A solid read, definitely give it a try. Have a great day~]