Chapter 298: The Cunning Ninja Broke the Galactic Farmer’s Heart

When the bone sword came thrusting at him, Ryuri didn't panic. 

The reason was simple—his sword was longer than the bone sword of this Kaguya-blooded kid. 

Before he got stabbed, his own long blade would pierce the opponent first. 

And with a wound like that, there was no way that bone sword could break through his Lightning Release armor. 

So, Uchiha Ryuri wasn't worried at all. 

But then, he saw his long blade suddenly shrink. 

And at the same time, strange black markings appeared on the kid's face. 

Ryuri froze. 

Her body reacted on instinct, twisting to the side. 

*Squelch—* 

A chilling sound rang out as the bone sword pierced straight through Ryuri's left shoulder. 

"Ryuri!" 

Keeping a close eye on the battlefield, Senju Nawaki suddenly kicked Dou away and shouted. 

At the same time, a Flying Thunder God Kunai was thrown in Ryuri's direction. 

This can't be happening! 

Senju Nawaki had never taken Dou seriously. After all, this was the same ninja who once competed against Raijin and the others in the Konohagakure Chunin Exams. 

But now, he was out of step with the times. 

Nawaki was only stalling, giving his students more time to gain experience. 

What he didn't expect was that the strongest among them, Uchiha Ryuri, would be the one to slip up. 

Meanwhile, Yukito was already launching a second attack. 

He had been hiding his true strength, waiting for the Uchiha to lower his guard before striking at the perfect moment. 

Because Yuki had keenly noticed—his father was being toyed with by that Konohagakure squad leader. 

His parents loved each other dearly, and they were always good to him. 

He didn't want to lose his father. 

So he had to save him! 

What Yuki didn't expect was that this Uchiha managed to dodge his fatal strike. 

No problem—if the first attack didn't work, he would just try again! 

His figure flickered, leaving only an afterimage under the moonlight. 

"Got careless, didn't you?" 

Just then, Raijin's voice suddenly rang out. 

He grabbed Yuki's wrist and used his momentum to guide his movement slightly. 

In an instant, Yukito found himself spinning in the direction Raijin had led him. 

At the same time, Raijin turned his head slightly, looking toward Ryuri, who was now being treated by Tsunade. 

"Hmph!"

Ryuri's face turned slightly red when she heard that. This was so embarrassing! 

"Boom!" 

At that moment, a loud noise rang out. Yukito was slammed hard into the ground by Raijin. 

One hand gripped Yukito's wrist, while one foot pressed down on his back. The next second... 

"Rip!" 

Golden-purple lightning burst out from beneath Raijin's foot, shining brightly. 

At the same time, it completely stopped Yukito from using his Shikotsumyaku to counterattack. 

Thunder Shock: 100,000 Volts! 

Raijin looked at the black diamond-shaped mark in Yukito's palm and fell silent. 

"Yukito!" 

Seeing his son being restrained, Dou instinctively rushed toward him. 

 Even though the one holding Yukito was someone he absolutely couldn't defeat! 

"You should worry about yourself first." 

Senju Nawaki appeared right in front of Dou in an instant. 

With his words, a fierce and precise high kick followed. 

"Bang!" 

His kick landed squarely on Dou's face. The sheer force, combined with the paralysis of the Lightning Release, sent Dou flying backward. 

Along with that, he briefly lost consciousness. 

"Splat!" 

Nawaki appeared above him, stomping down on Dou's chest, slamming him hard into the ground. 

At the same time, a long blade crackling with lightning pierced through Dou's throat, making sure his momentary unconsciousness became permanent. 

"You idiot! Ever thought about leaving someone alive?" 

Just as Nawaki coolly withdrew his sword, expecting praise from Tsunade, 

What he got instead was Tsunade's angry scolding. 

His face immediately fell. 

With a flash, Nawaki vented all his frustration on the surviving Kumogakure and Kirigakure shinobi. 

Meanwhile... 

"Ahhh!!!" 

Raijin watched the boy under his foot with cold, emotionless eyes. 

Eternal Setsuna had been activated, and the voltage had been lowered to just below lethal levels. 

This boy was no longer just an enemy. 

He was a perfect test subject. 

A subject Raijin could freely experiment on to study that mysterious mark. 

But just then, Raijin frowned slightly as he watched the boy keep screaming. 

He silently watched as a horn sprouted from the boy's forehead. 

Watched as a black hole formed. 

Watched as his body rapidly shrank. 

"Heh... interesting..." 

Raijin shook his head helplessly at the sight. 

He lifted his fingers slightly. 

The black hole remained. 

The lightning had mostly vanished. 

And under the moonlight, a tiny orb of energy—formed from countless electrons—glowed with golden-purple light, floating in midair.

Shrink, black hole. 

That's definitely Jigen's signature ability. 

But… 

No matter how small you get, can you be smaller than an electron? 

"Going home?" 

Raijin turned around and smiled at Uchiha Ryuri. 

--- 

Jigen, who had been sleeping in a hotel, suddenly woke up. 

The Karma… is reacting? 

He blinked slowly, taking a moment to process what was happening. 

Ah… it must be that kid with the Shikotsumyaku and Ice Release. Either Uchiha Raijin or Uchiha Madara must've caught him. 

Jigen lay back down and closed his eyes again. 

So what? He wasn't strong enough to fight them, and even if he went, he couldn't save him. 

It was just a vessel, anyway. He could always find another one later. 

Jigen had even given up on that brat in Konohagakure who had both Senju and Uchiha blood. 

Might as well let Uchiha Raijin keep himself busy with that instead of bothering him. 

Madara's constant meddling had completely worn Jigen out. 

Especially that last time—he had even handed over his last Divine Tree seed to Uchiha Madara. 

At this point… 

Jigen had come to terms with everything. 

Schemes? Strategies? There was no way he could outmaneuver ninjas who spent their whole lives playing these games. 

So he gave up. Stopped caring. 

Let Momoshiki and the others handle this mess. 

As for him, he was just a simple space farmer. 

Farming was what he was best at. 

Everything else? Stay far away from him. 

That's it. 

--- 

"My mission isn't over yet, Hokage's secretary!" 

Ryuri sighed as he looked at Raijin in front of him. 

"Ah… isn't the Hokage here too? If you want, I could let you enjoy some privileges normal ninjas never get~" 

Raijin raised an eyebrow and whispered to Uchiha Ryuri. 

"Mom, look! Is this how a parent should teach their daughter?" 

Ryuri sighed again, rubbing his forehead with one hand, and turned to Tsunade beside him. 

"You're right, this is too much. Doing something like this in front of the Hokage… When we get home, I'll make sure he pays for it!" 

Tsunade nodded firmly in agreement. 

Ever since Uchiha Madara returned to Konohagakure, she hadn't touched Raijin much. 

She kind of missed it.

Tsunade looked at Raijin with a half-smile. Seeing this, Raijin instinctively took half a step back, but then he felt something behind him. 

"Huh?" 

~~ 

Raijin turned around and saw Nawaki standing in front of him. 

"Sorry." 

Looking at Raijin, Nawaki lowered his head, looking a bit downcast. 

No matter what, it was because of him that Uchiha Ryuri almost died here. 

"Sorry for what?" 

Raijin chuckled and patted Nawaki on the shoulder. 

"You've been on plenty of missions already. Don't you know how dangerous they can be?" 

"All things considered, you did pretty well." 

"Heh…" 

Hearing that, Nawaki grinned and didn't say anything more. 

"Besides, to be honest, even you might not be a match for this kid." 

Raijin slowly reached out his right hand, revealing a small purple-gold orb of light flickering in his palm. 

If you looked closely, you could see something inside struggling. 

At first, Raijin had used electricity to trap the shrunken Yuki, stopping him from escaping. 

But now, the electricity itself was preventing Yuki from breaking free of the dojutsu's effects. 

"He's that strong?" 

Nawaki was surprised and looked at Raijin in disbelief. 

Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Might Guy, who had just finished their battle, also gathered around. 

Uchiha Ryuri, standing nearby, listened even more intently. 

"Yeah, he has the same mark as Tatsu and even knows techniques that Jigen once used. That means this kid is probably closely connected to Jigen." 

Raijin nodded and, after thinking for a moment, added, 

"Especially just now—that seemed like the second stage of that mark. In that form, his power wasn't much weaker than Jigen's." 

He wasn't just saying this for Nawaki to hear. More than that, it was for Ryuri. 

He wanted Ryuri to understand that this person was incredibly strong and unique, so losing to him wasn't something to feel too bad about. There was no need to doubt himself. 

"So that's why he was so strong…" 

Ryuri, still curled up in Tsunade's arms, muttered softly. 

Now it all made sense. 

So he was borrowing someone else's power. 

"What are you so happy about?" 

Tsunade frowned at Ryuri, who seemed to be feeling better, and questioned him seriously. 

Ryuri looked up at her. 

"He was only as strong as Jigen in his second stage. But when you fought him, was he in the second stage?"

Tsunade looked at Ryuri and asked again. 

"Maybe in the first phase, he was indeed stronger than you. But is that an excuse for getting hurt? 

Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Senjutsu—any one of these could have helped you gather intel while keeping yourself relatively safe. 

Arrogance is the fastest way for a ninja to get destroyed. Nothing ruins a ninja faster than that." 

Tsunade spoke to Ryuri with a serious tone. 

"Ah… You don't have to put so much pressure on the kid." 

Raijin turned to Tsunade. 

"This was his first mission, after all. Mistakes are bound to happen." 

To be honest… a mistake like this shouldn't have happened. 

But since Tsunade had chosen to be strict and critical, Raijin naturally took on the role of comforting and reassuring. 

"Listen to yourself. Does that sound like something an experienced ninja would say?" 

Tsunade immediately turned to Raijin. 

"This time, you were able to save her. But what about next time? Will you be able to do it again?" 

"I would call for backup right away!" 

Before Raijin could respond, Nawaki quickly spoke up. 

Making sure his brother-in-law wasn't put in a tough spot was the best way to stay in his good graces. 

"Are you really sure?" 

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Nawaki and asked again. 

"I…" 

Nawaki pressed his lips together, his legs starting to feel weak. 

"I am!" 

Despite the pressure from Tsunade, Nawaki still spoke up loudly. 

"We'll talk when you get back to the village." 

Tsunade shot Nawaki a glance before turning to Ryuri. 

"As a ninja, no matter how strong you are or how weak your opponent seems, you must always be cautious. Understand?" 

"I understand." 

Ryuri nodded slightly, feeling the stares from Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, Might Guy, Senju Nawaki, and Uchiha Raijin. 

At that moment, Ryuri felt extremely embarrassed. 

"Don't listen to your mom. She makes it sound so reasonable, but ask her if she actually follows her own advice?" 

Raijin raised an eyebrow, took a few steps forward, and sat down next to Ryuri. 

At the same time, he gestured for Senju Nawaki and the rest of Team 7 to come over. 

Seeing this, the group gathered around. 

Tsunade glanced at Raijin, gritted her teeth, but in the end, she didn't say anything. 

Even though she was frustrated at being contradicted in front of everyone, since it was Raijin, she let it slide. 

"This time, it was my fault. There was some intel I didn't share with everyone, which nearly led to things going wrong on this mission."

Raijin spoke to everyone. 

"That kid who was just marked by Jigen—who knows how many more like him exist in the ninja world? That's why I want all of you to stay on high alert no matter who you're facing. 

You're all talented ninjas from Konohagakure, but you're on a mission right now. You can't assume that just because someone looks like a harmless girl or a young child, they don't have the power to kill you in an instant. 

So, I want you to treat every opponent equally. Tsunade and I will be waiting for you all to return to Konohagakure." 

"Yes!" 

The group of ninjas nodded in response. 

"Ryuri, don't let this weigh on you too much. Learn from it and keep moving forward." 

Raijin turned to Ryuri, patting his shoulder. 

"Got it!" 

Ryuri nodded firmly. 

"Alright, I won't keep you from resting any longer. When you're done with your mission, come find me—I'll make you something delicious." 

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