The focus of this operation rested on Genma and his two companions, but regardless of whether the others would participate in the battle, Genma had no intention of leaving them within the influence of Kikyo Castle.
A joke, really—he had no trust in Kikyo Castle whatsoever. What if, while their main fighting force was away, the castle hired other ninja to wipe out the remaining group in one fell swoop?
The risk was small, but not impossible.
In short, caution ensures a ship sails for ten thousand years.
After roughly finalizing the battle plan, Genma decided to rest here for one more night before setting out the next day.
"Thank you so much. If you hadn't offered your help, I… I mean, with just our strength alone, we wouldn't be able to pull off a battle where the weak overcome the strong," Genma said to Uchiha Nanami after the others had dispersed.
In this operation, the most critical part of their preparations was leveraging Uchiha Nanami's combat prowess for free. Without her Sharingan, gathering intelligence on the enemy would have taken Genma a considerable amount of time.
The mission's difficulty would have skyrocketed exponentially.
"No need to thank me. After all, if you hadn't helped me earlier, I might already be dead," Uchiha Nanami said, shaking her head.
Her worldview was surprisingly normal.
Seeing her sincerity, Genma smiled and said nothing more.
The two parted ways to rest.
Over this period, Uchiha Nanami had been quietly observing Genma, subtly constructing a psychological profile of him in her mind.
In general, she felt Genma carried a certain sense of dissonance.
On one hand, he appeared young, yet often acted with a lack of sharp edges, always rational and mild-mannered.
But she sensed this was a facade. While she wouldn't call him "evil masquerading as good," beneath his mild demeanor seemed to lurk an extreme approach to handling things.
On the other hand, Genma led a band of rogue ninja, displaying an overall strategic vision for the organization's development. Yet, while his plans were methodical, when it came time to act, he was remarkably spontaneous and unrestrained.
At times, Uchiha Nanami felt Genma stood in some lofty position, arrogantly overlooking the cruel shinobi world. This detached gaze made her think he seemed to exist outside it, like a bystander.
Faced with the harsh realities of the shinobi world, he neither rooted himself in it—seemingly disdainful of certain things—nor could he fully transcend it, as he lacked the power to do so.
This "surface-level" feeling gave Uchiha Nanami a sense of "alienation" from Genma.
No, not alienation—perhaps a sense of someone yearning to transcend but unable to.
At times, Genma resembled a puppet on strings, and only by cutting through the threads controlling him could one glimpse his truest, most essential self.
Of course, these were merely Uchiha Nanami's subjective impressions. She couldn't be certain whether her feelings were accurate, but regardless, if Genma were an ordinary ninja, the occasional glimpses of his temperament would seem highly unusual.
As expected of the Sharingan—it was indeed sharp in reading people and situations.
The root cause was that Genma wasn't truly "Hanemiya Genma." He was merely playing the role of "Hanemiya Genma."
When Hanemiya Genma faced a crisis, this so-called clan leader would step forward.
When a distress signal came from the Hanemiya survivors, he would travel far to rescue them.
When he felt he had gained enough strength, he would seek vengeance.
If one were to ask Genma's true feelings, were these things truly non-negotiable for him?
Though he had been in the shinobi world for over a year, he hadn't been assimilated by its people.
He wasn't emotionless. If asked whether he held a positive or negative view of the Tsugawa Clan, it would undoubtedly be negative. But would he see them as enemies he had to annihilate?
It didn't quite reach that level.
In short, while Genma had founded the "Ashes" organization, he still hadn't found his true place in the shinobi world.
Uchiha Nanami only vaguely sensed these contradictions in him.
The next day, Genma led the group out of Kikyo Castle's sphere of influence, heading north.
Though everything felt a bit rushed, after last night's discussions, everyone was mentally prepared for battle.
As for material preparations, they were barely sufficient, thanks partly to the selfless aid from the Sarutobi Clan and partly because the Fuma Clan didn't lack basic weaponry.
In any case, they brought everything they could use—and even some things they couldn't.
Two days after leaving Kikyo Castle, Genma found a suitable hiding spot on the outskirts and left most of the group there.
Per the plan, Genma's trio would set out first, with the main force following five days later. As for the location of the Tsugawa Clan's village, many in the group would never forget it.
The reason for splitting up was twofold: to avoid catastrophic losses and because Genma needed to borrow their strength. After doing so, he naturally had to give them time to recover.
Later, when everyone realized what Genma was doing, they were utterly shocked.
Uchiha Nanami, in particular, was the most stunned.
When she saw Genma extracting chakra from each member of the organization and claiming it for himself, the corners of her eyes twitched uncontrollably. She nearly lost control of her emotions and activated her Sharingan.
Fortunately, Genma was too busy collecting chakra to notice Uchiha Nanami's expression, or he would have grown suspicious.
After harvesting the chakra, Genma kept two-thirds for himself and distributed the remaining third to Fuma Goro, who was visibly shocked.
Fuma Goro felt stronger than ever before.
As for Uchiha Nanami, she likely didn't need such chakra support. Genma's allocation wasn't unfair—he was simply making decisions based on clan and background.
After finishing, he noticed Uchiha Nanami's slightly unnatural demeanor.
"What's wrong? Is something up?" he asked.
Uchiha Nanami snapped out of it, quickly shaking her head. "Nothing… I just didn't expect you to have such an ability. It's a bit surprising."
Absorbing others' chakra, converting it into his own, and even distributing it—such an ability was indeed rare.
However, Uchiha Nanami happened to know of a similar ability, one that relied on the Sharingan and was far more powerful and effective than what Genma had displayed.
Genma withdrew his gaze from her without further explanation.
Then he saw Fuma Goro, who had received the chakra, briefly leave and return to his side. Genma nearly lost his composure.
"You… why are you carrying so much gear?"
At that moment, Fuma Goro was fully armed. His body was adorned with shuriken of various sizes, blades of different lengths, and a ninja pouch stuffed with explosive tags, steel wires of varying gauges, and scrolls filled with gunpowder and oil.
Fuma Goro's voice was muffled as he said, "Can't help it. This is how we Fuma ninja fight."
Well…
What could Genma say? He couldn't exactly call him a bad student with too many supplies.
"Let's move out. The operation begins."
The trio set off, with Uchiha Nanami trailing behind Genma. She stared at his back, lost in thought, her lips parting slightly as she silently mouthed three words:
"Yasaka Magatama…"
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