As with previous times, the golden gift box contained a scroll.
The moment Uchiha Yuan touched the scroll, it vanished, and a new skill appeared in his mind.
Skill Name: [Puppet]
Skill Type: Active
Skill Effect: After learning, you can turn enemies who've lost the ability to resist into puppets who obey your command.
Skill Cost: Depends on the enemy's chakra level and strength.
Tip: This skill cannot be upgraded and has a very long cooldown. Use with caution.
After reading the skill description, Uchiha Yuan's eyes lit up wasn't this basically a high-level version of Kotoamatsukami?
It allowed control over incapacitated enemies, and since it wasn't a genjutsu, it couldn't be detected by typical genjutsu-detection techniques.
Of course, it had its flaws. The two biggest ones were: to use it on powerful opponents, you had to first defeat them, and then still have enough chakra left to activate it.
With those prerequisites, he wouldn't be able to use this on Konoha's higher-ups—at least not yet.
So instead, he'd have to aim lower, perhaps plant some "pieces" in other villages.
Yuan thought for a while and came up with two suitable candidates. The rest would depend on who he encountered first.
"Yuan, something's happened!" Yamanaka Kagetsu's voice broke his thoughts.
Uchiha Yuan looked up. "What is it? The Mist ninja attacking again?"
"No, no—it's Kakashi, Minato-senpai's student. He's really been promoted to Jonin!"
Yuan was stunned. Kakashi had been promoted?
That meant his Chidori was probably developed by now, and the Kannabi Bridge Incident was about to happen too.
But who had Uchiha Madara chosen as his successor at this point?
Thinking of that, Yuan casually swept his senses beneath the camp.
He could still sense White Zetsu's presence down there, which meant he was still under surveillance.
If Madara ultimately chose him, would that mean Obito was being sidelined?
"Yuan, do you think Kakashi really has Jonin-level strength?" Kagetsu asked.
Yuan pondered Kakashi's current "loadout."
To be fair, Yuan felt Kakashi probably had Tokubetsu Jonin (Special Jonin) capabilities, not quite full Jonin. His promotion likely stemmed from Konoha's need for a young prodigy to boost morale.
As the son of Sakumo Hatake and a disciple of Minato Namikaze, Kakashi had all the right credentials. He'd been a prodigy since childhood, breaking ninja records left and right. Promoting him now made perfect sense.
Kagetsu felt a little more at ease after Yuan's explanation… until Yuan added:
"Kagetsu, Kakashi probably isn't a match for me or Asana, but there's no doubt he's stronger than you. You've still got a lot of work to do." He patted Kagetsu on the shoulder and walked off.
Meanwhile, deep underground in a secret cavern, Uchiha Madara was also hesitating—who should he choose as his successor?
After a period of observation, only two candidates remained:
Uchiha Yuan and Uchiha Obito.
Yuan had superior talent, mentality, and strength—by all accounts, he should've been the obvious choice.
But Madara sensed something unpredictable in Yuan.
The boy's growth was so rapid, even he couldn't see through him.
Right now, Madara was even considering meeting Yuan in person.
He wanted to gauge the boy's strength—see if he could still be controlled. If not, better to eliminate him early, just in case.
Once the idea took root, it couldn't be suppressed.
"Zetsu," Madara said, "have Tobi bring Uchiha Yuan to me."
"Master Madara, you're going to meet him personally?" Zetsu asked in surprise.
"Yes. I don't have much time left. I must decide who will be my successor—soon."
Zetsu nodded and didn't ask further.
In the following days, Yuan's team took on several more missions.
One afternoon, after completing an A-rank reconnaissance assignment and heading back to camp, Yuan suddenly sensed multiple chakra signatures underground following them.
Thanks to his maxed-out Mind's Eye, he could visualize everything in 3D. These underground figures were clearly White Zetsu clones.
Among them, one stood out. Its chakra and vitality were significantly stronger than the others—clearly a unique individual.
Could it be Tobi? Yuan thought to himself.
"Yuan, what's wrong? Why the serious face? Didn't we finish the mission already?" Hyuga Asana asked.
"Nothing… I just remembered something I forgot to wrap up. You two go report back to camp—I'll double back and check."
Before Asana or Kagetsu could respond, Yuan had already turned and disappeared, using teleportation several times to shake them off.
"Should we follow him?" Kagetsu asked.
"No," Asana replied. "He probably has something personal to deal with."
"You sure?"
"At his current strength, as long as he doesn't run into the Fourth Mizukage, he should be fine."
Kagetsu nodded and said no more.
Meanwhile, after separating, Yuan channeled his Lightning Release Chakra into the ground.
The White Zetsu clones—no stronger than chunin—were instantly electrocuted before they could react.
Yuan dug up the corpses. Their bodies, full of First Hokage cells, had high research value.
He scanned them one by one but found no sign of the enhanced Zetsu he sensed earlier.
He frowned and said, "Come out already. What's the point of hiding?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Tobi emerged from a tree. "Uchiha Yuan… didn't expect you to spot us."
"Your hostility gave you away," Yuan said, feigning ignorance. "Who are you people?"
"Who we are isn't important," Tobi replied. "What matters is—someone wants to see you. Come with me."
(To Be Continued...)