Chapter 13: An Odd One Out in the Uchiha Clan
"Just like in the Hidden Cloud, you're really popular everywhere, kid."
On the main street, Dodai watched the Hidden Leaf girls blushing at Ziyun as they passed and couldn't help sighing.
Wherever they went, Ziyun drew the attention of young women and a wave of amazement.
After all, Ziyun's skin tone was lighter than most Hidden Cloud shinobi, and his features were refined.
Add the halo of "Hidden Cloud Village's number one genius," and he naturally stood out in any crowd.
Besides, the ugliness of the Hidden Leaf's upper leadership was never shown to civilians.
From a civilian's perspective, an alliance between the two villages was a great decision made by the great Third Hokage for the village's long-term interests.
No one would guess how much maneuvering and confrontation was hidden beneath the table.
So it was only natural that people felt goodwill toward the "Hidden Cloud Village's number one genius" that the Hidden Leaf was heavily promoting.
"Of course… otherwise the writing wouldn't feel immersive. Readers are getting pickier and pickier these days."
Ziyun spread his hands and sighed.
"You're saying things I don't understand again."
Dodai scratched his head and smiled bitterly.
He had heard Ziyun say these kinds of random, out-of-nowhere lines more than once or twice, so he was used to it.
But as he looked up at the Hidden Leaf's bustling streets, Dodai couldn't help feeling heartache for the Hidden Cloud's children.
Little by little, a vine-like shame crawled into his heart.
"We're useless… when will the Hidden Cloud's children have the same conditions the Hidden Leaf's children have?"
Dodai sighed.
With conditions this good, no wonder the Hidden Leaf always had the most talent among the Five Great Villages.
If Hidden Cloud children could grow up in an environment like this, they wouldn't be worse than Hidden Leaf children.
"Teacher Dodai, you can't say things like that here. This is the Hidden Leaf. Uncle Raikage warned us again and again," Ziyun reminded him with a smile.
Ever since entering the Hidden Leaf, Ziyun had kept his Observation Haki active.
No matter where they went, there were always four or five presences following in the shadows, like sticky plaster that wouldn't come off.
"My fault… my fault."
Dodai realized he had misspoken.
He looked around nervously, but saw nothing unusual, so he quickly shut his mouth tight.
Not long after, as Ziyun and Dodai rounded a corner, Ziyun suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
Her appearance resembled the later "second young master," but her face was gentle, giving off a calm, quiet-lady feeling.
That kind of temperament was a complete oddity among the proud Uchiha.
It was Uchiha Mikoto in her girlhood.
Noticing Ziyun's gaze, Mikoto gave him a gentle smile, but her heart tightened.
Her mind immediately flashed back to the scene two days ago when the clan leader gave her the mission.
Now that she saw Yotsuki Ziyun in person, she froze.
This harmless-looking boy… was he really as wicked as the clan leader described?
A moment of hesitation flickered through her mind.
Then Mikoto's eyes turned crimson.
For the Uchiha clan, she had to complete this mission, otherwise the higher-ups would suspect the Uchiha.
Two tomoe appeared in her eyes.
In the next instant, Ziyun felt as if thick stakes had pinned down his limbs. His entire body became unable to move.
"The Uchiha clan's Binding Illusion?"
"So this is the Hidden Leaf's test."
Ziyun glanced at Dodai and saw his expression tense and his body stiff.
He had been caught in the illusion too.
So Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't hold back.
On the busiest street in the Hidden Leaf, testing them so openly.
This trip really was dangerous.
But Ziyun hadn't expected them to send an Uchiha to act.
It was probably another balancing move by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Ziyun could already imagine it.
If the Uchiha truly tried to kill him and enraged the Third Raikage, Hiruzen Sarutobi would absolutely sacrifice the Uchiha to appease the Third Raikage.
Just like they later sacrificed Hyuga Hizashi's life to appease the Hidden Cloud.
Of course, the Uchiha would never let the Hidden Leaf leadership control them so easily.
If nothing unexpected happened, this Mikoto was someone the Uchiha clan had pushed out as a chess piece.
Someone they could sacrifice.
At that point, the talented threat to the Hidden Leaf would be eliminated, while the Uchiha would be neatly weakened and their reputation among civilians would also be damaged.
A truly perfect method.
"Interesting."
A faint smile rose on Ziyun's lips.
He hadn't even needed to stir things up, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had already helped him a great deal.
A gap between the Uchiha and the Hidden Leaf's leadership had appeared.
Now all he needed to do was go with the flow and push their relationship into a deeper rupture.
Genjutsu, at its core, disturbed the enemy's five senses and trapped them in illusion.
There were several ways to break it.
Against visual genjutsu, you only needed to avoid looking into the opponent's eyes.
If you were already trapped, you could rely on strong mental strength and constitution, or disrupt your own chakra.
So the moment he was bound by the illusion, Ziyun activated elementalization.
At the instant his body shifted, it rapidly switched between lightning and flesh, naturally throwing his internal chakra into chaos.
Elementalization didn't make him immune to genjutsu, but that was only true for monstrous illusions like Tsukuyomi or Kotoamatsukami.
Against low-level genjutsu, elementalization still let him stand undefeated.
"Teacher Dodai, wake up."
The moment he broke free, Ziyun placed a hand on Dodai's chakra points, pushed chakra through, and Dodai woke up.
"That Uchiha genjutsu?" Dodai's eyes locked onto Mikoto instantly.
The Sharingan.
No mistake. The girl in front of them was definitely an Uchiha.
"It failed!"
In a flash, Mikoto also realized it—her genjutsu had failed.
That harmless-looking boy possessed an extremely strange power.