Chapter 6: Mirror Flower Water Moon

【Beep! Mirror Flower Water Moon is upgrading... Success rate 77%】

【Beep! Mirror Flower Water Moon is upgrading...】

【Beep! Upgrade successful, obtained innate skill "Flower in the Mirror"】……

【Flower in the Mirror (Innate Skill): Flower in the mirror, moon in the water, hence Mirror Flower Water Moon. When the trait "Water Moon" is triggered, it not only grants immunity to the first wave of damage, but "Flower in the Mirror" will also ignore spatial and terrain restrictions to launch a direct counterattack on the attacker's physical body. If the attacker's mental strength is more than 3 times that of the master, the counterattack is ineffective; otherwise, the attacker will be dragged into the world of Mirror Flower Water Moon, a world that can satisfy all the attacker's fantasies.】

【If the attacker cannot break the illusion within 2 seconds, they will automatically fall into a "Silence" state (Silence: cannot be self-broken, can only rely on external force). If broken within 2 seconds, the silence effect is ignored, and the attack of "Flower in the Mirror" will transform into a "Mental Shock," causing mental damage to the opponent and interrupting all their counterattack methods and ninjutsu within 0.035 seconds.】

【Follow-up: "Flower in the Mirror" can also be cast independently without triggering the "Water Moon" trait, but the attacker's mental strength must be "lower than the master's" for them to fall into "Mirror Flower Water Moon." The master can take the opportunity to invade the opponent's mental world and leave a "Mark." A person who is "Marked" will not notice anything, and their spirit and consciousness will be gradually controlled by the caster in silence. This will be a long process, lasting at least half a year, possibly several years, and may even fail halfway. But once completely conquered by Mirror Flower Water Moon, the marked person will become the master's most loyal servant, and even the Reaper's soul blade cannot sever the bond between them.】

【Follow-up: The Mark can be used once every two months, for a maximum of two people. If the Mark is not used, it will cause a mental shock to the opponent, resulting in sensory confusion.】……

The traits of Mirror Flower Water Moon are very strong!

Especially the attached "Flower in the Mirror," which gives people the feeling that only a mastermind boss would have. Moreover, with this skill paired with the mature-stage Sharingan of the Yin attribute, there shouldn't be many below the Kage level who can block his mental intrusion, unless the opponent is already a Kage-level expert or a master who has achieved great success in the way of illusions. Of course, there is also the Xuejijiexian that inherently possesses the effect of restraining illusions.

It is a pity that Nanshu is still a Two-Tomoe, otherwise this unique skill would have even more room for improvement.

"At this point in time, should Itachi Uchiha have awakened it already?"

Nanshu recalled that Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyo seemed to have awakened not long after Shisui died.

If he hasn't awakened it, I really want to hit him with one to see if I can shift his twisted psychology back. ……

Nanshu currently has 1500 plot points and 3 plot side-quests remaining.

Nanshu feels that the current two major skills are enough, and he cannot handle the consumption of any more skills.

So he spent 1000 plot points and one E-rank plot side-quest to purchase a plot item, the "Prayer Necklace."

【Beep! Prayer Necklace: A wish made by a beautiful girl to the heavens, her pious faith is sealed within. After wearing, it significantly increases stamina recovery, and comes with the "Prayer" skill, which can resolve inner demons and calm the mind.】

This is a beautiful crystal necklace, where gold and silver echo each other, complexity and simplicity intertwine, and the carvings, extending like wings, radiate a moving posture.

Wearing it on the chest, one can feel a reassuring aura. The fatigue of body and mind is swept away, just as if a dusty heart filled with clutter had been carefully cleaned by a gentle lady. She opens the window to let the sunlight outside shine into the heart, meticulously tidying up every crevice in the room, allowing those damaged and moldy corners of the heart to regain their vitality. The moment after wearing it, there is actually a feeling of being reborn.

Gently stroking the necklace on his chest, Nanshu feels much more relaxed.

The night is already deep, and Nanshu feels he should get a good sleep to replenish his energy. Moreover, he always feels that the Cloud Ninja incident will not end so simply. Tomorrow, the Hokage will inevitably call a meeting for this matter, and he will certainly be required to attend.

But fortunately, his excuses, reasons, and motives are flawless.

After all, the order for special handling was issued directly by the Third, so even if there is trouble, it won't be his turn to deal with it.

It's just that, whenever he thinks of the relationship between the Third and the Uchiha, Nanshu feels a headache.

Nanshu's perception of the Third Hokage is hard to describe—the late-stage Third gives the feeling of a veteran politician, an old fox, indecisive, but it hasn't reached the point of being so irreconcilable that one would want to kill him with a single blade. Yet, in the early plot, the Third gives the feeling of being very kind, gentle, similar to a friendly grandfather next door.

But thinking about it carefully, he fully displayed all the means of a politician, never letting himself get involved in any dirty work; all dirty work had alternative gloves to help him complete it. Danzo himself once said, "If the Third didn't tacitly approve, I couldn't have done it at all."

And in the matter of the clan extermination, Itachi Uchiha also unknowingly became the Third's glove. The high-level officials used Itachi Uchiha to eliminate a major threat, the Third continued to maintain his positive image, and the executor, Itachi Uchiha, was driven away and wanted.

It is reasonable that Itachi Uchiha was wanted for his crimes, but to say that his every move was not influenced by the Third is too self-deceiving. The pusher behind this, Danzo, is definitely inescapable, but behind Danzo, the Third's overly weak and ambiguous attitude is also one of the reasons that led to the Uchiha being simply exterminated.

Looking back now, was the Third really hesitating, or did he use the reaction of hesitation to leave time for Danzo to act? The Third Hokage used this window of hesitation to keep his own hands clean, handed the dirty work to Danzo to help push the development of the situation, and finally, the role of the true black glove fell to Itachi Uchiha.

Afterwards, the Third Hokage did not leave any evidence of his own; Danzo became the mastermind behind the extermination, and Itachi Uchiha became the one who wielded the blade. Only the Third Hokage's role from beginning to end remained clean.

This inevitably reminds one of the conversation when Sasuke Uchiha intercepted Danzo on the bridge. Before acting, Danzo once said, "You are ruining Itachi's efforts." This sentence looks like Danzo's self-righteousness before death, but now, tasting it carefully, there seems to be some hidden emotion behind it.

The fact that the Third can be listed by the system as a killable character shows that he was by no means unaware of the night of the extermination, and the manga's claim that it was hidden by the Root and done privately is something only a ghost would believe.

Nanshu had just stopped that Cloud Ninja representative at the Hyuga Clan, and the Third Hokage immediately sent the Anbu over, with almost no difference of a few minutes. Just based on this level of surveillance and reaction speed—unaware? Hidden actions? In any case, Nanshu finds it hard to believe.

Nanshu's judgment of the Third is not based on personal prejudice, but a re-interpretation of the Third's complexity from an objective perspective and the direction of the later plot.

Admittedly, when he was a child, he also thought the Third was a... gentle and kind old man. Before Naruto developed into Shippuden, the Third's character design was always quite good.

But from the moment he entered Shippuden, the direction of the story became increasingly bizarre. Previous judgments and perceptions were overturned again and again. The hot-blooded, righteous plot leaned more and more towards conspiracy theories and half-baked political stories. Of course, facts eventually proved that Naruto is neither a conspiracy nor politics—but a story of pure bloodlines.

And in these repeated self-destructive developments of the plot, the childhood fondness for the Third had long been worn away, especially after growing up, the perception of the Third became even worse.

For example, Nanshu was once a die-hard fan of Itachi Uchiha, for no other reason than that he was handsome, powerful, and mysterious, dreaming every day of becoming as cool as Itachi Uchiha. But looking at it now, it's a miracle his parents didn't kill him for the sake of righteousness back then.

And when the plot entered the Five Kage Summit, and then to the Fourth Shinobi World War, the initial character settings were already unrecognizable.

Looking at the plot and the blood-and-tears history of the Uchiha, Nanshu feels that the Third is more like an extremely outstanding politician than the kind old man in his memory.

At the same time, it is a great pity that this politician has a very distinct personal stance and heritage (Nidaimei). The dislike for the Uchiha clan might not be as high as he imagined, but the doubt and defense must have already formed a high wall. No matter how much the Uchiha expressed their sincerity, they could not move his indestructible high mountain.

So it's a pity, Nanshu feels that it is impossible for him to follow the Third's ideological path. As for the remaining Danzo and the Elder Council, they all wish the entire Uchiha clan would drop dead on the spot; there is no way to talk.

Forget it, let's take it one step at a time.

Nanshu frowned and stared at the moon outside the window. The expression on his face had both sighs and regrets. If he still had a choice, honestly, no one would be willing to jump into the fire pit of the Uchiha. If he could follow the righteous path of the Hokage, how much trouble would that save...

Sigh.

With all kinds of regrets, Nanshu returned to the bedroom. Having stayed up all night, he was tired at this moment.

However, not long after Nanshu lay down, there was a knock on the door in the hallway.

——Knock, knock.

The sound of knocking on the door rang out. Nanshu pulled a long face and crawled out of the bed with a bellyful of complaints.

"Who is it, disturbing someone's sweet dreams at this hour... Watch out for having a son without a JJ."

He was muttering in his mouth, but his actions were not slow.

——Click.

Outside the gate stood two Uchiha from the Military Police Force, standing one after the other at the entrance. Seeing Nanshu come out, they spoke directly.

"Nanshu, the Clan Head wants to see you."

"……??"