Who are you calling a stable boy?!

Looking down at Orochimaru, Aizen chuckled softly.

Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to... truly live?

-

"Alright, go ahead and do it."

"understood."

Watching Kakuzu's retreating figure disappear into the woods, Zheng Jing scratched his cheek.

As for the two of you... sigh.

Turning back to look at Itachi and Izumi, Zheng Jing shook his head.

"Come with me, Lao Zheng. Lao Lan is busy tonight, so only the two of you have time to have a drink with me."

With the Uchiha couple by his side, Zheng Jing found a high spot with a wide view, sat down on the edge of the cliff, and patted his left and right.

"sit."

Itachi and Izumi exchanged a glance and obediently sat down on either side of Zheng Jing.

He took off the gourd, took out two bowls from his backpack, filled each one, and handed them to Itachi and Izumi.

"drink!"

As he spoke, Zheng Jing picked up the gourd, tilted his head back, and took a big bite.

"Char Siu Itachi, tell me, what's going on in your head this time?"

The weasel, who had just taken a small sip of monkey wine, froze.

"Itachi..."

Quan put down his wine bowl and looked at him with concern.

"...I can't hide it from you, Master. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

After a moment's hesitation, Itachi spoke.

"I was just wondering if the new cultivation method you gave to my clan would make my clan... become complacent in the future."

"Just say it directly: you feel that your people have inherent flaws and you can't control them."

"..."

"Hey."

Zheng Jing chuckled.

"Chashu Itachi, after you opened the first round, didn't you even notice once?"

He pointed to Itachi's face.

"Were you someone who easily opened your heart in the past?"

Chapter 203: You've gained confidence, haven't you?

Generally speaking, changes in the nature of chakra do not affect a person's personality.

However, the Uchiha clan is quite special.

Or rather, the Sharingan, as a bloodline limit, is very special.

In the end, strong negative emotions cause a special chakra to surge within the Uchiha clan. This chakra directly affects their eyes, thus causing the Sharingan to evolve.

This is why the Uchiha clan produces more powerful individuals during turbulent times in the ninja world.

In a sense, it can be said that the stronger the Sharingan power of an Uchiha clan member, the stronger the negative emotions they have experienced.

Because compared to years of arduous training, the eye power gained in a single moment due to an emotional outburst is actually stronger...

Based on this, the Uchiha clan inevitably gives people the impression of being sensitive and paranoid.

If this kind of setting were placed in any martial arts or fantasy world, the Uchiha would be a notorious and infamous sect in the martial arts world.

He's the kind of person that other people in the demonic path would generally avoid.

Whose powerful figures level up by going into qi deviation?

The new cultivation method that Zheng Jing gave to Fugaku was, to put it bluntly, a righteous path for the Uchiha clan to deal with the problem of qi deviation.

If you want to see how effective this righteous path is, Itachi is a good example.

"I......"

When Zheng Jing pointed at him and asked him this question, Itachi froze on the spot.

"You have indeed changed."

"spring?"

The changes were subtle and gradual, and Itachi himself was unaware of them.

But in Izumi's eyes, even the slightest change in Itachi was so obvious.

“I know it might sound selfish to think this way, but... I really like these changes in you.”

Izumi gazed intently at Itachi: "Always keeping everything bottled up inside, I'm afraid of Itachi like that, afraid that one day you'll hurt yourself..."

Upon hearing this, Itachi opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

The girl's gaze was gentle, yet it carried a warmth that could make his cheeks flush.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

With a sudden wave of his hand, he severed the sweet and sour entanglement between the boy and girl. Zheng Jing glared at them and said, "What are you doing? I treated you two to some good wine, and what are you stuffing into my mouth? If I were to jump off this cliff without saying a word, would you two be up there hugging and pointing at me, saying that I, Old Zheng, look like a dog? Huh?"

These words left the blushing boys speechless.

Seeing their flustered state, Zheng Jing suddenly grinned, turning his anger into a smile.

"Hehe, I was just teasing you guys. Alright, alright, do you think I, Old Zheng, would really hold a grudge against you?"

As he spoke, Zheng Jing uncorked the gourd and filled the little ones' wine bowls to the brim.

"Doesn't it feel much better to talk things out now? It would have been so much better if you'd done this sooner! If you keep it bottled up inside and things get really messed up, who will benefit? It's really..."

Standing up, Zheng Jing stretched.

"Hey! Ha! By the way, weren't you curious about Quan Xiaomei's talent in this new cultivation method? I, Old Zheng, will tell you today—"

Grabbing the wine gourd, Zheng Jing flipped and leaped into the air, stepping on golden clouds. With a hook of his foot, seemingly drunk but not quite, he spread his arms and danced to the moon.

"Love and hate are impermanent; without love there is no hate, and there is neither form nor appearance."

"Right and wrong are separated by a fine line, Buddha and demon by a single thought; all is well in this human world—ha ha ha!!"

-

"..."

The image formed by the secret technique faithfully reproduced Payne's silence.

He watched the meeting quietly, now with two fewer people, before suddenly speaking after a moment.

"Absolutely brilliant."

"I don't know, I've been busy with things here. But if you just want my opinion..."

Zetsu replied in a hoarse voice, "If it were just Orochimaru who disappeared, I would say he might have betrayed the organization, but if Sasori and Kakuzu are the same, I'm more inclined to believe that they've both run into trouble."

"You mean, the so-called demon assassin Zheng Jing and the bespectacled Shinigami Aizen successively defeated Kakuzu and the other two?"

"It's not impossible, is it? The ninja world is so big, it's not surprising that monsters hiding in the deep mountains and forests would pop up from time to time."

When Black Zetsu said those words, it was truly from the bottom of his heart.

For thousands of years, he has traveled to every corner of the planet to help his mother escape her predicament, and he has seen far too much.

"Furthermore, I don't recommend that you continue to cause trouble for those two along this line. The organization has lost three capable members in a row, including Kakuzu, who has always been in charge of finances. If we don't replenish our manpower in time, the organization's own operation will be affected first."

Black Zetsu chuckled softly.

"You can't keep leaving all these troubles to Xiaonan."

Payne fell silent again, seemingly pondering Black Zetsu's suggestion.

"Are you short-handed? Then wouldn't that be a perfect opportunity for me, a newcomer to the organization, to make a difference?"

Suddenly, an image spoke.

Pipa Juzo looked over.

"Hey, newbie, even if you've never partnered with them before, you should know what kind of tough guys those three who got into trouble are. And I've never heard of any powerful person named A-Fei before. If you're using a new name, that's fine, but if it's your real name, I suggest you think carefully about your abilities before you speak."

He quite liked this newcomer named Afei who had joined the organization not long ago.

Kakuzu hadn't gone missing yet at that time.

Despite his eccentric personality, Juzo Biwa felt that Tobi was more likable than Orochimaru and the others.

"I also think this is inappropriate."

Hearing Black Zetsu say that, Juzo Biwa was somewhat surprised.

In his memory, this strange guy would never speak unless instructed by the leader.

Not to mention giving such a subjective opinion.

Could it be that this Ah Fei and Jue are old acquaintances?

While Juzo was surprised, Pain, Konan, and Tobi also looked at him because of Black Zetsu's words.

Black Zetsu knew it was inappropriate for him to say those words in front of the other members of the organization.

But he couldn't remain silent.

He estimated that the monster assassin Zheng Jing and the bespectacled Shinigami Aizen were both players of the so-called "courtyard".

Over thousands of years, Black Zetsu has accumulated some experience in dealing with these players.

That is--

Just leave it alone.

Don't try to take advantage of it, and there's no need to actively confront it.

As long as he doesn't reveal information about his mother to these players, in most cases, Black Zetsu finds that there aren't actually many conflicts between him and these players.

As for why we don't take advantage of it...

As the old saying goes, failure is the mother of success.

Black Zetsu believed he understood the principle of learning from mistakes.

But Obito Uchiha, that brat, has never suffered a loss against the players.

More precisely, Black Zetsu realized that this kid hadn't lost a single battle since Madara's death.

This really boosted his confidence!

Chapter 204: Not Wasting Too Much Time

"Is this... alright?"

As the meeting ended and the image created by the secret technique disappeared, Konan looked at Payne beside her with some worry.

What exactly does he want to do?

"do not know."

Using Pain's body, Nagato responded.

Using the alias Afei, he stepped into the limelight as a new member of the organization. Speaking of this step alone, he could understand the man's thoughts.

But what did that mean in the meeting just now?

He and Xiao Nan already knew about the close relationship between Jue and that man. Currently, besides him and Xiao Nan, only Jue in the organization knows the man's true identity.

This is the real reason why he asked for opinions at the meeting.

What he wanted to hear was not a definitive opinion at all.

At first, Jue's answer was exactly what he expected.

But things started to get strange when "Ah Fei" opened his mouth.