Thump, thump, thump.
In an instant, the quiet, remote training ground was filled with the sound of punches and kicks clashing.
Knowing Haku's strength, Uchiha Shinji didn't hold back at all during their sparring match.
Yet, despite going all out, he still couldn't break through Haku's taijutsu defense.
After a long exchange, the two ended their sparring match in a draw.
"Whew…"
While catching his breath, Shinji thought to himself.
Haku had always been strong, and after gaining several battle rewards, his strength had visibly improved. If Shinji didn't use his Mangekyō Sharingan, he definitely wouldn't be Haku's match.
After resting for a while, Shinji glanced at Karin, who was standing by the sidelines. "It's your turn to spar with me."
Karin, taken aback, pointed to herself. "Me?"
Shinji waved her over. "Come on, hurry up!"
He had been considering how to integrate Karin into his small group to keep close track of the recovery process of the half-damaged Mangekyō Sharingan in her eyes.
That was why he had invited her to stay earlier.
After all, Karin was now a major investment for him, and in some ways, he was even more concerned about her than he was about himself.
As Karin walked over, Shinji casually asked, "How's your taijutsu?"
"Not good," Karin quickly shook her head.
In truth, her taijutsu wasn't bad compared to others in their class. She was about average among her peers, but compared to Shinji, it was obviously far worse.
Shinji's expression grew serious as he suddenly lunged at her.
Startled, Karin frantically dodged and blocked.
As they sparred, Shinji noticed that Karin's reaction speed wasn't actually slow. However, her movements lacked decisiveness—there was hesitation in both her attacks and defenses, making her seem sluggish.
This was a classic sign of lacking confidence.
Shinji had struggled with the same issue when he first sparred with Haku. It wasn't until he gained confidence that he gradually overcame this flaw.
Next, Shinji deliberately attacked from Karin's blind side, where her eye was damaged, and noticed her reaction was significantly slower. Satisfied, he pulled back.
As expected.
Just as he had predicted earlier, Karin's Sage Body alone wasn't enough to fully restore the half-damaged Mangekyō Sharingan. It could only nourish the Mangekyō and prevent further deterioration.
After stepping back, Shinji advised, "Don't underestimate taijutsu. It helps sharpen your combat instincts and forges your courage."
Karin, slightly dazed, nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Sasuke walked into the training ground with his hands in his pockets, a confident smirk on his face. "I knew you'd be here."
Shinji glanced over and asked, "What do you want?"
Sasuke cast a quick look at Haku and Karin, then fixed his gaze on Shinji. "With your strength, sparring with them won't help you grow! Shinji, from now on, you should spar with me!"
Shinji couldn't help but laugh.
With Haku's current strength, he could easily defeat Sasuke. Even Karin, with her Mangekyō Sharingan, wasn't someone Sasuke could underestimate.
Sasuke was in no position to look down on them.
Seeing Shinji laugh, Sasuke frowned. "What are you laughing at?"
Shinji didn't bother explaining. He casually said, "I've been focusing on medical ninjutsu lately, so I won't have much time to spar with you. You should find someone else."
Sasuke was clearly displeased by this response.
Hoping to ease the tension, Haku quickly chimed in, "Sasuke, I can spar with you."
Sasuke gave Haku a dismissive glance and scoffed, "You? No thanks."
With that, he turned and left the training ground.
Shinji resumed sparring with Haku for a while longer. After working up a sweat, he bid farewell to Haku and Karin and left the training ground alone.
After Shinji left, Karin breathed a sigh of relief.
Haku smiled and reassured her, "The more time you spend with Shinji, the more you'll realize he's actually a very kind person."
Karin nodded, "I can sense that too. He doesn't look at me the way others do—he doesn't treat me like an outsider."
Haku could relate to Karin's words.
Just as Shinji felt comfortable around Haku, Haku also found being around Shinji to be very easy and relaxed.
Karin sighed softly, "It's a pity we can't tell him the truth about who we really are."
"I know. Sometimes, I wish Shinji could become part of the Akatsuki with us," Haku said with a hint of sadness before shaking his head. "But on second thought, it's probably for the best. He's already been through so much hardship."
Karin, pushing aside her feelings of regret, asked curiously, "By the way, how's the battle reward you absorbed?"
Instead of answering, Haku extended his hand toward her.
Without forming any hand signs, a ball of water appeared in his palm. The water swirled and changed shape before solidifying into a blade of ice, radiating a chilling aura.
"Wow!" Karin exclaimed in surprise.
Haku dissipated the ice blade and asked Karin, "What about you?"
Karin, frustrated, replied, "The fusion of water and earth chakra natures is really difficult. I haven't made any progress yet."
Haku thought for a moment before suggesting, "Then let me teach you how to manipulate the water chakra nature first."
"Is it difficult?" Karin asked.
Haku smiled and shook his head. "No, it's actually quite simple!"
...
Meanwhile, back in his apartment, Shinji sat on his bed and activated Jikibi, carefully sensing his surroundings. After a moment, he deactivated his dojutsu with a sigh.
Within the range of his perception, he could only detect Haku and Karin.
This meant Deidara hadn't completed his task yet or hadn't reached the town they agreed upon.
But it had only been a day since Shinji assigned the task to Deidara, so it wasn't too surprising. After all, Deidara and Sasori usually worked together, and they might not have easy access to Zetsu.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his eyes, causing Shinji to quickly cover them with his hands.
"It's happening more frequently now…"
His expression darkened.
His eye power was gradually being consumed, and this state of continuous depletion was fueling his growing anxiety.
He knew that allowing this anxiety to intensify would only harm him, so he quickly shifted his thoughts elsewhere.
"The range of Jikibi is still too small. I wonder if it will expand once I merge my eyes into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Too bad I still don't know what Wazunagi does."
His thoughts then turned to the pair of Mangekyō Sharingan in Karin's eyes.
Like his grandmother Uchiha Naori's Mangekyō Sharingan, one of the dojutsu in Karin's Mangekyō was lost, and the remaining ability wasn't very impressive.
That was likely the reason the Mangekyō's power had been relatively well-preserved.
The remaining ability was called Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and its effect was to enhance the power of Susanoo.
For the original owner of that Mangekyō, Susanoo was too costly to use with only one Mangekyō Sharingan, making Susanoo-no-Mikoto practically useless.
But for Shinji, the situation was different.
If he could manage to fuse together a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and then harness the Mangekyō containing Susanoo-no-Mikoto, his Susanoo would reach an extraordinary level of power.