Sasuke's Sharingan darted left and right, up and down in his eye sockets, yet he couldn't track Jikibi's attacks. Under Jikibi's relentless onslaught, he was forced into a defensive struggle.
Soon, beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead as he inwardly cursed, "Damn it, damn it! How is this happening!?"
Thud. Suddenly, Sasuke's focus slipped, and Jikibi seized the moment, breaking through his guard with a punch to his stomach.
The blow threw Sasuke into disarray, leaving him completely on the back foot.
Seeing this, Neji, who had planned to intervene only at a critical moment, was forced to act early, stepping in to block Jikibi's advance.
Thud, thud, thud. Another flurry of close-quarters taijutsu erupted, this time between Jikibi and Neji.
Compared to Sasuke, Neji's approach was far less aggressive. His Gentle Fist was steady and balanced, making it difficult for even Jikibi to gain the upper hand quickly without using his Sharingan.
Unwilling to waste more energy, Jikibi launched a fierce offensive to push Neji back, then raised a hand to signal the end of the sparring session.
Sasuke, scrambling to his feet in a disheveled state, stormed up to Jikibi, about to protest, "Why'd you stop—"
Jikibi cut him off: "This kind of sparring is pointless. In the real test, Uchiha Shinji, with her dojutsu bloodline limit, will have even sharper perception than me. And with her mastery of 'Monster Strength Fist,' she's far more ferocious in taijutsu than I am. The strategy you two devised couldn't even handle me—how do you expect to take on Uchiha Shinji?"
"You—"
Sasuke was rendered speechless.
Neji fell silent as well.
In this drill, Jikibi had played the role of Uchiha Shinji, while Sasuke and Neji teamed up to launch a surprise attack, aiming to overwhelm her with a relentless assault before she could unleash 'Wood Release.'
"Come up with a new strategy," Jikibi said casually, like a client issuing orders, before slipping his hands into his pockets and strolling out of the grove.
Watching Jikibi's retreating figure, Sasuke seethed with frustration: "Damn it, why is that guy's taijutsu so strong!? He hasn't even awakened his Sharingan—how am I not his match?"
Neji said, "Stop complaining. Let's rework the strategy. This one clearly doesn't work. The new plan needs to play to both of our strengths, or taking down Uchiha Shinji in a short time will be impossible!"
Sasuke could only nod: "Fine."
Outside the grove.
As Jikibi leisurely emerged, the group swarmed him.
"Jikibi, how'd the sparring go?"
"Where are Sasuke and Neji?"
"Are you guys working on some secret technique?"
Everyone bombarded him with questions.
"Don't worry, the strategy's still in the works!" Jikibi brushed off Sasuke and Neji's teammates with a single sentence, then led Haku and Karin away.
On the way back, Jikibi subtly glanced at Karin behind him, quickly averting his gaze, thinking, The Mangekyo's dojutsu fluctuations are already this noticeable…
The pulsations in Karin's eye sockets might escape others, but not Jikibi, who was right beside her.
Fortunately, there were no powerful sensory shinobi nearby, or the pulsations in Karin's eyes could have accidentally exposed her.
This also confirmed that the fully damaged Mangekyo Sharingan in her eye sockets was recovering at an accelerated pace.
After some thought, Jikibi turned to Haku and Karin: "I'm a bit tired today, so tonight's training is canceled. Go rest."
Karin, who was carefully channeling Yang Release chakra into her eyes, was relieved and quickly said, "Jikibi, make sure you rest well."
"Mm."
Jikibi nodded and strode off. Once Jikibi was out of sight, Haku asked Karin, "What's wrong? Is something up with your eyes?"
Karin nodded slightly: "Yeah, they're pulsating again. I'm feeling a bit dizzy, so I'll need to rest."
Haku said, "I'll walk you back."
That night.
Jikibi activated 'Jikibi,' connecting with Karin, and asked, "How are you feeling today?"
Karin reported the recovery progress of her fully damaged Mangekyo Sharingan, then said, "Boss, I feel like the recovery is speeding up. It might not even take a month for them to fully awaken!"
"Mm."
Jikibi acknowledged her report.
Karin's healing constitution had once again exceeded his expectations.
His most optimistic estimate had been at least a month for the fully damaged Mangekyo to recover. But now, it seemed two weeks might be enough for a complete awakening.
This meant his subsequent plans would need to be advanced again.
With this in mind, he used 'Jikibi' to connect with Haku, bringing both Haku and Karin's spiritual forms into the 'Jikibi' space.
At the familiar round table, Karin and Haku tensed, their expressions serious.
They knew the leader only summoned their spiritual forms to this unique space for urgent matters.
Once Karin and Haku were seated, Jikibi spoke, "The plan is moving up. Starting tomorrow, you can choose the right moment."
"Yes!"
Karin and Haku responded in unison.
The "right moment" referred to the previously discussed plan: staging an accident in public where Haku would "accidentally" injure Karin's eyes.
Karin, as a member of the Uzumaki clan, had a special status.
Additionally, since Jiraiya had brought her to the village, he occasionally checked in on her. To account for this, they needed to build in some margin for error.
In other words, Haku's staged accident had to genuinely injure Karin's eyes.
Only then would her visit to Hidden Leaf Hospital hold up under scrutiny. If Jiraiya suddenly visited and found Karin's eyes already healed, the plan could unravel before it even began.
With this in mind, Jikibi confirmed once more, "Karin, has Jiraiya visited you recently?"
Karin shook her head: "Lord Jiraiya's been busy lately. He hasn't come to see me in a while."
"Good."
Jikibi knew Jiraiya's focus was currently on Naruto, seemingly planning to have Uchiha Shinji use 'Wood Release' to assist in training Naruto into a perfect Jinchuriki.
However, Tsunade, concerned for Uchiha Shinji's safety, hadn't yet agreed.
So, Jikibi decided to give things a nudge by having Uchiha Shinji help Jiraiya train Naruto, ensuring Jiraiya's attention stayed on Naruto and creating a window for Karin to fuse the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
With his decision made, Jikibi declared, "The plan starts now. There must be no mistakes!"
"Yes!"
Karin and Haku bowed, accepting their orders!