And so, the war began.
Yorin and Shisui split the vanguard in two. Shunshin after shunshin—so clean and quiet it rivaled Kiri's own Silent Killing.
In a blink, the foremost Kiri patrol squads went GG before they even sensed anything wrong.
Their positions and patrol loops matched Black Zetsu's feed exactly, which put a little pressure—and a little fear—into the three intel clans.
"We'll have to work harder." They couldn't help thinking it, and resolved to be more cautious and respectful when dealing with Uchiha Yorin from now on.
"The Uchiha rise is unstoppable. The Fourth really trusts them… No—he's made them part of his base? Uzumaki, Senju, and Uchiha. And the one stringing it all together is Uchiha Yorin—what a rare strategic mind. A pity… if only we'd moved earlier…"
Hyūga Hiashi was full of regret.
We have beauties too, don't we?
If the Hyūga excel at anything, it's producing little-devil kouhai who make perfect girlfriends.
Why hadn't he seen Minato's potential back then, and sent a few Hyūga girls to… "persuade" him?
All that for the Uzumaki bargain—and now even the Senju are stirring back to life.
We want a Hokage marriage just as much as anyone.
There are other openings, though. The Fourth is henpecked, so no—but Uchiha Yorin… hmm…
Yes, Yorin and Tsunade were already defaulted as a pair by the "marriage-pressure caucus" led by the Third. But swing a good enough hoe and no wall is unpryable.
Tsunade can guard the main seat; who's to say she can stop him taking wives? Known candidates already include Yekura and Terumi Mei; niche favorites include that bespectacled orphanage head nun.
Ah—older wife, younger husband—this is how it goes.
Slip a few Hyūga girls into that harem and surely there'd be no problem.
Does Yorin like being called "small fry"? Is he into foot-kissing and trampling? Must test when there's time.
…
While Konoha's No. 1 prospective father-in-law wandered off into irrelevancies, Yorin and Shisui had already secured the outer belt.
They hadn't killed a single patrolman—just dropped them with pommel strikes and Sharingan genjutsu.
This was a coup, not a war.
And in a coup, the less blood, the less resistance when you roll the village.
The purge comes later.
…
"Left wing cleared."
"Right wing clean."
"No alarm."
"No traps tripped."
…
Good news rolled in, and Fugaku was pleased.
"Excellent. Advance."
He gave the next order: "Target—Kirigakure… Begin Phase Two."
"Mm."
A moment later, the best transformation specialists formed seals and became Yagura.
The three former Seven Swordsmen, and a clutch of illusion experts including Fugaku, arrayed themselves as attendants.
Before we cosplay Gorbachev, Yagura would cosplay the "Knock-at-the-Gate Emperor."
Everything was smooth—yet Yorin refused to get complacent. If anything, he got more careful.
"Now it matters."
"If the knock-at-the-gate gambit fails, we go to force."
"And losses spike. That's poison for the post-merger phase with Kiri… so double the caution."
With that mindset, the column appeared at Kirigakure's gate.
Unlike cityfied Konoha, Kiri remained a first-generation shinobi fortress: no civilians, no merchants—only ninja and their families, and nothing to do but fight—friends, foes, or those who might be either.
Lockdown had turned Kiri into a giant cage, a killing-pit of an institution. Everyone there was strung tight, sour, teetering on madness.
It was a vast psychiatric ward. Countless Kiri shinobi, aching to love and be loved, bottled into a few square kilometers like beasts in a pen.
Once, a certain man might have fixed it. Yagura had been set to reform.
Then Obito came. And it ended. The few rays of sun over Kiri drowned under deeper cloud.
No matter.
Uchiha Yorin would fix it.
As he'd done months ago with Amegakure.
The more a village insisted "shinobi are tools," the more its people craved love and justice.
Everything they craved, Yorin would give.
He would be the father of all Kiri.
"Open up. The Fourth returns in triumph."
Beside "Yagura," Hōzuki Mangetsu looked up at the parapet and called.
"It's the Fourth. Mangetsu and the others are with him."
"The rest—Anbu."
Yorin and the other aces hadn't transformed; they wore Kiri Anbu masks to hide in plain sight.
"Where's Hoshigaki? And that masked man… are they dead?"
Unlike Konoha's ornamental gatekeepers, Kiri's fortress gate was held by elite—regulars, bloodline clansmen, and cold Anbu veterans.
Old hands. They smelled something off as soon as they looked.
"Headcount's wrong. Masked man and Hoshigaki aren't here—killed?"
"Why no message ahead?"
"And… there's something else in this fog. Something worse…"
"Open the gate—now!"
Seeing their hesitation, "Yagura" scowled up at them. "What, you plan to rebel?"
(We do plan to rebel.)
The gate elites traded looks. (All the great clans agreed—once you're back, we take you out while you're weakened from campaign.)
"Right away, my lord! Just a moment!"
They began working the gate—leisurely. A handful peeled off at speed to carry word to the houses:
The Ice Release Yuki
The Shikotsumyaku Kaguya
The Hōzuki, first among the Seven Swords
Each got the message in minutes: Yagura has returned.
"Keh-heh-heh! Let them taste Kaguya bone!"
"The Mizukage's seat returns to Hōzuki!"
"We don't want to cross blades with friends—but fate leaves no choice."
And the palace coup's net was cast, awaiting the moment the Fourth set foot inside—for the clans to strike and smash him to pulp.
Uchiha Yorin narrowed his eyes.
"Good."