The defeat on the front lines stemmed from one overwhelming reason—the sudden appearance of the Six Paths ninja tool, the Amber Purifying Pot.
The method of using this tool was simple: call out the opponent's name. As long as the target responded, they would be sucked straight into the pot. Even a tailed beast couldn't escape.
Back when the previous Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure was ambushed by Orochimaru and went berserk, the Cloud-ninja used the Amber Purifying Pot to temporarily seal it. Only after Killer B grew strong enough did he become the Jinchūriki.
If even the Eight-Tails could not escape its fate, needless to say, no ordinary ninja could.
Using the Eight-Tails as a benchmark, it meant that anyone whose combat power fell below that level would be doomed to be sealed the moment they were caught.
And right now, among Konoha's frontline forces, no one was stronger than the Eight-Tails. Combined with Mabui—the tactical genius—designing the operation, Konoha suffered a devastating blow. The entire battlefield momentum reversed instantly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen lamented switching out the Uchiha too early. But even then, he was only half right. Even if he hadn't replaced them, they would have had no way to counter the Amber Purifying Pot.
But if the Cloud-ninja tried using that thing on Uchiha Rokuro, that would be like showing off cheap steel
The Six Paths ninja tools were undeniably formidable, but the Amber Purifying Pot was, at its core, still a sealing method. And anything remotely related to sealing carried no threat in front of Rokuro.
In fact, across the entire ninja world, the only sealing techniques that could still possibly threaten him were the Reaper Death Seal and the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
And besides—Rokuro knew the plot. He knew exactly how the Amber Purifying Pot activated. Impossible to fall for it.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio took heavy losses. Even Akimichi Chōza was captured. The blow to Konoha's morale was immense.
Many shinobi were already resentful because of the sudden change in command. If the Ino–Shika–Chō could prove they could replace the Uchiha on the battlefield, morale might have recovered.
But instead, they were defeated miserably. Morale instantly collapsed.
Even without Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders, Konoha would've retreated temporarily. Fighting further would only cause more casualties.
Inside the main camp, Hyūga Hizashi sat silently with a cold expression.
Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi wore grim faces as they discussed solutions.
"The intel from the village indicates that Kumogakure is using the legendary Six Paths ninja tools. These tools appeared during the Second Great Ninja War, and rumor has it that Lord Second Hokage himself died to them."
Inoichi's words made Shikaku's face darken. He cursed nonstop in his heart—cursing the Cloud-ninja for being shameless cowards.
If they had such a powerful tool, why didn't they use it earlier? If they had used it against the Uchiha in the first place, there would've been no command switch drama.
Next, he cursed Sarutobi Hiruzen. Why couldn't he hold himself back? The battle had just started turning around before he replaced them. If he had insisted for a few more days, Kumogakure would've been forced to use the ninja tool against the Uchiha anyway. Then the Ino–Shika–Chō wouldn't have had to be thrown forward like sacrificial lambs.
After venting internally, Shikaku turned to Hizashi.
"Clan Head Hizashi, the Six Paths tool is our biggest threat. We must figure out how it works before we can counter it."
Hizashi lifted a hand slightly, his tone icy.
"The Hyūga were originally supposed to retreat. That was the Hokage's command. We remained only to retrieve the stolen Byakugan. As for the rest—we can only provide minimal assistance. The major decisions should be made by you Ino–Shika–Chō. After all, I'm no longer the deputy commander, am I? Commander Shikaku?"
Shikaku was left speechless.
Truthfully—Ino–Shika–Chō had come here to reap credit. Instead, they lost a clan head and over a dozen elite shinobi. The loss was too great.
Now they even had to beg Hizashi for help. Shameless.
And since Hizashi refused to give face, not even Shikaku's thick skin could continue asking.
Their final plan was simply to capture a few Cloud-ninja alive and rely on the Yamanaka mind-reading to extract intel on the tool.
Unfortunately, efficiency was abysmal. The Six Paths ninja tools were S-level secrets of Kumogakure. Ordinary Cloud-ninja knew nothing.
And with Mabui handling the matter, leaks were even more impossible.
So over the next week, Konoha gained nothing. Without intel, a large-scale offensive was impossible.
On Iwagakure's side, Ōnoki accepted Danzō's persuasion and did not withdraw, but he also had no intention of being the first to act. He simply watched Konoha.
In short—if Konoha didn't move, Iwagakure wouldn't move. Sharing Konoha's burden? Impossible.
The stalemate at the front continued, and the same was happening in Konoha.
The Ino–Shika–Chō were the Hokage's direct subordinates. Their failure equaled Hiruzen's failure. On top of the earlier command-switch scandal, if they couldn't break the stalemate, all responsibility would fall on Hiruzen.
Konoha was not a monolithic village. The major clans, the Fire Country nobility, even the Daimyō—each held great political power. Unless one was a godlike figure such as Senju Hashirama, no one could rule unilaterally.
During the Third War, the decision to negotiate peace angered many Konoha shinobi and nobles, forcing Hiruzen to step down and install Namikaze Minato.
If he truly had absolute authority, that plotline wouldn't exist.
Back then, they at least won the war, so it could be chalked up as a "strategic misstep."
But now they were losing—much worse.
Konoha's F4 convened once more. Hiruzen had already smoked two full pipes. His office was choked with smoke—like a mythical immortal's cave…
"How about… we send the Uchiha again?"
Koharu couldn't endure the secondhand smoke any longer and opened her mouth.
"But they were just replaced, and the entire clan is still furious over the command-switch. Sending them now won't be easy."
"This is for the village—for the entire Fire Country. Surely they won't dare disobey orders?"
Despite her age, Koharu's "little fairy" nature remained intact—she activated her passive skill:
"Unreasonable"
Unfortunately, everyone present was immune. None were simps.
"Danzō, what about the Iwa-nin? They're only facing a single Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. If they deploy two Jinchūriki, or if Ōnoki goes personally, shouldn't the stalemate break?"
Danzō let out a cold laugh.
"Ōnoki has wanted nothing but to profit from the chaos. His talk of capturing the western coast of the Land of Lightning and building a beachhead is nonsense. With the Land of Earth's strength, they can't seize territory in Lightning. Don't count on him."
Homura fell silent. Seeing Hiruzen still smoking, he finally spoke.
"What if we redeploy some forces from the southern line?"
Koharu instantly rejected it.
"Absolutely not. The Land of Wind triggered the Third War, and we crushed them. They've been recovering, yes, but the desert limits their growth. Sunagakure is starving—wolves with red eyes. If we weaken the southern line, they'll attack. And once the Land of Wind joins the war, the Fourth Great Ninja War will officially begin."
Fire, Earth, and Lightning were fighting—yes—but each had deployed less than ten thousand troops. They were suppressing escalation.
If the war intensified, it would spiral out of control.
Finally, Hiruzen spoke.
"No southern reinforcement. And we cannot send the Uchiha again. I will send shinobi from the Sarutobi clan."
The others did not object. They had expected this outcome.
They couldn't touch the southern defense—Koharu had already explained why.
And they could not send the Uchiha again—not because Hiruzen cared about their feelings, but because the sudden command-switch was specifically to suppress them and block their chances at earning merit.
If the Sarutobi sent the Uchiha again and they won, it would effectively hand them a political ladder to climb.
So Hiruzen had no choice but to send his true loyalists—members of the Sarutobi clan. A heavy price indeed.
If Ino–Shika–Chō were royal guards, then the Sarutobi were the emperor's personal blade-bearing retainers. Sending them meant the situation was dire.
News of the unfavorable front quickly spread among the clans. The Uchiha, unsurprisingly, rejoiced. Some even celebrated in taverns, flaunting their low emotional intelligence.
But it was hard to blame them—anyone would be bitter after such treatment.
Uchiha Rokuro, however, would never be so tactless. These days he had been administering Qi Sea Seals to the clan. They had already collected over three hundred Uchiha genetic samples—far surpassing the Hyūga.
After finishing the seal administration, the three of them—Uchiha Rokuro, Uchiha Ashikaga, and Uchiha Izumi—began constructing optimal gene maps and producing genetic medicine.
A long, meticulous undertaking—at least a year or two. And because it involved themselves, they were extremely cautious, progressing slowly.
Still, between their work, they paid attention to the front.
After returning from the lab and washing up, the family of three sat together and chatted.
Ashikaga mentioned the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
"That Nii Yugito isn't dead, but at least three seal masters suppress her every day, constantly restraining the tailed beast's power."
Izumi munched on dango and asked, puzzled, "Why leave her alive? Why doesn't the Hokage extract the tailed beast and give it to one of our ninja?"
"Becoming a Jinchūriki isn't that simple," Ashikaga said. "If it were only sealing, sure. But a Jinchūriki must become a usable fighting force. That requires talent and unwavering loyalty—both at once."
Rokuro added, "They also need a powerful will. Remember, tailed beasts are basically given a life sentence once captured. They harbor resentment. And a Jinchūriki must endure that resentment and the hatred of others. Without a strong will, they will break."
"Is that so?" Izumi tilted her head.
Rokuro gave an example.
"Imagine if someone stood by your ear cursing at you, twenty-four hours a day. You can't beat them, you can't drive them away, and because of them other people blame you. How long can you last?"
"Three days and I'd probably go insane… No wonder it's so hard to pick a Jinchūriki."
Rokuro couldn't help laughing.
"Hiruzen and Danzō are wasting their time. Konoha won't keep the Two-Tails. They'll even have to return Yugito whole. Otherwise, I wouldn't have handed the Jinchūriki over so easily."
Shocked, Izumi and Ashikaga asked why, but Rokuro said they'd understand in a few days.
The next morning, Rokuro woke around 10 AM—they had been working all night, their schedule reversed.
After eating… whatever meal it counted as… he prepared to train in the Forest of Death. But Itachi and Shisui arrived.
Rokuro instantly felt irritated. Good thing he had eaten—otherwise they'd have ruined his appetite.
"I'm going to train. If you don't have anything important, don't bother me."
Itachi was about to speak, but Shisui stepped forward.
"Perfect timing. We also want to train. How about together?"
"Together? You came to train with me?"
"Yes. I heard from Itachi that you were amazing in the war. I'd like to see for myself."
Rokuro didn't know Shisui's intention, so he didn't refuse. He brought Izumi, and Shisui and Itachi followed to the Forest of Death.
They warmed up—completely pointless for Rokuro and Izumi, since activating Lightning Chakra Mode was far better. But they couldn't reveal that.
Rokuro had never revealed any offensive ninja tools while showing his true face—not even his eye-awakening tool, which he had explained away as a sealing method to Uchiha Kagami.
Only their family of three—and Orochimaru—knew about his true arsenal.
After wasting time warming up, Shisui suddenly challenged Rokuro to a spar.
Rokuro agreed and activated his double tomoe Sharingan. Shisui's was three tomoe. But Rokuro's body, refined with Lightning Chakra Mode, matched Shisui's speed and strength. Their taijutsu was evenly matched.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song!"
Dragon-headed fireballs shot from Shisui's mouth.
Rokuro reacted instantly, forming seals and slamming the ground.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Water rose around him, extinguishing the flames. As steam billowed, Rokuro's hands kept moving.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
He used the steam to form a massive water dragon that surged toward Shisui.
Shisui threw kunai—enhanced instantly with fire release.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Claw Crimson!"
The flaming kunai obliterated the water dragon.
Rokuro recognized at a glance: both shape and nature transformation were present—otherwise fire couldn't fuse with the weapons so tightly.
"Incredible. I give up—you win."
Rokuro was never fond of traditional sealing-based ninjutsu casting. He learned quickly because he had reverse-engineered chakra nature transformations via sealing, but he found it inefficient. Nowhere near the speed and power of his ninja tools.
Shisui stopped his attack.
"As expected, your ninjutsu is excellent. Is this the result of mastering chakra nature transformation?"
Rokuro gave him a look.
"Are you here to spy on me? Sorry—trade secret."
"Haha, no misunderstandings. I didn't come to test you. I came to ask you to go to the front lines with me."
Finally—his real purpose. Rokuro had suspected, but Shisui's level of simpiness still shocked him.
In Rokuro's eyes, Shisui was no longer just a "spiritually short man."
He was the ultimate simp—the type who would still love a goddess even after she cheated, aborted his child, and drained his money.
"Shisui… why would you come to me? Did you not see or understand everything that happened before?"
Shisui remained serious, like a devout believer.
"What happened earlier—yes, the Hokage was wrong. But those are internal issues. Right now, Konoha faces a crisis. We should set aside conflict and unite against the enemy."
"Hah. Admirable. Truly noble. I'm sure many naïve kids would be deeply moved by your speech."
Rokuro turned to Izumi.
"Izumi, what about you? What would you do? Would you agree to Shisui's request?"
Izumi tilted her head. "If someone sincerely apologized to me and acknowledged their mistakes and then asked for my help, I would agree."
Rokuro clapped loudly.
"Exactly! That's how normal people think. Understand now, Shisui?"
Shisui's face darkened.
"Rokuro, will you really ignore the greater good for personal grudges?"
"Hey now—can you not slap labels on people? What do you mean I only care about myself? Haven't I done enough for Konoha? Itachi is right here—he saw everything."
"In the capital of the Land of Hot Water, I discovered Kumogakure's trap beforehand, saving the strike squad from total annihilation. When we were outnumbered ten to one, I used the Curse Seal to synchronize Uchiha visual prowess and unleashed a massive genjutsu, helping everyone break through."
"If not for me, the entire squad would've died. And the whole village knows the story of me fighting the two Jinchūriki. Even the lofty Hokage acknowledged my achievements, promoting me directly from genin to jōnin."
"And yet you call me selfish?"
Shisui was speechless.
Rokuro was done entertaining the simp.
"Shisui, get the situation straight. It's not that the Uchiha won't go to war—it's that the Hokage won't let them earn credit. I'm an Uchiha. I'm on that list. If you don't believe me, go ask him whether he'll even permit me to step on the battlefield."
Rokuro took Izumi and left.
Shisui froze—he had never considered the possibility that Hiruzen himself wouldn't allow Rokuro to return.
He had swallowed his pride to beg Rokuro only because Rokuro's sealing abilities countered tailed beasts—and perhaps even the Six Paths tools.
Throughout this, Itachi hadn't spoken a single word. Now he finally murmured:
"Shisui… maybe we really should report to Hokage first."
Shisui spun around, startled.
"Itachi, you think so too? You believe Hokage is deliberately making things difficult for our Uchiha? Impossible. Hokage acts for the sake of the village. The only reason he sometimes targets us is because the Sharingan affects emotions. After all, the Sharingan is a cursed power!"
But Itachi only asked quietly:
"Does a 'cursed power' truly exist in this world? In times as chaotic as these… isn't having no power the most poisonous curse of all?"
A cold sweat rolled down Shisui's back.
For the first time, he felt as if the cabbage he had so carefully raised… had been taken by someone else.
No matter how Shisui tried to convince Itachi—no matter how he tried to correct the boy's "dangerous" way of thinking—the situation at the Lightning–Fire front line grew increasingly dire.
Even with reinforcements, under the threat of the Six Paths ninja tools and the Fourth Raikage, Konoha still couldn't break the stalemate.
Worse—because morale had plummeted, Konoha began to fall behind.
The frontline was being pushed back bit by bit.
Just as the situation turned even more disadvantageous, the Land of Lightning sent another messenger—bringing a letter addressed to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The contents were simple:
Return the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Nii Yugito, alive.
In exchange, Kumogakure would hand over more than ten captured Konoha jōnin
including Akimichi Chōza, the clan head of the Akimichi!
END OF CHAPTER
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