The snow finally stopped in the middle of the night.
The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and a cold moonlight, like liquid mercury, poured down, reflecting off the snowy ground with an icy glow. This cold brilliance sharply contrasted with the small, warm flickers of firelight. Despite the late hour, not everyone had fallen asleep.
Ninjas on night watch silently patrolled around the camp.
In the center of the camp, the main tent was brightly lit.
Sōgen sat inside the tent, holding the Banana Palm Fan, admiring it under the lamp. The smile on his lips clearly showed his good mood. Shisui, sitting beside him, was full of curiosity. "Sōgen, is this fan one of those legendary Six Paths tools?"
"That's right," Sōgen nodded.
"The Six Paths tools? If I remember correctly, weren't those the weapons of the Gold and Silver Brothers from the Cloud Village?" Uchiha Fugaku asked, surprised.
"That was the past. Now it belongs to the Uchiha clan," Sōgen replied with a contented smile.
The Banana Palm Fan hadn't disappointed him at all.
Its ability allowed the user to release any of the five chakra nature transformations—Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth—without regard to the user's chakra nature. However, Sōgen wasn't particularly concerned about the fan's offensive power, as he already had plenty of attack methods.
What he valued most was the profound mysteries of the five elemental chakra transformations that it contained.
After cleaning off the slime that had covered the fan from previous damage, Sōgen used the power of his Knights Never Die Barehanded technique to bring the fan under his control. From it, he was able to 'see' the essence of chakra nature transformations. He had already mastered all seven types of chakra natures: Yin, Yang, Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth.
However, due to limited time, he hadn't been able to bring all seven to the same level of mastery. Setting aside the special cases of Yin and Yang chakra, his most proficient element was Fire, thanks to his lesser-known talent, Magic Release: Flame.
Additionally, his Wind-style techniques weren't bad either, owing to his practice with Uchiha swordsmanship.
But his mastery over Water, Lightning, and Earth was still quite lacking, barely at a beginner's level. They were of little use in combat.
During his research on the Blazing Uchiha Fan, Sōgen had realized that in order to evolve his Sharingan into the Rinnegan, it wasn't enough to just merge Yin and Yang chakra. Mastery over all five chakra nature transformations—Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth—was also required, as this was a necessary condition for awakening the Rinnegan.
Yet most of Sōgen's attention had been focused on his Yang chakra training.
Even with the help of the Shadow Clone technique and Samehada replenishing his chakra, there were still limits. If he created too many clones, the accumulated fatigue would overwhelm even him, and his progress with Water, Lightning, and Earth remained slow.
That's when he thought of the Banana Palm Fan.
Though he had been slightly disappointed when Shisui had failed to acquire it earlier, fate had brought it to him in the end.
With this fan, his training in the five elemental chakra transformations was bound to become much more efficient. By studying the chakra transformation principles contained within, it would be like having a set of examples to follow. He could directly apply the corresponding formula, follow the steps, and achieve success!
"The Gold and Silver Brothers... their clan had a long history!" Fugaku remarked.
"Is that so?" Shisui blinked in surprise.
Most young people today had never even heard of the long-dead Gold and Silver Brothers, let alone their clan.
"They were as old a clan as ours—Uchiha, Hyuga, Senju, Uzumaki, and even the Kaguya clan. The so-called Six Paths tools were passed down through generations of that clan. What was special about their lineage was that every few generations, a pair of twins would be born—like the Gold and Silver Brothers. The names Kinkaku and Ginkaku, just like the Six Paths tools, were also passed down."
"But I've never heard of this clan's name," Shisui said, puzzled.
"Not all clans have surnames like we do. In Cloud Village, how many of the clans have surnames? And the same goes for Iwagakure and Sunagakure; customs are different." Sōgen explained casually. "The Uchiha surname itself only appeared about 800 years ago. Before that, we only had given names—no family name. You can read all about it in our clan's archives if you're interested."
"Reading those kinds of history books gives me a headache," Shisui frowned.
He mostly read ninjutsu scrolls, as his interests besides raising crows and sparring with others were focused on developing new jutsu. He rarely explored the other books in the archives.
"It wouldn't hurt to read more when you have the chance," Sōgen advised.
"Maybe later," Shisui responded dismissively.
Sōgen shook his head at Shisui's nonchalance, choosing not to press the matter. He set the fan down and turned to Fugaku, sitting nearby. "Enough small talk. Elder Fugaku, can you tell me more about your Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Fugaku's hand trembled, spilling a few drops of tea on the table.
However, he quickly regained his composure, glancing at Sōgen, who sat at the head of the table, and at Shisui across from him. His lips curled into a bitter smile. "I awakened it toward the end of the Third Great Ninja War. My closest friend sacrificed himself to protect me."
"And what about the Nine-Tails incident?" Shisui asked instinctively.
If Fugaku had the Mangekyō Sharingan, why hadn't he intervened during the Nine-Tails' rampage? If the Fourth Hokage had survived, the Uchiha might have had a different future. Though things were better now, the years of suffering the clan endured after the Nine-Tails incident were an awful memory.
"...At that time, the Fourth Hokage had been in office for less than a year, and the village's power was still controlled by the Third Hokage and Danzo. I couldn't take on both of them by myself," Fugaku explained.
Shisui opened his mouth but remained silent.
There was no point in saying anything now—it was all in the past.
Still, he was once again reminded that agreeing to join Sōgen in the clan's coup had been the right decision. Elder Fugaku's temperament wasn't suited for leadership. Even knowing that the Third Hokage and Danzo harbored resentment toward the Uchiha, he hadn't supported the Fourth Hokage.
Well, that's not entirely true.
If memory served, Elder Fugaku's wife had a good relationship with the Fourth Hokage's wife. But this method of forming alliances had been too subtle. And in the critical moment during the Nine-Tails attack, Fugaku had hesitated. As a result, the Fourth Hokage had died, the Third Hokage regained power, and the Uchiha clan's suffering only deepened...
Uchiha Fugaku didn't look well.
He had regretted many of his past decisions, including this one. His personality was such that, though he had tried to change multiple times, he never succeeded.
"There's no point in talking about the past."
Sōgen knocked on the table. "No matter what happened before, as long as the future improves, that's all that matters. Now that Elder Fugaku has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and it has been exposed, it's time to talk about some things."
About Uchiha Madara, or rather, Uchiha Obito.
Only a few high-ranking officials in Konoha knew about this matter, and even within the Uchiha clan, only Sōgen, Shisui, and Uchiha Genshi (who replaced Sōgen in high-level meetings during his expeditions) knew a little.
The rest of the elders, including Uchiha Fugaku, hadn't been informed.
"What is it?"
Uchiha Fugaku quickly suppressed his gloomy thoughts and looked at Sōgen in confusion.
He had thought that this late-night meeting was to discuss the Mangekyō Sharingan, especially since all three people present were Uchiha and had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. But there seemed to be something else, which piqued his curiosity.
Meanwhile, elsewhere under the same night sky...
Many were engaged in late-night talks by candlelight.
In the southeastern part of the Land of Earth, just ten or so miles from the border, the Iwa-nin army had set up camp. Unlike the Land of Hot Water, where the snow had stopped, the Iwa-nin were facing a sudden, massive snowstorm. Fortunately, they excelled in earth-style techniques and easily built high walls to shield themselves from the blizzard.
Kitsuchi entered the main tent, shaking off the snow that covered him and warming himself by the charcoal brazier.
"How's the situation outside?"
Ōnoki, leaning against his bed, was reading a scroll.
"Nothing major. The wind can't get in, but we can't stop the snow," Kitsuchi replied. The erected stone walls could block the wind, but they couldn't prevent the falling snow. If they used stones to cover overhead, they would trap themselves like sitting ducks.
"And what about heating? Do we have enough coal?"
"Don't worry, Father. We're always short on food, but we never run out of coal."
Ōnoki snorted. Of course, he knew the Land of Earth had plenty of mineral resources. There were several open-pit coal mines, but as Tsuchikage, he had to ask. If something went wrong with logistics and they didn't transport enough coal to the frontlines, even shinobi wouldn't withstand the cold.
The two fell silent, with Ōnoki reading and Kitsuchi warming up by the fire.
After a while, Kitsuchi broke the silence. "Father, Konoha's resistance is fierce."
"No kidding."
"Konoha's commander is Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. And on top of that, the Mist-nin have joined forces with Konoha."
"What are you getting at?"
Ōnoki shifted his gaze from the scroll to his son by the brazier.
"I want to ask, Father, how confident are you about our chances of defeating Konoha this time?" Kitsuchi met Ōnoki's sharp gaze, his simple and honest face displaying a will as resolute as stone.
"Konoha can't stop us. Jiraiya may be strong, but he's just one man. As long as we have Han or Roshi keep him occupied, Konoha will be easily defeated!"
"Don't forget about the Mist-nin."
Kitsuchi raised his voice in warning.
"That young Hozuki clan member is quite powerful. Then there's the Mist-nin who uses lightning-style jutsu, the Uchiha girl, and that White Fang's son... I'm not trying to overestimate them, but in yesterday's battle, we had the upper hand on the main battlefield. Yet in smaller skirmishes, we were at a disadvantage. If you calculate the casualties, we didn't really gain much."
The war along the borders of the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth had begun.
Thousands of Iwa-nin, Mist-nin, and Konoha shinobi were fighting in the mountains, hills, and plains. As Kitsuchi mentioned, Konoha, despite being outnumbered, was struggling on the main front. Ōnoki's Dust Release and the actions of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails jinchūriki were putting Konoha in a difficult position.
But aside from the main battles, both sides had nearly a hundred small units infiltrating enemy lines to disrupt supply routes and morale.
In these types of operations, Konoha shinobi excelled. Statistically, Konoha had the highest overall combat ability in the ninja world. In one-on-one or small-team skirmishes, Konoha was at a significant advantage.
The Mist-nin, skilled in assassination techniques and small-unit tactics, made things even worse for Iwa-nin. Within a few days, several Iwa-nin supply units had been wiped out, leading to significant losses of food and other supplies.
"Father, Konoha may have lost the Third Hokage, but they still have plenty of strength left!"
Kitsuchi urged.
He looked at Ōnoki, hoping the Tsuchikage would reconsider his previous decisions.
But—
"Let's wait and see."
Ōnoki lowered his gaze. "This war has just started. Konoha is burning the candle at both ends; they won't hold out much longer. However, we don't need to push too hard either. This blizzard came unexpectedly, so for the next few days, we'll ease up on our attacks."
Kitsuchi's words weren't without reason.
Truthfully, Ōnoki hadn't expected the Mist-nin to support Konoha so fervently, sending not just elite squads but over a thousand troops. This made Ōnoki deeply suspicious. What had happened in the Mist? Had the Fourth Mizukage gone mad?
Or was there something he didn't know? Ōnoki furrowed his brow, his eyes seemingly fixed on the book, though his mind had wandered, speculating about what was going on between the Mist and Konoha. How had the two villages allied themselves?
Kitsuchi's face twitched slightly.
This outcome wasn't ideal, but his words hadn't been in vain.
He sighed. For now, this would do. His father may be stubborn, but he wasn't unreasonable. Hopefully, when the Cloud-nin suffered a major defeat, Ōnoki would change his mind.