[Iwagakure]
"Still haven't found him?", Onoki's face was full of sternness.
The Iwa Anbu below also looked very grim, "Apologies, Lord Tsuchikage. Deidara can fly, and our people couldn't catch up, we lost track of him."
"Are you certain Kurotsuchi is with Deidara?"
The Anbu immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Lord Tsuchikage, many people in Yellow Rock City saw it."
"Kurotsuchi and Deidara were both on the clay giant bird."
Onoki's face darkened, but the sense of urgency in his heart lessened somewhat.
Deidara still cared about Kurotsuchi. At least there was no need to worry about her safety.
"Lord Tsuchikage, urgent intel!", An Anbu suddenly barged in and handed a piece of information to Onoki.
Onoki's heart skipped a beat, 'Could it be that Konoha has responded?'
He opened the intel and his pupils suddenly shrank.
The team led by Yugito from Kumogakure was defeated by Uchiha Rengoku alone, and even Yugito was captured alive.
Uchiha Rengoku's combat power was astonishing. Just a single fire-style shadow clone had a range of dozens of meters; ordinary ninjas couldn't even get close.
Onoki was extremely shocked. He had originally thought that if Konoha had internal strife, they could add fuel to the fire to test whether the Uchiha had greater ambitions.
Or perhaps, the Uchiha's actions were a way to seek allies.
Originally, several ninja villages testing Konoha together would put Konoha in a very passive position.
But now, even before Konoha mobilized anyone, Kumogakure had already been defeated and returned in disgrace.
Onoki had never underestimated the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
After all, Onoki had seen Madara's Susanoo when he was still a young boy.
That humiliation at the time, even after so many years, was still etched in his mind.
Although he later mastered Dust Release, Madara also disappeared without a trace.
Presumably, he had long since died.
But he hadn't expected Uchiha Rengoku, a seventeen-year-old boy, to possess such powerful eye abilities.
Onoki had always been cautious, and the team led by Kitsuchi was moving very slowly.
They were still wandering within a neutral country.
After seeing the news, Onoki immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Have Kitsuchi retreat to the homeland immediately."
"Yes!"
———
[Sunagakure]
They received the intel at roughly the same time as Iwagakure.
Rasa saw the intel and his brows furrowed deeply into a '\\\' shape.
"Trash!"
He cursed loudly and slammed the table hard. It wasn't easy for him to dig a pit for the Uchiha clan.
Yet Kumogakure had already fumbled so quickly.
Although Rasa hadn't yet received news from Iwagakure, he knew well that Iwagakure's Onoki was a very cautious man.
As soon as something unusual happened, he would definitely retreat.
Rasa walked up to the sand table and saw that Gaara's location had already moved to the outermost edge of Konoha Village.
That was also Uchiha territory.
Rasa's eyes turned sharp, he picked up a tea cup and walked into a side room.
The floor of this room was covered with many sealing formulas, and in the middle was an empty circle.
Over ten people sat around, all members of Sunagakure's sealing unit.
"Lord Kazekage," Seeing Rasa enter, the group immediately stood and saluted.
Rasa only nodded, "Break the seal early. Set the time for midnight."
The members of the sealing team looked at each other but dared not speak.
The leading captain merely replied, "Understood, Lord Kazekage. We will begin preparations now."
Rasa nodded, then placed the tea cup in the center of the circle and left the room.
The sealing team formed hand seals, and the array on the floor began to emit a faint gray light.
Some symbols and seals began to move along the ground.
Eventually, they flew into the tea cup.
———
[Konoha Orphanage]
Although there hadn't been a war recently, the orphanage was still overcrowded.
To ensure that the children in the orphanage had enough to eat, Director Yakushi Nono had to take on dangerous intel missions. In exchange for financial support for the orphanage.
The children here were all very young, in an age of carefree innocence.
Although life here was difficult, compared to wandering on the outside, the children were still content.
The aunties here were all strict on the surface, but soft-hearted.
Many children were now running around on the playground.
"Hee hee, come catch me!"
"You lost!"
"My turn, my turn!"
The laughter and cheerful voices of the children had the power to heal the heart.
Atop the treetops in the forest, a person wearing round glasses silently watched it all.
As long as the orphanage was functioning normally, he felt completely at ease.
Although he didn't see the director again this time.
But this mission's completion should support the orphanage for quite some time.
Yakushi Kabuto pushed his glasses and disappeared into the trees.
But he didn't know that the orphanage had always been under surveillance.
When he appeared, someone immediately recorded it.
"Round glasses, teenaged boy, it's probably him."
"I'll go check the direction he left in. You go report."
Hyuga Kone held looked at Yakushi Kabuto's retreating figure and quickly said to Hyuga Kawa beside him.
The Uchiha had previously asked them to help monitor the orphanage.
Now that they'd found the target, they immediately went to report to Hyuga Sota.
———
[Midnight]
Looking a little tired, Itachi finally arrived outside the Uchiha clan's territory.
Rengoku's shadow clone stood up from Itachi's shadow and took Deidara and Kurotsuchi from his hands.
These two kids were too young. They couldn't keep knocking them out, or if something went wrong, it would be trouble.
So the day before, they woke them up to let them get some fresh air.
As expected, Deidara immediately started thinking about how to escape.
Luckily, they had Rengoku's Fire-Style Heaven Prison Sealing Technique on them, or it would've been a hassle to catch them again.
Rengoku even let them run around a bit, get some activity, before appearing again and capturing them back.
It was only upon nearing the Uchiha territory that Rengoku lifted the seal and knocked them out.
Their return was even later than Fugaku and the others.
"Aren't you going in to take a look?"
"Izumi and Sasuke miss you."
Itachi was originally stationed outside by Rengoku, since he expected not to return home for a while.
"Better not. A brief reunion followed by separation again."
"I'm not suitable to return right now."
Itachi stared off into the clan's direction, his longing expression unclear whether it was for Sasuke, Izumi, or the Fugaku couple.
Rengoku knew Itachi felt conflicted, since he was preparing to massacre the entire clan.
Everyone looked at him with strange eyes.
Rengoku sent him out partially because he was capable and suitable for outside missions.
And also because after some time passed, or once Itachi made significant achievements, he could return to the clan.
Rengoku didn't really mind. A lot had happened lately, but not much time had passed.
Itachi was very capable and useful, there would always be things for him to do.
"Well then. Orochimaru is in the clan right now. That Otogakure of his doesn't have many strong ninja. If—"
BOOM!
A loud explosion echoed.
A towering shadow, dozens of meters tall, suddenly rose inside the Uchiha compound.
"Shukaku?", Rengoku froze.
'With Fugaku there, how did Shukaku go berserk?'
"GO! RETURN TO THE CLAN!"
Rengoku shouted, and Itachi didn't care about hesitation anymore, he flickered and followed Rengoku.
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