c90: Cunning Mystery
In the days that followed, Uchiha Gen lived a deceptively pleasant life. Nishiyo Fujita provided luxurious food, rare tea imported from the Land of Iron, aged sake brewed in the old Uzushio tradition, and a quiet, heavily-guarded residence nestled within a converted Uzumaki warehouse. The lifestyle was more refined than the austere, duty-bound Uchiha clan compound back in Konoha.
This was despite Gen having refused many of the offered comforts such as being attended to by maids skilled in tea ceremonies or foot massages.
Uchiha Gen avoided unnecessary contact with people. When the day came to return to Konoha, he would erase all traces of his presence. The fewer witnesses, the fewer loose ends needing to be silenced by genjutsu, poisons, or targeted memory extraction.
What happened to the Fujita family after Nishiyo Fujita's death, and the fall of his trusted inner circle, was of no concern to Uchiha Gen.
Their fate would depend entirely on the strength and cunning of the next heir to emerge from the Fujita main line. If he proved competent, the family would continue to thrive. If he proved weak, they'd collapse into infighting or be devoured by rivals from Kirigakure's black market or Land of Rivers' rogue brokers. Either way, Gen would remain uninvolved.
He spent a third of each day training, sharpening his control over elemental releases—especially Wind and Fire and enhancing the synergy between his Sharingan genjutsu and the Soul-Soul Fruit. Another third was dedicated to controlled entertainment, such as reading battlefield reports from the Land of Lightning or studying sealing techniques from abandoned Uzumaki libraries. The final third he devoted to sleep and deep meditation, including occasional soul harvesting missions under the cover of night.
Nishiyo Fujita had proven to be a capable operator. Half a year passed without major incident.
"No major incident" here meant that no large village or underground organization had noticed anything. The actual captures weren't flawless prey occasionally resisted with explosive tags sewn into their skin or suicide seals reminiscent of Root operatives but the Fujita clan's ninja-samurai hybrid guards suppressed each one before damage could spread.
Despite being labeled as "thugs," many Fujita enforcers had real combat skills. Some were former Chūnin from minor villages like Takigakure, while others were wandering ronin from the Land of Iron, trained in kenjutsu.
When he felt the time was right, Uchiha Gen wrote a sealed message and delivered it through the Uchiha clan's covert trading network hidden within the merchant guilds of Uzushiogakure.
As one of the most powerful clans in the world, the Uchiha operated expansive covert networks, masked under commercial identities. They had legitimate trade in chakra crystals, enchanted tools, and even rare medicinal herbs across major capitals like Tanzaku Town, the Rain Capital, and Snow Port.
Three days later, Uchiha Fugaku received Gen's encoded message in the clan's secure room. After decrypting the seal with his chakra, he read it and his expression shifted from shock to restrained fury. He immediately summoned the clan's three senior elders to the war room for deliberation.
The final verdict was exactly what Uchiha Gen had predicted. He would launch a covert operation to retrieve the Uchiha clan members captured by Kirigakure and subjected to illegal experimentation possibly involving Hashirama's cells or chakra-suppressing tools.
Most Uchiha were stationed in Konoha's Police Force and couldn't just vanish from the village without explanation. Though rescuing kin was justified, coordinating with the Konoha higher-ups risked exposure especially if it was discovered that Kirigakure was behind the abduction.
But Gen and his "twin star" counterpart were operating outside the system. There was no need to involve the Sandaime Hokage, Danzo Shimura, or the ANBU.
This wasn't something to be proud of. If word spread, it could damage clan prestige.
Therefore, Fugaku's reply stressed: once the prisoners were rescued, Gen should use Uchiha-controlled networks to transport them. They were not to touch any official Konoha channel until they were near the village.
Near Konoha, trusted escorts would link up with Gen and quietly bring the survivors back. Afterward, Fugaku would manage the political fallout, controlling the narrative and isolating the intel leak to preserve the clan's image.
Gen agreed without hesitation. The clan leader's strategy matched his own.
After setting up the framework and vaccinating the survivors with suppressants to stabilize their chakra, Uchiha Gen led his team toward the research site.
That day, the weather was unnaturally calm, the sun glaring without a single cloud. Gen approached the disguised research facility, hidden beneath the ruins of an old Uzushio training hall, and engaged in a staged battle.
His soul projection fought against chakra puppets and reanimated guards controlled by modified Yamanaka techniques. Kunai and shuriken clashed, fireballs detonated like mini sunbursts, and wind-style blades sliced through trees.
After the illusionary skirmish, Gen retracted his spirit and carefully inflicted post-mortem wounds on the bodies: some with explosive tags, some with blade slashes, and others with clear elemental jutsu damage.
None of the corpses wore Kirigakure hitai-ate or the standard blue flak vests. Their identities remained ambiguous mercenaries, perhaps but the setting hinted at unauthorized activity in neutral territory. It was enough to blur the truth.
Satisfied with the illusion, Gen stepped into the subterranean base.
Though essentially a facade built from recycled ruins and modified chakra puppets, the base's layout had been optimized for deception hallways led to nowhere, seals hid the real lab behind false walls, and fuinjutsu traps masked the chakra signature of living beings.
Gen eliminated two heavily-modified human puppets probably reshaped from wandering shinobi captured months earlier.
Then he approached the sealed chamber where the captives were held.
Infusing his Kusanagi sword with wind chakra, he slashed.
Clang! Bang!
The iron doors shattered into four neat pieces, crashing to the floor. The sound echoed through the hall, waking the prisoners.
Uchiha Yuichi and Uchiha Mori opened their eyes. The familiar scarlet glow of a three-tomoe Sharingan met theirs. The brothers blinked then cried in recognition.
"Brother Gen...!"
"You're real? We thought"
Their tears spilled before the words could finish.
"I'm Uchiha Gen," he said, walking in.
"I'm Yuichi!"
"I'm Mori!"
"It's us—Brother Gen!"
Gen kneeled briefly and checked their vitals. "Good. You're alive. I thought... I'd come too late."
Clang, clang
With practiced swings, Gen severed the chakra-forged chains binding their limbs.
Yuichi and Mori collapsed forward, knees hitting the floor.
"Are you injured?"
"No, Brother Gen," Yuichi said, voice weak. "Just... haven't moved in too long."
"Yeah," Mori added. "Our chakra's dulled. But we're intact."
"Good."
Gen bit his thumb, performed the summoning hand signs, and pressed his palm to the floor.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu!
Boom!
A large puff of smoke revealed a white-scaled serpent half a meter thick and over ten meters long his personal summoning beast.
"Take them outside."
The python bowed its head, then slithered to the two prisoners.
"Hold tight."
"Thank you, Brother Gen."
They clung to the snake's body and rode along its smooth coils, vanishing into the exit tunnel.
Gen turned and took out several dozen explosive tags. One by one, he pasted them around the lab's key junctions walls, scroll shelves, corpse containers, and data terminals.
At the base entrance, he took a final kunai, attached a tag, charged it with chakra, and hurled it.
BOOM!
A deafening chain explosion erupted behind him as he walked away, flames swallowing the structure.
Outside, amid the fake battlefield, Gen rejoined Yuichi and Mori. Their weak figures leaned against the python.
Gen attached more explosive tags to the staged corpses.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
A column of fire rose. Earth scattered. No corpse remained intact enough for examination.
"Let's head to Whirlpool City and rest."
"We'll return to Konoha tomorrow through the clan's private network."
"Thank you, Brother Gen."
"We're family. No need for thanks."
"Let's go."
The white serpent slithered forward, steady and stable to avoid dislodging its precious passengers.
Uchiha Gen walked silently beside it, his eyes always scanning for ambushes—calm, cautious, and cold.
Just as always.
---
30+ advanced chapter on patreon....Visit patreon now to read my exclusive content... posting 5 chapters per day, Our collection is now available on PATREON
visit patreon.com/Elbertovic to view 30+ advanced chapters
Please subscribe guys