Fugaku sat inside the camp on a wooden chair.
His head was lowered as he stared at the reports spread across the table.
Too many Uchiha teams had been lost.
If things keep going like this, I won't be able to control the people in the camp, Fugaku thought.
He let out a tired sigh.
"Clan Head… are you alright?"
An Uchiha shinobi had entered the tent.
He stopped when he saw the worry on Fugaku's face.
"Enma," Fugaku said, lifting his head slightly.
"Did you find anything about the sudden disappearances?"
Enma's expression tightened.
This matter had been troubling him as well.
"Clan Head, we investigated the area,"
Enma said. "But too many detonating talismans were used. The place has turned into a barren pit. There's no grass left."
Fugaku's face darkened as Enma continued.
"At some distance, we found many Mist shinobi bodies."
The loss of entire Uchiha units—
some of them Hawk squads—
was already serious.
Fugaku didn't know how he would face the Grand Elder after this.
"We believe it was a fully planned mission,"
Enma said quietly. "The Mist shinobi surrounded a large number of our clan members. In the end, those units used all their detonating talismans and sacrificed themselves."
Regret showed clearly on Enma's face.
Zankuro and his unit were among the few who survived.
Their statements matched the report exactly, confirming the suspicion.
Because of the lack of reinforcements, those Uchiha had to sacrifice themselves, Enma thought.
This wouldn't have happened if the village had sent help in time.
The more he thought about it, the heavier his chest felt.
"Clan Head… will the village send reinforcements?" Enma asked.
His voice was heavy.
He already knew this question would trouble Fugaku even more, but the sacrifice of those shinobi weighed on his chest.
Fugaku didn't answer.
He kept his eyes on the report, reading the same lines again in silence.
Enma waited, but no words came.
He could only stare at Fugaku's still figure.
So there's still no answer from the village, Enma thought.
Anger rose in his chest—
anger toward Konoha, and he regretted the Uchiha shinobis who had been lost.
"This will be the last time we ask the village for reinforcements," Fugaku said in a heavy voice.
"Don't worry too much about it, Enma."
Enma said nothing.
He only nodded.
Far from the camp, a group of Uchiha shinobi were moving toward a destination in the north.
"Senior Tatsuma, when will we reach the place?" Jinroku asked as he looked at him.
They had been travelling nonstop for more than six hours.
Jinroku, still a young adult shinobi, had never experienced this kind of journey before.
"Couldn't Uncle Koji give us a simpler destination?" Jinroku complained with an annoyed look.
"One that's easier to reach."
"Haha," a senior kunoichi laughed after hearing him.
"Jinroku, you're already tired after running this little? You're weak."
She glanced at Tatsuma with a teasing smile.
"Tatsuma, you're not training them properly. And here I thought, with that serious face of yours, you'd be a great teacher."
"Senior Seira is old and experienced,"
Jinroku said, looking at her with an innocent face.
"Unlike me. I'm still young."
"Pfft—"
Tatsuma couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
Uchiha Seira froze for a moment.
Then her expression darkened.
"Who are you calling old, you brat?" she shouted as she started chasing Jinroku.
"Sorry, Senior—but what I said is true!" Jinroku shouted.
The moment he saw the murderous look in Seira's eyes, he freaked out and ran faster.
"Just you wait, you brat!" Seira yelled, completely ignoring his apology as she chased after him.
The other Uchiha watching the scene laughed softly.
They were already used to Jinroku's loud mouth.
"Uncle Setsugan, what about the fourth unit? We haven't received any information about them," Tatsuma asked.
He looked at the shinobi leading them—
a man much older than the rest.
Setsugan glanced at Tatsuma as they continued moving.
"They're on a different mission," Setsugan said.
"They'll erase our traces from the battlefield. We only need to focus on escorting the Uchiha civilians safely to the Fire Capital."
His eyes kept scanning the surroundings.
Even while speaking, he remained alert, the sensory shinobi behind him doing the same.
As they moved, Setsugan remembered what Uzuku had told him earlier.
"Uncle Setsugan, you must take the civilians in secret," Uzuku had said.
"There's a chance something might follow you. You need to stay disguised at all times."
His face had been unusually serious.
"What do you mean by something?"
Setsugan had asked, confused.
"I don't know exactly," Uzuku replied.
"But it has the presence of Mokuton—
Wood Release. It's very good at hiding itself."
Uzuku paused before continuing.
"If it learns about the Uchiha or their location, the entire shinobi world will know about our plan."
Even now, remembering it made Setsugan uneasy.
An enemy like that…It was enough to make him stay alert every second.
"Just increase your speed," Uncle Setsugan said.
"We need to get there quickly."
Seira and Tatsuma nodded at once.
Jinroku nodded as well—
dark circles already forming under his eyes from Seira's beating.
At the same time—
Inside the Hokage's office in Konoha.
"So you called me here just to clean up your mess?" Tsunade said, looking at Koharu and Homura.
Koharu's face was already red with anger.
The argument had started the moment Tsunade stepped into the office.
"What do you mean, cleaning a mess?" Koharu snapped as she stood up.
"What have you been doing all this time except gambling and drinking? Now the village needs you, and you come in here with this arrogant attitude, Tsunade!"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"What did you just say, you old hag?" she said, rolling up her sleeve as she moved closer.
"The whole village knows this mess exists because of you people," Tsunade shouted.
"Your greed. Your failures. If you had done your jobs properly, none of this would have happened!"
She stepped right up to Koharu, shouting in her face.
Koharu trembled with rage, barely holding herself back.
"Tsunade," Jiraiya said quickly, stepping in. "Nothing will be solved if we don't sit down and talk calmly—"
He grabbed Tsunade's arm from behind.
That was a mistake.
Tsunade punched him without turning around.
Jiraiya flew across the room and slammed into the wall.
"You pervert!" Tsunade shouted. "Where do you think you're grabbing?!"
Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya lying there and sighed.
He rubbed his forehead, wondering—
again—
whether Jiraiya was truly fit to be an elder.
What am I going to do with you… Hiruzen thought.
"Tsunade," Homura said, looking at her, "what has happened has already happened. Fighting won't change it."
Tsunade didn't reply.
"You know the situation of the village now," Homura continued, his voice lower.
"We are on the edge of collapse. That's the only reason we called you back. Your name as a Sannin can restore at least some trust among the clans."
His eyes shifted briefly to Jiraiya… then back to Tsunade.
The word stayed unspoken.
Saying it out loud would only make things worse.
He let out a quiet sigh.
"You've seen the Uchiha pills, haven't you?" Homura asked.
Tsunade turned to him.
The moment she remembered them, her anger flared again.
"How could you allow the Uchiha to sell those supplies openly?" she snapped.
"Do you even understand what those pills are? They're not normal medicine. They're strategic supplies—things that can change the outcome of a battle."
Silence filled the room.
Koharu, Homura, and even Hiruzen felt it.
A quiet shame settled in.
"We didn't even know about them," Homura admitted.
"Not until the Uchiha themselves started promoting them."
Tsunade frowned slightly as she heard that. She looked at Homura, confused.
"But I just met the Nara clan head," she said.
"And other clan heads as well. They came to collect their pre-ordered supplies from the shop."
Hiruzen's expression grew heavy.
"The clan heads of Konoha knew about those supplies much sooner," he said slowly.
"They knew their value and advantage. But none of them told us."
For a moment, Tsunade was stunned.
Then her shock turned into a short, dry laugh.
"Wow," she said quietly.
"So you're saying every clan in Konoha now believes the village will take advantage of them or target them."
Her eyes shifted to Koharu.
"Just how big a mess have you created?" Tsunade continued.
"Even a single clan doesn't trust you guys anymore."
She leaned back and sat down, her gaze fixed on them.
"Shikaku only told me you were targeting clans to increase civilian strength," she said.
"He didn't tell me how far you pushed them."
She paused.
"So tell me—how much force did you actually use?"
Her stare felt sharp, like arrows piercing through them.
No one answered.
They didn't know how to defend themselves.
They didn't know what excuse to make.
"Tsunade, we only tried to empower civilian jōnin," Homura said weakly.
"By targeting clans," Tsunade replied immediately.
The excuse collapsed.
The room fell completely silent.
***************************************************************************************
Early access to [ 20 chapters ] ahead
Patr***n - hear_tteeth [18+]