"Stop thinking about unnecessary things!"
Fugaku had been young once too. He had watched plenty of dramas, seen more than enough reckless fools charging around, so naturally he understood exactly what Uchiha Shū was plotting.
He wanted to push their victory further, infiltrate deeper into enemy territory, and strike the enemy where it hurt.
Fugaku had absolutely no intention of allowing it.
Such an action violated military discipline from the very beginning. Even if they somehow achieved impressive results, it would not erase the fact that they had ignored orders and acted on their own.
Fugaku was now, after all, the head of the Uchiha Clan. He had gradually begun to understand the way those in positions of authority thought.
Perhaps actions like these sounded heroic. Perhaps they carried the intoxicating flavor of individual glory, the kind of story that could make young shinobi's blood boil and send them charging forward without fear.
But to those standing above them, it was an extremely dangerous sign.
Because leaders did not look at a single person.
They looked at the whole.
If you ignored orders and went off on your own, then if you failed and died, you had only yourself to blame.
But what if you succeeded?
Would others begin copying you?
And if everyone decided they could ignore orders whenever they pleased, wouldn't the entire army descend into chaos?
If they no longer listened to my commands, then what comes next?
Are they planning to overthrow me?
Those who stood at the top usually possessed an extremely strong desire for control. They could not tolerate events slipping beyond their grasp.
Some might say such people were overly suspicious, that they thought far too much.
But Fugaku could say with certainty that anyone who did not think that far ahead would never remain in a position of power for long.
Unless, of course, you were someone like Naruto, who had literally saved the world.
Back to the matter at hand.
No matter how eloquently Uchiha Shū argued his case, Fugaku remained unmoved.
He gave the order to withdraw without hesitation.
After returning to camp, Fugaku dismissed the members of his squad and told them to rest and recover.
He himself went directly to Orochimaru to report everything that had happened during the mission.
"I already have a general understanding of what happened. You've worked hard, Fugaku."
Orochimaru spoke from the commander's seat.
Fugaku quickly replied, "It was nothing."
"Then I've finished reporting the mission. I won't take up any more of your time, Lord Orochimaru. I'll take my leave."
Fugaku gave a slight bow and turned to leave.
"Wait."
Orochimaru stopped him.
Fugaku turned back with a puzzled expression.
Orochimaru pulled a document from a file pouch and held it out.
"Take a look at this."
"This is...!"
Fugaku accepted the document, and the moment he read its contents, his expression changed sharply.
"That's right."
Orochimaru's expression grew solemn.
"This intelligence was sent back by ANBU agents we planted within Kumogakure. There is a strong possibility that the Hidden Cloud has deployed a jinchūriki."
"The Two-Tails' jinchūriki still lacks perfect control, so she is currently being kept inside Kumogakure. However, the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki has already mastered complete transformation and can freely wield the power of the tailed beast."
"Fugaku, you should understand just how dangerous that makes the situation."
Uchiha Fugaku's expression became equally grave.
"Indeed. If the Eight-Tails enters the battlefield, dealing with it will be incredibly difficult. I still remember the destruction Manda caused before."
Orochimaru gave a cold snort.
"The destructive power of a tailed beast is on an entirely different level from Manda."
"And our opponent is the Eight-Tails, second only to the Nine-Tails."
"That is an existence even more troublesome than a Kage."
Then Orochimaru abruptly changed the subject.
"Come to think of it, the Sharingan of your Uchiha Clan is supposedly capable of controlling tailed beasts, isn't it?"
"Your ancestor, Uchiha Madara, once controlled the Nine-Tails as though it were nothing."
His golden eyes settled on Fugaku.
"So tell me, as the current head of the Uchiha Clan... can you do the same?"
The instant Fugaku heard those words, cold sweat soaked his back.
His first thought was terrifyingly simple.
Did Orochimaru discover my Mangekyō Sharingan?!
But Fugaku had grown considerably over this period of time.
He forced himself to remain calm.
Thinking carefully about it, he had never revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan in front of outsiders.
Not even Uchiha Mikoto, the person currently closest to him, knew about it.
So Orochimaru should have no way of knowing.
Fugaku steadied himself and deliberately showed an ashamed expression.
"I am an unworthy descendant. I failed to inherit the power of my ancestors. It is truly shameful."
Orochimaru did not seem particularly surprised.
After all, looking through the entire history of the Uchiha Clan, only those two brothers had ever obtained power of that caliber.
As their bloodline passed through generation after generation and gradually thinned, awakening such abilities naturally became extraordinarily difficult.
The Senju Clan was no different.
Hadn't Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi himself, been the only one capable of awakening Wood Release?
Orochimaru frowned slightly in disappointment.
He remained silent for a while, then lowered his head and rapidly wrote something down.
A freshly issued mission order was soon placed in Fugaku's hands.
...
A gentle breeze passed through the forest.
Leaves rustled softly beneath its touch.
Then came a sharp whoosh.
Four figures suddenly appeared on a grassy clearing between the trees.
"Hahaha! I knew there was still one marker we forgot to retrieve!"
Uchiha Shū shouted excitedly.
"What incredible luck! We saved ourselves a huge journey!"
Uchiha Retsu sighed in amazement.
"No matter how many times I see it, this space-time ninjutsu still feels unbelievable."
Minato Namikaze smiled somewhat bashfully.
"All right. Let's get moving."
"We'll follow the direction those Cloud shinobi used to infiltrate..."
Fugaku's expression twitched slightly.
He truly had not expected this.
They had only just left this area not long ago.
And now they were heading straight back into enemy territory.
As for the irritation he felt...
How should he describe it?
Every time he looked at Uchiha Shū happily grinning beside him, Fugaku felt as though the brat was slapping him directly across the face.
But whatever.
At least this time, they had a legitimate reason.
They had received official authorization.
More accurately, they had received an official order.
Fugaku drew a slow breath and relaxed his body before speaking solemnly.
"From this point onward, we'll infiltrate along this route."
"Remember this."
"Our mission is extremely important, but preserving your lives comes first."
"Even with Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, we cannot guarantee absolute safety."
"After all, even Lord Second Hokage, the man who created the Flying Thunder God Technique, ultimately died at the hands of Kumogakure."
The atmosphere immediately became heavier.
"While carrying out the mission, memorize anything useful you see."
"Enemy troop numbers."
"Positions."
"Deployments."
"Anything you can remember may become valuable intelligence."
Fugaku's eyes then turned toward Shū and Retsu.
"And finally, our primary objective."
"Shū. Retsu."
"If either of you encounters the target, do not try to prove yourselves."
"Run."
"Immediately."
"The enemy is the Eight-Tails."
"This is not some ordinary shinobi like the ones we've fought before."
"We only need to determine one thing."
"Has the Eight-Tails truly entered the battlefield?"
"That is enough."
"Understood?"
The others nodded.
Fugaku said nothing more and moved to the front, taking the lead through the forest.
As for the mission scroll hidden inside his pocket...
Its contents could roughly be summarized as:
Confirm whether the intelligence concerning the Eight-Tails is true.
If it is...
Preferably assassinate the jinchūriki.
Fugaku had decided that he had only read the first half.
As for the second half?
He refused to even acknowledge its existence.
You want the four of us to infiltrate the enemy's military camp and assassinate their living war machine?!
Orochimaru...
You really have the nerve to write something like that!
Why don't you come and try it yourself?!
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