The recon team's primary mission was scouting. Relying on the superior vision granted by Ao's Byakugan, most team members were speed-oriented ninjas and were not particularly skilled in direct offense.
This was one of the reasons the Mist high-ranking officials had assigned Mei Terumi to the squad. Both her Boil Release and Lava Release were highly aggressive Kekkei Genkai with broad tactical applications, making her a candidate worthy of intensive cultivation.
"The enemy is twenty meters directly in front of the tent. They're approaching—fifteen meters, ten meters, five meters..." Ao pressed his index and middle fingers together, placing them against the right eye covered by his eyepatch. The veins at his temples bulged as he funneled chakra into the eye.
A stolen Byakugan was installed in his right socket. Although he hadn't possessed this trophy for long, he had already become proficient in its use.
As Ao continued to call out the enemy's position, everyone in the tent stood ready. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu were all primed; the moment the enemy dared to burst through the entrance, they would be met with a relentless barrage of attacks.
The interior of the tent became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The chaos outside seemed to belong to another world entirely. Everyone watched the door curtain with rapt attention, and a single bead of cold sweat rolled down Mei Terumi's forehead.
Whoosh...
A soft breeze blew, lifting a corner of the door curtain and carrying in a cloud of dust.
The group was startled, but no enemy was in sight. In the midst of the confusion, the already nervous Mei Terumi's hands shook, and the jutsu she had been holding back suddenly surged forth.
"Lava Style: Melting Apparition Technique!"
A massive volume of yellowish-brown liquid erupted from Mei's mouth, instantly swamping the tent's entrance like a surge of molten lava. The highly corrosive acid was extremely viscous; even a Susanoo, known for its ultimate defense, would melt away in a short time if caught by this yellow sludge.
The yellowish-brown muck submerged the curtain, affecting nearly the entire area around the entrance. The thin fabric vanished in an instant, and the ground began to hiss, releasing thick plumes of white smoke as it was eaten away by the acid.
"Is he dead?"
"What incredible power... the little lady is getting more formidable by the day."
"Is the enemy still alive?"
"Captain, why aren't you saying anything? Captain...?"
When the team members failed to receive a response from Ao, they instinctively looked back, only to see a strange yet familiar figure standing behind him, smiling at everyone.
The enemy had somehow managed to sneak in undetected and had taken Captain Ao hostage the moment he appeared!
They were all too familiar with Makiya's face. As a recon unit, obtaining the identities and deployments of powerful enemy ninjas was a vital part of their mission. They had studied the likenesses of Makiya Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Minato Namikaze, and the Sannin countless times to ensure they could identify high-value targets instantly during scouting.
Furthermore, Makiya was a ninja with a notorious reputation. He had collaborated with others to kill the village's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and the precious ninja blades had yet to be recovered.
For the Hidden Mist, Makiya was a mortal enemy at the very top of their list—the kind of man they dreamed of killing every single night.
Unfortunately, they couldn't.
Mei Terumi was the first to react, her hands moving through rapid seals as she prepared a high-temperature corrosive solution in her mouth. "Lava Style: Melting App—"
Her eyes inadvertently met Makiya's gaze. Suddenly, a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan seemed to expand within her mind, as if a moon from the sky was reflecting directly into her brain, leaving nothing else in the world.
Mei stared at Makiya with a face full of frustration before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.
The other recon ninjas fainted along with her, their bodies slumping to the ground in a tangled heap, not even waking when their heads hit the dirt hard.
Ao took a deep breath. His subordinates had been wiped out in an instant, and he himself was being held captive with a hard object pressed firmly against his lower back. His opponent's vigilance was clearly very high.
The situation was grim. The battle had ended before it even truly began; the enemy's strength surpassed all imagination.
"So it is the Fiery Hell Arsonist himself... I suppose there is no shame in losing to you."
Ao seemed to have resigned himself to fate, letting out a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes and waited for death.
Makiya snorted as he gripped Ao's throat and threw him violently to the ground, the man's flesh and bone making heavy contact with the dirt and creating a slight crater.
"I've been meaning to ask... just who came up with that cursed nickname for me? I really want to send them some local specialties as a thank-you."
Although Makiya had carved out a new title and reputation for himself elsewhere, the Mist side stubbornly stuck to the old designation.
"Heh. Don't think you'll get a single scrap of intel from me." Ao silently monitored the sounds outside, estimating the arrival time of reinforcements while attempting to stall Makiya's actions as much as possible.
"If you won't say it, I'll take it myself." Makiya's eyes widened, and a massive amount of ocular power surged through his focused gaze, invading Ao's mind in an instant.
The violent intrusion triggered a fierce resistance from the host's mind. Madara Uchiha's lingering ocular power within Ao's brain fought back desperately, clashing with Makiya's own power.
The collision of ocular powers caused Ao unbearable agony. Two currents of cold energy rampaged through his mind, causing memories to flash by in a frantic blur, like a revolving lantern of his life story.
Ao was the only variable within the Hidden Mist and held a position far too critical to be eliminated directly. To control him, Madara Uchiha had implanted a much larger amount of ocular power than he had for the others.
However, that power was ultimately a finite resource. Under Makiya's relentless assault, it began to crumble. In a final act of defiance, the residual power detonated within Ao's brain.
A trail of blood trickled from Makiya's right eye. His delicate optic nerves had been damaged, but they slowly began to mend under his powerful regenerative abilities.
Madara's ocular power had counterattacked fiercely; it chose self-destruction over being slowly consumed and dissipated by Makiya. Makiya had realized it a moment too late to withdraw his own power and was shaken by the blast of the detonation.
When it came to the application of Sharingan techniques, Madara Uchiha was still the superior master.
"Hehe... heeheehee..." Ao was the one most severely affected. The instantaneous explosion of ocular power had completely shattered his brain. He now sat there with saliva trailing from the corner of his mouth, looking entirely mindless.
Ao had bid farewell to all his worries, reduced to a complete simpleton.
Makiya felt not a shred of sympathy for Ao's plight. Kindness to an enemy was cruelty to oneself; Ao had been active throughout the Third Shinobi World War and had killed many Konoha ninjas.
Releasing his grip, Makiya reached out and tore away the eyepatch from Ao's right eye, intending to take the precious Byakugan.
A Byakugan from the Head Family was different from those of the Branch Family. A Byakugan not restricted by the Caged Bird Seal provided a true 360-degree field of vision, whereas a Branch Family eye had a one-degree blind spot at the center of the back, making attacks from behind invisible.
Thinking of this, the image of Neji Hyuga flashed through Makiya's mind. Truly a tragic soul, dying from being impaled by a Ten-Tails' splinter.
The moment Makiya's fingers touched the Byakugan, the two yellow papers attached to Ao's earrings emitted a brilliant light. These were specialized seals placed by the Hidden Mist to prevent enemies from seizing the eye.
Such a trivial seal could not stop Makiya. He gripped the yellow papers marked with sealing formulas, and a counter-seal appeared in his palms. In the clash of techniques, the yellow papers spontaneously ignited and vanished into ash.
With the seal broken, Makiya successfully extracted the Byakugan. He pulled a clean test tube from behind him, dropped the eye in, and tucked it away securely.
Ao continued to smile foolishly, even as his eye socket bled profusely, as if he could no longer feel pain.
The mental clash had completely destroyed his consciousness; even if he were 'healed,' he would remain a drooling vegetable.
With a burst of flame, he sent the mindless man to his final rest, returning dust to dust, and walked out of the tent to look toward the horizon.
A familiar presence was approaching. The main player was about to take the stage.
No matter what Madara Uchiha was planning, killing him would solve half of the problem. This time, Makiya wouldn't let him escape.
The surrounding Mist ninjas caught sight of Makiya and began to whisper fervently.
"Is that him? That Uchiha?"
"Who?"
"Did you forget? It's the Fiery—"
Before the man could finish, Makiya shot him a lethal glare, causing him to swallow his words and stumble backward.
The leaders of the major clans who had regained their senses were utterly shocked. The commotion spread throughout the entire Mist base. After comparing notes, they realized that the great Hidden Mist had unknowingly become a collection of puppets, with nearly all high-ranking officials compromised without their knowledge.
In their memories, the last thing they saw before sinking into darkness was a man in a white coat staring at them with the Sharingan.
After that, everything was a blank.
The Sharingan was the symbol of the Uchiha clan; the two were practically synonymous. Konoha's scheme ran deep if they could control the entire Hidden Mist without anyone noticing, but... it didn't make sense.
If the Uchiha had controlled the Mist, why would they choose to go to war with Konoha? What kind of game were they playing? The clan leaders found the situation bizarre from top to bottom.
Was Konoha fighting itself? Internal strife? Or a coup?
When Makiya appeared openly in the camp, the entire Mist camp boiled over. One by one, Mist ninjas surrounded him, glaring with eyes that wished to tear him apart.
However, under the restraint of their respective leaders, the Mist ninjas did not act immediately, choosing instead to watch silently from the sidelines.
On a deserted small island three kilometers away, the aged Madara Uchiha sat on a wooden stool, holding a fishing rod as he sat quietly by the sea. The line extended deep into the water, bobbing with the waves.
Despite his unprofessional form, gear, and choice of location, the fish basket beside him was overflowing with sea fish jumping around.
"Lord Madara, our arrangements have been discovered." Black Zetsu emerged slowly from the ground beside him.
"It doesn't matter. It was expected." Madara casually tossed aside his fishing rod. He had heard fishing was interesting, but after trying it himself, he found it mediocre and lacking any sense of achievement.
"How are the preparations on Nagato's end?" Madara asked offhandedly.
"Everything is proceeding according to your arrangements."
"Good. Tobi, come up."
At Madara's call, the White Zetsu known as Tobi, who had been submerged in the sea attaching fish to the hook, surfaced immediately and rode the waves to stand before Madara.
"It's the final battle. I hope this junior of mine can provide some entertainment," Madara muttered to himself, his eyes burning with the desire for combat.
White Zetsu Tobi obediently encased Madara within his body. His form spiraled and solidified, creating a hard, pure white shell that revealed only a pair of slowly rotating Sharingan.
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