"That probably won't happen."
Yuu shook his head.
After these two rounds of offensive and defensive battles, Kirigakure's elite jōnin had already been nearly wiped out.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were practically reduced to a name only. Aside from the still-unseen wielder of the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei, the others were either lying underground or sitting inside Konoha's detention cells.
The losses among Kirigakure's middle- and lower-ranking ninja were equally severe.
Between those killed and captured, the number had already reached several hundred.
Under these circumstances, even if Kirigakure's leadership wanted to launch another offensive, it would be difficult to organize anything on a large scale.
At most, they would probably resort to small-scale harassment operations.
The only variable was Madara.
After appearing tonight, the man had only taken Rin away.
He hadn't attacked anyone else.
Even Uchiha Inabi and Tekka had merely been knocked unconscious rather than killed.
The reason was probably that Madara considered himself too important to bother bullying a bunch of juniors.
But…
if Madara's plan was disrupted and could no longer proceed according to his expectations, whether he could continue restraining himself from directly intervening was another question entirely.
Seeing that most matters had already been arranged,
Yuu turned and walked back toward the stronghold.
Tsunade followed behind.
On the other side,
Obito, Kakashi, and Kurenai, who were scattered around the battlefield handling various tasks, gradually noticed Yuu leaving.
They handed their work over to nearby Konoha ninja and quickly followed.
Shisui hesitated for a moment but remained where he was.
After all, this looked like an internal command meeting.
As an ordinary Uchiha without any official authority, he had no proper reason to attend.
If Deputy Commander Fugaku were awake, then he could naturally join in.
Unfortunately, Fugaku was still unconscious and no one knew when he would wake.
A few minutes later,
inside the stronghold—
in the same small meeting room being used as the command post—
several people stood or sat around a small square table.
Yuu coughed lightly and went straight to the point.
"I have some bad news.
"Rin was taken away by Kirigakure."
"…What?! So it really was them?!"
Obito was the first to widen his eyes.
"Why are those Kiri bastards so evil?! They already lost to us, and they still kidnapped Rin! They're completely heartless!"
Kakashi was briefly stunned as well.
Then his eyes narrowed as he recalled what had happened earlier and immediately caught the key point.
"Did it happen when that giant blue bird passed over the battlefield?"
"Yes."
Yuu nodded.
"That bird is called a Yatagarasu. It's a special type of summoned beast.
"The person who abducted Rin was riding on its back when it passed over the battlefield.
"He's extremely powerful…
"Possibly close to the level of the Five Kage."
Yuu didn't directly say Uchiha Madara's name.
After all, that information would be far too shocking.
And he had no evidence proving that "Uchiha Madara was still alive."
He couldn't exactly imitate the Great Toad Sage and claim that he had seen it in a dream.
Even if Tsunade and the others were willing to believe him unconditionally based on nothing but his words, they wouldn't be much help.
If anything, they might only drag themselves into danger.
If the people present were Namikaze Minato or Jiraiya, that would be different.
Those two genuinely possessed methods that could potentially deal with Madara.
So for now,
Yuu could only place the blame on Kirigakure.
Obito began pounding his chest and gritting his teeth in outrage.
Kurenai pondered for a moment, then raised her right hand and quietly asked,
"I have a question.
"Why would Kirigakure specifically kidnap Rin?"
"I mean, Rin is really capable, but she's still primarily a medical ninja.
"She isn't as important to the stronghold as you, Kakashi, or Shisui.
"If they went to so much trouble to take her away…
"what exactly do they gain from it?
"Could they be planning to use Rin to threaten us and exchange her for prisoners?"
"…It's hard to say right now.
"They're the ones setting the question, while we're the ones trying to solve it. I don't know exactly what they're thinking."
Yuu paused.
"But since they chose to capture Rin rather than kill her, she should still be safe for the time being.
"We need to finish dealing with the matters here as quickly as possible, then form a search-and-rescue squad and go after her."
"That's easy to say, but we don't even know where Rin is!"
Obito stomped his foot anxiously.
"We can't exactly run all the way to Kirigakure and ask them!"
"As for that…
"I do have a method."
Yuu exhaled lightly.
"I once left a special technique mark on Rin.
"It allows me to vaguely sense her condition and general direction.
"The farther away she gets, the less accurate the sensing becomes, but it should still be enough to narrow down the search area."
"There's a technique like that?"
Kakashi fell into thought.
"It sounds somewhat similar to Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God…"
Obito, meanwhile,
first looked delighted when he heard that they could locate Rin.
Then his expression froze.
Wait a second…
What did Yuu mean when he said he had "left a technique mark on Rin"?
Where had he left it?
Her back?
Her chest?
Somewhere else?
Had he placed it through her clothes?
Or…
when had this even happened?
Why didn't Obito know about it?!
The more he thought about it, the more wildly his imagination ran.
His mind had already been a complete mess because Rin had been kidnapped, leaving him unable to think normally.
Now, because of one casual sentence from Yuu, his thoughts began spiraling in a completely different direction.
His eyes gradually became bloodshot.
Even his hair seemed ready to stand on end.
Yuu was currently concentrating on sensing Rin's location and didn't notice.
Tsunade was the first to realize something was wrong.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Hey, Uchiha brat…
"What's happening to your eyes?!"
"?"
Several gazes immediately turned toward Obito.
He stood there with his hair practically bristling in rage, eyes wide open.
Inside his black pupils, crimson tomoe appeared.
The tomoe began dividing.
From two pairs—
to three.
Although they didn't rotate any further into a pinwheel-shaped Mangekyō pattern, even this much was already astonishing.
"Six."
Yuu could only respond with a single "6."
No, seriously…
This was enough to stimulate you into awakening your eyes?!
Wasn't this cheat getting a little ridiculous?
There was nothing like this in the original timeline!
Then again…
on this timeline, because of Yuu's sudden rise, both Kakashi and Obito had been pushed much harder than in the original story.
Kakashi had developed the Chidori Current.
Obito had received direct guidance from Uchiha Fugaku and learned a pile of Fire Release techniques he had never known in the original story.
He had probably also tried various methods to improve his ocular power.
For someone who originally had the potential to awaken the Mangekyō,
reaching the three-tomoe Sharingan early wasn't that surprising.
At once,
Yuu paused briefly before continuing.
"Later, I'll finalize the roster for the search-and-rescue squad.
"Kakashi, Obito—you two will probably be on it.
"Go back and prepare yourselves properly.
"Once the reinforcements arrive and we hand over the stronghold's defenses, we'll set out."
"Also, don't place all your hopes on the technique mark I mentioned.
"Over the next two days, send several reconnaissance squads outside to gather information.
"Post a bounty at the underground exchanges as well and search for traces of Kirigakure…
"We might get some unexpected results."
If Madara wanted the Three-Tails Plan to proceed smoothly, then he would inevitably leak some information and lure Konoha—especially Obito—toward Rin.
So the usual intelligence channels still had to be used.
They needed to cooperate properly with Madara's performance.
"Alright. I'll arrange it later."
Kakashi nodded.
Obito badly wanted to ask why they had to wait and why they couldn't leave immediately.
But Kakashi grabbed him and stopped him before he could speak.
Yuu didn't feel like explaining further.
He simply dumped the job of calming Obito onto Kakashi and watched the two leave the tent together.
Kurenai remained for a little while longer, then found an excuse to leave as well, heading to the medical unit to help.
At this point,
only Yuu and Tsunade remained inside the tent.
Tsunade stood nearby with her arms crossed, looking Yuu up and down without saying anything.
"…What?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
Tsunade nodded slightly and said seriously,
"Not bad.
"You're starting to look like someone who can command the battlefield and make decisions for everyone.
"Looks like serving as commander really does train people."
"Oh, that."
Yuu glanced at her and deliberately said,
"I'd rather not receive this kind of training.
"Since you're here now, Teacher Tsunade, why don't I hand the position of supreme commander over to you?
"I'll go back to being Kakashi and the others' squad leader."
"No, no, no."
Tsunade immediately waved both hands in refusal.
"That's a position the old man gave you.
"How could I steal my student's spotlight?"
After spending years comfortably away from the front lines, Tsunade had deeply learned one principle—
slacking off felt good for a while,
and continuing to slack off felt good forever.
Although this time she had half-voluntarily accepted Hiruzen's suggestion and come to the front with the reinforcements,
she had absolutely no intention of taking on any important responsibilities.
If she could simply act as a mascot, stay in camp every day, and do absolutely nothing—
that would be ideal.
Yuu more or less understood what she was thinking.
So after briefly suggesting that she "take over," he didn't push the matter.
However,
he unconsciously looked at Tsunade a few more times.
Today, she wasn't wearing her usual robe with the character for "gamble" on the back.
Instead, she wore a dark-green Konoha flak jacket.
For once, she even had a forehead protector on.
With this outfit, the lazy and decadent air around her had completely vanished.
She looked heroic and energetic.
She even seemed several years younger.
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
Tsunade asked.
"Never seen me dressed like this before?"
"I really haven't."
Yuu answered honestly.
"…Hmph. Little pervert. You learned that from Jiraiya, didn't you?"
Tsunade teased him.
Then, as though casually, she raised both arms and stretched.
"But I'll let it slide this time.
"If you want to look, then look a little longer.
"Consider it a small reward for how well you've performed on the battlefield lately."
"…?"
Yuu looked at Tsunade suspiciously.
Well…
she really was quite pleasing to the eye in this outfit.
As she stretched, the dark-green vest traced the curves of her excellent figure.
Even through clothing designed to conceal body shape, the enormous peaks on her chest remained exceptionally conspicuous…
It inevitably made one wonder what she would look like standing there without the uniform—
Cough.
Yuu swallowed and forcibly suppressed the inappropriate image that had appeared in his mind.
Then he returned to a serious expression.
"Right, Teacher Tsunade.
"There's something else I want to discuss with you."
"Hmm?"
"It concerns the Uchiha."
Yuu wanted to talk about Shisui and Fugaku.
Both had awakened the Mangekyō within the last two days.
And both had revealed their respective abilities in front of other people—
Fugaku's Amaterasu,
and Shisui's Susanoo.
For both the Uchiha clan and Konoha Village as a whole,
this was unquestionably a major event.
Moreover, Yuu was certain that after tonight, someone would inevitably send this information back to Konoha and report it to the Konoha F4—
or rather, the Konoha F3 now.
After all, Danzō had already been locked up.
From Yuu's perspective, this wasn't particularly troublesome.
Shisui was a hardcore dove, while Fugaku was an indecisive fence-sitter.
Expecting either of them to lead the Uchiha clan in open rebellion was basically impossible.
All Konoha needed to do was show a little goodwill and give the Uchiha some benefits.
Two Kage-level combatants could practically be won over for free.
However,
the Konoha F3 probably wouldn't believe things could be that simple.
So Yuu needed to talk with Tsunade in advance and prepare a response.
…
"Clan Head, you're awake?"
Inside the medical tent,
Uchiha Fugaku opened his eyes on the hospital bed.
The first person he saw was Yashiro sitting beside him.
Fugaku rubbed his temples and attempted to sit up.
"Yashiro…
"What time is it now?
"Have the Kiri ninja arrived?
"We need to report the intelligence we discovered to Captain Yuu immediately…"
"It's already over!"
"…Huh?"
What followed
was Uchiha Yashiro recounting everything that had happened from beginning to end.
Fugaku listened with a completely bewildered expression.
"What?!
"Captain Yuu captured Kirigakure's Six-Tails?
"And he killed Jinin Akebino and Kushimaru Kuriarare?"
"Huh?!
"Lady Tsunade arrived too, and personally punched Yagura Karatachi into the ground?"
Then—
"…You're saying Shisui also awakened the Mangekyō, used Susanoo in full view of everyone, and killed dozens of Kiri ninja in one attack?"
When he heard the final piece of news,
Fugaku first looked utterly disbelieving.
Then his entire body became energized.
He had thought that awakening the Mangekyō himself during this period was already extremely impressive.
He hadn't expected Shisui to be even more outrageous!
Not even twelve years old,
yet already capable of awakening the legendary Susanoo…
Talent like that was rare even across the entire history of the Uchiha clan.
He might even be comparable to their legendary ancestor—
Uchiha Madara!
"Hahahaha!
"As expected, my Uchiha clan continues to produce outstanding talents!
"When I look at my nephew Shisui, I see the bearing of our legendary ancestor!"
Fugaku slapped his thigh and burst into hearty laughter.
"Exactly! This is wonderful!"
Uchiha Yashiro enthusiastically agreed beside him.
"Clan Head already awakened the Mangekyō, and now Shisui has awakened it too!
"The heavens truly favor the Uchiha clan!
"Once this war ends, perhaps Clan Head can even compete with Lord Minato for the position of Fourth Hokage!"
~~~
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