Chapter 81 Uchiha and the senju
"Umu!"
'Kushina,' who was actually Uzumaki Yusuke in disguise, responded dully.
There was a loud bang, his transformation broke instantly. Uzumaki Yusuke returned to his original appearance as the henge no longer held, his expression shifting from bitter to resigned before he finally sighed aloud.
"Oh… so Akira was right."
Across from them, the Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish Ghost stood frozen. Nothing made sense anymore. This mission an attack on the Land of Whirlpools was part of the Five Great Nation's coordinated effort. How the hell did Konoha have the audacity to interfere?
"Shit…"
His eyes widened in realization. With the [God of War] under their banner, Konoha didn't fear retaliation from the other villages anymore. This whole damn thing had just been bait.
"Did Konoha throw out the land of Whirlpool to lure us? Are they planning to unify the entire shinobi world?"
Panic lit up behind his eyes. The moment that thought took shape, he spun on his heel and roared with everything he had in him-
"Retreat!"
Mist surged around him as he activated the Mist Concealment Technique to mask his body. The instant it thickened, his figure vanished into it and he sprinted away without hesitation.
His shout served as permission for the already frightened Mist Ninjas to bolt without shame. They took off with full force, each one running harder than they ever had before-so much so that several of them overtook their own commander on the retreat.
Back on the battlefield, Kakuzu watched them scatter with measured calm. Dawn-colored light shimmered in his stare as he raised both hands slowly and flexed his fingers outward.
"If I just stand by and watch, how would I ever have the face to follow Lord Akira again?"
He clapped both hands together. A second later, chakra surged from his body into the prepared sealwork, light burst from his arms and hissed across the sea like missiles raining from heaven. They slammed into the ocean one after another-
BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…
Flashes lit up water and sky alike-each explosion cracked across the waves with screams trailing behind them until eventually... there was silence.
Kakuzu exhaled through his nose, satisfied.
"Nine million ryo… not bad."
…
Back in Konoha, tension coiled tightly in the Uchiha compound's meeting hall. Every elder sat tall, hands folded with discipline-but the atmosphere couldn't be colder.
"Is this information confirmed?"
Uchiha's clan head looked down from his seat at the head of the room. The calmness in his tone held no warmth at its edges-only scrutiny.
"Yes," replied Uchiha Tatsuo. "It came directly from Lady Mito."
Tatsuo's relationship with her had always kept him closer to relevant intelligence than most, even among high-ranking officers and few doubted him now.
"What's your opinion on this matter?"
Uchiha Chen stood up immediately-the weight of frustration already clinging to his words when he spoke.
"The Uzumaki were attacked by Kirigakure. They are our allies and Lady Mito's family. We Uchiha cannot stand by and do nothing."
His words earned slow nods across the table. The Uchiha clan's position in Konoha had only stabilized because of Akira Senju's efforts. Looking away now would make them look weak and ungrateful-no one would respect that.
"But what about Hokage-sama?" someone else interrupted. "Konoha itself wasn't attacked. If we try to act without orders, even with good intentions it could be seen as betrayal."
"Do you expect us to wait two days while they're slaughtered?!"
Both voices clashed across the room as others joined in matching tones. Tension mounted until-
"Enough!"
Their clan head's shout cut through everything like steel scraping granite.
Silence fell again... hard and fast.
He looked across at Uchiha Chen and pointed at him sharply.
"You are not to speak further on unauthorized troop movements," he said. "You will not interfere again."
"But!"
"No buts! We Uchiha will not risk our place in this village. Are you clear?"
Chen clenched his jaw but lowered his head with stiff reluctance. The order was final-and no one disobeyed their patriarch here without consequence.
After several seconds passed, the clan leader shifted tones slightly a flicker softer now as he reached for a scroll tucked into his robes.
"Since you have so much energy, I'll assign you to another duty." He held it out and dropped it into Chen's hands. "Lead your team on this mission."
It unrolled in Chen's hand easily since the strap wasn't closed tightly-and black ink revealed its contents plainly:
[Name: Matsushita Hirato
Crime: Theft
Location: Songping...]
Chen's breath caught in his throat. Songping, that was near Uzushiogakure's territory.
He glanced up quickly. "Master Patriarch…"
No emotion showed on the clan leader's face when he looked back at him, but his next comment left no room for interpretation.
"The border has gotten dangerous lately," he said evenly, "so take extra personnel with you." (T/N: 💀💀)
"Yes sir!"
Chen bowed deeply before rising with unwavering purpose now etched into every step of his movement.
…
Meanwhile, over at the Senju compound-their response was already organized and armed by comparison.
They had heard about Whirlpool and unlike the Uchiha, they weren't bogged down by protocol or waiting for Sarutobi's approval to act. By the time Uchiha Chen assembled his carefully assigned team, the Senju were already packed and waiting on their own clan grounds.
"Took you long enough."
"Honestly thought you weren't coming."
Their greetings lacked venom-they were rougher versions of camaraderie forged through shared experience from dozens of previous joint missions between clansmen who knew each other well enough by now to be blunt without offense.
"Let's move out!" someone called from one side.
"Hold it!" Senju Momori snapped as she moved toward Chen and blocked him before he could lead anyone off just then. "Lady Mito said someone important is coming to lead us personally."
"We know where we're headed," Chen argued back gruffly, "we don't really ne-"
Before he could finish, someone behind them spoke softly over both voices.
"I'm really glad you came."
Both Chen and Momori froze where they stood, eyes wide and breath suspended mid-motion as they turned toward the sound that hadn't reached their ears in over ten years.
"…Lord Akira."
(T/N: HOLY SHIT! MC DID A FUCKING BIG BRAIN DEDUCTION ON CHAPTER 126! LIKE HOLY SHIT! I DIDN'T EVEN EXPECT THAT FUCKING PLOTWIST AND I'M THE TRANSLATOR! LIKE IT EXPLAIN EVERYTHING ABOUT THE FUCKED UP TIMELINE AND SHIT.... holy molly...)
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