Beneath the bird-beak mask, Uchiha Hatoha frowned slightly. If one were to judge whether today's operation had gone smoothly… then, broadly speaking, it had. His primary target, Hōzuki Mangetsu, had already fallen by his own hand.
Only, as the saying goes, "raking the grass to flush out the rabbit"—while he was at it, he had hoped to sweep up Konoha's Fifteenth-Generation Ino–Shika–Chō as well as Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen in one stroke.
After all, his Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu, Amenoyagōmimi no Mikoto, required the souls of the strong to exert its full power.
What he had not expected was that among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, there would be such a tough opponent as Koeda Kyoichi.
"Earth-Walking Yaksha…" Uchiha Hatoha murmured. "That strength truly lives up to the name Yaksha."
Though his brow remained tightly knit, a spark of fighting spirit and desire rose in his crimson eyes. Koeda Kyoichi's difficulty did not unsettle him in the slightest. On the contrary, Hatoha found the man's abilities genuinely impressive—impressive enough to serve as material for Amenoyagōmimi no Mikoto.
Of course—
It would likely be impossible today to claim Koeda Kyoichi's soul and bind it under his dominion. But the Eye of the Moon Plan had never been something to be completed in a single day. There was no need to rush. If Koeda Kyoichi was beyond his grasp for now, there were plenty of other suitable prey in the world.
He turned his head.
Along the mountain path from which he had come, a massive serpent was gliding silently forward, following the winding trail at astonishing speed.
With his keen eyesight, Hatoha could already vaguely make out several figures standing atop the serpent's head.
Especially the three at the front—
None of them were strangers.
"The Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Namikaze Minato…" Hatoha muttered. "This really is an all-out deployment. Is Konoha not afraid of its home being attacked while they're away? …Ah, right. The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki is still guarding the village, and with Minato around, returning to Konoha would take but an instant."
Watching the giant serpent approach at full speed, there was no trace of fear beneath his mask. Instead, he continued speaking softly to himself.
By the end, he could not help but grumble,
"Space-time ninjutsu really is a fine thing. Looks like… Amenoyagōmimi no Mikoto will need space-time techniques as well!"
His gaze drifted involuntarily to Minato, standing atop the serpent.
In his heart, temptation stirred.
This man, like Kyoichi, was prime material—perfect for strengthening Amenoyagōmimi no Mikoto.
As the distance closed,
The Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Minato could all clearly see the Uchiha concealed within the purple-black Susanoo. Unfortunately, the man wore a bird-beak mask and a loose black robe, making it impossible to discern his true identity.
Even though there were sensory-type ninja present—and even Shisui, the rising star of the Uchiha clan—
It was still futile.
Hatoha had always been an inconspicuous figure within the clan, with little interaction with his kinsmen. He had no real ties with Shisui, the descendant of Uchiha Kagami. Moreover, after transplanting the limbs of a White Zetsu, his chakra signature had undergone drastic changes.
Even an acquaintance might struggle to recognize him now, let alone a group in which none knew him personally.
"Shisui, no good?"
Standing atop the serpent, Minato asked quietly.
"I'm sorry, Minato-senpai," Shisui replied with clear frustration. "This person's chakra… I truly have no recollection of it within the clan."
He felt deeply disappointed in himself, convinced he had let down Minato's expectations and recommendation.
Earlier that night,
Konoha had received an emergency transmission from Yamanaka Inoichi, reporting the events unfolding at Kogaku temple on Imoni Mountain and urgently requesting reinforcements.
In an instant,
The village's upper echelons were thrown into upheaval.
The Third Hokage gathered a group of elite shinobi and personally led them to Imoni Mountain. Their rapid arrival was thanks entirely to Minato. And since the attacker of the Kirigakure diplomatic mission was an unidentified Uchiha, Minato had recommended bringing Shisui along, hoping he might recognize the culprit.
Unfortunately, that hope was dashed.
"No recollection…?" Minato murmured, somewhat disappointed, though not deeply so. He looked at Shisui and said gently,
"Shisui, even having no recollection is still a gain."
This was not mere consolation.
Though young, Shisui—descendant of Uchiha Kagami and a prodigy from childhood—held remarkable standing within the Uchiha clan. His influence arguably even surpassed that of Fugaku, the clan head.
It could be said that among the Uchiha's jōnin, there was no one Shisui did not know.
Since Shisui had no memory of this man, and Minato trusted that Shisui would not lie, it suggested that this Uchiha was likely one of the clan's jōnin who had been killed or gone missing in recent years.
Investigating his true identity would require approaching the matter from other angles.
As these thoughts turned over in his mind,
Minato shifted his gaze toward the silent Hokage beside him.
How to proceed would require the Hokage's command. Minato could offer advice, but the final decision was not his to make.
Only—
At that moment, the Third Hokage was staring blankly at the purple-black Susanoo ahead, as though he had not heard a word of the exchange between Minato and Shisui. And it was not only the Third—Orochimaru's eyes burned with feverish intensity as well, as if he wished to devour the unidentified Uchiha whole, flesh and bone.
"Mangekyō Sharingan… Susanoo…"
As they drew ever closer, the Third Hokage finally came back to himself, letting out a long sigh.
"I never thought that at my age, I'd live to see this again."
At the same time,
He cast a sidelong glance at his most beloved disciple.
The intelligence Yamanaka Inoichi had transmitted through secret channels had not only reported the Uchiha's attack at Kogaku temple—it had also mentioned that this Uchiha had used Wood Release, a kekkei genkai…
This information,
He had temporarily kept to himself.
It was not that he intended to bury it entirely. Rather… he had already begun to suspect that this mysterious Uchiha might not be a "true" Uchiha at all. Perhaps—
This matter was connected to Danzō and Orochimaru.
And so,
He chose to withhold the information for now, planning to capture the unidentified Uchiha first, investigate thoroughly, and only then decide on the appropriate course of action once the truth was clear.