Long after Naruto disappeared through the gates of the Shinobi Academy alongside his mother, Kushina, Takuno finally withdrew slowly from his complex thoughts.
Right now, he could only determine the general direction of the future, yet he was unable to accurately confirm every single detail.
Just like Naruto having both parents alive and Sasuke whose clan was not wiped out—what would their development be like?
It was actually rather interesting...
In an instant, two entirely distinct yet equally powerful figures flashed across Takuno's mind.
There was Uzumaki Menma, who ultimately raised a terrifying storm within the "Limited Tsukuyomi" illusion world, and the wildly arrogant and unbridled Sasuke within Tenten's "Infinite Tsukuyomi" world.
Ultimately, he shook his head; in the end, those were merely a branch among thousands of possibilities.
Along with a soft sigh, Takuno stretched his body, which then transformed into a puff of silent white smoke and vanished on the spot.
Almost at the exact same moment, located inside the Konoha Anbu Headquarters office, Takuno's main body also received the imagery witnessed by his shadow clone.
His fingers unconsciously tapped against the hard, wooden grain of the desktop.
Kushina's intuition was not wrong; at this very moment in the Uchiha clan grounds, an unexpected storm had descended.
The bloody conflict had, in the end, inevitably erupted.
The Anbu squad led by Itachi, while executing a routine patrol mission within the village, had actually been surrounded layer upon layer by a group of radical clansmen right inside their own clan grounds.
At first, it was a fierce clash of words; accusations and curses flew through the air like venom-dipped arrows.
Itachi endured the anger and incomprehension from his clansmen in silence, attempting to suppress the boiling emotions with rationality; he had long since grown accustomed to these accusations and curses.
However, the radical faction seemed to have been prepared for this long ago.
Very quickly, the intense argument rapidly escalated into physical altercations, which further evolved into a sizable, blood-scented brawl between two sharply opposed factions within the Uchiha clan!
The gleam of blades and swords flashed, and the booming detonations of ninjutsu tore through the oppressive air above the clan grounds.
A corner of the Uchiha clan grounds had now become a chaotic battlefield.
To make matters worse, Shisui—the crucial figure who could truly suppress this disturbance in an instant with his strength and who possessed the Mangekyo—happened to not be in the village at this moment.
Relying on the sole strength of Fugaku under such an out-of-control situation appeared completely pale and powerless.
His majesty, which symbolized the authority of the clan head, had collapsed with a crash and vanished into thin air in the eyes of the radicals from the very moment he allowed the Anbu to enter the Uchiha grounds for the sake of the clan!
In the hearts of these clansmen whose eyes were blinded by narrow "clan glory," Fugaku had long ceased to be their leader, but was instead a coward who chose to beg for mercy from Konoha's higher-ups at the expense of sacrificing Uchiha interests just to live in peace!
"Make Uchiha Fugaku step down! He doesn't deserve to be the head of the Uchiha!"
Such roaring shouts rose and fell one after another within the chaotic crowd.
The conflict was like a runaway horse, wilding racing toward the abyss of losing total control.
By the time the Hokage, Minato, received the emergency report, the situation had already deteriorated to a point where he, the Fourth Hokage, had to personally step forward to intervene, and could even only resort to armed force to pacify it.
This was the realistic reason why Minato failed to appear at Naruto's enrollment ceremony today as agreed.
Faced with a greater crisis that could potentially erupt within the village, that promise to his child could only be temporarily shelved to one side at this moment, accompanied by deep guilt.
Takuno did not believe this Uchiha conflict was an accident.
Shisui's absence from the village was absolutely not a coincidence, but rather a timing for the conflict that they had specifically selected.
He also knew Shisui's operational style.
When this elite Uchiha Jonin executed missions, he had always kept a low profile and remained hidden, leaving and returning to the village without a sound; sometimes a mission had been completed for multiple days, yet few in the village knew he had gone out.
This was originally a habit cultivated to evade certain troubles, but looking at it now, trouble had ultimately failed to be avoided.
What Takuno found even more interesting was the issue of timing.
The time Shisui left the village this time was not far from the present, which meant the opponent's intelligence network was extremely efficient.
Within an exceptionally short time after Shisui left the village, his movements were precisely captured and rapidly transmitted into the interior of the Uchiha clan, successfully instigating the radical faction to take action.
Such swift, precise intelligence transmission and execution capability were absolutely not something an ordinary force could achieve—not to mention that the one being monitored was Shisui, a Kage-level powerhouse who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
And around Konoha, the ones who possessed such terrifying intelligence capability and shared the deepest entanglements with the Uchiha clan prominently pointed to Obito, as well as his inseparable partners, the mysterious Black Zetsu and White Zetsu!
If it truly was them pushing things forward behind the scenes, then the occurrence of all this appeared completely unsurprising.
If it really was them, Takuno was a bit unable to understand—did Obito desire the extermination of the Uchiha clan that much?
What he found even more absurd was that a portion of the Uchiha clansmen could actually be instigated so easily?
Did they truly think that the current Konoha was still that tottering, internally torn, and externally threatened Konoha from the original timeline?
This blindness, which was completely out of touch with reality, was truly incomprehensible.
Although it defied understanding, Takuno did not feel particularly surprised about a portion of the Uchiha being instigated.
There are always some people whose behavioral patterns cannot be considered using normal thinking, and the Uchiha clan happens to have more of these types of people.
However, to Takuno, no matter which direction the future destiny of the Uchiha clan headed—even if the tragedy of clan extermination truly staged itself once again—he would perhaps only watch as a bystander with the mindset of exploring the truth.
The rise, fall, survival, or destruction of the Uchiha clan had nothing to do with him.
Yet at this moment, he still decided to set out for the Uchiha clan grounds.
The Hokage, Minato, had already personally arrived on the scene to oversee it; as the Anbu Captain, it would be truly unreasonable if he were absent.
Furthermore, protecting the Hokage was originally one of the core responsibilities explicitly assigned to him on the surface; although Minato's strength did not require their protection at all, a necessary posture was something to be shown to everyone.
In addition, he also wanted to resolve this Uchiha conflict as early as possible so that Minato could make it to his agreement with Naruto.
After all, who told Naruto to crisply call him "Uncle" every single time he was invited over to be a guest.
Under the premise of not affecting himself, it was fine for him to lend a hand.
Takuno's figure swiftly appeared at the edge of the Uchiha clan grounds, his Anbu mask concealing his expression.
Before his eyes, the chaos had already escalated into a fierce confrontation, with the clashing sounds of ninja tools and the booming detonations of chakra echoing incessantly.
A golden flash traversed through the center of the battlefield at high speed, exceptionally striking; the Fourth Hokage, Minato, had already arrived a step ahead.
He was displaying the Flying Raijin Technique that he relied on to make his name; every single teleportation was accompanied by a precise and efficient strike, instantly separating or repelling the members of both sides who were locked in combat.
Minato's figure was so fast it near-constantly left trails of afterimages on the retina; every single strike was clean and agile, without carrying a trace of drag.
'He should be calculating the time as well...' Takuno understood in his heart.
The agreement over at the school was clearly tugging at this Hokage's heartstrings; he undoubtedly wanted to pacify the trouble here as quickly as possible to go keep his promise.
However, the situation before him was far more troublesome than he imagined.
The number of Uchiha clansmen embroiled in the conflict was vast, and the factions were mixed.
Although Minato's strength was transcendent, regarding the complex internal situation of the Uchiha clan—especially the specific distinction between the dove faction and the radical faction members—it was difficult to grasp precisely within a rapidly changing battle.
After all, these people were all from the Uchiha clan and wore the standard attire of the Uchiha; the ones capable of making a distinction were inevitably only the Uchiha clan themselves.
This invisible shackle heavily restricted his actions.
Watching this scene, Takuno also arrived at such a conclusion.
With Minato's strength, if he didn't distinguish between ally and enemy and directly used overwhelming power to instantly suppress everyone in this area, the efficiency would perhaps be much higher.
But clearly, Minato did not choose this seemingly efficient shortcut.
He was still striving to differentiate amidst the chaos, attempting to control the situation in a manner that caused the least amount of harm, which invisibly slowed down the process.
"Captain." A slightly exhausted voice sounded at his side.
Takuno looked sideways to see that Itachi, wearing his Anbu mask, had already arrived beside him.
This young son of the Uchiha clan head bore several distinct scrapes and traces of dirt on his body.
Although his strength had already attained the Jonin level, truly worthy of the title of genius, it still appeared insufficient in the face of the chaotic situation before him and the true powerhouses within the clan.
That pair of legendary Mangekyo Sharingan had also failed to awaken for a long time; the opportunity for its awakening in the original work had long ceased to exist, and whether he could awaken the Mangekyo in the future remained an unknown factor.
However, to these geniuses, perhaps not awakening the Mangekyo was not a bad thing either.
At least, this meant that they had not lost "love."
"Can you make the people on the Uchiha Clan Head's side withdraw?" Takuno asked straightforwardly, his gaze sweeping across the fiercely fighting crowd.
Hearing the words, a trace of bitter arc surfaced on Itachi's mouth, and he lightly shook his head.
"I'm afraid it won't do. With the conflict developing to this point, the fury of both sides has already been ignited; although a shred of restraint still exists and they haven't dealt fatal blows, all kinds of methods have been exhausted and they are already fighting with real fire. What's more..."
He paused, his tone carrying helplessness, "Right now, even if we tell them to stop, it's very difficult to pull out."
As the representative of the Anbu, Itachi was sandwiched between the village and the clan, and his stance itself was heavily controversial.
Even the relatively moderate clansmen might not necessarily agree with his choice in their hearts; of course, when he took over this difficult task, he had already foreseen today's dilemma.
The injuries on his body were obtained just like that; no one helped him, and he would even receive concentrated attacks within it.
Therefore, he could only helplessly retreat to one side.
Itachi's gaze once again cast toward that golden flash in the center of the battlefield.
He also understood Takuno's meaning; he could also clearly see that Minato's stunning strength was being severely checked and balanced by this group of "teammates."
Even so, the speed, power, and combat wisdom displayed by Minato still caused him to feel a deep shock.
'Traversing freely through the crowd, no one can withstand a single strike from him... it's even exceptionally difficult to see his movements clearly.' Itachi felt a chill in his heart, 'Is this the origin of the title "Yellow Flash"?'
He estimated that even if he personally entered the field, faced with Lord Hokage's phantom-like space-time ninjutsu and the precision of a one-hit kill, he probably wouldn't be able to hold out for even a moment.
'As expected of Lord Hokage!' Witnessing all this, Itachi's inner heart swelled with heartfelt admiration.
At the same time, this admiration immediately transformed into deeper incomprehension and confusion.
He looked toward those radical clansmen who were still in fierce opposition, his brow tightly furrowed.
To his knowledge, the current Lord Hokage did not loathe the Uchiha clan like the past Hokage did; the opponent treated the Uchiha clan quite well, and his strength was furthermore so unfathomably deep... why on earth did they still insist on this?
Even as Fugaku's son, inheriting the Uchiha surname and glory, Itachi at this moment completely failed to understand where the near-paranoid insistence of the radical faction in the clan originated from.
"If we can create a situation that forces both sides to have to temporarily stop, it should be possible for your people to withdraw, right?" Takuno inquired.
Itachi froze slightly, then immediately nodded: "Yes, Captain. If we can achieve such a situation, withdrawing should be feasible."
Although a shred of doubt crossed his mind—the Captain was not famous for armed force, so how could he instantly influence such a situation?
But he chose absolute trust.
Since the Captain spoke, he must have something to rely on; could it be that Konoha Hidden Village still concealed a hidden trump card that he, an Anbu Squad Leader, had never known about?
"Very good," Takuno decisively ordered, "Immediately notify the Uchiha Clan Head to prepare to lead his clansmen to withdraw from the battlefield, clearing out the space for Lord Hokage to fully exert his power."
"Understood!" Itachi spoke no further words, his figure instantly transforming into a swift shadow, utilizing the Body Flicker Technique to precisely cut into the core of that chaotic battlefield to transmit the order of withdrawal to his father, Fugaku.
Receiving the order, a flash of surprise and doubt passed through Fugaku's eyes, but seeing that indisputable certainty within his son's eyes, he immediately understood that this was absolutely not a joke.
He forcefully pressed down the waves in his heart; while commanding his own side to condense their defense, he focused his mind to perceive, waiting for that promised "timing to stop" from Takuno to descend.
At the edge of the battlefield, Takuno's eyes were calm as water, yet his inner heart was rapidly weighing options.
Minato already knew that he mastered Tsunade's "Chakra Enhanced Strength," "Strength of a Hundred Seal," and "Shinobi Art Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique"; these three major ninjutsu superimposed were sufficient to ground his Kage-level strength certification.
So right now... it was time to display a portion of his power.
He no longer hesitated; his body moved slightly, instantly traversing a distance of dozens of meters to appear at an inconspicuous location on the flank of the battlefield.
Takuno slowly raised his right foot, and a powerful surge of chakra, following the requirements of Chakra Enhanced Strength, began to frantically condense beneath his foot.
The next instant, his right foot, carrying the weight of a thousand jun, slammed down!
"BOOM!!!"
It was as if a sleeping ancient giant beast had suddenly awakened! What this foot stepped down upon was not dust, but rather it ignited a localized tectonic shaking!
Taking Takuno's landing point as the center, a visible, incomparably violent shockwave boomed and expanded outward in a ring!
The ground of the entire Uchiha clan grounds began to violently and irregularly rise, fall, and rock from side to side!