As the human fireworks exploded, terrifying ash drifted down over Sunagakure.
The smell of burning protein—death itself—mixed with a bizarre stench and spread throughout the village.
Just like what had happened in Konoha a few months ago, the ordinary villagers and the younger genin vomited the moment they caught that foul odor. The more experienced ninjas, however, immediately guessed the truth.
Their faces darkened.
Fury surged.
Search teams were formed at once and dispatched without delay.
At the same time, the higher-ups of Sunagakure had also been alarmed.
But those old fossils who had already held power during the previous war?
Not one of them moved.
So what if it was a few fireworks?
So what if there were corpses inside them?
Using a stunt like this—one that caused no real damage at all—only proved that the enemy was weak and didn't dare provoke Sunagakure head-on.
In other words, at most the village had lost some face.
And those old men had all lived long enough for their skin to grow thick.
Losing face was Sunagakure's problem.
What did that have to do with Chiyo, Ebizō, Uemura Yoshitoki, and the others?
Compared to the mysterious enemy, they were more interested in two other people.
Two young elites.
Because Sunagakure was about to launch a war, it needed a leader capable of making emergency decisions. The struggle between Rasa and Pakura had already entered its final stage.
Most people were leaning toward Rasa.
His Magnet Release, so similar to the Third Kazekage's abilities, as well as his close relationship with the man, made him the best choice for inheriting power. It would be easier to unite the village and preserve its fighting strength.
That was why elders like Ebizō had already quietly leaked the news to him.
The candidate for the Fourth Kazekage would be finalized within two days.
And then, the newly appointed Kazekage would announce war against Konoha.
No one had outright told Rasa he would become the Fourth Kazekage.
But after telling him details of the war plan, the implication was obvious enough.
Rasa was so excited he couldn't sleep all night.
So he sat on the roof of his house, staring at the stars.
As a result, he saw the firelight and fireworks immediately—
And got showered in ash.
Just as he was enjoying one of the proudest moments of his life, someone had humiliated him in exactly this way.
Rasa exploded with rage.
He manipulated golden dust beneath his feet and shot toward the direction where the fireworks had appeared.
On the other side, Pakura wasn't someone burdened with too many scheming thoughts.
She had already gone to bed peacefully.
After being awakened by the explosion, she dressed and got moving at once.
When she came outside, she saw Rasa riding his glittering gold sand straight toward the outer cliff wall of the village.
Without hesitation, she chased after him.
She crossed the cliff wall at top speed and rushed out of the village.
After setting off the fireworks, Uchiha Yoru immediately moved away from Sunagakure.
The sand was soft, and with earth-aspect natural energy supporting him, his underground movement was no slower than his ordinary running speed.
So he simply stayed beneath the surface, retreating quickly and quietly.
Yoru had no specific destination in mind.
He only needed to stall for another five minutes.
As long as Miwa Masayo's reverse summoning arrived, he could instantly appear in the South Sea several thousand kilometers away.
No matter how capable Sunagakure's ninjas were, they wouldn't be able to chase him there.
But this was his first time directly provoking a major ninja village.
So Yoru exercised the greatest caution.
Not only had he changed his face, altered his height, applied makeup, worn cosmetic lenses, and put on a mask—
He had even restrained all of his chakra and deliberately used only natural energy.
The idea was simple.
If he was going to disguise himself, then every detail had to be perfect.
Using pure natural energy had one especially huge advantage.
It was extremely difficult for ninjas to detect.
Yoru could sense some very fast-moving ninjas streaking past him, as well as others riding flying tools or ninja beasts overhead.
But not one of them realized he was directly beneath their feet.
Very soon, the five-minute countdown ended.
Yoru simply stopped.
He pushed away the surrounding sand, creating a spherical space two meters across, and waited for the reverse summoning from Miwa Masayo.
He even had enough leisure to count down the last thirty seconds in his heart.
[28, 27, …]
[3, 2, 1…]
[Hm?]
Unexpectedly, Yoru did not feel the familiar pull of reverse summoning on time.
In the more than three years since he had formed a contract with Miwa Masayo, this was the first time she had ever missed an agreed summon.
Yoru sucked in a cold breath.
If the reverse summoning plan failed, then he would have to think about breaking out by force.
He immediately began checking every possible cause.
The time—correct. The agreed time had definitely passed.
The magnetic field—normal nearby, only a weak reaction, no issue there.
Seals—no sign of any seal interference.
Natural energy—he could still establish contact with Cat Castle, and could even call Miwa Masayo's subordinate ninja cats through her contract.
Yoru then directly attempted to summon Miwa Masayo.
He found that he could still communicate normally with the tabby cat's chakra—
But there was no response from her side that would allow a summon to complete.
He did not force it.
Otherwise, it would become a one-man, one-cat breakout against Sunagakure's encirclement.
That would be far too dangerous.
He didn't suspect betrayal.
On the contrary, he began worrying about the tabby cat's safety.
In his view, the little cat had probably fallen unconscious for some reason.
So while continuing to use the Summoning Technique in an attempt to wake Miwa Masayo, he prepared to keep moving forward beneath the sand.
But then—
He noticed that the sand beneath his feet was the wrong color.
And even more importantly, that strange-colored sand could move on its own.
In Sunagakure, the only beings capable of controlling sand were the One-Tail Shukaku and its jinchūriki, as well as the already-dead Third Kazekage.
But there was one more person.
The man who may or may not have already ascended to the Kazekage position—
Rasa.
The one who could manipulate a special kind of sand.
Gold Dust.
Yoru snapped his fingers.
A thread of fire lit up within the cramped spherical space.
Sure enough, the sand trying to force its way in reflected a dazzling golden shine.
That confirmed it.
Rasa had arrived.
Yoru could even guess the sequence.
Rasa had likely flown right over his head on gold dust, failed to find his target in the outer perimeter, then doubled back and started filtering through the underground area bit by bit, conducting the finest search possible.
Now that Gold Dust had already seeped into the space he had carved out, that meant Rasa had definitely found him.
So what now?
One option—
Run with everything he had.
No more worrying about hiding anything, no more restraint.
Unleash full power and break through the encirclement before Sunagakure realized things were wrong and mobilized even more Kage-level reinforcements.
But honestly, since Rasa could fly, that plan would be extremely difficult to execute.
It would be too easy to get surrounded again and again, until he was finally overwhelmed and beaten to death by sheer numbers.
The other option—
Put on an absurdly grand show.
Use the traits of natural energy, divine abilities, and genjutsu to intimidate every Sunagakure ninja present, buying time until Miwa Masayo's reverse summoning came through.
If it worked, not only would he escape smoothly, he could also frighten the Sunagakure ninjas and mislead their future investigation.
A perfect outcome.
If it failed—
He probably wouldn't even get the chance to struggle before five or six Kage-level Sunagakure ninjas pinned him down and pounded him to death.
The key to this plan…
Was Miwa Masayo.
Would she recover in time and get him out?
Yoru smiled.
"Heh. Of course I can only trust her. Trust that Miwa Masayo won't just leave me here to die."
Once he made up his mind, he unleashed natural energy at full power.
In an instant, the sand within a hundred-meter radius softened into something like flowing water.
No one had expected the sand to suddenly turn liquid.
At least twenty Sunagakure ninjas fell straight into the liquefied ground, flailing and screaming in terror.
They had all seen the Third Kazekage's terrifying sand techniques before.
No matter how powerful a jōnin was, once trapped in the Kazekage's sand, all that awaited them was being crushed into a lump of blood and flesh.
And while the Sunagakure ninjas were struggling and crying for help—
Uchiha Yoru slowly rose from the sand.
Pakura's expression turned grave as she asked, "Is this Magnet Release?"
Rasa shook his head.
"No. I can't even sense any chakra at all. What about you?"
"Neither can I. But the way this looks is far too similar to the Third Kazekage."
"No, not really. The difference is actually huge, but…"
Rasa said sternly, "But this transformation of the sand can even trap my Gold Dust. Separating it from this strange area is extremely difficult."
Pakura clenched her fists.
Her gaze locked onto the enemy.
Excitement lit up her face.
"Then that means…"
"Send someone to notify the elders. Have them come reinforce me immediately—"
Rasa had only gotten halfway through his sentence when Pakura shouted with wild excitement—
"—I'm going first!!!"
Before her voice had even fully fallen, her figure vanished.
A faint afterimage appeared beside Uchiha Yoru, and that slender frame threw a powerful punch.
But no matter how fast a ninja was—
In front of the three-tomoe Sharingan, they were nothing.
Yoru pushed his dynamic vision to the limit.
The brightness of the world in his eyes abruptly dimmed.
And Pakura, who had been moving like lightning, suddenly became frame-by-frame slow motion.
He not only saw through her movements—
He predicted her footholds and her next actions as well.
He even had enough room left over to appreciate the kunoichi's attractive face.
Compared to the Edo Tensei Pakura he knew, the girl before him was still rather immature.
Her hairstyle wasn't the mature bun he remembered either.
Instead, she wore it in a high ponytail.
A living Pakura was far prettier than the reanimated version.
After all, no matter how beautiful someone was, black sclera and red pupils always dragged the score down.
And that high ponytail suited her tall figure much better.
Or rather—
It was more in line with the tastes of a certain eighteen-year-old old man.
That was exactly his type.
But liking something and indulging it were two very different matters.
Besides—
Pakura had come here to beat him.
[Omniscient Mind's Eye] activated.
[Carefree Wandering] activated.
The moment those two divine abilities came online, and as Pakura entered within twelve meters of him, Yoru's Mind's Eye picked up even more detailed information.
So much so that the Sharingan was temporarily pushed into a supporting role.
Absolute control over the area around his body—
That was the natural manifestation of Carefree Wandering.
Yoru effortlessly found the flaws in Pakura's attacks and avoided the torrential barrage with nothing more than footwork.
His movements were light.
Relaxed.
Naturally, they carried a drifting, unbound elegance.
The surrounding Sunagakure ninjas watched the mysterious enemy ignore Pakura's assault so gracefully and casually—
And every one of them felt their hearts turn cold.
Some even naturally began to think:
I'm not his opponent.
In truth, Yoru was troubled too.
He hadn't expected activating both divine abilities at the same time to consume natural energy so quickly.
At this rate, after half an hour—
Forty minutes at the absolute most—
The natural energy in his body would be depleted to the point where it could no longer resist chakra seeping from his cells into his pathways.
But if he relied purely on the Sharingan, then he could no longer maintain total control.
His advantage over Pakura in close combat would stop being absolute.
He wouldn't be able to continue looking so effortless, so detached, so utterly beyond mortal dust.
He would have to move.
Use larger motions to dodge and parry in order to suppress Pakura's attacks.
But the moment he started moving like that, he would lose this intimidating aura of a supreme expert.
And once that happened, the other ninjas would very likely swarm him at once and beat him from all sides.
Uchiha Yoru was no battlefield dance king.
Whether it was the Sharingan or Omniscient Mind's Eye, both of them were amplifiers built on top of combat experience.
They were not things that could directly push his combat power to the absolute peak of the ninja world.
And his combat experience simply wasn't enough to support fighting freely in a group melee while constantly maintaining a one-on-one rhythm and denying his enemies every chance to coordinate.
As for someone like Uchiha Madara—
Accurately catching the critical point in a crowd, striking enemies with perfect ease and precision, fighting many at once, borrowing force against force, even using the enemy's own attacks to injure one another…
Yoru didn't even dare think about it.
He knew perfectly well he couldn't do that.
Pakura attacked continuously.
Yet she couldn't even brush the hem of his clothes.
Their distance was extremely close, so she couldn't fully appreciate just how relaxed his movements were.
But in close combat, being suppressed to this extent naturally made her heart pound.
Still, a ninja's true strength had never been taijutsu.
Now that close combat had been suppressed so thoroughly, Pakura immediately decided to break the stalemate with ninjutsu.
The young jōnin's hands flashed through seals.
In an instant, two orange fireballs condensed.
Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder.
For Uchiha Yoru, any chakra movement within twelve meters was basically an advance announcement.
He even sensed the exact operating details of the Scorch Release, learning quite a few tricks in the process of how Pakura manipulated it.
And because of his deep understanding of chakra, responding to those constructed fireballs was actually very simple.
He lightly waved his left hand.
Wind-aspect natural energy invaded the Scorch Release fireballs, forcibly seizing the Wind Release chakra within them and combining with it to form wind-aspect sage chakra.
The fire-aspect natural energy that followed then merged with the expelled Fire Release chakra, creating fire-aspect sage chakra.
What the Sunagakure ninjas saw—
Was the mysterious enemy casually wave a hand and erase Pakura's Scorch Release fireballs, splitting them apart into Fire Release and Wind Release.
That completely violated everything ninjas understood about chakra.
Scorch Release was a kekkei genkai formed by the fusion of Wind Release and Fire Release.
In the understanding of ninjas, what powered Scorch Release was a unique chakra different from both Wind and Fire.
But today, upon making first contact with Scorch Release—especially within the range of Omniscient Mind's Eye—
Uchiha Yoru understood something.
There was no such thing as Scorch Release chakra.
That so-called special chakra was still just a combination of Wind and Fire.
It was only that the combination was extraordinarily tight, tight enough to deserve the word fusion—
Much like hydrogen and oxygen combining into water.
Water was of course completely different from hydrogen and oxygen.
But water was not some new element.
In the ninja world, there were only five chakra natures.
Whether Yin and Yang should be added to make seven, Yoru wasn't sure.
Maybe once he came into contact with true Yin-Yang Release, he would understand.
It was said that the Sharingan was a product of Yin Release, and that medical ninjutsu was a product of Yang Release.
But Yoru couldn't confirm either claim.
What he had found in himself was only the ocular power flowing out from the brain. He had never found anything that could clearly be called Yin Release chakra.
He had encountered no fewer than twenty medical ninjas in the Konoha hospital and was quite familiar with medical ninjutsu, yet he had also never discovered anything clearly identifiable as Yang Release chakra.
Whether it was Sharingan ocular power or the green chakra of medical ninjutsu—
Both were still one of the five basic chakra natures, merely given special forms.
Perhaps they should be classified as a special qualitative transformation.
Still, Yoru could not rule out another possibility.
That these special forms of chakra were themselves empowered by Yin-Yang Release—
And that he simply hadn't reached a level high enough to come into contact with more advanced Yin-Yang chakra yet.
After all, he couldn't even fully understand the most basic thing of all—
Neutral chakra.
It clearly existed in taijutsu application.
It could clearly also be used to perform various E-rank techniques.
Yet he still could not distinctly separate it or grasp it properly.
If he couldn't even get a handle on neutral chakra, then failing to detect or understand the even more advanced Yin-Yang Release—
Wasn't that only natural?
Yoru had destroyed Scorch Release fireballs with a wave of his hand.
And that terrified the Sunagakure ninjas.
In fact, the stronger the ninja, the greater the shock.
Pakura and Rasa, the two strongest present, were practically scared out of their wits.
Rasa no longer cared about face.
He grabbed the nearest ninja and ordered him to run back to the village immediately and call for reinforcements from the upper ranks.
"Tell the elders this—"
"The faster the support comes, the better. The stronger the people, the better."
"If possible, invite Lord Monzaemon himself to come!"
"This enemy's strength is beyond my understanding!!"
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