Uchiha Yoru looked up and let out a long sigh, but he still said to the tabby cat with messy fur, "Rika-chan, stop."
"Nya?" The tabby cat stopped her numb digging motions and asked blankly, "There's still so much left. We're really not taking it, nya?"
Uchiha Yoru picked up Miwa Masayo and gently combed through her messy fur as he explained, "It really is a shame, but all our warehouses are full. There's nothing we can do. We can only give up."
As he spoke, his heart was bleeding.
After four full days of hard work, he had moved away fewer than a thousand White Zetsu mummies, while at least six thousand were still hanging from the roots.
And so much God Tree timber could not be occupied either.
It hurt so much he almost died inside.
Miwa Masayo was truly exhausted. She curled into a ball in Uchiha Yoru's arms and forced herself to ask, "Yoru, how are you going to destroy the scene? Do you need my help, nya?"
Uchiha Yoru suddenly smiled in relief.
He had finally overcome his greed. In the Purple Mansion World, he suppressed the furious Spleen Boar and pushed the endlessly greedy Kidney Kun back beneath the sea.
As his mind became clear, his eyes also regained clarity.
He said to Miwa Masayo, "Destroying it will naturally rely on water and fire."
"I'll set fire here and completely burn away the roots supporting this space. Then the pressure from the earth's crust will naturally destroy everything here."
"But if you do that, Black Zetsu will know someone caused destruction here, nya. Is that okay, nya?"
"Rika-chan, with a cavern this huge and so many things missing, Black Zetsu will definitely know. What we need to do is make sure he can't find us."
"The fire and the collapse afterward will destroy many traces we left behind, but that still isn't enough."
"When I entered through the sinkhole, I already left a mechanism behind in advance. If I don't go back and undo it, then in five to ten days, the water pressure at the bottom of the sinkhole will crush the side of the rock wall. The water stored there for months will flood this place and erase every trace of our entry."
"After three rounds of fire, collapse, and flood, I believe Black Zetsu won't be able to find any trace we left behind in this completely destroyed underground space."
Miwa Masayo finally felt relieved.
She arched her body and rubbed against Uchiha Yoru's palm, placing her head into his hand. In the next second, her whole body relaxed and she fell asleep.
She was far too tired.
Although the Cat Sage was known for explosive power and clearly lacked endurance, four or five days of continuous work should not have been too difficult for her.
But the God Tree was still the God Tree.
For Miwa Masayo to damage the God Tree, every strike required her to use all her strength before she could achieve a satisfactory result.
Maintaining explosive output for four straight days was an extremely harsh test of her endurance.
Uchiha Yoru was different.
After completing all breakthroughs of Foundation Establishment, he possessed natural energy with all five spirits and Chakra of all five elemental natures.
Although the five spirits did not form a cycle of mutual generation and restraint like the Five Elements, they still provided considerable recovery support. Combined with alternating between natural energy and Chakra, his power could continue endlessly.
Especially his powerful physical recovery. This time, it was displayed to the fullest.
There was none of the situation where Hashirama Senju exhausted his life force after going all out.
Yoru was only dirty from working for too long.
However, Uchiha Yoru did not feel proud of this.
On the contrary, he felt this revealed a flaw in his abilities.
Among the various indicators of strength, endurance ranked very low in priority. Its value in killing enemies and protecting oneself was extremely limited. Only in very rare situations could it exert a decisive influence.
Extremely strong endurance meant the total amount was too large while output was too small. The ratio between the two was imbalanced.
For Uchiha Yoru, that meant his attack power and attack methods were not strong enough to consume his Chakra and natural energy.
This was a problem that needed solving.
Uchiha Yoru smiled and noted down a new topic of research.
Then he flicked out a line of fire with his left hand, igniting a root that had not been damaged at all.
After that, he used every B-rank Fire Release ninjutsu he had learned from the Uchiha clan.
Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu.
Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance Jutsu.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu.
Fire Release: Flame Whirlwind.
Practice proved that for arson, Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu and Great Fire Annihilation were the most useful.
Especially Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu.
It could pull dragon after dragon of fire out of the sea of flames, making them spit fireballs in every direction. Its arson effect far surpassed all other ninjutsu.
When every root in the entire underground cavern was ignited, the whole underground world transformed into a blazing hell.
Amid the roaring firelight, Uchiha Yoru smiled proudly, then activated the Flying Thunder God Technique without hesitation and left the underground cavern.
Returning to the barbecue shelter in Kubota Village, Uchiha Yoru pulled out the Dao Follows Nature kunai, briefly cleaned the nearby traces, and strode toward the Konoha ninja army camp.
The agreed one-month deadline had arrived.
He had to accept the Third Hokage's order, leave the Tiger Unit and the Land of Hot Water, and return to Konoha Village.
…
The handover of the mission document was extremely simple and smooth.
Uchiha Yoru received the mission document from Orochimaru, then directly left the Konoha ninja army camp and set out toward the Land of Fire.
During the entire process, Orochimaru and Uchiha Yoru only exchanged one glance. They did not even speak to each other before separating.
Uchiha Yoru also gave no further instructions to the Tiger Unit.
Everything that needed to be said had already been said.
If he made a big farewell scene right before leaving, wouldn't that be planting flags for the Uchiha little brothers?
And so, in this plain and uneventful manner, Uchiha Yoru ended more than eight months of wartime life and left the Land of Hot Water to return to Konoha Village.
The journey was completely peaceful.
No Root ninja came to harass him, and no shinobi from other countries ran around causing trouble.
In the summer of Konoha Year 44, the Third Shinobi World War had already continued for one year. At this time, Konoha Village was in its best strategic position.
Orochimaru had completely repelled Kirigakure and also forced Kumogakure's ninja back to the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon, completely eliminating the eastern threat.
Having gained a chance to breathe, the Third Hokage of Konoha mobilized ninja to support other fronts. First, they repelled Sunagakure's ninja in the southwest. Then they repelled Sunagakure and Iwagakure's ninja in the northwest, pushing the frontline back into the Land of Rain.
At this point, no enemy ninja activity remained within the entire Land of Fire, making it extremely safe.
Because of this, Uchiha Yoru and Miwa Masayo's journey was completely uneventful.
Even when he returned to Konoha Village, it was done quietly.
He verified his identity documents at the gate, handed over the mission document at the mission center, and finally returned home.
Nothing happened.
But Uchiha Yoru knew that from the moment he left the mission center, ninja had been watching him from the shadows.
At first, the gazes from ANBU and Root were casual.
Uchiha Yoru knew this was ANBU's routine review procedure, so he paid it no mind.
But the situation quickly changed.
After he moved away from the mission center, the solemn, cold gazes from ANBU soon disappeared. Meanwhile, the numb and dead gazes from Root ninja rapidly increased.
Root ninja not only maintained continuous surveillance on Uchiha Yoru, they even tracked him through relays all the way back home.
The spying gazes only disappeared when Uchiha Yoru closed his door and the house blocked them.
Miwa Masayo grumbled unhappily, "Damn Root ninja. Why have they become so arrogant, nya?"
Uchiha Yoru smiled and answered, "Rika-chan, it isn't that Root ninja became arrogant. It's that you became sharper. You can see and sense more information than before, so their malice can no longer hide."
But his smile quickly disappeared.
His expression even turned ashen.
The tabby cat immediately noticed his change and asked worriedly, "What happened, nya?"
With a cold, ashen face, Uchiha Yoru stared outside the door and said, "Rika-chan, you're right. They really are arrogant."
Because the Root ninja had not left after he entered the house.
Instead, squad after squad gathered and surrounded Uchiha Yoru's house.
This method of surveillance was absolutely abnormal.
It was excessive.
But what happened next was what truly left Uchiha Yoru stunned.
Wait.
What are they doing?
They actually… dare set up surveillance posts outside my door?
Such nerve!
Uchiha Yoru could accept being watched, just like he could accept cameras covering the streets in his previous life.
Whether human eyes or electronic eyes, they all represented order.
Order protected the interests of the public, and Uchiha Yoru considered himself one member of that public.
Naturally, he could accept something that protected his interests. After all, he was not some criminal.
But he could not accept someone installing cameras right in front of his own door.
That did not represent order.
That meant someone disliked him and wanted to keep him under constant watch.
Even the little neighborhood policeman from his previous life would have made a huge fuss over this.
And now, Uchiha Yoru's strength had surged, his temper had risen to the sky, and he truly possessed many secrets that could not be known.
If someone blocked his door and watched him, how was he supposed to live?
It seemed that the first thing he needed to do after returning to Konoha Village was use Root ninja to establish authority and set rules for Danzo Shimura behind them.
Only after Danzo Shimura backed down and gave up monitoring Uchiha Yoru would he have time to gather intelligence on Danzo and find a suitable assassination opportunity.
Uchiha Yoru did not hesitate.
He placed his simple luggage on the table, then directly pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard.
Then he pushed open the courtyard gate and stood before it, glaring viciously at the large tree where the Root ninja were hiding.
He took a deep breath.
Then he roared,
"Get lost—!"
The enormous sound wave was constrained into a cylindrical shape and swept across the tree like an air cannon.
In an instant, every leaf and small branch was shredded, and all the scattered debris was blown into the sky.
The Root ninja who had lost their cover were all exposed.
Under the tremendous sound wave, they were shaken until dizzy and disoriented.
After enduring prolonged torture, their shallow intelligence and rigid thinking could not handle this sudden situation. One by one, they froze on the tree like wooden puppets.
Uchiha Yoru's roar used the power of Thunderclap.
Although wind-aspected natural energy constrained the power and concentrated it in the main attack direction, the aftermath still rang through the sky like thunder, alarming all his neighbors.
This was the Uchiha clan's residential district.
Although the surrounding residents were all lower-level Uchiha clansmen, there were still many ninja among them.
Very quickly, Uchiha ninja jumped onto the rooftops.
At first glance, they saw the Root ninja wearing masks with complicated patterns, and their emotions instantly flared.
Too much!
But not a single Uchiha rushed forward to attack.
Instead, most of them fired signal flares, summoning the Military Police Force to handle the situation.
The Root ninja recovered from the sound wave attack, but the situation they faced became increasingly complicated.
They had even less idea how to handle it.
These ninja, who only excelled at obeying orders and killing, were at a loss and looked at one another.
But very quickly, one Root ninja's thinking turned into a dead end.
Root's most extreme handling method surfaced.
When witnesses are encountered during a mission, kill without mercy.
It was an extremely irresponsible and cruel order.
Yet before any alternative instruction could be found, it became the command Root ninja chose to execute.
They drew their weapons one after another and shouted, "Root of Konoha Village is handling official business! Anyone who dares interfere will be killed!"
This completely enraged the Uchiha ninja.
You silently snuck into our home and carried out covert activity without evidence.
After being discovered, you still dare use Konoha Village's name to pressure us?
Heh.
Now that is a temper I can't endure.
Were there any good-tempered ninja in the Uchiha clan?
There were.
Only the still-young Shisui Uchiha.
Everyone else, including Obito Uchiha, had a violent temper. Once angered, even if they knew they could not win, they would still rush forward to bite.
Thus, a series of metallic unsheathing sounds rang out.
The Uchiha ninja drew their weapons one after another and confronted the Root ninja.
The killing intent on both sides was stirred up.
A bloody conflict was about to erupt.
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru almost rolled his eyes.
How damn embarrassing.
He had only wanted to expose the Root ninja, make them get lost, and at the same time show his tough attitude to reduce the frequency of Root harassment.
After all, he was seriously preparing to kill Danzo.
Even though Orochimaru had given him key intelligence, there was still a lot of intelligence-gathering work he needed to do personally.
If these Root ninja watched him every day, they might discover something at some point and cause his assassination plan to fail midway.
That would be extremely inappropriate.
But Uchiha Yoru had never expected Root ninja's adaptability to be negative.
After freezing for a while, they actually pushed the situation to the brink of bloodshed.
If a bloody conflict truly broke out, the situation would develop in the worst possible direction, completely going against his original intention of exposing the Root ninja.
Uchiha Yoru sighed.
Then his figure vanished instantly.
In the next moment, he appeared behind all fifteen Root ninja at the same time.
As the other side turned around in fear to respond, he glared at them with his three-tomoe Sharingan.
He was far too familiar with Root ninja.
Especially after dismantling several Root ninja's mental worlds, he could accurately grasp their mental defects and achieve a hundredfold control effect with only a little ocular power.
The Uchiha ninja stared dumbfounded.
They saw Uchiha Yoru appear behind the Root ninja like a ghost.
With one simple glance, those arrogant fellows collapsed to the ground one after another.
Their bodies were stiff and straight, like freshly chopped logs.
Several of Uchiha Yoru's neighbors soon recognized him.
After seeing his three-tomoe Sharingan, they immediately shouted happily.
"Uchiha Yoru, you're back!"
"Look! Uchiha Yoru has the three-tomoe Sharingan!"
"Wonderful! Our neighborhood has a jonin too!"
"Uchiha Yoru, you have to treat us!"
Facing his old neighbors, Uchiha Yoru naturally smiled and responded to them one by one, even agreeing to personally cook and treat everyone to a feast.
The street immediately filled with laughter and cheerful voices.
The atmosphere became peaceful and warm.
When the Uchiha Military Police Force ninja hurried over, they were completely stunned by this warm and joyful atmosphere.
What the hell?
An emergency signal flare was fired, but you're all having a friendly neighborhood gathering?
Isn't that too disrespectful to us?
However, after seeing the dozen or so Root ninja piled together, they understood the seriousness of the situation.
At the same time, they deeply admired Uchiha Yoru for subduing fifteen Root ninja with one glance.
One short Uchiha even muttered, "As expected of someone who returned from the battlefield. Amazing. I want to go to the battlefield for training too."
His captain lightly smacked the back of his head and scolded, "Idiot, the battlefield isn't somewhere you can just casually go."
"Look carefully. This is Uchiha Yoru. Before going to the battlefield, he was already a powerful ninja with the three-tomoe Sharingan."
"Ah? Uchiha Yoru? The Brother Yoru who created the study group?"
"That's right. Him."
"My idol!"
"Ah?"
The Military Police captain was an old ninja close to forty years old. There was a huge generation gap between him and his fifteen-year-old subordinate.
He completely could not understand why this child, who had only just awakened his Sharingan, admired Uchiha Yoru so much.
They had not even met before.
In the eyes of the older ninja, Uchiha Yoru was outstanding and extremely intelligent, but he had never displayed overwhelming violence. Therefore, they all believed he still needed time to mature.
But to young ninja under eighteen, the feeling was completely different.
Uchiha Yoru had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan early, so his personal strength was absolutely powerful.
His training methods could allow people to steadily awaken the Sharingan step by step. The wisdom hidden within that was unimaginable.
Most importantly, he generously shared his training methods and had already helped at least two hundred Uchiha ninja awaken their Sharingan.
How could the children not worship him?
As the Ninjutsu and Tactics Study Group continued expanding, under the control of Uchiha Nobutada and the others, batch after batch of Uchiha children heard Uchiha Yoru's name while gradually awakening their Sharingan.
A mentality of worship spread unconsciously among the younger generation.
Yet because of the age gap, the clan's upper levels knew absolutely nothing about it.
Of course, Uchiha Nobutada, Uchiha Yuichiro, and Uchiha Ryunosuke, the three who pushed the spread of Uchiha Yoru's reputation, naturally knew.
But under Uchiha Yoru's prior instructions, they remained silent about it, forming an information barrier.
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