In the summer of Konoha Year 44, the Uchiha clan unknowingly underwent a severe split.
Among ninja over eighteen, the clan was still divided into doves, hawks, neutrals, and the clan head's faction. Their internal struggles remained fierce.
But among young ninja under eighteen, there were only two factions.
One faction consisted of Uchiha Yoru's fanboys and fangirls.
The other faction consisted of those who did not know who Uchiha Yoru was.
In reality, there were very few young ninja who did not know Uchiha Yoru. There might not even be ten of them.
In other words, Uchiha Yoru had already become the absolute leader of the younger generation.
On top of that, there were the two neutral faction elders who had long since come under him, as well as old man Uchiha Nobutada, who represented Uchiha Shisui's line.
Uchiha Yoru had already gained control of nearly one-third of the clan's ninja. His influence could not be underestimated. It could even be called the strongest faction.
Most importantly, he controlled the clan's future.
Time was on his side.
Five years later, when Uchiha Fugaku wanted to choose a successor, he would discover that Uchiha Yoru was the only candidate. There would be no competition at all.
Ten years later, Uchiha Fugaku would no longer have the right to choose a successor.
Whether he himself could continue serving as clan head would depend on Uchiha Yoru's mood.
Uchiha Yuichiro even believed that as long as a suitable opportunity appeared—such as Uchiha Fugaku making a major mistake—they could push him down right now.
Regarding this, the cautious Uchiha Ryunosuke and Uchiha Nobutada both agreed.
Even Uchiha Yoru himself had no way to deny it.
But Uchiha Yoru believed that relying on an opportunity to rise to power was unsuitable and unstable.
The best method was still relying on absolute strength.
Right now, his faction had existed for too short a time, and the average age of its members was too young. In terms of hard power, there was still a serious deficiency.
Only one-third of the clan's strength?
How could that be enough?
Even half would not be safe.
No matter what, he had to occupy at least two-thirds before it could be considered acceptable.
And among jonin, he also had to control at least half.
When Uchiha Yoru's intentions were sent back to the village through his reply letter, the three old men were dumbfounded.
Was such caution really necessary?
But Uchiha Yoru made it very clear in the letter.
The Tiger Unit already had fifty-four two-tomoe Sharingan users. In at most two years, three-tomoe Sharingan users would appear in large batches.
With such rapid development expected, Uchiha Yoru believed there was no need to rush.
As long as they protected the Uchiha little brothers step by step, he would possess overwhelmingly powerful strength three years later.
At that time, he could change the clan head with little bloodshed, or even no bloodshed at all.
Uchiha Yoru eventually convinced the three old men.
It was only three years.
The Uchiha clan could afford to wait.
The three of them could afford to wait as well.
The Military Police Force ninja took the Root ninja away.
Naturally, they would go find trouble with Root, forcing the Third Hokage to awkwardly step forward and explain. He would have to spend a great deal of effort fooling Uchiha Fugaku.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was in a bad mood, so he naturally summoned Danzo Shimura and scolded him harshly.
"The current priority is the war. Everyone in the village is working hard to maintain cooperation. Why are you still causing trouble inside the village?"
Danzo Shimura suppressed his irritation and carefully explained, "I did not do it intentionally. This was merely training new Root ninja inside the village to help them gain practical experience."
"Hiruzen, you know me. Root suffered heavy losses in the Land of Rain some time ago. The newly replenished ninja lack experience. They need more training before they can undertake dangerous missions."
Hearing Danzo complain, Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart softened.
After all, Root had suffered such great losses because of his own forceful demands.
So the Third Hokage's tone eased as he said, "If it's for practical training, you still can't always target the Uchiha. There are so many clans you can choose from."
Danzo Shimura flatly rejected this.
He argued, "Impossible. If ninja from other clans discover traces of Root ninja, they won't make a fuss. My subordinates won't know they made a mistake, and the training won't achieve the effect of real combat assessment at all."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "…"
In the end, he still habitually compromised.
Vaguely, he said, "In short, don't cause major trouble inside the village. Our situation has just improved. This is the crucial moment when we must unite and launch a counterattack. Don't create problems for me. Understood?"
Danzo Shimura patted his chest and guaranteed, "Don't worry. Hiruzen, you know me. I handle matters most reliably."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "…"
But he had no other choice.
If he replaced Danzo Shimura, who would take over Root's work?
Such dirty work—he was reluctant to let Orochimaru do it, and even more reluctant to let his own son Taro do it.
So he could only tolerate Danzo continuing to work.
…
That night, after Uchiha Yoru saw off Uchiha Nobutada and Shisui, he created the illusion that he was resting, then quietly slipped out of his house.
Following the coordinates marked by Orochimaru, he found Root's secret base.
Uchiha Yoru had come to find Danzo Shimura.
Although it was not suitable to kill him immediately, the sooner he grasped Danzo's movements, the better.
Merged into the earth, Uchiha Yoru stopped two meters outside Danzo Shimura's office.
He carefully listened to all of Danzo's activities and recorded his movements and conversations, using them to analyze and control Danzo's schedule.
On the third day, Danzo Shimura left the village, bringing a large number of Root ninja to the Land of Rain to carry out an assassination mission.
His target was the supreme commander of the Iwagakure ninja army. By killing him, Danzo intended to disrupt the enemy army's organization and coordinate with the Konoha ninja army's frontal battle.
Uchiha Yoru did not follow him to kill Danzo.
Because he had only just returned. If Danzo died now, he would rank far too high on the list of suspects.
Moreover, this operation was meant to support the Konoha ninja army. Killing Danzo might disrupt Konoha's war plan and cause considerable casualties.
Uchiha Yoru had no sense of belonging to Konoha, but he was also unwilling to create needless killing.
Besides, Danzo Shimura had left. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were not in the village either. The only Kage-level ninja left in Konoha was the Third Hokage, along with the suspected Kage-level powerhouse Uchiha Fugaku.
As for the jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki, her strength was indeed incredibly powerful. She could be called the strongest jinchuriki.
But the Third Hokage's secrecy regarding the jinchuriki was excessive, causing Kushina to have never gained any combat experience, let alone ninja skills.
Uchiha Yoru was one hundred percent certain that under the interference of Nine-Tails chakra, Kushina Uzumaki would not discover any of his movements.
Although the Nine-Tails was the strongest and most perfect Tailed Beast, and even sealed away, it had the ability to monitor the entire Konoha Village, would it tell Kushina Uzumaki?
Who would report information to an enemy who tied them up like a rice dumpling every day and drained all their chakra whenever she felt like it?
It could be said that tonight was the moment when Konoha Village had the fewest top combatants and the weakest response ability.
Uchiha Yoru decided to do something big.
Miwa Masayo had dug through the God Tree roots for four whole days, naturally because the harvest had been so pleasantly surprising that she had enough motivation to keep going.
Inside the God Tree roots, the tabby cat dug out a full twelve crystals.
And with just one glance, one could judge that they were Wood Release chakra crystals.
Wood Release.
Although Uchiha Yoru knew that Wood Release was actually just an ordinary kekkei genkai, a decent type of chakra, but not fundamentally different from Scorch Release, Ice Release, or Magnet Release.
Especially the Wood Release used by Yamato and Obito in the future. It completely punctured the myth of Wood Release and proved that what was truly powerful was Hashirama Senju, not Wood Release itself.
But it was undeniable that Wood Release just felt powerful.
Even Uchiha Yoru, a transmigrator, was no exception.
Wood Release.
Especially Wood Release crystals dug out by Miwa Masayo from the roots of the God Tree. Perhaps they contained some special power.
Of course, the most important basis was that Uchiha Yoru's body wanted to eat them.
It wanted them very badly.
His body clearly already had all five spirits, and he did not feel any possibility of further breakthrough, yet he still desperately wanted to eat them.
Even eating dried fish could not relieve his appetite.
It was only because time had been too tight back then that Uchiha Yoru had forcibly endured.
He had to accept the mission document and return to Konoha Village. Since he could not determine what changes would happen after eating them, he could only restrain himself.
Uchiha Yoru endured until today.
Psychologically, he had reached his limit.
He no longer wanted to wait.
To be honest, if not for this matter becoming unbearable, he absolutely would have followed Danzo this time. At most, he would spare Danzo before he carried out his mission.
After Danzo completed the mission or failed it, Uchiha Yoru could kill him in the chaotic Land of Rain and return to Konoha using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
It would be absolutely undetectable.
Although Uchiha Yoru would be listed as a suspect, no one could find any evidence that he had done it. In the end, the matter would be left unresolved.
Uchiha Yoru took out a hexagonal crystal emitting faint clear light and forcibly suppressed the urge to bite it in one mouthful.
Then he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and left Konoha Village.
Because the outcome was uncertain, he ultimately did not dare to eat it inside the village.
He decided to go to the Valley of the End, a place quite some distance away and rarely visited by people, to take this risk.
Uchiha Yoru looked at the tempting crystal in his hand.
After taking several deep breaths, under Miwa Masayo's gaze as she arrived shortly afterward, he bit down.
Crunch.
With a crisp sound, the crystal shattered like flaky candy. It did not feel especially hard.
Uchiha Yoru happily began chewing.
The crystal fragments made crisp cracking sounds between his teeth and quickly melted in the saliva his mouth secreted, transforming into a clear current that flowed into his stomach.
Suddenly, Uchiha Yoru discovered that his consciousness had entered the Purple Mansion World.
The entire process was completely beyond his control.
It was simply unbelievable.
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru was worried because he was still swallowing the Wood Release chakra crystal.
He did not dare delay in the Purple Mansion, so he immediately tried to leave.
But he discovered that he could not leave at all.
In the passage where his consciousness rose to depart, something seemed to be pouring in, blocking his path out.
Uchiha Yoru's intuition told him that it was precisely the force created by those things rushing in that had flushed his consciousness into the Purple Mansion World.
And this was not a bad thing.
Even though his intuition told him there was no danger, being unable to leave on his own still made Uchiha Yoru's heart sink.
But since he truly could not leave, he could only helplessly remain here and silently wait for the next development.
Suddenly, Uchiha Yoru sensed something.
He raised his head and looked toward the dark, heavy space above.
A touch of green appeared within the pitch-black space.
As the unknown thing rapidly approached, the green grew thicker and thicker.
Only when it passed beside Uchiha Yoru did he recognize it as rain.
The rain fell from an unknown height. It was as fine as dust, drifting like green mist, yet falling as swiftly as wind.
As the drizzle descended into the cloud layer, every white cloud not protected by the buildings Uchiha Yoru had carefully constructed was rapidly dyed green.
The green mixed with the rainwater, turning into a torrential downpour that poured down onto the earth and the ocean.
What was astonishing was that when the heavy rain fell onto the ground, there was no splash at all.
Instead, it transformed into all kinds of plants, swiftly breaking through the soil and growing.
The once monotonous Purple Mansion World suddenly became full of vitality.
The eastern swamp became filled with aquatic grass and dense forests.
The southern volcanic stone forest was covered by rainforest.
The western desert gained many oases.
The northern sea also produced an underwater forest stretching for an unknown distance.
The central plain became grassland and jungle.
Powerful vitality gestated throughout the entire world.
Without a doubt, the Purple Mansion World became stronger and richer in foundation.
The only problem was that the white cloud continent in the sky had completely shattered.
Centered around each building, cloud islands of varying heights had formed.
Moreover, the white clouds Uchiha Yoru recreated were now merely pure white clouds. They were no longer cloud land capable of supporting buildings.
It seemed that the rules of the entire Purple Mansion World had changed and become fixed.
Perhaps this truly was destiny in the dark.
Uchiha Yoru discovered that up until today, he had coincidentally constructed exactly thirty-six buildings.
At this moment, exactly thirty-six cloud islands remained.
Before he noticed it, the rain stopped.
Uchiha Yoru discovered that he could leave now.
Without the slightest delay, he raised his consciousness and swiftly departed the Purple Mansion World, returning to reality.
The instant he opened his eyes, Uchiha Yoru saw Miwa Masayo's worried face.
When the tabby cat saw Uchiha Yoru open his eyes, she immediately shouted in surprise and delight, "Yoru, watch your feet! Your feet!"
Perhaps because he had just returned from the Purple Mansion, Uchiha Yoru's state was not quite right.
He was like someone who had just woken up, his whole body slow and wooden. Miwa Masayo's voice also seemed to come from very far away, blurry and indistinct.
Fortunately, he understood.
So he lowered his head.
Dizzily, Uchiha Yoru saw that about one foot outside where he stood, a ball of white flame was burning fiercely, incinerating the branches that were surging out of the ground like a tide.
"Hurry and restrain your chakra! I can't hold on much longer, nya!"
Miwa Masayo's shout finally fully awakened Uchiha Yoru.
The entire world seemed as if a layer of film had been wiped away, instantly becoming clear.
Uchiha Yoru let out a long breath.
Only then did he notice that his cells were abnormally active. Powerful waves of chakra were uncontrollably leaking out, transforming into branches and roots outside his body and pushing the ground into a complete mess.
Uchiha Yoru was startled and hurriedly tried to control his body.
Chakra leakage was no small matter.
If he could not control it, once his chakra drained away completely, his life force would begin to drain as well.
Unexpectedly, the moment his will moved, the chakra leakage immediately stopped.
The growth of the branches also ceased instantly.
Miwa Masayo, who had been using Pure White Flame at full strength to suppress the branches, was caught off guard.
She failed to control the downward pressure of the flames.
The Pure White Flame instantly burned away the branches that had stopped growing, then slammed into the ground.
Boom!
Miwa Masayo forcefully withdrew most of the power, but the remaining flames changed color to orange-yellow and violently expanded, forming an explosive fireball on the ground.
The fireball blasted open an area of a full hundred meters before finally rising upward, cooling and extinguishing several hundred meters in the air.
All the plants on the surface were ignited.
Large swathes of land turned into scorched earth.
The blackened soil was drawn up by the rising airflow and eventually formed a black mushroom cloud.
Standing at the center of the fireball, Uchiha Yoru undoubtedly endured the greatest impact.
Fortunately, he had awakened in time.
He instantly opened a Water Prison Jutsu and forcibly endured the fireball's damage with Water Release.
When Uchiha Yoru walked out from the root of the mushroom cloud while covered by a turbid water curtain, Miwa Masayo scratched her ears with her paw and said rather embarrassedly, "Sorry, nya. My paw slipped for a moment, and I didn't control my strength properly, nya."
"But you can't blame me. A lot of saplings grew around you. Before you woke up, they grew very, very tall. They were far too eye-catching, so I could only help you burn them, nya."
Uchiha Yoru dispelled the water curtain.
He did not speak.
He merely raised his head and looked at the black mushroom cloud in the sky.
No matter how exaggerated those trees were, they could only grow to a hundred meters at most.
There was no way they could be more eye-catching than this massive mushroom cloud rising a thousand meters into the sky.
Knowing she had accidentally made things worse, the tabby cat became shy.
Although her face was covered in soft fur, a crimson color still seeped through. Wisps of white steam even rose from her little head.
Seeing this scene, Uchiha Yoru immediately found it very amusing.
He scooped the little cat into his arms and softly comforted her.
While comforting the cat, Uchiha Yoru also stepped forward. In just a few steps, he left the charred fireground where flames were still burning.
Because it was currently night, the fireball before the mushroom cloud appeared would have been especially conspicuous.
Even from dozens of kilometers away, the Konoha ninja patrolling the outer perimeter must have seen it.
They could not possibly ignore it.
Right now, they were probably reporting it layer by layer.
If nothing unexpected happened, ANBU ninja would arrive to investigate in about twenty minutes.
Suddenly, a mischievous idea surged in Uchiha Yoru's heart.
His thought was so strong that even Miwa Masayo, who was still immersed in embarrassment, sensed it.
She raised her head in surprise and asked, "Yoru, what… what are you planning to do?"
Uchiha Yoru smiled and said, "I just obtained a new power, and I'm a little impatient to show it to the shinobi world. It also happens to be a way to give Lord Third Hokage some entertainment."
The tabby cat asked again in confusion, "What power?"
"Hehe. It's the power that founded Konoha Village."
Uchiha Yoru held Miwa Masayo in his left arm and raised his right hand vertically with one palm.
Looking at the still-burning scorched land, he shouted softly,
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
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