The moonlight was cold and faint, a few scattered stars dotted the sky. The outskirts of the Tsuchigumo clan's territory were bleak and desolate, devoid of life.
By the muddy roadside—
Uchiha Yu turned around, his gaze sweeping past the Tsuchigumo leader's courtyard before landing on Kurenai Yuhi behind him. He instructed her:
"Since the Clan leader has entrusted me with the forbidden jutsu, it means the Tsuchigumo clan still has value. I need you to leave the team now and lead them to the largest refugee settlement near the Land of Earth's border.
Anywhere except the northwest direction is safe.
With you leading them, I'll feel more at ease. Once the battle here is over, I'll come find you."
"Alright, I'll wait for you."
Kurenai blinked her beautiful eyes. Beneath the soft purple eyeshadow, her ruby-like pupils glowed with confidence. Her red lips curled into a smile, and her made-up face radiated a gentle expression.
That feeling of being trusted by someone she liked—this was the emotional feedback she needed.
After a brief exchange—
Kurenai accepted the mission, vanished from the team in a flicker, and returned to the Tsuchigumo leader's courtyard to find Hotaru and the Grand Elder. For her, the journey posed no obstacles; this mission wasn't difficult.
Everyone watched her departing back and began to ponder their captain's intentions.
Izumi raised an eyebrow, her eyes filled with envy.
She thought the captain was being considerate—ensuring that Kurenai, a Konoha jōnin without a bounty, wouldn't have to witness their direct confrontation with Konoha shinobi.
"Let's move."
Uchiha Yu and the others continued heading northwest, leaving the Tsuchigumo clan's territory. Ahead lay an endless range of mountains and forest.
It was the Mount Xu, stretching hundreds of kilometers across the border of the Land of Fire, home to vast primeval forests of the shinobi world.
They crossed the plains—
Reached the forest's edge—
By the second half of the night, the team arrived at a hill. Uchiha Yu halted the group, lifted his head to gaze at the full moon, judged the direction, then glanced sideways at Kimimaro.
Since joining the team, the boy had remained quiet, awaiting orders.
Sensing the attention—
Kimimaro stepped out and approached Uchiha Yu without a word. From his robe, he pulled out a black intelligence scroll and offered it: "This is intelligence on Konoha, entrusted to me by my lord to give to you."
Uchiha Yu studied the scroll and reached out to take it. Izumi kindly held up a torch to provide light.
But Yu didn't open the scroll immediately. His expression remained calm as still water as he stared at Kimimaro, then asked:
"Orochimaru is interested in Fury too?"
At those words—
Images of a pale, sinister face appeared in every Uchiha's mind. That eerie, seductive, and cruel figure—one of the Sannin of Konoha—made their bodies tense instinctively.
Orochimaru.
The "lord" this boy spoke of was none other than Orochimaru, an S-rank missing-nin from Konoha.
The Uchiha, including Nanami and the others—except Tamao—were all shocked, looking between the handsome youth and Uchiha Yu.
They recalled how, before the Uchiha massacre, Yu had been arrested by the police force for the charge of "colluding with missing-nin."
So the rogue ninja Yu had contacted… was Orochimaru!
Kimimaro remained calm and nodded slightly:
"Yes, he's interested. I also predicted that you'd come this way and likely wouldn't let the forbidden jutsu slip by, so I infiltrated the Tsuchigumo clan ahead of time."
"And now?"
Uchiha Yu withdrew his gaze, opened the scroll, and under Izumi's torchlight, examined the information.
Kimimaro lowered his head and answered:
"If you've obtained it, I don't believe Lord Orochimaru would mind."
The Uchiha's expressions grew solemn. Only now did they recall what Kimimaro had said after killing Shiranami and speaking to Yu.
Orochimaru had acknowledged Yu—and even treated him as an equal, a friend, and an ally.
Which meant that even though Yu had seized a forbidden jutsu Orochimaru had been coveting, the man had no objections.
"…"
The Uchiha looked at their captain, their eyes filled with awe and a tinge of unease. To them, Yu now seemed even more unfathomable and mysterious.
From deliberately being imprisoned by contacting Orochimaru, to escaping with them, and now having Orochimaru send someone to assist—everything had been meticulously planned.
Mikoto Uchiha's eyes shimmered with light as she stared at the young man's upright figure, lost in thought.
Uchiha Yu ignored the various gazes around him, refocused, and concentrated on reading the contents of the scroll.
As Kimimaro had said, the intel was extremely detailed—clearly gathered by all the spies Orochimaru had planted in Konoha.
The key details included:
"After Konoha issued the kill order for the Uchiha rogue team, before dispatching the pursuers, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi convened both a mobilization meeting with the major clans and a clan leader conference."
"Konoha has sent joint cooperation documents to its allies for the coordinated elimination of the S-rank missing-nin."
"The partial list of members in the Konoha pursuit team, as well as their current approximate locations."
At the end of the intel were the names of the pursuit unit members and a personal message from Orochimaru:
> "Uchiha Yu,
Long time no see.
I didn't expect that old man to go even further against you than he did with me.
However, you need to be careful.
From what I know,
the old man stirred up sentiment during the clan leaders' meeting using his rhetoric about the 'Will of Fire,' along with some strategic concessions of interest. He's already made some of the clan heads in Konoha take interest in you.
Some of the pursuit units dispatched by the ANBU have members with extremely high-level clearance.
Even I couldn't uncover their identities. My guess is that certain clan leaders have chosen to get involved personally.
Let's hope our plan proceeds smoothly.
I'll fulfill my end of the bargain.
After that, I hope you survive. If you die, the shinobi world will lose a lot of its fun and potential. So, please—make sure you live.
Best of luck.
—Orochimaru"
After reading, Uchiha Yu's gaze lingered on the list of ANBU pursuit squads and the locations Orochimaru had estimated they were currently in.
His eyes fixated on one particular name:
"Hatake Kakashi."
Even Kakashi—now a core member of the Hokage's personal ANBU—had been sent to lead a pursuit. Konoha must truly be running out of capable options.
Uchiha Yu stored the scroll away, sealing it into a space scroll, then looked at the respectful Kimimaro in front of him and said, "Tell me about yourself."
Kimimaro replied:
> "My lord said, until you've completed the first stage of your plan with him, I will be your weapon—free to be used however you wish.
Please trust me.
My strength won't let you down."
This was also why Kimimaro had previously killed Shiranami in a flash, revealing both his strength and his Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku.
"I can sense his sincerity,"
Uchiha Yu shifted his gaze away from Kimimaro and stared at the full moon hanging in the sky, deep in thought.
That Orochimaru had been willing to send Kimimaro to his side was enough to reveal his attitude.
Before Kimimaro became seriously ill, he had been Orochimaru's top candidate for reincarnation.
As for the plan between Uchiha Yu and Orochimaru—naturally, it was the "Konoha Collapse Plan."
But in truth, the concept had been proposed by Yu himself.
In the depths of his dark eyes, the full moon of the night sky was reflected as thoughts surged.
When he first arrived in this world, the first thing he did was track down Orochimaru's covert operatives inside Konoha and make contact.
The two eventually met.
Uchiha Yu laid out a basic outline of the future "Konoha Collapse Plan" that Orochimaru would later develop, along with his own "Uchiha squad's defection plan."
Upon hearing the first plan, Orochimaru immediately agreed to collaborate.
After all, helping a Uchiha planning to defect from Konoha required no justification for someone like Orochimaru.
Back when Orochimaru was one of the Three Legendary Sannin, he had witnessed Uchiha Itachi performing impossible shuriken techniques using the Sharingan.
He had experienced firsthand the power of those eyes.
Now, as a member of the Akatsuki, Orochimaru was even more obsessed with acquiring the dōjutsu bloodline.
Uchiha Yu had promised him:
If the defection succeeded, he would gift three pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan.
The first step of their "Konoha Collapse Plan" was simple:
Uchiha Yu would draw Konoha's pursuit forces westward and north—
To the Valley of Judgement, where he would join forces with Orochimaru to devour the elite forces Konoha had dispatched.
°°°
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