(ne)
Uchiha Yuan, initially nervous upon seeing the One-Tail and Five-Tails appear while being held back by Kitsuchi, relaxed the moment he sensed the presence of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
To be honest, Uchiha Yuan hadn't expected Konoha's high command to send Kushina to the battlefield. As the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, Kushina's identity was extremely sensitive within the village.
It boiled down to two reasons: first, the Nine-Tails' power was simply too immense—at this stage, Konoha couldn't risk confronting it head-on.
Second, the village elders never fully trusted Kushina. They feared she would become like the Jinchūriki of other villages—seemingly loyal, but secretly plotting to flee the village.
In the eyes of Danzō and his ilk, a Jinchūriki was merely a weapon, and a weapon must be kept firmly in the village's control with zero risk of mishap.
Because of these reasons, Konoha had "shelved" Kushina since the Third Shinobi World War began, preventing her from entering battle.
This time, however, she had appeared on the battlefield at Kikyo Mountain because Konoha's top-tier combat power severely lagged behind that of Suna and Iwa. Only then did the Third Hokage approve her participation.
That approval was not without concealment—Hiruzen had kept Kushina's deployment a secret from the rest of Konoha's leadership.
Only Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Namikaze Minato were informed.
Before the departure, Hiruzen had personally instructed Kushina not to act unless absolutely necessary, and Kushina had agreed. Likely, if it weren't for both the One-Tail and Five-Tails entering full transformation, she wouldn't have made a move.
With Kushina's overwhelming display of power, the outcome of the Battle of Kikyo Mountain was essentially sealed.
"Kitsuchi, you've already lost. Continuing to wear me down is pointless—why not retreat now while you still can?" Uchiha Yuan said.
Kitsuchi's face shifted with emotion. Eventually, he gritted his teeth and ran toward his father's position.
Seeing him retreat, Yuan finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Truthfully, while his clash with Kitsuchi had seemed one-sided, he hadn't truly landed a critical blow, let alone forced Kitsuchi to lose his combat ability.
It had been more of a battle of offense vs. defense—Uchiha Yuan attacking, Kitsuchi defending.
Naturally, the offensive side looked more dominant.
Strictly speaking, it had been an even match. While Kitsuchi had taken early hits, Yuan had also just received a solid punch to the chest and was still feeling the pain.
But in any case, for Yuan to last this long—and to appear to have "driven back" Kitsuchi—was enough to earn him attention.
After all, Kitsuchi wasn't just anyone—he was the son of the Third Tsuchikage and a master of Earth Release, widely recognized as Kage-level.
That Yuan could hold his own against him meant that he too had reached Kage-level.
At his age, that was enough to make others silently remember the name Uchiha Yuan.
After escaping the fight, Uchiha Yuan went straight to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was currently watching Kushina dismantle the Five-Tails with interest.
"Lord Orochimaru."
Yuan's voice broke his train of thought. Orochimaru turned, looked at him, and said, "Yuan, you really surprised me! You actually forced Kitsuchi to retreat."
"Just got lucky, that's all. Lord Orochimaru, Asana should've spoken to you about that matter already, right?"
"Of course. I didn't expect you to also be interested in the First Hokage's cells."
Before leaving the Land of Bears, Uchiha Yuan had asked Hyuga Asana to tell Orochimaru that he too was interested in researching Hashirama's cells and was willing to cooperate.
He had even gone as far as giving a severed arm of a White Zetsu he had killed, asking Asana to deliver it to Orochimaru.
Upon receiving the arm, Orochimaru was extremely excited. It gave him new insights, and he was confident that once he returned to the village, he could refine his research.
"So then, Lord Orochimaru, what's your answer?" Yuan pressed.
"Yuan, you've already proven your strength. And with your relationship to Asana, plus the gift you gave me, I have no reason to refuse your cooperation."
"Then from today onward, we're official partners, right?"
"Indeed."
"Then, Lord Orochimaru, I'd like to ask a favor—could you extract some chakra from the One-Tail and Five-Tails for me?"
Orochimaru didn't hesitate at all and nodded.
Now that they were partners, and since Yuan had given him such a generous gift, it was only right to return the favor.
Orochimaru walked to the remains of the shattered One-Tail, gathering the dispersed chakra and sealing it into a scroll.
Then he approached Kushina and the subdued Five-Tails.
While Yuan had been speaking with Orochimaru, Kushina had already defeated the Five-Tails, and its Jinchūriki—Han—had his chakra sealed by Jiraiya.
The greatest concentration of a Tailed Beast's chakra was in its tails. Earlier, Kushina had blasted off one of the Five-Tails' tails with a Rasengan, and Orochimaru swiftly sealed it up.
"Orochimaru, what are you doing?" Jiraiya asked as he noticed Orochimaru's actions.
"I'm studying Tailed Beast chakra. So I took the opportunity to collect some," Orochimaru replied casually.
"Tailed Beast chakra? What's even worth researching in that?" Jiraiya asked, confused.
Orochimaru didn't dwell on the question. As he stashed the sealed scroll, he smoothly changed the subject: "If you have time to worry about me, go check on Kushina. She doesn't look too good."
Jiraiya turned to look at her—her face was pale—and his expression shifted. He ran over quickly.
Fortunately, Kushina wasn't in serious condition. She had overused the Nine-Tails' chakra and been affected by its negative will, but she should recover quickly.
Orochimaru took the chance to quietly pass the sealed Tailed Beast chakra to Yuan.
Yuan thanked him, then turned and headed toward the battlefield where the Uchiha elders were fighting against Chiyo and Ebizō.
When Chiyo and Ebizō saw Uchiha Yuan approach, they finally realized the Iwa–Suna alliance had been thoroughly defeated—from Kage-level combatants to ordinary ninjas.
If they kept fighting, Suna's losses would only mount. Without hesitation, Chiyo chose to retreat.
(To Be Continued...)