Fugaku has gone mad; he's going to create a new Uchiha clan in Kirigakure.

Land of Lightning, Cloud Village Building

"boom!"

The Fourth Raikage, A, slammed his fist down on the desk. The heavy solid wood surface shattered instantly under his iron fist, as if it were tofu.

"Konoha is mobilizing ninja troops on the border. Are they planning to start a war?"

"The ninth table this month..."

Beside her, the female secretary, Mabui, sighed and rubbed her forehead. However, as she said, she was already used to this Kage who would slam his fist on the table at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, while he was a bit short-tempered, his greatest advantage over his father, the Third Raikage, was that he could listen to advice...

After sighing, she raised the intelligence scroll in her hand higher.

"Lord Raikage, could you please let me finish what I have to say?"

"Huh? Aren't you finished?"

The Fourth Raikage awkwardly scratched his hair, laughed a few times, and then waved his hand.

"You continue."

"Well, that's how it is."

Clearing her throat, Mabuyi continued.

"Latest intelligence indicates that Konoha and the Uchiha clan have completely broken ties. The Uchiha clan's combat faction was wiped out by the rogue ninja Uchiha Itachi at the Naka Shrine, while the moderate faction of about three hundred people, led by clan leader Uchiha Fugaku, fled Konoha and are currently moving northwest along the Crimson River, with their expected destination being the border of the Land of Frost."

"Fugaku Uchiha has been confirmed to have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, but his abilities are unknown. On the Konoha side, Danzo Shimura is leading the Root elite in pursuit, while the Konoha garrison on the borders of the Land of Smoke and the Land of Hot Springs has entered a state of high alert."

"Kaleidoscope Sharingan..."

The Fourth Raikage, A, narrowed his eyes, a look of interest appearing on his rugged face.

"Uchiha Madara's eyes... It seems they want to join our Kumogakure."

He turned around, walked to the ninja world map on the wall, and pointed to the location of the Land of Frost.

"Get the border troops moving too, and have them entangle the Konoha ninja legions under the pretext of 'preventing Konoha from invading the Cloud Village's territory'."

Raikage turned to look at Mabui.

"At the same time, dispatch an elite squad of about ten people to receive those Uchiha clan members."

"Ten people?"

Mabui pushed up her glasses.

"Lord Raikage, the enemy numbers over three hundred, and Konoha's Root forces are in pursuit. These few individuals... I'm afraid..."

"I'm not stupid. If Fugaku Uchiha has already fled to the Land of Frost, then there's nothing to say. We can just send troops to attack Konoha."

Raikage interrupted her with a sinister grin.

"But they didn't escape into the Land of Frost, and there are over three hundred old, weak, and disabled people. To rescue them all would require sacrificing countless Kumogakure ninja. I won't let our Kumogakure ninja sacrifice themselves in vain behind enemy lines. So, once Fugaku Uchiha and the people of Konoha start fighting, they'll seize the opportunity to snatch them back. They can bring back as many as they can—women, children, and even, at the very least, a few pairs of eyes!"

Mabuyi was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I understand. How about sending [Xi] to lead the team? He is one of the few elite Jonin in Kumogakure who is proficient in three types of techniques: sensory perception, genjutsu, and medical treatment. He is perfect for this kind of 'snatching' mission, since it's not about going into direct combat."

"[hope] is indeed suitable. Also, pass on my order to have the border troops ready to receive [hope] at any time."

"yes!"

---Divider line

"Reporting to Lord Danzang, the target is about five kilometers ahead!"

Ryoma Aburame squatted on a branch of a large tree, his hands forming a mudra. Countless parasitic insects flew out from his sleeves and hovered in the air. He closed his eyes and sensed the smell in the wind blowing from upwind through the feedback of the insects.

"The scent is complex; besides the Uchiha clan, there's also the scent of some strangers..."

"It must be those barbarians from the Cloud Ninja."

Danzo Shimura stood under the tree, leaning on his cane, a cold smile on his face.

Just half an hour ago, through Yamanaka Kaze's secret technique, he received intelligence from the border troops that the Cloud Village had indeed begun to entangle with the Konoha ninja army, using the pretext of "preventing Konoha from invading" to gather troops on the border of the Frost Country.

Furthermore, an elite squad broke through the defenses and infiltrated towards the Land of Hot Springs.

All of this was within Danzo's expectations.

The Uchiha clan's massacre and defection were too big to be concealed. The intelligence networks of the major ninja villages were not to be underestimated. Among them, the one who coveted the Sharingan the most was undoubtedly the Cloud Village, which had tried to seize the Byakugan many times.

At present, Fugaku Uchiha has clearly made contact with Kumogakure, but this is actually intentional on his part.

Konoha has a ninja army in the northeast, confronting Kumogakure on the border of the Land of Frost. Meanwhile, troops transferred from the front lines of the Land of Smoke have arrived on the eastern side of the Land of Hot Springs, deploying perpendicular to the border. In this way, Konoha's forces form a 90-degree angle.

If a real battle breaks out, the Cloud Village, which is a few hours behind in intelligence, will face a double disadvantage in terms of both numbers and terrain.

That's why he dared to allow Fugaku Uchiha to meet with Kumogaku, because he wanted to give Fugaku the illusion that he could cross the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost. Of course, in reality, that only meant getting deeper into the encirclement...

"All troops, accelerate the attack!"

Taking a deep breath, Shimura Danzo slammed his cane heavily on the ground.

"yes!"

---Divider line

On a vast wilderness, Fugaku Uchiha stood in front of his clansmen, facing nine Cloud Village ninja.

The leader, a tall, imposing Jonin from Kumogakure with a scar on his face, surveyed the Uchiha clan members before him. There were over three hundred of them, nearly half of whom were elderly, weak, women, or children. Although exhausted, his eyes still retained the sharpness characteristic of the ninja clan.

"Clan Chief Fugaku, I am the captain of the Kumogakure Special Operations Team, codename 'Raiga'."

The scarred ninja spoke, his voice rough and hoarse.

"The Fourth Raikage is aware of your plight and is willing to offer you protection. The ninjas of Kumogakure are currently confronting the Konoha forces on the border of the Land of Frost, creating an opportunity for you to break through."

Lei Ya pointed to the northwest.

"But to be honest, it's almost impossible for more than 300 people to break through the border. Konoha also has a force on the east side of the Land of Hot Springs, forming a right-angle encirclement. So, we can only provide you with a relatively safe route and some tactical suggestions. Whether you can successfully break through depends on your own strength and luck."

"Can."

After a moment of contemplation, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, Fugaku Uchiha nodded in agreement.

"Then, let's go."

After saying that, Raiya turned around and led the team away. At the same time, he heard a faint radio wave in his earpiece. This was an instruction from [Xi], the real leader who was lying in ambush further away.

"The Roots are less than five kilometers away from you. Proceed with the retreat as planned, taking a detour due north to give the Roots time to catch up. Once the two sides meet, retreat immediately. They won't care about you at all. After they start fighting, follow my orders to seize young women and children in the chaos."

Raiya used a secret language unique to Cloud Village to gently tap his palm with his fingers.

"Don't you want elites?"

A moment later, hope's reply came.

"Uchiha Fugaku and those adult male fighters are too dangerous. Even Konoha can't control them, so we in Kumogakure won't want them either."

"clear..."

...

The team traveled across the wilderness for about half an hour.

Suddenly, Fugaku Uchiha stopped and raised his hand to signal the group to halt.

"What's wrong, Chief Fugaku?"

Raiya frowned and asked.

"Oh."

Fugaku Uchiha looked at Raiga and suddenly laughed.

What do you think?

"My purpose has been exposed!"

Raiga jerked violently and immediately led his team to run away into the distance. After all, he was facing someone with the Mangekyou Sharingan, a Kage-level powerhouse!

Fortunately, when Raiga, who was running away at high speed, looked back, he found that Fugaku Uchiha had no intention of chasing him at all, and didn't even glance at him. Almost at the same time, nearly a hundred dark figures appeared like ghosts on the distant horizon and approached him at an alarming speed.

Without a doubt, that was the root...

"Uchiha Fugaku, you can't escape now!!"

Danzo Shimura's roar came from afar!

Almost simultaneously with his voice, the Root forces half-surrounded the Uchiha clan. Taking a deep breath, Danzo, leaning on his cane, stepped out from the crowd, staring at Fugaku with his one eye.

"It took less time to catch up with you than I expected. It seems that those barbarians from Yunyin had no good intentions at all and wanted to take advantage of the situation. You've been patient for so many years, but you're still a bit dumber than I thought."

Upon hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha took a few steps forward and came to the front of the Uchiha clan, facing Danzo Shimura.

Then he smiled.

It wasn't a sneer, nor a bitter laugh, but rather a... mocking laugh.

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

Fugaku asked.

"You idiot!"

Danzo answered instinctively, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had fallen into a language trap, and his face immediately darkened.

"Even on the verge of death, you're still trying to gain the upper hand with words. Show me your true skills, and let me see how much better your kaleidoscope is than your son's!"

Fugaku's smile grew even brighter.

"This isn't just empty talk. I have a suggestion for you: Root should recruit a member of the Hyuga clan. The Byakugan can see far more things than the Sharingan."

Danzo was taken aback, not understanding why Fugaku would suddenly bring this up.

But the next second, he understood.

Because Fugaku raised his hand and formed a hand seal that he knew all too well...

"untie!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

A series of white smoke burst open, like festive fireworks.

To the astonishment of Danzo and all the Root members, more than three hundred Uchiha clan members, including Fugaku Uchiha himself who was standing at the very front, all turned into white smoke and dissipated into the air.

Shadow Clone Technique!

They're all shadow clones!

"Shadow! Clone! Body!!"

Danzo spat out those three words through gritted teeth, his single eye blazing with fury. Clearly, just as Fugaku Uchiha had said, if there had been a member of the Hyuga clan in the group, they might have realized long ago that the fact that everyone's chakra was evenly distributed meant it was definitely a shadow clone...

"Go! Capture those Cloud Village ninjas!!"

...

The border area between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fields.

A huge natural open-air hot spring, the warm water glowing with a pale blue luminescence.

Sudden...

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

At the bottom of the hot spring, dozens of huge, egg-shaped wooden containers slowly emerged from the underwater river. These containers were constructed using the Transformation Technique and were filled with air. Several Uchiha clan members were curled up inside each container.

"Bang!"

The first container broke, and the five people inside fell into the hot spring. Then, the second, the third...

---Divider line

Konoha, Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the intelligence sent back from the front lines.

"That old man Danzo has really suffered a great loss this time."

He shook the cigarette in his hand and tapped the pipe lightly against his lips.

"More than three hundred shadow clones managed to outmaneuver him completely, and he even ended up fighting the Cloud Village people for nothing."

Xiaochun, who was switching dorm rooms, sat to the side with her brows furrowed.

"Hiruzen, this is not funny. Fugaku Uchiha is much more cunning than we thought. The problem now is that we don't even know where he has gone."

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly stood up and walked to the world map on the office wall. His gaze moved from the Land of Hot Springs to the border between the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields.

"From this intelligence report, as well as previous intelligence reports, we can deduce a few things."

"First, Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan ability can support reverse summoning of multiple people, as well as the Shadow Clone Technique for hundreds of people."

"Secondly, he seems to be exempt from, or at least have the side effects of these ninjutsu significantly reduced."

He turned around and looked at the two advisors.

"Even if we split up, the parasites should have detected the smell. The only reason they didn't is..."

"The other party went underwater."

Mitokado Yan pushed up his glasses and continued the conversation.

"That's right."

Hiruzen nodded.

"There are numerous underground caves and hot spring river systems along the border between the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields. If Fugaku Uchiha leads his clansmen to move underwater, they can indeed completely avoid being tracked by scent."

His finger traced an arc on the map, pointing from the Land of Hot Water to the Land of Rice Fields.

"Therefore, he most likely moved to the Land of Rice Fields from those underground caves and hot spring rivers on the border between the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields."

"The Land of Fields..."

"Turn to the next room," Xiaochun murmured.

"The Land of Fields is located between the Land of Claws and the Land of Hot Water. We do not have troops stationed there, which is why he can easily cross the border."

"It seems he intends to travel all the way from the Land of Rice Fields through the Land of Minions and the Land of Waterfalls to Iwagakure. That old stubborn Onoki doesn't have much affection for the Sharingan, but that's on the condition that the Sharingan is in Konoha. If it were in Iwagakure, he'd probably be happier than anyone else."

"In that case, Hiruzen, we need to mobilize the Konoha border ninja army from the neighboring country of the Land of Rice Fields, and have them seal off the border to prevent the remnants of the Uchiha clan from running to the Land of Waterfall. After all, the Land of Waterfall also has its own tailed beasts. Although they dare not take in the Uchiha clan, they are still willing to do things that hinder us."

"Report!"

Suddenly, the office door was knocked open, and then another intelligence report was delivered.

"Oh."

After reading the intelligence report, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a drag of his cigarette.

"Danzo has also realized what's going on. He has already issued the blockade order through Yamanaka Kaze. He wants me to send another team, led by the Hyuga clan, to blockade the Land of Minions from below."

"It seems he's afraid of being tricked again. In that case, I'll go and visit the Hyuga clan."

With that, Mitokado Yan stood up and said.