Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

He reached into the specially made ninja tool pouch hanging at his waist, and his mouth in his palms tore at the white clay stored in the pouch until he couldn't swallow any more. Then he began to chew frantically, opened his mouth, and spat out a bunch of small birds and grasshoppers.

With a flick of his wrists, the little bird and grasshopper plummeted into the air, swelling slightly in size and seemingly coming to life.

He did not choose a high-powered attack method.

It wasn't that he was soft-hearted and unwilling to use it, nor was it that he was worried about affecting Obito-senpai. He simply wanted to prove himself against Hyuga Himon. Moreover, the powerful bombs consumed too much chakra, and he wanted to save his trump card for dealing with the real big fish later, rather than this group of unknown minions.

Hyuga Himon began to entangle with Deidara, but like Shisui and Uchiha Obito in their fierce battle, they did not break away from the main force to fight one-on-one. Deidara may be a bit too straightforward and sometimes goes crazy for art, but unlike Hidan, who is a stubborn idiot, Deidara is quite calm and cunning in battle.

He wasn't just constantly watching Hyuga Himon make his move.

The attacks of those little birds and grasshoppers were not limited to Hyuga Hinata; everyone else was also a target. This forced Hyuga Hinata to keep up with his companions while constantly defending against Deidara's attacks, putting him under immense pressure.

Obito Uchiha used the same fighting style.

Instead of trying to kill Shisui, he kept attacking Hyuga Himon, Inuzuka Hana, and the others.

The battles along the way truly lived up to the saying "sparks and lightning." Deidara's clay bombs released countless brilliant sparks, while Shisui and Obito's figures appeared and disappeared like lightning, so fast that they couldn't be caught by the naked eye.

For this,

Feng and Qu Gen, among others, consistently ignored it.

They gritted their teeth and pressed on, sprinting toward the location of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, ignoring the wooden spikes that could pierce them at any moment, and the bombs that could blow them to smithereens.

Their primary task is to rescue the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Only after ensuring the safety of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki can they step in to support Hyuga Himon and deal with the bastard who planted bombs in the sky. As for Uchiha Obito... they don't know how to help deal with an enemy who has mastered space-time techniques, and they are afraid that rashly taking action would only cause trouble for Lord Shisui.

In contrast,

That bomber flying in the sky was obviously much easier to deal with.

Of course, all of this is predicated on first rescuing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

"I can smell it."

Inuzuka Hana suddenly spoke up, "Naruto Uzumaki is in that building over there, and there are more than ten different scents around him."

[371.Chapter 368 Amaterasu]

"They've arrived." Orochimaru stood on the iron bridge, holding onto the railing, watching the figures leaping and rushing towards him, and asked, "Scorpion, aren't you going to make your move? Fugaku-kun is the raw material you ordered to make puppets."

"My affairs are none of your business."

Scorpion replied coldly.

He sat calmly in the corner of the iron bridge, watching the approaching figure without moving, showing no intention of making a move.

Yes,

Don't be fooled by his previous confident declaration that he would use Fugaku Uchiha as material for his puppet, but... talk is cheap! Uchiha ninjas aren't so easily turned into puppets, especially those with the Mangekyou Sharingan. When they get serious... people can die.

And it will definitely be oneself who dies.

This conclusion was drawn after nearly five years of being imprisoned at the Nanga Shrine.

Furthermore, with Orochimaru, that venomous snake, by his side, he would never expose his back. If he were killed by the Uchiha, he would accept it; he was simply outmatched. But if he were ambushed by that trash Orochimaru, he would die rather die than swallow that insult.

"Since you're not in a hurry, Sasori, then... let me first experience Fugaku's abilities! Back in the village, I never realized how outstanding Fugaku's ability to conceal his talents was. I can only make up for that regret today."

Orochimaru bit his thumb, drawing blood, and swiftly completed the hand seals.

[Ninja Art: Summoning Technique]

then,

A snake plague has struck.

A swarm of snakes from Ryuchi Cave appeared in Amegakure. The enormous ones could almost completely encircle a four-story building, while the tiny ones were only about the thickness of a finger. As the large snakes slithered, they accidentally crushed many small snakes to death, but many more small snakes survived and headed towards Uchiha Fugaku and his group.

This is not a clever tactic.

But it is definitely a very powerful move.

Such a large swarm of snakes can indeed be described as a snake plague; it is an absolute man-made natural disaster.

"Snakes!!! So many snakes!!"

Hyuga Iroha's face twitched, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. So many snakes, as far as the eye could see, completely blocked the way ahead, making him feel a bit like he had trypophobia. Unless he could clear out this huge swarm of snakes, he would have to take a detour to see if he could pass.

"It's Orochimaru."

Their faces turned bluish-green after three days in the mountains.

Even though ninjas live a life of constant danger, it doesn't mean they would accept such horrifying scenes as commonplace.

"let me."

Aburame Shiguro, who was running alongside Uchiha Fugaku at the very front, spoke up.

Uchiha Itachi opened his mouth as if to say something, but saw his father wave his hand at him, indicating that he should not compete with Aburame Shiguro for the opportunity to make a move. After hesitating for half a second, he suppressed his anxiety and restrained his desire to make a move. He just watched Aburame Shiguro, who was walking in front of him, raise his hands and gently wave them.

Within the not-so-wide sleeves, jet-black, buzzing 'mist' gushed out like a fountain. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that this so-called mist was composed of countless tiny insects.

What's even more terrifying is that,

Itachi Uchiha sensed a deadly threat from these tiny insects.

That is,

Even him,

If you are bitten by this poisonous insect, you will definitely not survive.

"Nanometer-sized poisonous insects... No wonder she's the strongest member of the Aburame clan!" Itachi Uchiha thought to himself, thankful that he hadn't chosen to rescue Sasuke and Naruto alone. The danger level of Amegakure was a bit more terrifying than he had imagined. Although he wasn't a professional sensory ninja, judging from the current situation, it would be extremely difficult for him to break through Amegakure on his own.

The continuous sound of explosions came from afar.

One can easily imagine what kind of enemies the clan leader and Shisui encountered—enemies that were probably no less formidable than Orochimaru, who had stopped them.

They stared at the swarm of snakes blocking their path and trying to rush over and kill them.

The woman, Zhihei, showed no sign of panic.

Maintaining his unwavering composure and icy calm, he merely slowed his pace slightly, gave his sleeves a shake, and whispered, "Go!"

then,

A dark cloud of insects flew out.

It collided head-on with the surging tide of snakes... The giant snake, which had been full of life, with its mouth wide open revealing sharp teeth like steel forks and spewing out gusts of foul wind, suddenly became stiff. Its cruel and bloodthirsty cold eyes suddenly went blank, and the light in its eyes dimmed along with its life force in an instant.

It died.

Before he could even properly savor the incredibly delicious human taste that 'Boss of Ten Thousand Snakes' had described, he collapsed in the world outside Ryuchi Cave.

In fact, the giant snake's death was not the beginning, but the end. The smaller snakes that fell over, changed color, and festered were the earliest victims. Because the giant snake was so large, even the venomous insects took quite some time to successfully poison it.

The originally densely packed snake horde had lost its threat in less than half a minute, with only a small group of snakes remaining at the back that had not been cleared away by the venomous insects that could not leave Aburame Shiguro's body for too long or too far.

but,

To achieve this level,

It has already been a success.

Although the snake swarm was not completely wiped out, the vast majority of them were killed. Once the venomous snake carcasses blocking the road were cleared away, they could continue forward. At this point, they could clearly see Orochimaru standing on the elevated iron bridge connecting the two buildings, and Scorpion crouching in the corner without making any move.

next second,

Itachi Uchiha glanced at Orochimaru and Sasori standing on the iron bridge.

Kaleidoscope Sharingan Eye Technique —

【Amaterasu】,

launch!

Black flames appeared out of thin air and coiled around Orochimaru and Sasori's bodies. The extremely hot flames rapidly burned their bodies, and Orochimaru let out a heart-wrenching scream. Even Orochimaru, a monster who had already modified his body beyond recognition, could hardly bear the pain of being burned by the flames.

Fortunately, Orochimaru reacted very quickly. After failing to extinguish the black flames on his body with Water Release, he realized that the black flames that suddenly enveloped him were no ordinary thing. He dared not waste any more time dawdling. Orochimaru opened his mouth wide and stretched out his hands from his throat, opening his upper and lower jaws.

In less than a second,

A brand new Orochimaru appeared on the iron bridge.

Compared to Orochimaru, who was burned and looked rather disheveled, Sasori was undoubtedly much luckier. The black flames burned his outermost puppet, but his body inside the puppet was not harmed at all. He escaped just as the puppet was completely burned.

Exposed

He was a slender, handsome young man with red hair.

"Scorpion, what was that just now?"

Orochimaru's legs were still in the shape of a snake's tail, and he had not yet separated into two feet. His whole body was sticky and he was wriggling on the ground like a newly hatched baby snake.

"Don't ask me questions like that, it makes it seem like I know so much about the Uchiha." Sasori retorted angrily. Losing his puppet, which he used for transportation and concealment, was not something to be happy about. Seventy percent of a puppeteer's combat power comes from the puppet, and the remaining three-tenths depends on the puppeteer's own ability.

The puppet that was burned is honestly one of the best works among all the current works. Losing it so suddenly has a significant impact. More importantly, it ruins people's mood. They didn't even intend to get involved in this mess, but they still lost a puppet for no reason.

"Is it a Mangekyou Sharingan eye technique?"

"Nine times out of ten."

Scorpion gritted his teeth and replied coldly.

Although he was unaware of Itachi Uchiha's awakening of the Mangekyou Sharingan, the five years he spent at the Naga Shrine were not wasted. While developing a potion to stabilize the Mangekyou Sharingan according to Sogen's request, he also took the opportunity to study the secrets of the Uchiha clan, and he became quite knowledgeable about the Mangekyou Sharingan.

The black flames came so suddenly.

Its power is also terrifying.

Water Release techniques couldn't extinguish the flames... After much thought, there was no other answer but the Mangekyou Sharingan's eye techniques. Only the Mangekyou Sharingan's eye techniques could display such a strange and wondrous ability.

"However... according to the information I obtained from the Cloud Ninja, Fugaku-kun's Mangekyou Sharingan eye techniques are actually genjutsu."

Orochimaru fixed his gaze on Itachi Uchiha, who was standing behind Fugaku Uchiha and Shiguro Aburame. At this moment, there were only two Uchiha present. If it wasn't Fugaku Uchiha, then it must be another brat from the Uchiha clan.

"Another pair of new kaleidoscopes... Ahhh!!!"

This time, Orochimaru clearly saw the slowly rotating black three-leaf windmill pattern in Itachi's scarlet eyes, and his gaze collided head-on with Itachi's.

Then Orochimaru let out another earth-shattering scream.

The pitch-black flames burned away his eyeballs in an instant. This time, Orochimaru dared not hesitate for even a fraction of a second. He decisively used the [Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique] he had developed, abandoning his body which had been burned by the black flames. He opened his mouth and, as if shedding his skin, generated a brand new Orochimaru who had not come into contact with the black flames.