Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"Be careful, it's an Uchiha. Don't look into his eyes."

Standing on the treetop, the ninja saw the small flame fan crest on Sogen's collar from a high vantage point.

As soon as he finished speaking,

Even though Sogen hadn't opened his eyes, the Mist Ninja all lowered their heads in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized, as if they had been trained. They dared not look into Sogen's eyes, and could only stare at his hands and feet, slowly moving their feet, trying to strike first.

Shuriken rained down.

Kunai adorned with explosive tags,

A wave of probing attacks flew towards Zongxian.

"You didn't recognize me? You've forgotten my name after only five years? Looks like I need to give your useless brains a good jolt!" Just before the Mist Ninja made their move, Sogen sighed with a hint of disappointment. He released his grip on the two little ones' necks and formed a simple 'Tiger' hand seal with his hands.

Then--

[Fire Release: Great Flame Annihilation]

He refined a large amount of chakra and gathered it in his throat, then opened his mouth and spat out a terrifying sea of ​​fire as large as a tsunami. The scorching fire blew away the shuriken, and the explosive tags that hadn't even had time to reach Zongxian were detonated prematurely. The flames and shockwaves of the explosion were instantly engulfed by the surging fire.

Looking down from the sky, you can see a crimson ocean swallowing half of the mountain forest.

"Water Release! Quickly use water..."

"No, it's completely unstoppable..."

"...Run! Everyone run! I remember now, it's the [Flame Demon], he's the Flame Demon!!!"

The wailing of the Mist Ninja proved that they had failed to escape the tsunami-sized fire jutsu. Some tried to use water jutsu to resist the scorching and deadly flames, but before they could finish their hand seals, the raging flames had already devoured their lives.

However, it was this terrifyingly powerful Fire Release technique that finally awakened the sealed memories of the Mist Ninja.

【Flame Demon】—Uchiha Sogen.

【Body Flicker】—Uchiha Shisui

These two brats from the Uchiha clan repeatedly caused the Mist Ninja to suffer losses during the Third Shinobi World War, establishing their formidable reputation by trampling on countless skeletons. In particular, Uchiha Sogen, relying on his unparalleled Fire Release technique, defied the rules of elemental counteraction and used Fire Release to suppress the Mist Ninja's Water Release techniques, leaving hundreds of Mist Ninja with indelible psychological trauma.

Even the few Mist Ninjas who were lucky enough to escape the area engulfed by the sea of ​​fire could not escape that swift, white blade of light.

Zongxian's landing made too much noise.

So much so that the Kirigakure ninja didn't even notice Uchiha Chihaya's arrival. By the time they noticed the flash of the blade behind them, it was too late; their lives were easily taken.

The battle came to an end in the blink of an eye.

Of course, it would be more accurate to describe this as a one-sided massacre rather than a battle.

The sixteen Mist Ninja didn't even have a single proper Jonin. The four Special Jonin were practically useless against real Jonin. They could only bully Konoha patrols that lacked Jonin strength. Unfortunately, they ran into Sogen and Uchiha Chihaya.

Even without Zongxian,

Just the fact that Uchiha Chihaya, a Jonin who has awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan and is proficient in Wind Release, Fire Release, and swordsmanship, is enough to give these Mist Ninja a good beating!

"vomit--"

Watching the figures fall one after another in the sea of ​​fire, and smelling the nauseating stench of burning in the air... Kurama Yakumo didn't last more than a few seconds before he leaned against a tree trunk and vomited up all the food he had eaten that morning that hadn't been properly digested.

This was the first time the pampered young lady had ever seen such a shocking scene.

"It stinks!"

Uchiha Fujika's face also turned a little pale.

However, she did not vomit like Yakumo Kurama. Even though her face was frighteningly pale, she still suppressed her discomfort and silently watched the still burning sea of ​​fire and the figures of those who had all fallen.

Through the flickering, illusory flames, one could see corpses scorched by the sea of ​​fire, their original appearances distorted.

If the fire lasts longer, cremation on the spot wouldn't be difficult.

"Hello, excuse me... are you from the Uchiha clan?" The middle-aged man cautiously approached, tentatively inquiring about Zongxian and the others' identities from what he thought was a safe distance.

"Uchiha Munen, the current head of the Uchiha clan and the head of the Konoha Police Department."

Zongxian stepped forward.

The armor on his body rattled loudly.

He activated his crimson Sharingan and stared at the middle-aged man in front of him.

"The head of the Uchiha clan?" The middle-aged man stared at Uchiha Munen in astonishment, his expression as if he had seen a ghost. Such a young clan head, what kind of joke is this... Wait, he seemed to have heard Uchiha Akifusa mention that the Uchiha clan had recently changed its clan head.

Uchiha Akifusa, that kid, showed an excited smile like a teenager, which was quite rare.

Border guard forces are a rather closed organization.

To prevent the team members from being tempted by the outside world and to endure the hardships of life on the frontier, they implemented rather closed management methods, including information control. As a result, many people in the border guard force are still unaware that the head of the Uchiha clan has changed.

However, the fact that Akimichi Torifu had become the acting Hokage of the Fifth Hokage had already been widely publicized.

"Please forgive my rudeness, I am..."

Is it Akifusa?

Zongxian walked over and came to the side of Uchiha Akifusa, who was in a coma.

"Yes, yes, he is Qiu Fang!"

So nervous that he could barely speak, Kagemiya answered Zongxian's question, completely unaware that it wasn't actually a question directed at him.

For this,

Zongxian didn't care. He just carefully looked up and down at the unconscious Uchiha Akifusa, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that his little brother was not in mortal danger.

宇智波秋房，

He is also one of Zongxian's peers.

However, unlike Zongxian and the others who returned to the village after the Third World War, Uchiha Akifusa, who was not particularly talented, chose to stay in the border defense force in order to hone himself and strive to awaken his Sharingan as soon as possible. He trained through actual combat, and his Sharingan at the two-tomoe level was the reward he received after paying countless sweat and blood.

"Tell me, what exactly happened? How did your mere patrol squad attract the pursuit of four elite squads of Mist Ninja?" Zongxian interrupted the nonsense of self-introduction, his attention now focused on the secret this group was carrying!

"The Kirigakure's surprise attack force has broken through the defenses of Ōkawasaki." As if worried that Uchiha Sogen might not understand what kind of place Ōkawasaki was, he explained, "Ōkawasaki is only seven kilometers away from the command post located at Kuroshio Mountain. If the Kirigakure launches an attack, the defense forces at the command center may not be able to hold out."

Zongxian understood.

The Mist Ninja have launched a decapitation strike.

They intend to cripple the defense mechanisms of this long coastline by eliminating the minds of the border guards!

Without the command center to coordinate, such a long defensive line would definitely fall into chaos.

"They pinpointed the exact location of the border guard command post so precisely..."

Zongxian muttered to himself, he absolutely did not believe that Obito Uchiha and Zetsu were not involved. Only White Zetsu's superb infiltration skills could have found out the location of the border guard command post without being detected.

Then,

Here comes the problem,

What exactly are Obito Uchiha and Zetsu up to?

Could it be that he really intends to lead the Mist Ninja to victory over Konoha?

Zongxian frowned slightly; his intuition told him that there was definitely something wrong here!

[Chapter 90. Obito Uchiha's Gift! (Seeking monthly votes!)]

"Obito, the fish is in the net." Just as Zetsu, resembling a pitcher plant, poked his head out from the rooftop, White Zetsu excitedly spoke first, an exaggerated smile appearing on his half-pale face. "But aren't you in a bit too hasty, making your move so quickly?"

"It's just a greeting."

Obito Uchiha sat on the roof ridge, his hands resting on his knees and his chin propped up, looking down at the ground below that was gradually turning crimson. The Fourth Mizukage and his Shadow Guard were slaughtering indiscriminately. One after another, ninjas wearing leaf headbands fell, and the chakra fluctuations remaining in the castle were dwindling.

Until the last warehouse manager of the border defense force command center was killed, the command center of Konoha's eastern border defense force was completely annihilated, and the entire castle was filled with an extremely strong stench of blood.

The vultures, drawn by the scent of blood, circled in the sky, hesitant to descend. Their wild instincts told them of the great danger below, but their gluttonous nature made them reluctant to leave, unwilling to give up the rare and abundant feast below.

"It would be too impolite not to greet the host properly when you first arrive. I remember my teacher telling me that it's best not to go to someone's home empty-handed, so I specially prepared this big gift for our clan chief. How about it? Isn't my gift thoughtful?"

below,

The Fourth Mizukage and his Shadow Guard were moving the corpses from the castle to the main gate. The haphazardly piled mountain of corpses was none other than a gift carefully prepared by Obito Uchiha.

"...Uchiha Mugen probably won't like this gift of yours."

Bai Jue spoke with unusual sincerity.

"It's alright. If he doesn't like this gift, I'll have Yagura ask him what kind of gift he likes. If he thinks it's too meager, we can make a few more. Anyway, once the war starts, we'll have plenty of these things." Uchiha Obito said calmly.

Bai Jue pursed his lips and remained silent.

At this point, White Zetsu had nothing more to say.

However, White Zetsu quieted down, while Black Zetsu opened his mouth again.

"Using their trump card so early..."

Black Zetsu's voice was hoarse as he looked at the Fourth Mizukage who was busy below. "Obito, you're being a bit too hasty. Uchiha Sogen isn't so easy to deal with."

Clearly, it wasn't just White Zetsu who thought Obito Uchiha's actions were too hasty; even Black Zetsu felt that this operation was somewhat risky. Who throws out a trump card right from the start? If this doesn't kill Uchiha Sogen and exposes the news that the Fourth Mizukage is personally taking action, Konoha will probably send even more reinforcements.

By then, there will be even less room for maneuver!

The Hidden Mist Village can't muster any more troops. Even though they have the Fourth Mizukage as a valuable asset, if they push those crazy people in the Hidden Mist Village too far, they might turn against the Fourth Mizukage at any cost. Therefore, Obito Uchiha's resources have been fixed from the beginning, and each one he uses is one less he can use.

Unlike Uchiha Mugen, who had Konoha as his backer and a constant stream of new recruits.

"This is the best opportunity."

Obito Uchiha held the completely opposite opinion.

"Compared to waiting for Uchiha Munen to be protected by an army of thousands, now is the best time. Before Konoha's forces have had time to unite, let's test his strength and, if there's an opportunity, kill him directly."

Black Zetsu frowned slightly.

He doesn't have eyebrows.

Hearing what Obito Uchiha said, he still wasn't very optimistic about the plan. Having lived in the ninja world for a thousand years, he was confident in his ability to judge people. Even among the many outstanding members of the Uchiha clan who had left an impression on him over the past thousand years, Uchiha Sogen was, in his opinion, worthy of being ranked in the top ten.

Such a prominent figure is not so easily outmaneuvered.

but,

Since Obito Uchiha had already made up his mind, he was too lazy to persuade him any further. It would only be a waste of time and energy. At worst, he would just have to give up Kirigakure, a pawn whose usefulness was becoming less and less. In the first place, Madara Uchiha had extended his reach into Kirigakure only to use it to train the successor he had chosen.