Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"what happened?"

Wisteria is checking her equipment.

Small dachi, shuriken, explosive tags... Although she was watching the whole thing as expected, it didn't stop Zongxian from fully equipping her. He had all the weapons a proper ninja should have: explosive tags, flashbangs, and smoke bombs. The only thing missing was the Konoha ninja's disguise.

However, the little girl was wearing a traditional black robe worn by women of the Uchiha clan. This could not possibly have been sewn by their mother, who was a full-time editor. It was custom-made from a clothing shop in the clan, and the family crest of a fire fan on the back was particularly eye-catching.

Not only Fujika looked over, but Kurama Yakumo, who was sitting in a wheelchair, also cast a curious glance at her.

"Aren't there always all sorts of strange rumors circulating in the village? Those gossipy aunties often gather together to talk about this and that, and I, well, I, I just happened to overhear them talking about me... talking about me..."

"What? What did those aunties say about you? Naruto, just say it! This stammering is so annoying!"

The cheerful and straightforward little girl stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at her uncooperative follower.

"They said I might be the Fourth Hokage's child!" Naruto gritted his teeth and blurted it out. However, children are naturally shy and afraid that people might misunderstand him as trying to make himself look good. Children also have a sense of pride, and their self-esteem is more sensitive than that of adults.

but,

The wisteria flower didn't think that way at all.

She simply stared wide-eyed at Naruto in astonishment, "Is your father the Fourth Hokage? I never knew you were so amazing, Naruto!"

"It's just a possibility! To be honest, I don't even believe it myself."

After saying it, Naruto really breathed a sigh of relief. He had been holding it in for days, with no one to talk to. He looked up at the dense canopy of trees above him and murmured, "How could a hero's child be a demon fox? Rumors... they're all lies."

"Not necessarily."

Kurama Yakumo looked Naruto up and down with a look of astonishment.

"The Fourth Hokage died young, and none of us ever saw him in person. But I did hear my father say that the Fourth Hokage was supposedly nicknamed 'Yellow Flash,' and that he had the same hair color as you, Naruto!"

Naruto paused for a moment, then reached up and scratched his hair.

"Yellow hair shouldn't be unusual in the village, right? Ino has yellow hair too, doesn't she? And I remember learning in the Ninja Academy that the Fourth Hokage's surname was Namikaze, and I'm Naruto Uzumaki." At this moment, Naruto vehemently denied any possible connection between himself and the Fourth Hokage.

Humans are such strange creatures, even children are no exception.

"The Fourth Hokage's wife was a member of the Uzumaki clan."

Abruptly,

An unfamiliar voice came from the side.

"who are you?"

Naruto watched warily as Yagura, who had approached without him noticing.

"I meant no harm."

Yagura raised his hands to indicate his harmlessness, "I heard you talking about something interesting, so I got a little curious." As he spoke, his eyes kept glancing at Naruto, wondering if this was the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha.

Although the hair color doesn't match, that vitality is definitely that of a descendant of the Uzumaki clan.

Although the Three-Tails within him was in a dormant state, making it difficult to use, his own abilities were not diminished. At such close range, he could naturally sense Naruto's special abilities clearly.

"Naruto, it's alright. He's your brother's prisoner. Don't worry about him doing anything bad."

Yagura knew wisteria and tangerine.

After all, Yagura had been Sogen's neighbor for the past two days, and the two would play chess whenever they had nothing to do. Before long, even Fujika got to know this prisoner. This was also why Chihaya Uchiha didn't stop Yagura from getting close to the children. Sogen himself had said that Yagura couldn't possibly cause any trouble.

If he dares to harbor any ill will towards Fujika or Yakumo, or even thinks of kidnapping the two children to escape, he'll be in deep trouble.

Uchiha Chihaya, who trusted Sogen completely, naturally didn't take the Fourth Mizukage seriously. Fortunately, Kakashi happened to be away at the moment. With so many Konoha Jonin nearby, he wasn't too worried about Naruto's safety. He took the opportunity to drop off his luggage at his lodgings and change his clothes.

otherwise,

If Kakashi saw Yagura daring to approach Naruto, he'd probably unleash a Chidori attack right away.

"captive?"

Naruto looked at Yagura with confusion.

Are there prisoners who can walk around so freely?

"Lord Mizukage, what's the story behind your statement that the Fourth Hokage's wife's surname is Uzumaki?" Yakumo pressed, pressing Yagura Karatachi about what he had just said.

"this······"

"Lord Mizukage, if you really have nothing better to do, how about I send you to the Dream Realm?" The cheerful voice from behind made Yagura's face twitch. He swallowed back the words that were already in his throat and turned to look at Sogen. His baby face showed a forced smile. "Clan Head Uchiha, may we depart now?"

"immediately."

After Zongxian finished speaking, he ignored the Fourth Mizukage who had made a fool of himself and turned his gaze to the three little guys in front of him, or rather, Naruto. He had only caught the tail end of their conversation, but that didn’t stop him from deducing what they were talking about.

“Brother Zongxian.”

Naruto greeted Sogen politely.

"Ah."

Zongxian nodded slightly in response. He didn't say much to Naruto at this moment, but simply said, "Yakumo, Fujika, and Naruto, we can talk on the way. We're about to set off now."

Just as they were talking,

The Jonin participating in the operation had been assembled in front of the main gate. There were 62 Jonin, which was almost one-fifth of the top forces drawn from the front-line army. With Zongxian personally leading the charge, this force was more than enough to wipe out one or two small countries.

Uchiha Chihaya led the three little ones and blended into the group of Jonin.

The Jonin merely glanced at Yakumo, Fujika, and Naruto before turning away and ignoring them. No one dared to nitpick or utter nonsense about how bringing these kids along would only be a hindrance. The Uchiha clan ninjas had long since submitted to Sogen, offering their loyalty to their invincible clan leader.

Other clans and commoner ninjas were also intimidated by the power of Sogen and the Uchiha clan.

Yagura, a member of the Yagura family, stood outside the crowd.

Silently gazing at the Konoha ninjas kneeling before Uchiha Sogen, and at the various family crests adorning the backs of different ninjas, for a fleeting moment, it was as if I were seeing Konoha at its peak, under the leadership of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, when it had subdued the entire ninja world.

"Is Uchiha Mugen... going to repeat the past once again?"

Yagura rubbed his face, quickly adjusting his mindset. At this moment, the stronger Konoha was, the better. Kirigakure could not possibly compete with Konoha for hegemony. Rest and recuperation was Kirigakure's future development path. Only a sufficiently strong Konoha could possibly deal with that damned mysterious person and the unknown organization or force that might exist behind him.

"Our mission this time is simple. What you need to do is to crush all the Mist Ninja blocking our way and end this war completely. I want the Mist Ninja to never dare to have any thoughts of provoking Konoha for the next twenty years. Everyone! I look forward to you achieving this goal with me!"

Zongxian scanned the people in front of him one by one.

His crimson eyes held an endless, sharp killing intent, and his icy expression left Naruto, who was hiding at the end of the crowd, completely bewildered. In his previous memory, his older brother, Sogen, always had a smile on his face and remained calm no matter what happened.

Like this... murderous, yes, murderous.

This was the first time he had ever seen Zongxian so menacing.

There was no time for him to overthink. As soon as Sogen gave the order to attack, this force, though not large in number, was certainly powerful enough to set off at top speed. Naruto, who had no idea what was going on, was forced to run with all his might.

They were dispatched under Zongxian's orders.

"Zhiwei, do you think the Uchiha clan leader's plan will succeed?"

Choza Akimichi stood at the main entrance of the castle, gazing at the figure gradually disappearing from sight.

"The Uchiha clan head's words should not disappoint. Even the Fourth Mizukage has become his prisoner. As long as that mysterious person does not interfere, there is no possibility of failure in this operation."

The usually taciturn Yu Nu Zhiwei rarely spoke more than a few words.

The two of them did not participate in this operation. Firstly, they had just arrived at the Black Tide Mountain Castle and had not had time to rest. The chakra they had lost could not be recovered so quickly. Secondly, Sogen said that the Black Tide Mountain Castle also needed someone to guard it. Hyuga Masayuki was getting old after all. Moreover, the old man was only a Jonin with decent strength in his prime. He originally planned to leave Aburame Shiguro behind.

Among these thousands of Konoha ninja, if Sogen is undoubtedly the strongest, then Aburame Shiguro is the undisputed second strongest. To be honest, even Sogen had to be on his toes when facing this poison insect user, who was rare even within the Aburame clan.

Zongxian hasn't reached the point where he's immune to all poisons yet!

"The mysterious person... Uchiha Madara?"

Akimichi Choza could no longer see the figure disappearing into the forest. He sighed softly, recalling the way his grandfather looked when he mentioned Uchiha Madara. He could only pray that Uchiha Munegen's operation would not encounter any additional setbacks.

[Chapter 112. Naruto, Go Dark!]

Leaving the Kuroshio Castle and passing through the hills and forests ahead, the boundless blue sea came into view the moment we emerged from the forest. On the shore, in a harbor carved out of the rocky beach by the ninjas, a medium-sized wooden boat that could accommodate more than a hundred passengers was moored.

How can you go out to sea without a boat?

The nameless island where the command center of the Mist Ninja army is located is quite far from the mainland. Even when the Mist Ninja go on an attack, they need to travel by ship. With the descendants of the Senju and Uzumaki clans almost dying out, it is becoming increasingly rare to see those weirdos who don't care about chakra consumption. Sea travel really still depends on ships.

The dozen or so ninjas who remained on the ship saw Zongxian rushing to the front of the crowd and hurriedly went to meet him.

"Prepare to set sail, destination unchanged."

Zongxian led the group onto the ship.

Then the order was issued.

His subordinates dispersed to attend to their own business, and Zongxian was no longer involved. However, he couldn't get involved in the specifics of the voyage, nor was he interested in interfering in other people's areas of expertise. All he needed to do was sail to that nameless island that wasn't even marked on the map.

He has other things to do.

"Naruto, are you looking for information about your parents?"

Inside the cabin, because Naruto and the others had rushed over and hadn't had time for lunch, Sogen led the kids to the restaurant. Yakumo and Fujika had already eaten lunch, but they were curious about what Naruto had mentioned earlier, so they came along.

In addition,

Uchiha Shisui, Hatake Kakashi, and Might Guy also dined at the restaurant.

With a major battle imminent, going to the battlefield without a full stomach will leave us without the strength.

only,

No one expected Zongxian to bring up such a thing at this time. Kakashi was choked by the news. Fortunately, Guy thoughtfully brought him some water, saving him from his predicament. Without even thanking Guy, Kakashi turned to look at Zongxian and the three little ones across the table and clenched his fists nervously.

He wondered whether he should interrupt the conversation.

He was afraid that if Naruto found out the truth about his parents at this moment, he would lose control and go berserk... However, Guy reached out and pressed Kakashi's shoulder, "Kakashi, don't be impulsive. I think Lord Sogen must have considered this. As for Naruto's matter... you'd better think it through before you act."

It's funny,

most of the time,

The so-called secret seems to be known to everyone except the person in question.

Even Guy, who seems single-minded, knows Naruto's background. Naruto is the orphan of the Fourth Hokage... That man, who radiates a warm and comforting light like the winter sun, once asked him to be friends with Kakashi, and he still remembers it to this day!

Kakashi's body froze.

How should Kakashi handle the distance in his relationship with Naruto? Should he tell Naruto the secret of his past? Kakashi, who had made up his mind to protect Naruto, found that his determination was not very useful. The problem was not broken down by his determination, but stood in front of him like a mountain.

Naruto was also a little confused at this moment, and stopped eating. "Brother Sogen? I..."