Escape from Konoha.

Ruri and Fugaku knelt before the four elders, quietly waiting for him to speak.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the next clan leader will be chosen from the two of you."

"Yes."

Upon hearing Elder Sifang's words, both Ruri and Fugaku remained unfazed.

"You two are undoubtedly among the most talented people in the Uchiha clan since ancient times, possessing the potential to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan."

When the four elders mentioned the Mangekyou Sharingan, Ruri and Fugaku were slightly moved.

The Mangekyou Sharingan is the ultimate eye that surpasses the three-tomoe Sharingan.

The earliest known Uchiha ninja to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan is Madara Uchiha, who co-founded Konoha with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

Those are legendary eyes that only the Uchiha clan can awaken, possessing supreme eye techniques.

As the most senior elder of the Uchiha clan, the Four Elders were already Jonin in the village when Konoha was first established. While they may not know everything about the Uchiha clan's secrets, they certainly know more than most Uchiha clan members.

This includes the secret of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Elder, what exactly are the conditions for awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan?"

It was Fugaku who asked this question.

His Sharingan had reached the three-tomoe level, which is the highest level of ordinary Sharingan. He was even more eager than Ruri to know how to advance to the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Only in this way can he become the Uchiha clan leader without any mistakes and lead the Uchiha to new heights.

He felt he now had enough power to access the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Fugaku, your three-tomoe Sharingan training is still insufficient; you need to continue honing it. In a few days, I will recommend you to the Third Hokage so that you can form a team with other Konoha ninjas to carry out missions. You will benefit greatly there."

"Yes."

Fugaku obeyed. His strength was all thanks to the teachings of the Four Elders, and he had complete faith in their arrangements.

He must have had his reasons for making this arrangement.

"Elder Sifang, what should I do?"

Liuli asked.

"You're luckier than Fugaku; you've already found the conditions to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan. Next, all you need to do is hone your ordinary Sharingan to its limit. When the time is right, I'll tell you how to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan."

The four elders looked at Liuli with a meaningful gaze.

He valued ruritsu more than Fuji.

Her deep bond with the village's ninjas, her obsession with power, and her unparalleled talent in using the Sharingan...

At that time, in order to obtain the strongest power, she would definitely not be able to resist the temptation of the legendary eye technique and make the right choice.

At that time, the Uchiha clan will once again flourish and completely surpass the Senju clan.

"Yes."

She was puzzled as to why Elder Shifang said that her conditions for awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan were more favorable than Fugaku's, and that she only needed to train her ordinary Sharingan to its limit. However, Ruri didn't think about it too deeply and simply nodded to indicate that she understood.

She was more interested in the method of awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan than in the position of clan leader.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The War Returns

July, Konoha Year 33.

This winter is colder than usual, with snowflakes falling heavily from the sky, turning the sky pale.

The cold wind swept through every corner of Konoha Village. In this cold season, unless there was something particularly important, most people would choose to stay at home around the fireplace and spend the cold winter.

However, students at the Ninja Academy still have to attend school as usual.

In Class A of Grade 4, Liuli was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and trousers, with a white scarf around her neck. Her long black hair flowed down to her waist like silk. She rested her chin on her hand and admired the snow scene outside through the transparent glass.

The playground was covered in a blanket of snow. In this season, I really wished I didn't have to come to school and could spend the whole day at home.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside.

Even the quiet in the classroom was broken. Liuli frowned impatiently, but these guys were still buzzing around like flies as always.

"Do you find it noisy?"

Shiraishi returned carrying a convenience bag containing hot milk tea and hamburger patties.

Of course, it's in the form of glass coins.

"Of course. But they can only be happy at school."

Liuli took out her own hot milk tea and a hamburger patty from the convenience bag.

"Ayane, do you want some? I bought an extra portion."

Shiraishi turned to look at Ayane on the other side.

"No need, thank you."

Ayane smiled apologetically, stood up from her seat, and walked out of the classroom.

Shiraishi watched Ayane's departing figure, sighed, and said, "I always feel that she's even more of a loner than you, Ruri. We used to be able to hang out together."

A dangerous glint appeared in Liuli's eyes as she looked at the convenience bag in Baishi's hand and asked, "When did I give you permission to take my money to treat unrelated people to food?"

"Uh... no, I think we're all classmates who sit at the same desk, um, this..."

Are you planning to go hungry tonight and tomorrow morning? Who do you think is supporting you now?

"……understood."

"Just remember to let me know next time. I hate it when people touch my things without asking."

"So that's what you care about? I understand. I'll let you know in advance next time."

Shiraishi sighed again, sat down in his seat, picked up his milk tea and drank it, then took a bite of the hot hamburger patty.

"By the way, what was all that noise outside just now?"

While drinking her milk tea, Ruri asked Shiraishi a question.

"Didn't you know? Some fourth-year students want to graduate early, and today is the day for special admissions. I heard that three people in our class want to graduate two years early. Oh, and Minato Namikaze from the next class is one of them."

Shiraishi told the truth about what he knew.

"That blond sissy, I heard he's the top student in Class B."

"Even if you're the top student in Class B, you're no match for the top student in Class A."

Shiraishi was confident in Ruri's abilities and smiled as he spoke.

"I will not underestimate anyone."

Despite saying that, she still appreciated Shiraishi's compliments.

Class started soon, and the homeroom teacher, Fujimura Taiga, came in from outside the classroom to begin the lesson.

The indoor subjects in fourth grade are more complex than those in first to third grade. There is a lot to learn in fourth grade, which may be of great help to ordinary students, but for someone like Shiraishi who has already graduated through self-study, neither indoor nor outdoor classes are meaningful.

Therefore, aside from teaching the Will of Fire, Shiraishi and Ruri would do whatever they wanted to do.

Shiraishi took a pen and ruler and began drawing in the notebook in front of him, adding annotations and formulas next to the drawings.

This is an important experiment to be conducted tonight, where theoretical derivations will be performed and then applied in practice.

More than three months have passed since the research on natural energy began.

In the past three months, Bai Shi has been able to successfully draw out natural energy, but the natural energy he draws out is not particularly stable.

Moreover, even if natural energy is successfully channeled, without corresponding methods, it will quickly dissipate and evaporate, becoming intangible air and returning to nature.

Therefore, in the next experiment, Shiraishi will extend the time when natural energy manifests as a physical entity, giving him enough time to understand natural energy and successfully utilize it.

Time passed quietly like that.

◎

Early November.

Light snow occasionally falls from the sky, and the weather warms up slightly, but it is still very cold.

On this day of Lesser Cold, an event occurred that was unexpected by everyone and shattered the tranquility and peace of Konoha Village.

—The Sand Village ninja raided the border of the Land of Fire, causing heavy losses to the Konoha forces on the border, and officially declared war on Konoha.

Just over a year after the war in the Land of Rain, the flames of war have once again spread to the Land of Fire.

Moreover, the target of the declaration of war was Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Led by the Third Kazekage himself, a large number of Sand Village ninjas were sent to provoke a war against Konoha.

The village of Konoha was enveloped in a palpable atmosphere of tension and heaviness.

The war in the Land of Rain had just ended in October of last year, and now, just six months later, war has swept across the land again.

Moreover, the ones who challenged Konoha this time were the Sand Village ninjas, whose overall strength far surpassed that of the Amegakure ninjas.

As one of the Five Great Nations alongside Konoha, the Amegakure ninja group's mobilization speed and the quality of its ninjas far surpass those of the Amegakure ninja.

The rise and fall of the Rain Village ninja depended on their leader, Hanzo.

Unlike Sunagakure, its leader is the Third Kazekage, one of the Five Kage of the time, known as the strongest Kazekage in history.

He has many talented subordinates, and is also assisted by the elder siblings Chiyo, who are all powerful ninjas renowned throughout the ninja world.

Furthermore, Sunagakure established a formidable puppet machine force, which caused considerable suffering to the major ninja villages in past wars.

This time, the Sand Village's attack is fierce and not an easy battle to win.

It's as if the war in the Land of Rain was merely an opening ceremony for Konoha's formal intervention in the Second Shinobi World War, and the real war has only just begun.

This oppressive feeling, like a storm brewing, weighed heavily on all the Konoha ninjas. The Konoha leadership, headed by the Third Hokage, convened an emergency meeting.

That same night after the meeting, a large number of Konoha ninja left the village and headed towards the border of the Land of Fire to provide support.

The various ninja clans also dispatched their elite ninjas to fight against the Sand Village ninjas.

War is imminent.