CHAPTER 283: CHAPTER 283: THE ROGUE NINJA LABOR REFORM PLAN

Even though Kyoichi was already very strong now, he still had little confidence in defeating Uchiha Madara with the Mangekyō Sharingan—precisely because he understood Madara’s strength, he also understood the gap between them.

The only reason he dared to seek out Madara now was because he knew full well that Madara didn’t currently have the Mangekyō.

If Madara had the Rinnegan...

Farewell!

How was he supposed to play that game?

Sure, Kyoichi had Sage Mode, which allowed him to harm Madara’s Limbo clones—but "being able to harm" didn’t mean "being able to win."

And besides...

The Rinnegan’s abilities didn’t end with Limbo.

Absorption, gravitational manipulation... all terrifying powers—and in Madara’s hands, they would be used to their absolute maximum potential.

That was why...

After learning of Madara’s plans, Kyoichi decided the matter with Nagato had to be pushed forward immediately. Otherwise, if Madara and Black Zetsu made a move to seize Nagato...

It would already be too late.

Nagato wasn’t without weaknesses.

Even setting aside the question of whether Madara had left any hidden contingencies in Nagato’s body, all it would take was for Madara or Black Zetsu to control either Konan or Yahiko, and Nagato would fall in line.

In the anime, wasn’t it precisely because of this that half his body got blown off?

So...

Nagato’s issue truly needed to be resolved.

Though his relationship with Yahiko had always been on good terms, the Rinnegan was far too sensitive a matter—Kyoichi honestly couldn’t say with certainty that he could persuade Nagato to cooperate.

Still...

Even without certainty, it was something that had to be done.

Kyoichi glanced at the gathered Uchiha, frowning slightly.

Catching them was easy enough...

The problem was how to bring them back.

There wasn’t a shinobi alive who didn’t covet an Uchiha’s eyes, and here was a whole group of disabled rogue ninja. There was no way they’d meekly cooperate, and transporting them would make them far too tempting a target.

Way too easy for someone to snatch them.

Kyoichi rubbed his temples.

"Have Shirakumo-senpai and the others arrived yet?"

"They should... be close?" Minato replied uncertainly.

Though he’d left the village together with Shirakumo Hayama’s group, once outside, he’d worried something might happen to Kyoichi’s side, so he had rushed here without stopping.

So... he really wasn’t sure of Shirakumo’s schedule.

Kyoichi glanced at them, then looked down at the sealed Kakuzu in his hand and felt a headache coming on—

He still had to go to Kirigakure later to discuss an alliance against Madara. How was he supposed to do that while dragging this lot of baggage around?

After a moment of hard thinking, his eyes lit up.

"Does Mount Myōboku have any toads that can swallow a whole bunch of people? Maybe they can help with transport."

"Big brother, you go to Mount Myōboku to ask. Don’t make me go..."

Minato shook his head instantly.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, but... what kind of toads lived on Mount Myōboku?

The old generation? No way they’d agree to swallow a mass of people for escort duty—if someone got stuck, that’d be a disaster.

The younger ones...

Well, with Gamabunta’s personality, he’d probably swallow them and take a detour for a joyride first.

The smaller ones... couldn’t swallow this many people anyway.

After thinking it over, Minato decided Kyoichi’s idea was outright terrible.

"Your toads really are bad-tempered!" Kyoichi sighed.

Slugs were better—no airs at all despite being a Sage. Always came when called, left when dismissed, willing to relay messages without complaint.

If slugs could handle this task, he’d have summoned one already—but the problem was that their insides were filled with corrosive acid.

Even with conscious control, a self-healing creature like White Zetsu might survive, but these Uchiha? No chance.

"Milord, what... what are you worried about?" Uchiha Kazuya asked cautiously.

Blinded, he could see nothing, but his hearing had sharpened significantly of late. The conversation between Kyoichi and Minato clearly carried deeper meaning.

"Nothing," Kyoichi said mildly. "Just wondering if I should kill you all outright. You’re all rogue ninja anyway—dead or alive, it’s the same back in Konoha."

It wasn’t a threat. It was the plain truth.

If there was truly no other option... he’d kill them all.

Most rogue ninja were handled that way—kill them and bring the corpses back, not alive. The only real complication here was their eyes.

Whether the Uchiha clan believed him or not didn’t matter—if Fugaku wanted to make trouble, it would only hurt the Uchiha in the end.

As far as Konoha was concerned...

A handful of three-tomoe Sharingan users posed no real threat.

"Wait! Please, milord, spare us! We—we were forced into this!"

"Yes, we were misled, manipulated into leaving Konoha! Otherwise, we’d never have betrayed the village!"

They rushed to explain, to plead for their lives.

They had barely been rescued, only to find Kyoichi casually considering their execution.

By now, they realized—

They weren’t Konoha shinobi anymore. They were rogue ninja. Meeting Kanda Kyoichi and Namikaze Minato meant there was no good outcome waiting for them.

But the problem was...

Escape was impossible.

"There are too many of you. Transport’s a problem." Kyoichi looked genuinely troubled.

"No, no... milord, you jest. In our state, going out there is a death sentence. We’d rather die back in the village—at least it’d be at home," Uchiha Kazuya sighed.

He had seen the truth clearly.

Without the clan and the village’s protection, without sufficient personal strength, an Uchiha was just a prize for others to carve up—no different from the fate of the Uzumaki clan in recent years.

"I find it hard to trust you all."

As Kyoichi spoke, he gave Minato a meaningful glance.

It took Minato a moment, then he caught on. "How about this—we inscribe the Flying Thunder God formula on them. If they try to escape, we’ll know instantly and can bring them back easily."

"...Fine. Troublesome, but it’ll do for now," Kyoichi agreed with a sigh.

The Uchiha exchanged uneasy looks, but in the end could only force smiles and nod.

Flying Thunder God... they’d heard of it.

Wasn’t Uchiha Izuna himself slain by Tobirama Senju’s Flying Thunder God Slash? And Minato’s exploits with it during the war were legendary.

Once marked with it, there was no running away.

"You won’t resist, will you?"

"No, of course not!"

Seeing Kyoichi’s smile, they couldn’t suppress a shiver.

He was smiling—but somehow, it felt like answering "no" would get a blade in the gut the next second.

No one wanted to die.

Especially since...

Kanda Kyoichi’s words implied that going back to the village didn’t necessarily mean death. That gave them a flicker of hope.

In truth, Kyoichi really didn’t plan to kill them.

It would be a waste.

Sure, they were all half-blind or worse, but each was still a capable Uchiha shinobi. Back in Konoha, even if they weren’t used for research, they could serve as free labor and chakra batteries.

As for wasting food...

Konoha had no shortage of that. What it lacked were discreet workers for certain hidden projects.

With a few small promises—

Enough sincerity, and the hope of having their rogue-ninja status erased after enough years—

They might even work wholeheartedly.

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