At the front of the serpent head—

Uchiha Yu looked at Orochimaru and Rin, then replied to her, "It's been a while."

"It has!"

Rin smiled warmly and nodded lightly.

After the greeting—

She stepped back politely.

She snuck a few glances at him, noticing something was off. It was obvious that Uchiha Yu was very different now.

Back in the academy—

Yu had always been kind, often smiling, friendly to classmates, and very gentle.

She used to admire both him and Kakashi deeply.

But in the end—

Rin had decided she preferred Kakashi's aloof and cool demeanor more.

Now, though, Uchiha Yu seemed icy and distant, as if he no longer cared about anything in the world.

It reminded her so much of the Kakashi from back then.

"Sigh—"

Rin's face furrowed slightly, and she sighed inwardly.

It must be this dark, cold shinobi world that turned Uchiha Yu into who he is today.

However, judging from Lord Orochimaru's behavior, Uchiha Yu seemed to hold a high position now.

Standing far away, Rin fell into deep thought.

"Apologies, Yu-kun. I didn't have enough time. As soon as I finished researching the combination of Fury and Edo Tensei, I rushed to Konoha to retrieve the Hokage's corpse," Orochimaru said helplessly.

Uchiha Yu nodded. Space trembled faintly in front of his right hand, and a bundle of scrolls appeared.

He tossed the scrolls to Orochimaru and explained:

"This is the Hozuki clan's secret technique—'Hydrification Technique.' Also, I collected some unusual corpses along the way. You might be interested in studying them."

"As expected of you, Yu-kun. You never disappoint. You always manage to surprise me!" Orochimaru exclaimed as he caught the scroll, opened it, and his eyes lit up, a smile playing on his lips.

Uchiha Yu remained expressionless as a system prompt rang in his mind:

[Side Mission]: Assist Your Ally

[Objective]: Collect Hydrification Technique for Orochimaru.

Mission Complete!

[Reward]: Green Elixir x1.

Uchiha Yu focused his mind and glanced into his storage space. In the corner, where two green elixirs had been, a third one now rested.

Three bottles neatly arranged.

With this increase in safety margin, Uchiha Yu's mood improved slightly. He quickly reined in his thoughts.

Orochimaru also produced a scroll and handed it to Uchiha Yu, smiling:

"This contains Edo Tensei corpses of Asuma, Darui, and the that monk. The first two have been modified and now also possess the forbidden jutsu—Fury. You can control them as human forbidden jutsu vessels with limitless usage."

"Not bad," Uchiha Yu replied, a slight curve on his lips as he stored the scroll into his inventory.

He could already imagine the image of Hiruzen Sarutobi reuniting with his son Asuma… and then a mushroom cloud blooming over Konoha.

"Konoha really values the Hokage's corpse. I only managed to recover Minato's," Orochimaru said with a hint of helplessness.

"That's enough. What do you plan to do next?" Uchiha Yu asked.

Orochimaru thought for a moment, then countered:

"What about you, Yu-kun?"

"I'm heading to Konoha to look for Shinnō. Maybe I'll grab the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki while I'm there," Uchiha Yu replied.

Of course, this return to Konoha also meant settling the score for the time he was hunted.

"I'll stay here and watch Konoha for now, and wait for your triumphant return!" Orochimaru smiled, then added, "I'll leave Rin Nohara and Kushina Uzumaki in your care, Yu-kun."

"…"

Uchiha Yu sighed, glanced at Orochimaru, but said nothing.

Suddenly, from the fanged snake's head, Kushina's excited voice rang out, "Lord Orochimaru! Everyone's here! Are we going to save Konoha now?"

Her words fell—

—and the atmosphere turned silent.

Kushina immediately sensed that Mikoto's expression had frozen, and the rest of the Uchiha all wore gloomy faces.

Orochimaru smiled, "Yes, we're going to Konoha. But to destroy it."

"Destroy Konoha?"

Kushina and Rin stood frozen in place, unsure of what Orochimaru meant.

Orochimaru said frankly:

"After the Nine-Tails incident, I defected from Konoha. As for Yu-kun—he was recently designated an S-Class missing-nin from Konoha."

"This… You're not joking, are you, Lord Orochimaru?" Kushina's pupils widened gradually.

"Heh." Orochimaru merely chuckled and said nothing more.

Kushina's lips twitched, and she quickly turned to Mikoto beside her and asked, "What's going on? Where's Fugaku?"

Earlier, she and Rin had asked Orochimaru about the current state of the ninja world, but he remained tight-lipped.

Now, Kushina finally found it strange that Mikoto had appeared on the battlefield.

Unless Konoha was on the verge of destruction, someone like Mikoto—a housewife—would never take up arms.

Mikoto wore a sorrowful expression, her gaze evasive as she looked toward Konoha and replied:

"Fugaku is dead. The Uchiha Clan has been wiped out. This… was all part of a plan by Konoha's higher-ups."

At those words, not only did Kushina fall silent, but even Rin's expression turned complicated.

The Uchiha… wiped out.

Both of them understood what that meant—and to hear it was orchestrated by Konoha's leaders made it feel absurd, unbelievable.

"Lady Tsunade, is this really true?"

Kushina turned toward Tsunade behind them.

"Sigh—"

Tsunade merely shook her head and sighed, ignoring Kushina's worldview-shattering shock.

She looked to Uchiha Yu and said, "Shizune and I will stay here with Orochimaru."

"Alright."

Uchiha Yu replied, his pupils flashing a crimson glow—the Mangekyō Sharingan.

He glanced once at Rin, then toward Kushina in the distance.

In an instant—

"…"

Rin and Kushina's pupils revealed the Yasakani seal, marking them into the Uchiha ranks.

Their minds went blank, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

It was as if their bodies had betrayed them.

Before either of them could speak—

"Let's move."

Uchiha Yu cast a glance at Garaga below. The serpent immediately began slithering toward the eastern side of Konoha.

Garaga no longer needed direct control. Since the battle in Kirigakure, it had oddly grown obedient.

As for bringing Rin and Kushina back to Konoha—well, they might prove useful along the way.

Rumble—

The trees trembled.

The one-eyed crimson serpent king charged forward. Standing atop its head, Uchiha Yu gazed out at the faint outline of the Hidden Leaf Village in the distance, emotions stirring.

"Konoha, I've returned again."

…

As dawn broke,

Time passed.

Under the fierce assault of the Iwa and Kumo shinobi, Konoha's protective barrier grew increasingly unstable.

It wasn't that Ōnoki and the Raikage didn't want to break the barrier with minimal losses—

They simply lacked the skilled personnel. Compared to the time-consuming process of unraveling it, brute force was far more efficient.

Neither of them believed Konoha could find a way to turn the tide so quickly—unless they released the Nine-Tails.

But if that happened, all they had to do was retreat. Whether Konoha could even seal it again afterward would remain an open question.

By around 7 a.m.,

Konoha's barrier shattered—far faster than either Ōnoki or the Raikage had calculated.

War had officially erupted.

Iwa and Kumo shinobi surged through the gap in the barrier.

"Hold the line!!"

Leaf shinobi stood atop the wooden walls, watching the tide of invading ninja from both villages. Their thoughts were complex—but they braced themselves for battle.

At Konoha's main gate,

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood atop the wall with Mitokado Homura, staring directly at Ōnoki and the Raikage in the distance.

He shouted in anger, "Ōnoki! A! You're digging your own graves!!"

°°°

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