The Ninja Villages Make Their Move

Damn Konoha! Damn Jiraiya!

That guy... could he have collapsed halfway there without ever even meeting Uchiha Yue?

Despair—what utter despair!

They had set out brimming with confidence, intending to recruit Uchiha Yue into their village. Yet in the end, they had not even caught a glimpse of him before all their energy was drained away, leaving them collapsed on the road. What could be more tragic than that?

And so, the Sunagakure ninja sent to investigate were completely wiped out without ever meeting Uchiha Yue.

In truth, they had not been so easily doomed. Those genin had had a chance to escape, but they could not help it. They had overestimated themselves and underestimated the danger of this domain. Their companions were already not far from them.

It was like the moon reflected in water or flowers in a mirror—an unreachable reality. All they needed was to take one more step, and they could save their companions. There was no danger at all.

Without understanding the specifics of the Dead Silence Domain, they had ultimately succumbed to that temptation and been completely wiped out. But they could not be blamed. They had lost their heads. After making such enormous sacrifices, it seemed that they only needed to take one more step to save everyone. Who could resist such temptation?

But in the end, they had overestimated themselves and thrown away their lives.

From beginning to end, Uchiha Yue had never truly made a move. In fact, he had not even known that anyone had entered his domain. They had come in on their own and died on their own.

Not long afterward, ninja from other villages also arrived at the edge of the Dead Silence Domain. They probed cautiously. The ninja from Kumogakure and Iwagakure reacted little differently from those of Sunagakure. After discovering that the domain absorbed Chakra, but not at a particularly fast rate, they decided to risk entering and investigating. If they encountered danger, they would retreat.

They did not discover the Sunagakure ninja who had already died within the Dead Silence Domain, nor did they run into one another. After all, the area covered by the Dead Silence Domain was simply too vast.

After entering, they quickly realized something was wrong. Though they still had some Chakra left, the other energy in their bodies had nearly been drained away. Their remaining strength was not enough to support them in running back, so they could only collapse to the ground in despair and wait for rescue.

Then their subordinates ran in, delivering themselves one after another. However, unlike Sunagakure, after realizing that nothing could be done, the remaining ninja from the two villages chose to give up and return to their villages to report.

Very quickly, Kumogakure and Iwagakure learned the specifics of the Dead Silence Domain. Their plans to recruit this invincible powerhouse had fallen through. They could not even get close to Uchiha Yue. Entering meant death.

When the ninja from Sunagakure failed to return for a long time, the village dispatched another group. In the end, they did not even find the corpses of the previous ninja. After learning the situation from the other villages, they understood what had become of their own ninja.

They were all dead.

"Xi, it actually failed. As expected of a top-tier powerhouse who could fight all of Konoha alone! A supreme existence rumored to rival the God of Shinobi of old!"

In Kumogakure, A shook his head helplessly. At this moment, he knew that his plan had failed. If possible, he had wanted to recruit into Kumogakure the powerhouse who had fought all of Konoha alone and had nearly destroyed Konoha.

After all, unlike ordinary ninja, the Uchiha Clan had already been exterminated. Only Uchiha Yue and that brat named Uchiha Sasuke remained. Such a powerhouse, one with a deep blood feud against Konoha, was perfectly suited to join Kumogakure.

Unfortunately, the ninja he had sent had fallen within that domain without ever even seeing Uchiha Yue.

"As expected of the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan. Such powerful eyes... if I could obtain them..."

In Sunagakure, Rasa raised his head and looked toward the Land of Fire. At that moment, he seemed to see the powerhouse standing in the heavens like a god reborn, the man who had nearly destroyed Konoha. In truth, although he had sent jonin from his village to lead a team to attempt recruiting Uchiha Yue—

His heart harbored utterly malicious intentions. He had an extraordinary interest in Uchiha Yue's eyes. He did not trust Uchiha Yue. He had heard that the Uchiha Clan were generally a little mad. How could a monster capable of fighting all of Konoha alone possibly be recruited into Sunagakure so easily?

His true purpose was to have the village's ninja investigate Uchiha Yue's actual condition. If Uchiha Yue was in poor condition, then he would gather the strength of all Sunagakure, join forces with Konoha, and strike directly at Uchiha Yue—kill him and take his eyes.

Then he would gain Uchiha Yue's power and lead the village to become the strongest Ninja Village. The daimyo would also see his strength, value Sunagakure once again, approve more funding for the village, and issue more commissions. Just thinking about it made Rasa snort softly.

Unfortunately, his fantasy was shattered. The ninja he had sent were like stones thrown into water—not even a splash was heard before they vanished completely.

"Heh heh, it seems Konoha has truly suffered this time. Shimura Danzō... Hahaha, I never expected that fellow to bring such disaster upon Konoha! Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!"

In Iwagakure, Ōnoki looked in Konoha's direction and shook his head with a laugh. Although he had learned of the Dead Silence Domain from his subordinates and learned that it was a deadly place no living creature could enter, he paid no attention to Uchiha Yue. Instead, he mocked Konoha.

In his view, Konoha had suffered this misfortune entirely because that fool Shimura Danzō had caused trouble. If he had not attacked his own village's comrades, how could such a turn of events have happened?

It was karma.

But it had nothing to do with him. That was Konoha's problem. What did it have to do with Iwagakure?

He only wanted to watch the show, and...

"Xi, with Konoha in such a state, even Hiruzen Sarutobi is dead. Since that is the case, some things should change as well. Hahahaha!!!!"

Ōnoki laughed. As a shameless, sinister old man, he did not possess the slightest mercy. His mind was filled with filthy, foolish desires. With Konoha reduced to its current state, the first thing he thought of was dividing up Konoha's interests and taking a huge bite out of it.

At this moment...