The Temptation of Going Home

Although the Fourth Raikage was furious enough to burst a vein, he did not pursue them.

First, he was worried about an ambush.

Second, over a hundred ninja were receiving electric shocks. They could still be saved.

Natsume and the others ran for an hour before finally stopping.

"Lady Tsunade."

Shisui Uchiha did not look well. He had nearly lost his Mangekyō Sharingan.

If his Kotoamatsukami fell into the hands of someone with evil intentions, it would be an absolute disaster.

"There's a problem with my squad. I'd ask that Lady Tsunade give us some time to deal with it."

"Fine."

Tsunade was somewhat curious, actually.

But Shisui Uchiha had made himself quite clear. He hoped she would not interfere in his squad's internal affairs.

Natsume wanted to join in on the excitement.

Unfortunately, no one invited him.

He could only watch helplessly as Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha carried the unconscious Uzuki Yugao into the tent.

How enviable.

Pah, wrong word. It was sympathy.

Two pairs of Sharingan—hypnosis and interrogation. No one could withstand that.

But given Orochimaru's personality, he had most likely erased any traces.

For now, he did not want to cause trouble. He only wanted to focus on his experiments.

"Wake her up."

Shisui Uchiha had once felt some camaraderie toward Uzuki Yugao, but now he had grown considerably colder.

Itachi Uchiha crouched down and worked on her for several minutes before she woke up.

"What happened?"

Uzuki Yugao's eyes were full of confusion.

"Do you remember what happened earlier?"

Shisui Uchiha frowned and asked.

"I remember fighting the Cloud ninja with you. After I used the cursed-mark ninjutsu our teacher gave me, I lost consciousness."

Uzuki Yugao held her head and shook it vigorously, but she could not recall anything.

Orochimaru.

The name surfaced in both Shisui Uchiha's and Itachi Uchiha's minds at the same time.

Orochimaru had planted the cursed mark.

If it had gone out of control, then he was naturally involved.

"Look directly at me."

Three tomoe emerged in Itachi Uchiha's eyes.

Uzuki Yugao subconsciously raised her head. Her expression immediately became vacant, and the light vanished from her eyes.

"Who was it?"

Itachi Uchiha asked again.

Hypnosis could force her into a subconscious state, and it could also render certain ninjutsu ineffective.

"I don't know."

Uzuki Yugao shook her head.

Clearly, Orochimaru's methods were extremely sophisticated.

"Brother Shisui, what do we do?"

Itachi Uchiha said with a grave expression, "We have no evidence. We can't possibly accuse Orochimaru."

He had called him Teacher before, but now even his last shred of goodwill was gone.

Orochimaru had treated him well, and he had been willing to show him respect.

"Even if we had evidence, Uzuki Yugao alone would make it difficult to punish him."

Shisui Uchiha sank into thought.

Orochimaru's status in Konoha was simply too high. Unless Hiruzen Sarutobi gave the order, no one would dare touch him.

"Should we tell Lord Hokage about this?"

Shisui Uchiha hesitated.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi found out, he would definitely investigate the reason, and the Mangekyō Sharingan would be exposed then.

"Let's wait a little longer. The Uchiha Clan has not reached its final hour yet."

Shisui Uchiha thought to himself.

If the Uchiha Clan truly took the path of rebellion, he would tell Hiruzen Sarutobi about Kotoamatsukami, then control Fugaku Uchiha and prevent a meaningless battle.

"Let's put this matter aside for now."

A worried look appeared on Shisui Uchiha's face. "Now that I'm on guard, it'll be hard for him to make a move. You, on the other hand, are in great danger."

Itachi Uchiha fell silent for a moment.

Now that he thought about it, Orochimaru taking him as a disciple must have been done with ill intent.

If he continued following him, he might very well be stabbed in the back.

"Brother Shisui, I've already awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan. Can you tell me how to advance to the Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Itachi Uchiha raised his head and asked.

Whether it was Orochimaru or the Uchiha Clan, he needed immense strength to deal with either of them.

His current belief was that as long as he possessed enough power, he could save everything.

Why had Itachi Uchiha in the original story chosen to wipe out his clan?

It was precisely because of this mindset.

He believed his own method was correct.

To achieve his goal, he could endure humiliation and hardship, become a sinner, and bear all the hatred and darkness of Konoha and Sasuke.

Natsume could only say: stay away from the Uchiha, cherish your life, and preferably read more books.

"The Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Shisui Uchiha fell silent.

Itachi Uchiha was undoubtedly gifted, and there was a high chance that he could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

But not everyone could endure that kind of pain.

To gain love, then lose love.

The ones who could make Itachi Uchiha awaken it might be his parents, his younger brother, and his closest friend—namely, himself.

"You've only just awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan, and you're still young. It'll be difficult for you to advance anytime soon."

Shisui Uchiha offered a gentle smile. "Besides, if I tell you the method, it won't work anymore. You'll understand someday."

Outside, Natsume calculated his Destiny Points.

After the recent windfall, he currently had a total of nine hundred Destiny Points.

It was not a small amount, but it was not much either.

In the Destiny Shop, exchanging for a Sage Body required three thousand nine hundred Destiny Points.

It was even more expensive than obtaining Wood Style directly.

But that was reasonable.

The Sage Body available for exchange was not Hashirama Senju's Sage Body, but the Sage of Six Paths' Sage Body.

With that, along with Wood Style, Natsume would be practically invincible in the world.

Well, the Otsutsuki Clan were aliens—enemies who came from the heavens.

Sage Mode was much cheaper, requiring only one thousand five hundred points.

If Natsume failed to learn Sage Mode at Shikkotsu Forest, he would consider exchanging for it.

As for the other miscellaneous items, there were simply too many.

Aside from the products mentioned above, his real favorite was the Flying Thunder God Technique.

It cost one thousand points.

It was extremely tempting.

After exchanging for it, his proficiency would immediately be maxed out.

The Flying Thunder God Technique was indeed convenient, but there was no need to rush. He could try learning it first.

Before long, the conflicted Natsume saw the three of them walk out. Uzuki Yugao still had a dazed look on her face.

"Lady Tsunade, the matter has been resolved," Shisui Uchiha stepped forward and said.

"Let's head back."

Tsunade did not ask any questions. Everyone had secrets, and she was not interested enough to pry into them.

If it were Natsume's secret, though, she would not mind taking a look.

When Tsunade and the others returned, they were greeted with enthusiastic cheers like heroes making their entrance.

Konoha's spies had relayed the intelligence back ahead of time.

The war had already lasted nearly three years, but this time, the victory was the greatest yet.

They had wiped out dozens of Kumogakure shinobi in one fell swoop.

Even if most of them had been Genin, it was still enough to make Kumogakure ache terribly.

Next, they had only two choices: either send reinforcements and expand the scale of the war, or swallow the defeat and propose peace.

The latter was clearly more likely.

After all, it was better to cut their losses in time.

Fugaku Uchiha was also delighted, because two of the greatest contributors were geniuses of the Uchiha Clan, and Itachi Uchiha was even his son.

A son's achievements were his father's achievements.

It proved that he had raised his son well.

Hyuga Hiashi, on the other hand, was furious. After making the trip, he had only gained a few minor merits.

Haku had come along.

If the Uchiha Clan had performed no better than he had, it would have been fine, but Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha had both performed outstandingly.

Among the younger generation of the Hyuga Clan, no one could compare to them, not even Neji Hyuga.

Watching the Uchiha Clan flourish like this was more unbearable than killing him.

"Fugaku, send someone to inform the spies in Iwagakure. Have them stir up some trouble."

Tsunade felt that the purpose of this war had already been achieved. She intended to frighten Kumogakure into making the Fourth Raikage propose peace.

"No problem."

Fugaku Uchiha did not want to keep fighting either.

After being away for more than two years, his younger son, Sasuke Uchiha, probably would not even recognize him anymore.

Itachi Uchiha had grown so remarkably.

Now it was Sasuke Uchiha's turn.

Three days later, the Fourth Raikage formally sued for peace.

Kumogakure's envoy would soon arrive in Konoha to negotiate the terms.

With the war over, Tsunade and the others could finally return.

To be honest, after being away for nearly half a month, Natsume really did miss home.

Perhaps this was the lure of returning home.

Some readers felt that the items I exchanged with Destiny Points were described too simply. That was indeed my issue; I had not set things out clearly before. This chapter will roughly explain several things the protagonist wanted to exchange for.