If a small unit encounters the Crimson Eyes or the Yellow Flash, it is permitted to abandon the mission.
As long as they make it back to the village alive, they will not be punished.
Although this unwritten rule existed, very few people who faced either of them managed to survive.
The handful of survivors had summed up their experience.
As long as you could pose a threat to Namikaze Minato's teammates, he might let you off and not pursue you.
But when facing Kagami Uchiha...
Luck.
Luck was the only standard.
If he was eating and you had not provoked him, he probably would not put down his food to attack you.
Tragically, Cloud Village had not only provoked him, but had also chosen a time that was not mealtime.
"Run!!!"
Toroi let out a desperate roar. He had been calm moments ago, but now he was utterly frantic.
Even knowing the chance of escape was minuscule, should he simply not run?
Never underestimate Cloud Village, damn it!
Of the Cloud Village formation, only Toroi managed to summon the courage to flee.
The others could not...
Their hands and feet simply refused to obey them!
Thud.
Something fell, seemingly making a rolling sound as well.
Toroi kept running, running for his life!
His blood surged wildly, the blood pumped out by his heart rushing straight to his brain!
Something was wrong.
Why couldn't I see anything?
Why... was my head pressed against the grass?
His head rolled once, and he saw his body still sprinting ahead.
Come back...
Come back and take me with you!
Haven't you noticed that your brain is missing?
Kagami Uchiha lowered his hand, followed by several sounds like fruit dropping to the ground.
A Waist Cut was too bloody. Decapitation was more civilized.
Against this sort of trash, Kagami Uchiha had no interest in calling out a technique and lowering himself for no reason.
He turned around.
"You're really useless, Kakashi. You can't protect anything."
Kakashi carefully pried his Short Sword out of the Shuriken and rolled his eyes at Kagami Uchiha.
"Do you think everyone is a monster like you? They were Jonin with Kekkei Genkai. They shouldn't have been opponents for someone at my level."
Feeling the enormous gap between himself and his two senior brothers, Kakashi had never even considered joining the main battlefield. He had always taken minor missions and hung around with his former classmates.
Back when he was at the Ninja Academy, Kakashi had still wanted to compete with Jing. Afterward, he had completely lost that inclination.
I've already achieved things beyond what's expected of someone my age. I'm already pretty amazing.
Had this guy started slacking off early?
Kagami Uchiha shifted his gaze to Rin.
It was fine, Kakashi.
Once you truly tasted the pain of powerlessness, you would crave strength again.
"Lord Jing... thank you for saving us."
Nohara Rin's cheeks were still flushed. It was natural to be frightened after coming so close to death for the first time.
Although they were around the same age and had once been classmates for several years, Nohara Rin knew very well that Kagami Uchiha was already on a different level from them.
"Th... thanks..." Obito turned his head away. "But even if you hadn't come, I still could have protected Rin!"
No...
You couldn't have protected her.
Kagami Uchiha let out an inexplicable laugh, and Kakashi walked over.
"Jing, what are you doing here?"
Only Kakashi knew that they were responsible for transporting supplies to the Western Front, while Kagami Uchiha was stationed on the northern front.
"Classified. No comment."
Kagami Uchiha said flatly, "Kakashi, Rin, leave for a moment. I have something to say to Obito."
"Hey! Don't leave! Kagami Uchiha is definitely going to beat me up! Don't go!"
"Jing... don't think I'm afraid of you!"
You would have been more convincing if you weren't trembling.
Kagami Uchiha did not bother exchanging words with Obito. His eyes flashed crimson.
"You weren't... going to... tell me..."
Thump...
Kagami Uchiha placed his hand on Obito and murmured softly.
"I'm merely using you as a medium."
The injection of Dōjutsu Power made Obito's back bulge, as if something were about to burst out.
A mass of strange white matter seeped from his collar with a shriek, looking utterly horrifying.
"You... you are..."
Before the White Zetsu Clone could finish speaking, his eye sockets were covered by the Sharingan as well.
It was as if... a number had been dialed.
Invisible ripples linked the two consciousnesses.
Buzz—
Unknown underground space.
The White Zetsu Original serving beside Uchiha Madara suddenly cried out in pain and clutched his head tightly.
"What happened?"
Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes. Only when he saw one of White Zetsu's eyes transform into the Sharingan did his expression visibly change.
"Ah!!!"
White Zetsu continued resisting fiercely, trying to drive out the invading Dōjutsu Power.
"Do not resist," Uchiha Madara said indifferently.
Very soon, a pair of Sharingan occupied White Zetsu's eye sockets, and his expression became indifferent as well.
"Interesting."
"Dōjutsu Power at this level... you must be Jing. Have you awakened the Mangekyo?"
Kagami Uchiha gradually adapted and spoke through White Zetsu's mouth.
"Lord Madara, you really are still alive."
There was no need for excessive words.
Kagami Uchiha knew that Madara must have been watching him from the shadows, and Madara would not ask how Kagami Uchiha had discovered the clues.
With such Dōjutsu Power, he must have seen the Shrine Stone Tablet.
Discovering the Spores on Obito had been somewhat unexpected,
but since he was an Uchiha, it was only natural that he could accomplish such a thing.
Uchiha Madara's voice was old, but it lacked the sluggishness of an old man.
"Obito is the successor I chose. Do not harm him."
"Of course. I will not take the initiative to harm a fellow Uchiha, just as you would not."
"Fellow Uchiha..."
Uchiha Madara seemed to recall that dusk when not a single clansman had followed him.
"Jing, what do you want to do?"
"I want to meet you and verify a few things."
"Unnecessary. I am dying soon. This wretched, lingering state of mine is too unsightly."
A faint smile appeared on White Zetsu's face.
"Lord Madara, I want to know how far I am from the legends!"
An old, hoarse laugh rang out.
"You really are very much like Izuna, but..."
"You are far too ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth."
Boom!!
The terrifying Dōjutsu Power of the Sea of Corpses and Blood filled the space, as though countless demons were roaring!
The Three Tomoe in White Zetsu's eye spun wildly.
The extreme, bone-chilling Dōjutsu Power forcefully raised a reef amid the Sea of Corpses and Blood, standing unmoved!
"You really are too old, Lord Madara."
"How can someone like you endure such a feeble body? What exactly are you plotting?"
Uchiha Madara was not angry. He answered frankly.
"Peace of the Ninja World."
"Jing, this world cannot conform to your wishes in every matter. The longer I live, the more deeply I understand the helplessness and sorrow filling reality."
"When there is a victor, the concept of a loser is born from it. The two are inevitably linked by cause and effect."
"Love gives rise to hatred. The Entanglement of Love and Hate is the same as war."
"That is simply reality."
"With your Dōjutsu Power, you cannot see the final records on the tablet. Otherwise, you would not have asked such a question."
"Tell me your view of the Ninja World."
"You possess this level of Dōjutsu Power. You are qualified to become my successor!"
After a period of silence,
Jing laughed.
"Don't think that living a few years longer gives you the right to lecture me."
"There will always be someone who becomes the victor. Why can't that person be me?"
"Who would want to be your successor?"
"The Uchiha, the future of the Ninja World—I have the final say."
"I am the protagonist of this world!"
"Madara!"
Before you continue