The Land of Fire Quietly Changed Hands

Thinking of this, Kosuke lay alone on his bed, closed his eyes, and gradually recalled the ancient clan texts he had once read.

Scattered words had been recorded within them: "Natural Energy, the breath of heaven and earth."

He tried to make azure Chakra flicker at his fingertips, attempting to sense the energy drifting through the air...

Yet it came to nothing...

"Kosuke, have you made up your mind?"

Today, Uzumaki Mito's crimson hair fluttered in the wind as she raced toward the maple forest on the eastern side of the Clan grounds, accompanied by Maki and three others.

With a light tap of her toes against the tree trunks, she darted through the forest like a crimson streak of fire.

A milky-white Jade Pendant swayed at Mito's neck. As sunlight swept over it, it refracted scattered glimmers of light.

Meanwhile, Kosuke stood quietly at the wooden gates of the Clan grounds, accompanied by Mina and the Madara brothers.

Watching Mito's graceful figure recede into the distance, he fell silent for a moment before saying softly, "When I returned to the clan before, I promised her..."

Watching the group disappear, Madara crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze icy. "Since when did Kajiu and Kosuke start listening to you?"

At those words, Kosuke withdrew his distant gaze and looked at him calmly. "Do I need to report every single matter to you?"

His cold voice rang out at the gates of the Clan grounds.

Madara's brows furrowed slightly as a chilling pressure suddenly burst forth from his fifteen-year-old body.

Seeing the atmosphere grow taut, Izuna hurried forward at Mina's signal. He pulled apart Madara's folded arms, dragged him around, and headed toward the Academy.

"Older brother, why don't I take you to see the scroll Kosuke left at the ninja academy? Mina said what he wrote seemed to be some kind of ninjutsu."

"Younger brother..." Seeing Kosuke's low spirits, Mina could not help calling softly.

After a long while, Kosuke concealed the emotions in his eyes and forced out a smile. "Sis, I'm fine."

Then he took a deep breath, unconsciously rubbing the Uchiha clan crest on his sleeve with his fingertips. His tone was composed. "Let's go, Sis. There's still a pile of work waiting for me at the Academy."

Mina watched the young man's retreating figure as he slowly walked away.

Beneath the sunlight, his shadow stretched long and thin, like a frail silhouette drawn out by the passing years.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Twenty-year-old Uchiha Kosuke had shed the impulsiveness and sharpness of his youth. In their place was the calmness of a deep pool and the composure of someone in control of everything.

Using the frequent missions carried out by clan ninja as cover, and building upon the foundation Uchiha Shita had laid before him, he quietly wove a vast organizational network across the Ninja World, covering the entire Land of Fire and extending even farther—Tiandao!

Among them, Shita became Tiandao's first intelligence chief.

At that moment, deep within the Daimyo's Mansion of the Land of Fire, the luxurious bedchamber blazed with light.

The obese Daimyo had two flamboyantly dressed women in his arms and was brazenly engaged in unspeakable acts.

The attendants in the hall held their breaths, doing their utmost to minimize their presence, terrified of becoming part of it.

Yet amid the restless atmosphere, an extremely faint Chakra fluctuation permeated the chamber, nearly concealed by the incense. Not a single person noticed it.

Within the shadows, Kosuke's eyes had already transformed into an eerie, self-evolved Mangekyō Sharingan.

His pupils were black as an abyss at their center, surrounded by three black patterns resembling burning flames that rotated slowly.

Invisible Dojutsu crossed space and precisely pierced the Daimyo's completely defenseless mental world.

There was no earth-shattering battle, nor was there a single unnecessary sound.

When Kosuke's figure silently appeared within the hall, confusion flashed through the Daimyo's eyes for an instant before clarity returned.

He shoved aside the woman desperately flaunting her body and urgently called to the confidant attendant below, who was about to step forward and question Kosuke, "Withdraw!"

Then he slowly rose to his feet, descended the steps, and came before Kosuke. In a respectful tone he had never used before, he said, "Intelligence Agent Fire One greets the Leader!"

"Fire One? The Leader?"

Upon hearing the Daimyo's words, the confidant attendant immediately sensed that something was wrong. He hurried forward, intending to awaken the Daimyo from the genjutsu.

At that moment, Kosuke's scarlet gaze swept over him. The four confidant attendants rushing forward froze in place, the panic on their faces gradually vanishing and being replaced by reverence.

"Intelligence Agents Fire Two, Three, Four, and Five greet the Leader!"

The women and maids in the hall, meanwhile, had collapsed unconscious on the floor.

"Sir! Every member of the Daimyo's Mansion has been brought under control."

At this moment, a ninja dressed in black stood respectfully outside the chamber doors.

The red light in Kosuke's eyes faded, returning them to black. Looking at the obese figure before him standing in reverence, he said quietly, "Fire One, remain on standby!"

With that, he turned and headed outside.

With a creak, the tightly shut doors slowly opened.

"Sir!"

Kosuke did not even glance at the bowing ninja. Instead, he gave his order directly. "Replace the guards in the mansion with our people, then withdraw from the Daimyo's Mansion."

"Yes!"

From this moment onward, the symbol of the Land of Fire's highest authority had quietly changed hands.

It became Tiandao's safest intelligence point.

And Kosuke had become the true master behind this vast nation.

After leaving the Daimyo's Mansion, Kosuke moved like a ghost, leading a squad without pause toward the desolate region along the Land of Fire's border.

The Hagoromo Clan, once a ninja clan as active on the battlefields of the Ninja World as the Senju and Uchiha, had suffered catastrophic losses after a failed surprise attack against a key figure of the Senju Clan. Worse still, the Daimyo employer backing them had ruthlessly abandoned them, completely cutting off their source of funds.

Now, the Hagoromo Clan huddled in a barren valley, barely clinging to life. Their clansmen were gaunt and yellow-faced, their eyes filled with despair and savagery.

Kosuke's arrival was like a boulder thrown into stagnant water.

He did not conceal himself in the slightest and appeared directly in the center of the crude Clan grounds built by the Hagoromo Clan.

The Hagoromo ninja who noticed him immediately surrounded him, their hostile gazes pressing down on him like blades at his back.

Kosuke's Mangekyō Sharingan swept across them faintly before finally settling on the most conspicuous ruined shack.

His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable force. "The Hagoromo Clan, once a friendly ally of the Uchiha, now cowers here like homeless dogs. How pathetic."

"Uchiha? Hmph!" The Hagoromo Clan Leader, a burly old man with one arm missing, lifted the tent flap and slowly stepped out. His hawk-like gaze locked onto Kosuke. "What do you want?"

"Your mission failed. There is no longer a place for the Hagoromo Clan in the Ninja World. But strength itself will never be abandoned." Kosuke paused, and his aura suddenly surged. "Pledge loyalty to me, Uchiha Kosuke, master of Tiandao! The Hagoromo Clan will gain the resources to survive, as well as the chance to reclaim Hagoromo's glory!"

However, the only response he received was silence and hostility so intense it almost became tangible.