Shimura Danzō smiled, "You've worked hard. Notify the entire army to set off immediately. Our target Yugakure in the Land of Rivers, located between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire! Let the enemy pay the price for their arrogance!"
Ao's lips curled up. "Yes!" He turned and directed the army to advance. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist exchanged glances. They had originally thought that these ninjas would listen to Suikazan Fuguki, after all, he was the most senior and the most capable among those present.
Suikazan Fuguki sighed. If it were anyone else, he might have been dissatisfied, even mocked, fought back, seized military power, and tried to dissuade the Kirigakure ninjas from killing indiscriminately.
But this person is Ao, the Ao who even he feels guilty about! Originally, Ao only cared about Kirigakure, but in return, he swallowed his anger and let Karatachi Yagura Uchiha Kō out his Byakugan in order to protect the village.
After his Kekkei Genkai was taken away, the attention and training he received dropped drastically, and the resources he received were even less than those of an ordinary Jonin, on par with Chunin.
During this time, Suikazan Fuguki wanted to compensate him by giving him some money and resources, but Ao only said a few words: "Ao, Chunin Kirigakure, is unworthy of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Please take the resources and money back."
Suikazan Fuguki stood there dumbfounded at his door for two whole hours before finally leaving, unable to bear it. As for the Byakugan incident, Kirigakure was powerless to protect him, so Ao didn't blame them!
But back then, he kept saying that Kekkei Genkai didn't matter and that he should be nurtured as a talent. He thought he had met a wise ruler and would dare not disobey him to the death. But in the end, the ruler went back on his word, neglected him, imprisoned him, and monitored him!
Is this the magnanimity of the Mizukage Karatachi Yagura? He is not a wise ruler, and is not worthy of Ao's dedication to Kirigakure!
At the same time, he received some information that the Fourth Hokage of Konoha in the Land of Fire had immediately set out to find the Kage of that village and make him pay the price for the murder of XXX!
In comparison, Ao's hatred for Uchiha Kō turned into admiration, and he later began to fantasize about being a ninja from Konoha! Look at how the Kage acted! And what did you, Karatachi Yagura, do!
Now that Konoha is unified, Ao's eyes light up—he's suddenly become a Konoha-registered member of the Konoha Mist Division! This spurs him to fight once more, to dedicate his youth to Konoha, and to write a book someday titled "Ao's Struggle!"
He now understood Senju Tobirama's plan. Coincidentally, he had no affection for the original ninja of Kirigakure, so this time he was determined to go all the way! He would pin a huge accusation on Kirigakure: indiscriminate killing, arson, looting, and pillaging!
In the Ninja World, there's no such thing as "thunder and rain" or "favors"; it's all about the emperor's grace. If you're wronged, you're not going to work for him anymore. You're going to work for your enemy and strategize for them!
Because of Ao, this army was firmly in the hands of Shimura Danzō, and Ao also served as Shimura Danzō's deputy, offering him advice and strategies!
Konoha
Uchiha Rou remained lying motionless on the bed, her beautiful eyes closed and her face expressionless, but in her heart, the opposite was true.
At this moment, Uchiha Rou was in a water dungeon. She looked around and saw the old man selling gadgets sitting cross-legged there. She went up to him and greeted him, "Old man, who are you? What am I doing here?"
The old man selling the magic tricks slowly opened his eyes. He placed his black tin staff on his lap and looked at Uchiha Rou: "Young lady, you may not have heard of my name, but you should have heard of the Sage of Six Paths!"
The old man selling cheats smirked. Although he had met Uchiha Kō once before, he quickly went into hiding to observe the boy's growth trajectory.
This boy is truly extraordinary. He not only enabled the reincarnations of Indra and Asura to coexist peacefully, but also ended the chaos in the Ninja World. Now, his daughter has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at around eight years old!
Even compared to his son Indra's talent, he was in no way inferior! Moreover, one of the powers within Uchiha Rou's awakened Susanoo did not belong to this world; it was an existence far beyond this world.
Even when she unleashed Susanoo, her own soul trembled, and the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki Clan was filled with fear. This girl's potential far surpassed that of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
Therefore, after seeing Uchiha Rou suppress Hidan, he sensed that Uchiha Rou was burning her own potential, and in order to prevent her from overdrawing her future.
He poured his last bit of strength into Uchiha Rou's body, and recuperated within Uchiha Rou.
Whenever Uchiha Rou is in trouble in the future, he will be able to guide her out of the predicament and help her grow up to be able to face the high and Ōtsutsuki Clan.
As a result, by a twist of fate, this wisp of power was healed by Uchiha Kō!
He recovered from a wisp of energy to the complete soul state of the Sage of Six Paths.
This is truly an unexpected delight! The power at this moment—no, it should be called the soul of the Sage of Six Paths!
"The Sage of Six Paths? The founder of the Ninshu? The filial son who joined forces with his brothers to seal their mother on the moon?" Uchiha Rou blinked, her voice brimming with innocence.
The Sage of Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, twitched at the corner of his mouth. He remembered that these things were not recorded in the history books! How did this little girl know them? Back then, the only people who knew these things were Hamura and the immortals of the Three Great Sage Regions. No one else knew.
Even Asura and Indra's two eldest sons didn't know, yet this little child knows!
"Ahem, where did you get this information from?" Otsutsuki Hagoromo asked curiously, he was really eager to know! Was it the Old Toad, or that snake?
"My father told me this!" Uchiha Rou said with a smile.
"Your father? Uchiha Kō! Could it be that old snake told him?" Otsutsuki Hagoromo muttered to himself, but finally shook his head. That old snake wasn't so loose-lipped. If it were Old Toad, he could understand!
Mount Myoboku Sacred Site
The Toad sage opened his eyes. "Damn Hagoromo, he's cursing me again!" He then fell asleep again, startling the other two Toad sages!
They had initially thought this sage was about to give some kind of prophecy, but instead, he cursed the Sage of Six Paths and fell asleep! This made the two sages' lips twitch.
"It seems Uchiha Kō has quite a secret! He knows about things from my era!" Otsutsuki Hagoromo thought to himself, then looked at Uchiha Rou: "Young lady, want to buy some cheat codes? Ah, no, I mean, become her apprentice?"
Uchiha Rou scratched her head, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Sage of Six Paths, who's stronger, you or my father?"
The Sage of Six Paths remained silent. If Uchiha Kō's Rinnegan hadn't been fully developed, he was confident that at his peak, he could have crushed Uchiha Kō.
However, when he was lying low in the Ninja World, he discovered that Uchiha Kō had killed members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan more than once, and even he couldn't guarantee that he could defeat those Ōtsutsuki Clan members!
Uchiha Kō found it as easy as eating and drinking, which made him begin to suspect that Uchiha Kō was a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan in human form!
"I am not as good as your father!" Otsutsuki Hagoromo sighed. As the Sage of Six Paths and the founder of the Ninshu, he would naturally not lie to show off his abilities.
He still has that much of a sense of perspective!
"Senior is quite straightforward!" Uchiha Rou said with a smile. She naturally knew that the Sage of Six Paths in front of her was not as good as her father, because he was only a soul, while her father was in his prime!
If the Sage of Six Paths were at his peak, she wouldn't have asked such a question!
"Are you now studying under your father?" Otsutsuki Hagoromo seemed unwilling to give up on this promising young talent, so he spoke again.
"No! But I'm learning from my brother Itachi! Hey! By the way, old man, did you create this space?! Let me out now, don't keep Itachi waiting!" She glared at the Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
Otsutsuki Hagoromo felt like a complete failure! This was the first time someone had refused to become his teacher. Anyone else would have immediately bowed down and begged to be taken as a disciple!
However, if it were someone else, Otsutsuki Hagoromo might not have even considered taking on a disciple, simply because they were too weak and incompetent!
Otsutsuki Hagoromo glanced at Uchiha Rou and sighed, "She's still a child at heart. Fine, I'll let you out now!"
After saying that, Otsutsuki Hagoromo waved his sleeve, and Uchiha Rou disappeared from this space. The next moment, Uchiha Rou opened her eyes and saw Uchiha Itachi lying on top of her.
Uchiha Rou looked at Uchiha Itachi, her eyes slightly red. Although she remembered that Uchiha Kō had promised her he would revive Uchiha Itachi, and she had seen that scene, she hadn't seen the whole thing before she collapsed from exhaustion.
Seeing Uchiha Itachi lying on top of her, his body bobbing up and down as he breathed, reassured Uchiha Rou.
It seems Itachi really has come back to life! She stared wide-eyed at Uchiha Itachi's handsome face, feeling a surge of joy.
"Itachi-nii is so handsome!" she thought to herself.
At that moment, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Uchiha Itachi slowly spoke, "Rou Rou, I like you."
Uchiha Rou instantly felt her blood pressure spike, her face flushed, and she took three or four deep breaths to calm down. However, at that moment, she felt her heart pounding loudly!
She was even a little worried that the sound of her heartbeat might wake Uchiha Itachi, but it didn't!
Three minutes later, Uchiha Itachi still showed no signs of waking up, which reassured Uchiha Rou!
She patted her chest, trying to slow her heartbeat, but she couldn't.
Finally, she glared at Uchiha Itachi, muttering under her breath, "I really don't know if Itachi-nii did it on purpose!"