The Ninja World's Third Great Power

Ever since the Night of Clan Extermination, the atmosphere in Konoha had never truly settled.

It wasn't until Uchiha Yoru officially announced the appointments and the designation of the missing-nin a few days ago that the storm finally erupted in full force.

Many villagers found it hard to accept. In their hearts, the Third Hokage had always been a symbol of kindness and compassion.

And among Konoha's leadership, aside from Danzo, whose reputation was poor, the others were usually seen as upright and trustworthy.

But when the Anbu's announcement came to light, that false veneer of respectability was torn away completely.

The leaders once hailed as the village's pillars had schemed to wipe out the Uchiha Clan for the sake of power, only to be brought to justice by the Fifth Hokage himself.

This political storm struck Konoha like a bomb, sending ripples through the entire village.

"Night of Clan Extermination"—

Once, it had been a mark unique to the Uchiha Clan, a disgrace they were forced to bear.

But now, that terrible name no longer belonged to the Uchiha Clan.

It had become a symbol of Konoha's dark history, dragging all the clans devoured by the struggle for power into the abyss.

The villagers whispered among themselves, stunned and furious.

Some began to doubt the leaders they had once trusted, while others were afraid of Uchiha Yoru's ruthless methods.

Uchiha Yoru didn't care in the least what people thought of him. Even though news from Konoha had already spread beyond the village, he remained focused on learning the forbidden techniques in the Book of Sealing.

There was no denying that Indra, ancestor of the Uchiha Clan, had been a master of jutsu, with an understanding and command of them that was nearly unrivaled.

Uchiha Yoru showed astonishing talent, especially while learning the Flying Thunder God technique.

Thanks to Indra's perceptive abilities, he quickly learned how to sense spatial coordinates. The next step was to condense those coordinates into a mark, allowing him to leap through space.

After countless tests and studies, Uchiha Yoru mastered the Flying Thunder God technique almost in one go.

Once he had finished learning the technique, Uchiha Yoru began testing it in practice.

During this time, he returned Uchiha Obito's eye to Kakashi.

At first, he had planned to take Kakashi's eye and use it as the key to overcoming intangibility.

But after giving it some thought, Uchiha Yoru decided he might not have to take such a passive approach.

Instead, he learned the Flying Thunder God technique and had Kakashi put the Sharingan back in.

Then Uchiha Yoru pressed the spatial-coordinate mark he had formed onto a Ninja Blade and had Kakashi use it to draw the mark into the Kamui Dimension.

The result was highly satisfactory. The Flying Thunder God truly lived up to its reputation as an effective technique developed by the Second Hokage specifically to counter the Uchiha.

And just as Uchiha Yoru had expected, the Kamui Dimension allowed chakra marks from the outside to exist within it.

That meant that once the Flying Thunder God formula was successfully imprinted on the Kamui Dimension, the user could sense the coordinates and leap across space.

Uchiha Yoru had sent a clone to investigate using the Flying Thunder God technique, but found that the Kamui Dimension's true size was still unknown.

That also meant that if Uchiha Obito and he entered the Kamui Dimension at the same time, they might arrive at different coordinates.

But none of that mattered to Uchiha Yoru.

Given the situation, the Flying Thunder God was already enough to counter Uchiha Obito's trump card.

After finishing his study of the Flying Thunder God, Uchiha Yoru moved on to another forbidden-technique experiment: the Impure World Reincarnation, created by the Second Hokage.

As the source of the reanimated dead in the shinobi world, the technique played a pivotal role in the later part of the story, naturally arousing Uchiha Yoru's keen interest.

To conduct his experiment, he first captured several White Zetsu hiding in Konoha.

Then he laid the experimental materials on a bound White Zetsu and called out, "Impure World Reincarnation, release!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the materials rapidly consumed the White Zetsu's body. The White Zetsu let out a shrill scream, and soon, everything fell silent.

Then countless fragments came together to form a figure—Shimura Danzō, resurrected through Impure World Reincarnation!

That was right. The person Uchiha Yoru had revived with Impure World Reincarnation was Shimura Danzō. It seemed a shame to let the man known as the King of Blame die just like that.

But the time wasn't right yet, so he randomly summoned a coffin designed for Impure World Reincarnation and locked the now-unconscious body inside, keeping it firmly under control.

Then he released the technique, and the coffin, along with Danzō's body, silently sank deep underground.

As soon as he stepped into the Hokage's office, Uchiha Yoru spotted Nara Kashima standing to the side, looking exhausted.

"Kashima?" he asked in surprise, then gestured for him to sit.

After all, he'd been treating the man like a workhorse, so he still showed this Hokage Advisor a measure of respect.

The moment Kashima sat down, he hurriedly said, "Lord Hokage, there are several urgent matters I need to report."

Uchiha Yoru nodded to show he was listening.

"First, because we're rebuilding the village, we're running a budget deficit..." Before Kashima could finish, Uchiha Yoru cut in. "Immediately seize all the assets belonging to the four clans whose members, including Sarutobi Hiruzen, were designated missing-nin!"

"But those clans were already destroyed by your Susanoo..." Kashima reminded him quietly.

"Oh." Uchiha Yoru replied without concern. What did it matter to him if those useless clans were wiped out?

"Our funding mainly came from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, but now..." Kashima trailed off. Uchiha Yoru already knew the answer: unhappy that Konoha was no longer under his control, the daimyo was planning to cancel the funding.

"That's just what I want!"

"The Daimyo of the Land of Fire knows Konoha is rebuilding, yet he's still squeezing us. That clearly goes against the Will of Fire."

"Looks like the only choice is to make the daimyo disappear for good!"

"From now on, Konoha will manage the Land of Fire's finances!"

Nara Kashima seemed to have gradually grown accustomed to Uchiha Yoru's words. Faced with Uchiha Yoru's awe-inspiring strength, he and the others had gained an immense sense of security.

"The second matter..."

"Ever since that incident a few weeks ago, the neighboring villages have been making restless moves..."

"According to reports from our spies in the other villages, Iwagakure and Kumogakure have both suddenly become very active."

At that, Uchiha Yoru remained composed, as if he had already seen the whole picture.

That night, during the clan's extermination, the Uchiha Clan, once Konoha's most powerful family, had already faded into the dust of history. The Third Hokage and the Council of Elders, along with the clans they belonged to, had likewise become a thing of the past.

To the other villages, this was undoubtedly a godsend.

Konoha's forces were bound to be depleted.

As for the reports of the Giant Susanoo, some thought it was worth taking seriously, while others dismissed it outright.

The Cloud Ninja were especially brazen. If they didn't take advantage of this moment to attack Konoha, they'd bring shame on their reputation as the Ninja World's Third Great Power!

A cold glint flashed in Uchiha Yoru's eyes.

"No matter. I'll show them in person what the Will of Fire means!"