Assault on the Daimyo Palace

A high-pressure wind ball shot from his mouth like a bullet, striking the ground directly in front of the Iwa-nin with perfect accuracy.

"Boom—!"

The wind ball exploded, and violent wind blades swept outward in every direction.

"Enemy attack!"

The Iwa-nin jonin reacted swiftly, flipping and rolling aside as his hands formed seals to counterattack.

But after one strike interrupted his hand seals, the Kage Level combat experience granted by the Shimura Danzō template left Uchiha Jun no chance to let his opponent form another seal—Wind Release: Continuous Waves came one after another, sealing off every possible route of escape for the Iwa-nin.

The battle ended within minutes. The Iwa-nin was slashed all over, lying flat on the ground like a swatted fly.

This Iwa-nin had already been injured in the earlier battle. How could he possibly be a match for Shimura Danzō at full strength?

Uchiha Jun stepped on the Iwa-nin's back and crouched down for a look.

Well, wasn't this the unlucky bastard he had screwed over earlier?

What a small world.

"Pfft!"

"I ask. You answer."

Uchiha Jun did not hold back. He directly used Shimura Danzō's signature ninjutsu—Wind Release: Chakra Wind Sword—coating a kunai with it and slicing a fist-sized chunk of flesh from the Iwa-nin's thigh.

In an instant, blood and flesh became a mangled mess.

Despite suffering such a severe wound, the Iwa-nin jonin gritted his teeth and said nothing.

He was clearly trying to play the tough guy.

Seeing this, Uchiha Jun sighed and took out several sheets of Haku paper, soaking them with Water Release.

"Fine. Time to hit the road."

Then Uchiha Jun pasted the wet paper over the Iwa-nin's mouth and nose.

One sheet.

Two sheets.

As more were added, the Iwa-nin's pupils abruptly widened, and his body began struggling violently.

The terror of slow suffocation was more devastating than any torture.

Considering the physique of Shinobi World athletes, and to avoid Haku-wasting his effort if this Iwa-nin happened to have Thunderous Great Lungs, Uchiha Jun kept the wet paper over the unlucky man's face for a full ten minutes.

When the time was up, Uchiha Jun peeled away the wet paper.

"Brother, willing to talk now?"

"Gasp—gasp—"

The Iwa-nin gulped in huge breaths, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Uchiha Jun.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!!"

The interrogation that followed went exceptionally smoothly.

This Iwa-nin was a surviving member of Gari's unit. After being scattered by Orochimaru's snake swarm last time, he had failed to return to the main force. More recently, he had received orders to patrol the border of the Land of Rivers and see whether they could wipe out several Konoha supply points.

From him, Uchiha Jun learned several crucial pieces of information—

First, the morale of Iwagakure's frontline forces was low. Their supply lines had repeatedly been cut off by Konoha, and they were recently planning to mass troops at Kannabi Bridge for a decisive battle.

Second, Takigakure had recently suffered a rogue ninja incident. A Takigakure jonin who knew the secret of Hero Water had defected, and his whereabouts were currently unknown.

"Hero Water, huh..."

When Uchiha Jun heard those words, his brow rose slightly, and he silently filed away the information.

At the same time, he recalled what he knew about Hero Water.

Hero Water could increase the drinker's chakra dozens of times over, at the cost of Life Force.

It could cause someone's combat power to soar in an instant. How was that any different from Grand Void Profound Ice?

The Shinobi World version of Compound V?!

Uchiha Jun looked down at the Iwa-nin jonin beneath his feet.

Though the man looked battered and grimy now, he had been a genuine Iwagakure jonin while carrying out missions. Anyone who had lasted this long in the Explosion Release Unit was no ordinary ninja.

But Uchiha Jun did not hesitate.

—Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.

A thin, silver line of wind sliced across the Iwa-nin's neck, clean and precise.

Uchiha Jun looked down at the neck that had been cut open by the massive wind blade and fell silent for a moment.

Not because he was softhearted, but because it was a shame to waste such excellent "material."

After all, in this era before power levels had inflated, jonin were already considered mid-to-upper-level combat forces among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Jonin were not stray dogs by the roadside. Killing one just like that was somewhat wasteful.

After killing him, Uchiha Jun leaned against a tree and silently began assessing his situation.

"Looks like I need to build my own force as soon as possible."

"A ninja's corpse has at least a dozen uses, yet I'm wasting material."

At that thought, Uchiha Jun could not help recalling a certain Kazekage who had retired from the scene, then "won" the revival match and came back to elbow him.

The Zero-Tails of the Sky Ninja, and Moryo's Terracotta Army.

Clearly, the Shinobi World had far more good things than just those.

Thinking of the God Tree Humans from the future Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Uchiha Jun felt that it was time to raise an army of his own.

After all, the villainous bosses in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations had God Tree Humans, while Otsutsuki Kaguya had Haku Zetsu. Those villainous bosses seemed to share the same understanding when it came to building armies.

Now that he had connected with the Shinobi World's number one scientist, Orochimaru, it was only fitting to make some while he was at it.

When the time came to fight, wouldn't it look impressive to bring them out?

After organizing his equipment, Uchiha Jun sealed the Iwa-nin's corpse into a Storage Scroll—this was valuable "material." It was not as good as a living one, but it could not be wasted.

—Then he changed back into Shimura Danzō's disguise and continued toward the Daimyo Palace.

The night was black as ink, and the walls of the Land of Fire Daimyo Palace glimmered with a cold bluish gray under the moonlight.

Uchiha Jun crouched atop a large tree three li outside the city. He held a kunai stripped from the Iwa-nin in his hand, spun it twice around his fingers, then casually tucked it back into his ninja tool pouch.

"Jun! I got you the intel! Once this is over, you'd better reward me properly! I want beef!"

After Uchiha Jun had used him as a meat shield last time, Mofang had once again been summoned by him and used his identity as a dog to scout out the Daimyo Palace's current situation.

Mofang now ran over to Uchiha Jun to claim credit.

"Sure, sure. This time, we'll go to Tanzaku Town when we get back and let you eat your fill!"

Uchiha Jun patted Mofang's dog head and chuckled.

After talking things over, Uchiha Jun figured out the intelligence Mofang had brought back this time.

The good news was that as the war continued to intensify, the Land of Fire daimyo had summoned more than half of the Land of Fire's high-ranking officials for a meeting. If Uchiha Jun stormed in at this time, Uncle Danzo would definitely become a huge celebrity.

The bad news was that because of the large meeting, the Daimyo Palace's defenses had also been strengthened. Besides the Twelve Guardian Ninja, the daimyo's own armed force—

Konoha had also sent some ninja to assist with the defense, including Namikaze Minato and the Ino-Shika-Cho squad!

[Ding! S-Rank mission triggered: [Assault on the Daimyo Palace]]

[Mission reward: Copper Coin ×50000000, Ninja World Recruitment Scroll ×10, Random A-Rank Ninja Fragment ×10]

[Completion requirements: Kill at least six members of the "Twelve Guardian Ninja," and loot the Daimyo Palace, causing property losses to the Land of Fire daimyo]

"Tsk."

Uchiha Jun clicked his tongue, but his expression did not change much.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands—at the moment, these hands belonged to Shimura Danzō: withered and aged, yet containing Kage Level Wind Release chakra.

"Namikaze Minato..."

He murmured as the image of that golden-haired man on the battlefield surfaced in his mind.

—Flying Raijin Jutsu.

—Rasengan.

And those blue eyes that always carried a gentle smile.

Compared with Namikaze Minato, who would be stronger?

Uchiha Jun was silent for a moment.

Hmm—well.

If it's Namikaze Minato after becoming Hokage, he should be pretty hard to deal with, right?

Would I lose?

A faint smile curled across Uchiha Jun's lips.

"I'd win."

"It's fine, because Izanagi is the strongest!"