Ambush

"Enough! Danzo, now is not the time for anger!"

"I called you both here to find a solution. Given Fugaku's attitude at the time, this must be the consensus of the entire Uchiha clan. If we don't agree, the Uchiha will definitely stir up trouble in the village."

The Third Hokage frowned deeply, his tone filled with displeasure at the Uchiha's lack of regard for the bigger picture.

"Hmph! Let them stir up trouble. With nothing but the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled left in the Uchiha clan, what right do they have to negotiate with the village!" A flash of disdain crossed Danzo's eyes.

"Danzo, if we start a conflict with the Uchiha now, do you want our border forces to be decimated!"

"Don't forget that the village is still at war. If the Uchiha withdraw or slack off because of the relocation of their district, how are we supposed to defend the border of the Land of Lightning!"

The Third Hokage sternly rebuked Danzo for his thoughtless remark.

Danzo's face grew even gloomier, but he did not oppose Sarutobi's words. Nowadays, the Legendary Sannin had either defected or were wandering; the only one still in Konoha, Jiraiya, was restless, and if it weren't for the war at the Land of Lightning border dragging him down, he would have gone off to find material for his books somewhere else by now.

"Then what do you suggest we do!" Danzo retorted stubbornly.

Sarutobi fell into silence, puffing incessantly on his long pipe.

It was Utatane Koharu who stood up from the side. "Why not agree to their terms first? It won't be too late to change our minds halfway through."

The eyes of the others lit up.

The next day, the Third Hokage summoned Fugaku to inform him of the Council of Elders' decision.

Fugaku listened and nodded.

"Fugaku, that is the situation. You may go now!"

However, as Sarutobi looked up after signing a document, he found that Fugaku was still there. A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes. "Is there anything else, Fugaku?"

Fugaku thought back to what his eldest son had told him that morning: "Father, when you go to the Hokage this time, if he agrees to the clan's relocation plan, you must insist that he provide a written document approved by the Hokage."

"Why?" A hint of confusion had appeared in Fugaku's eyes.

Yu had smiled and said only four words: "Empty words carry no weight!" After saying that, Yu had taken Itachi to school.

Coming back to his senses, Fugaku looked at the Third Hokage. His gaze steadied as he decided to trust his son. "Lord Hokage, I also hope you can provide a written document."

Sarutobi's face darkened. "Fugaku, do you not trust me as your Hokage!"

"It is not that, Lord Hokage. With the document, I will be able to answer to the clan." Fugaku said respectfully.

The Third Hokage cast a gloomy look at the still-standing Fugaku, then sighed. "Sigh, it is my own inadequacy as Hokage that I forgot such an important matter."

He then reached for a blank sheet of paper, scribbled on it rapidly, and within moments, had finished the document. He stamped it with the Hokage Seal and handed it to Fugaku in a leisurely manner.

Fugaku took the document, checked the contents, found nothing amiss, and bowed slightly. "Lord Hokage, I shall take my leave."

With that, Fugaku walked toward the door. At this moment, in the Hokage Building, Sarutobi could no longer contain the gloom on his face.

Simultaneously, a figure emerged from the shadows behind Sarutobi. "Wolfish ambition. The Uchiha clan truly cannot be trusted."

"Have you found out the specifics of the Uchiha clan meeting?"

Danzo nodded. "The one who proposed the compensation was Fugaku's eldest son. A fine display of unity, indeed."

"That's the little brat who questioned the Will of Fire? Isn't he only six years old! Would that group of arrogant Uchiha actually listen to a child?"

Sarutobi asked, unable to believe it.

"Hmph! That is why I say the Uchiha have wolfish ambitions. If our spies hadn't reported the truth, how would we have known that Fugaku, that usually honest fellow, was hiding such a card up his sleeve? It is said that his eldest son defeated the hardline elders at the clan meeting and seemingly awakened a new bloodline limit."

Danzo said, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Troubled times indeed!" Sarutobi took a deep drag of his pipe, exhaled, and sighed languidly as he watched the smoke drift away.

"Sarutobi, shall we test the strength of this little mongrel?" Danzo's cold gaze remained fixed on Sarutobi.

Sarutobi remained silent for a long time. "Don't go too far."

Danzo said nothing more and slowly vanished into the darkness.

At night, a pale full moon hung in the sky. Yu walked along a quiet path in the Uchiha district with Itachi and Izumi, each holding a skewer of dango.

"Yu-kun, why is yours different from mine?" Izumi asked, pouting slightly.

"It's because you're too sweet, Izumi. I suddenly felt like eating something salty!" Yu teased.

Izumi's face flushed red. "No fair, I want to eat your salty one too." With that, she opened her small mouth and bit toward the salty three-color dango in Yu's hand.

Yu did not pull away, instead watching Izumi with doting eyes as she puffed out her cheeks.

"If you want to eat it, have as much as you like!"

Itachi watched this scene quietly, then looked down at his own three-color dango. He suddenly felt that his double-sweet dango wasn't quite as sweet anymore.

Suddenly, Yu felt a strong sense of surveillance. He stopped in his tracks, and in an instant, his powerful spiritual sense swept outward. He saw four ninjas wearing Cat Masks hiding in the shadows of the darkness nearby.

"Brother! What's wrong?" Itachi looked at Yu, who had stopped, with confusion.

Yu smiled slightly at the bewildered Itachi and Izumi, who was still chewing.

"Itachi, I left something at school. I need to go back and get it." Yu made up a casual excuse.

"Then we'll wait for you, Yu-kun!" Izumi said, blinking her adorable eyes.

However, just as Yu was about to decline, he saw the four ninjas move.

"Enough! Itachi! Stay alert, there are enemies!"

Yu roared, and in an instant, the Five Emperors Swords within his body transformed into five figures, surrounding Izumi and Itachi.

Itachi immediately activated his two-tomoe Sharingan, and sure enough, he saw four figures rushing toward them at incredible speed.

"Boom!"

Before Itachi could even react, he saw his brother transform into a form of pure flame once again.

With crimson eyes that seemed to flicker like flames and hair flowing as if blown by a heatwave, he looked like a god of fire descended upon the world.

A temperature as intense as the height of summer surged upward in an instant.

"Heh, a bunch of rats in the gutter!" A flash of killing intent crossed Yu's eyes.

He had originally intended to let Itachi and the others leave first, but the enemies lacked the patience for that; clearly, they hadn't considered Izumi and Itachi a threat at all.

"Enough talk, kill him!"

As soon as the order was given, the four Cat-Masked Ninjas pulled out kunai and hurled them at Yu. The four blades whistled through the air with sharp, piercing sounds, aiming for Yu's vital points from different directions.

Yu watched the incoming kunai with contempt, ignoring them entirely as the flames on his body burned even more fiercely. The crimson fire illuminated the surrounding dozens of meters.

The scorching heatwave made Izumi and Itachi feel as if they were being roasted by the blazing sun.

Before the kunai could even reach Yu, they melted into thick, molten iron. Seeing this, the four Root ninjas were struck with terror. "What kind of jutsu is this!" But there was no time for them to dwell on it.

Yu raised one hand in a single seal, and a massive wind appeared out of thin air, stirring the flames on his body. Sparks began to drift everywhere, like a dreamlike shower of starlight descending upon the world.

This scene left Itachi and Izumi staring in stunned silence.

"So beautiful!" Izumi murmured blankly.

The Fire Clone beside them quickly stepped forward and drew a circle around Itachi and Izumi. "Remember, do not step outside this circle!"

The Fire Clone spoke rapidly to them before chanting a passage of scripture: "Fire Avoidance Barrier."

As the Fire Clone finished drawing the circle, dense talismans rose up around Itachi and Izumi. The heat that had been unbearable just moments ago instantly vanished, replaced by a refreshing coolness.

It was then that Yu cast a cold glance at the Cat-Masked Ninjas still charging toward him. "Daoist Art: Wind Forest Fire Mountain!"

"Boom!"

The red sparks drifting across the sky suddenly pulsed as if a heart had begun to beat.

The sparks, originally the size of fingernails, instantly expanded into a sea of fire that descended upon the entire street. Aside from the circle drawn by the Fire Clone, the street was engulfed in purple flames, trapping all the Root ninjas present.

The Root ninjas, who had initially paid little attention to the drifting sparks, suddenly found themselves caught in a spreading volcano.

The scorching heat instantly ignited their clothing and began to consume their bodies.

"No! Get out of here!" the Root squad leader roared.

Realizing that these flames were no ordinary fire, the Root ninjas no longer dared to charge at Yu. They scrambled to use the Body Flicker Technique, and one ninja even frantically formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

He attempted to use the water from the wall to surround himself and extinguish the raging fire on his body.

To his horror, the Water Formation Wall did not extinguish the purple flames as he had imagined. Instead, the water began to boil amidst the encroaching fire, emitting massive amounts of white steam.

In an instant, the arrogant Root ninja was boiled alive by the scalding water. He let out a heart-wrenching wail before passing out from the pain.

His crimson body slowly collapsed into the volcanic heat, gradually turning to ash as the flames consumed him.

The others fared no better. Any Root ninja touched by the sparks found the flames on their bodies intensifying. They rolled on the ground, wailing in an attempt to put out the purple fire, but to no avail.

Beyond leaving patches of residual purple fire on the street and scorching the ground into charred, pitted craters, their efforts were useless.

They could only watch helplessly as the flames burned them away bit by bit—a process of excruciating agony.

The fire Yu was using was no ordinary flame. While it did not reach the level of the Samadhi True Fire, it was infinitely close to the Liuding Jia Fire, the kind of flame cultivators used specifically for alchemy and artifact refining.

The temperature was incredibly high, and once it touched a target, it was impossible to extinguish without the Fire Avoidance Art or Extreme Yin Water.

Three of the four Cat-Masked Ninjas were already gone. The only one remaining was the Root captain, who had entered using a Shadow Clone to gather intelligence.

Watching from the shadows, the Root captain's pupils constricted as he witnessed the scene, a chill running down his spine.

Is this the genius of the Uchiha? He's a monster. No, I must return quickly and report this to Lord Danzo.