War Erupts

Mo raised a hand and patted Shisui on the head without saying much. In his view, recognizing one's own shortcomings and pursuing strength because of them was not a bad thing.

As for Shisui's admiration, Mo felt he still had a long way to go.

A monster like Madara Uchiha, with his vast combat experience and sharp perception, could see through even Naruto's shadow clones at a glance. What Mo had done was nothing in comparison.

(Edo Tensei Madara saw through Naruto's shadow clones at a glance.)

At that moment, a figure wearing a fox mask and armored gear suddenly appeared beside Mo in a Body Flicker.

Seeing that outfit, Shisui immediately drew his ninja blade in alarm, while Mo promptly raised a hand to stop him.

After Danzo's death, Root had currently been merged into the ANBU.

The man glanced at Uchiha Mo and spoke calmly.

"Uchiha Mo, the village is convening a jonin meeting. Lord Hokage specifically sent me to notify you. You may head out now."

With that, the ANBU member vanished again in a Body Flicker.

Shisui looked at Mo in confusion. "Nii-san, did something happen?"

Uchiha Mo glanced at Shisui and nodded.

"War... is probably coming..."

Judging by the timeline, the Third Shinobi World War was about to fully erupt.

Not long ago, Hidden Cloud had suddenly attacked Hidden Sand. According to the intelligence currently available, they seemed to have joined forces with Hidden Stone.

Led by the Third Raikage, Hidden Cloud's surprise attack force had taken a huge detour around the southern border of the Land of Earth before launching a sudden assault on the Land of Wind from the direction of the Land of Birds!

The war between the two sides erupted instantly. But Hidden Sand had always been weak, and now that it had also lost the Third Kazekage, it was suffering one defeat after another on the frontal battlefield.

And according to the original timeline, not long after Hidden Cloud began fighting Hidden Sand, it would join Hidden Stone in declaring war on Hidden Leaf.

At that time, Hidden Cloud's A-B Combo—the future Fourth Raikage and his younger brother, the perfect jinchuriki Killer B—would invade the northeastern border of the Land of Fire. Minato Namikaze's title of "Yellow Flash" would also spread throughout the shinobi world from that campaign onward.

"War..."

Shisui looked up at Uchiha Mo, his eyes gleaming as if he were eager to try his hand at it.

Mo rubbed Shisui's head without speaking, then directly vanished in a Body Flicker.

"Go home by yourself."

In the later stages of the Third Shinobi World War, Shisui would follow the Uchiha clan and earn the name Shisui of the Body Flicker on the Hidden Mist battlefield. But under Mo's influence, whether all that would still happen was impossible to say.

"Creak~"

When Mo pushed open the door, over half the seats in the conference room were already occupied, and quite a few familiar faces were among them.

Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru were both there...

"Mo, you're here? Come, sit here."

Fugaku nodded at Uchiha Mo by the door, then patted the seat beside him and folded his arms again.

Mo looked at Orochimaru, nodded, and went over to sit beside Fugaku.

A smile curled across Orochimaru's lips as his heated gaze settled on Uchiha Mo.

"Mo-kun, has your recent training been going well? If you need any ninjutsu or run into any difficulties, you can ask me."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the conference room looked at the two of them in surprise.

"Since when did Orochimaru have such a good relationship with Blood Ninja?" That was what most of them were thinking. Even Fugaku looked at Uchiha Mo with some surprise.

Who was Orochimaru? He was one of the Three Sannin, Hiruzen Sarutobi's most prized disciple. Though the relationship between master and disciple seemed to have cooled somewhat recently, he was still the hottest candidate for the Hokage position.

If Mo could build a good relationship with Orochimaru, the Uchiha clan's status would rise along with it in the future.

Yet under everyone's gaze, Mo remained expressionless. He did not even look at him as he spoke coldly.

"I need some fine snakeskin for a ninja tool pouch. Are you going to peel it off yourself?"

"!"

The entire conference room fell deathly silent. Every sound ceased at that moment, and no one even dared breathe too loudly, afraid of being caught in the crossfire if that person suddenly erupted.

Fugaku's neck stiffened instantly. He looked at Uchiha Mo's profile in confusion. If the setting had been more appropriate, he truly would have wanted to ask, "Why?"

But the next second, something happened that made everyone question reality even more.

"Hehe~"

Not only was Orochimaru not angered in the slightest, he even raised the corners of his mouth, chuckled, and continued.

"I naturally have quite a few reserves of high-quality snakeskin. Once the meeting is over, I'll give Mo-kun my very best one... You must take good care of it."

Orochimaru's golden snake pupils narrowed slightly. He extended his long, crimson tongue and licked his upper lip. His gaze remained fixed on Uchiha Mo's face—or rather, on those eyes...

"Mo-kun, I took quite a large share of the blame for you in that old man's eyes. Only you can repay the losses involved..."

Uchiha Mo glanced at Orochimaru without replying, but a chill rose within his heart.

Minato Namikaze looked at Orochimaru's inscrutable expression, then at Uchiha Mo's cold face. The atmosphere felt somewhat heavy. Seeing this, he slightly rose from his seat, about to say something.

But at that moment, the red door at the very back leading to the inner chamber was suddenly pushed open. Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing the Hokage's hat and robes, stepped into the meeting room.

Everyone immediately came back to their senses, though their gazes still shifted between Orochimaru and Uchiha Mo with some uncertainty.

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not notice this change. He merely raised his head and swept his gaze across the meeting room before pulling out the chair at the head of the table and sitting down.

"Everyone's here... Then let's officially begin the meeting."

Everyone present was a pillar of Hidden Leaf Village, so Hiruzen Sarutobi did not begin with empty talk about the Will of Fire. After all, jonin's time was still valuable.

He took out a document and got straight to the point.

"Hidden Cloud has declared war on us..."

The moment those words fell, the quiet meeting room erupted. Everyone instantly cast Mo and Orochimaru's earlier exchange to the back of their minds and began discussing heatedly.

But before they could continue for long, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand and tapped the table twice.

"Please, everyone, remain calm."

As his voice fell, the meeting room gradually quieted down. Only then did Hiruzen Sarutobi continue.

"Hidden Cloud has gathered a large force along the northeastern border of the Land of Fire. According to information sent back from the front lines, the leaders appear to be the new generation's 'A-B' duo. 'A' is the Third Raikage's son, while B is the new Eight-Tails jinchuriki. They have come in force."

At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi paused before continuing.

"Faced with a war that has been pushed right to our doorstep, Hidden Leaf certainly cannot back down. But how many troops to commit, and who to send to deal with them, are both problems..."