The Audience's Shock

At the edge of the Forest of Death, the former silence was completely shattered.

When the first violent clash of chakra and the deafening explosions spread, countless keen-sensing ninja within Konoha Village almost simultaneously raised their heads. This was no ordinary ninja battle. One of the cold, immense chakra signatures was all too familiar to them—Orochimaru! The other was equally astonishingly powerful, carrying the scorching heat of flame and an unfathomable heaviness, yet it was utterly unfamiliar.

Figures rapidly leaped up from all corners of Konoha, like startled birds, racing toward the source of the disturbance.

The first to arrive were several nearby Anbu. They landed soundlessly on the branches of towering trees, but when they saw the scene in the forest clearing below, every pair of eyes beneath their masks constricted sharply.

More figures soon appeared one after another.

Anbu squads wearing animal masks, Root ninja with even gloomier auras and slightly different uniforms, and even members of the police force clad in Uchiha fan insignia—they were responsible for security within the village, but they could not possibly ignore such an enormous disturbance near Konoha.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Hiashi Hyuga, and other jonin from prominent clans also arrived in succession. They stood atop distant trees, watching with grave expressions.

The battle in the clearing had already reached its peak. The devastating chain explosions of the Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags had just subsided. The dust and smoke they had kicked up had yet to fully disperse, while the towering Rashomon gate that had forcibly withstood every explosion was slowly fading away.

The two people standing in the clearing made every onlooker suck in a cold breath.

One was one of the Sannin they had expected to see—Orochimaru.

The other, however, left everyone unable to believe their eyes!

He was a tall youth with rare long hair, fair skin, and handsome features. His slowly spinning three-tomoe Sharingan clearly proclaimed his identity—he was from the Uchiha Clan.

But who was he?

Nearly everyone had the same question arise in their minds. Since when had the Uchiha Clan produced such a young powerhouse? He could actually fight Orochimaru to this extent? Had this battlefield, ravaged as though a tailed beast had plowed through it, truly been caused by these two?

"Is that... Kyohaku?" a member of the Uchiha police force blurted out, his voice filled with uncertainty and shock. He vaguely recognized the youth. Wasn't he some fringe clansman who had long been deemed useless after both his parents died? And wasn't he... a cripple? Yet there was not the slightest sign of disability in the way he stood now. What were that overwhelming chakra and fierce presence?

Just then, two even more powerful presences descended.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Danzo arrived almost at the same time, landing at the very front. Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the Adamantine Staff tightly, his brows furrowed as his sharp gaze swept across the battlefield before finally settling on the unfamiliar Uchiha youth. Danzo wore no expression, but the gleam in his single eye was chillingly cold.

They had seen the moment the two stopped fighting. They had seen Orochimaru pat the youth's shoulder in approval. They had seen the youth calmly settle his chakra.

"Kyohaku... Uchiha Kyohaku." Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, recalling the name. Around seven years ago, the child had lost his parents in a spy incident and suffered a disability in his right foot. The records showed that after graduation, he had gone to work at the hospital as a medical ninja, and later seemed to have followed Orochimaru. Yet his assessment in the files had been utterly ordinary—one could even say he had shown no potential whatsoever.

But now...

Orochimaru... is this the disciple you chose and secretly trained? The Third's heart sank as his thoughts raced. At such a young age, he possesses a three-tomoe Sharingan, such an enormous amount of chakra, and can even skillfully use the Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags technique... How much effort have you poured into him?

Are you trying to use him to win over the Uchiha Clan? Laying the groundwork to contend for the position of Hokage in the future? Or... are you interested in him himself? Looking at Kyohaku's healthy, rosy complexion, full of vitality, then recalling the direction of Orochimaru's research in recent years, a deeper thought surfaced in the Third's mind, filling him with a trace of unease. He had originally believed Orochimaru taking a disciple had merely been a casual decision, but now it seemed far from simple. This Uchiha Kyohaku had hidden himself far too well!

Beside him, the shock in Danzo's single eye swiftly turned into cold regret and killing intent.

Uchiha! Another damned Uchiha genius!

And an Uchiha cultivated by Orochimaru at that!

A disabled orphan ostracized by his clan should have been the easiest kind of target to control or eliminate! How had he overlooked him back then? Because of that false impression of disability? Or had the identity of a medical ninja lulled him into complacency?

Danzo regretted it so deeply his guts turned green. Such a variable had completely escaped his control and had even ended up on the side of the combination he despised most—Orochimaru and the Uchiha. Judging from the strength and potential Kyohaku had displayed, given time, he would surely become a grave threat!

"Kyohaku..." Danzo practically squeezed the name through clenched teeth. The veins on the back of the hand gripping his cane bulged. "He must be reassessed... Must..."

In the clearing, Orochimaru seemed to sense the many observers around him. He gave a hoarse, low chuckle, then slowly sank into the ground and vanished.

Only Uchiha Kyohaku remained standing amid the ruins. He seemed to sense the scrutinizing, shocked, and wary gazes around him as well. Slowly turning his head, his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan swept coldly over the onlookers at the edge of the forest, lingering for a brief moment in the direction of the Third Hokage and Danzo.

There was no panic, no fear, not even any unnecessary emotion.

Then his figure flashed. Turning into an afterimage, he silently vanished into the depths of the forest at a speed far beyond an ordinary Body Flicker Technique, leaving behind only Konoha's shaken upper ranks and elite jonin, who stared at one another as turmoil surged through their hearts.

Konoha's skies seemed destined to stir with unforeseeable upheaval because of this Uchiha youth who had suddenly emerged.