The Great Clan Migration: Destination, the Filthy-Rich Hidden Stone Village!

The howling night wind whipped wildly past their ears, carrying the raw scent of grass and trees.

Looking back, Leaf Village's enormous iron gate—a symbol of both glory and shackles—had long since been left far behind.

Flames soared into the sky, dyeing half the heavens red before dwindling into a blurry crimson speck.

The Uchiha Clan darted swiftly through the forest like fierce tigers breaking free of their cages.

The frustration they had endured for decades had been swept away, and everyone's steps felt remarkably light.

Minato Namikaze wore an ordinary black robe and held the sleeping Naruto securely in his arms as he stayed close at Yoru's side.

Kushina was carefully supported by two female Uchiha ninja.

Though her face was pale from blood loss, her eyes shone with startling brightness, carrying the exhilaration of having survived a disaster.

"Stop."

As the sun rose, sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves and spilled into the dense forest.

Yoru abruptly raised his right hand, signaling for everyone to halt.

The main group breathed sighs of relief and settled against thick tree roots to rest.

Even the children who had usually been pampered obediently chewed their dry soldier pills without uttering a word.

"Rest in place for twenty minutes. Recover your strength."

After giving the order, Yoru turned and leaped onto a massive moss-covered boulder.

Fugaku strode over with a water flask in hand. His eyes were bloodshot, and his brows were knotted tightly together.

"Yoru, we've been heading northwest all this way. Where exactly are we planning to settle?"

He kept his voice low, afraid of causing panic among the clan members.

"The shinobi world may be huge, but with over a thousand of us now, plus all these Sharingan, we're a big juicy piece of meat that can walk."

After settling down his wife and child, Minato also hurried over, his expression grave.

"Clan Head Fugaku is right. Our bounty notices have probably already plastered the underground black markets."

Minato gestured toward the vast forest around them.

"If the major shinobi villages learn that we've left Leaf Village's protection, they'll definitely swarm us like starving wolves."

Yoru took a bite of the ration in his hand, chewed it casually a few times, and swallowed.

He pulled a wrinkled map of the shinobi world from his ninja tool pouch and spread it across a slab of bluestone.

"Juicy meat? That depends on whether those wolves have teeth hard enough."

Yoru's slender finger traced a circle over the territories of several major nations on the map.

"Let's start by ruling them out."

"Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning—a bunch of dark-skinned brutes with muscles for brains."

Yoru sneered and heavily tapped the upper-right corner of the map.

"If we go there, that oaf of a Raikage will first try to snatch our women and start breeding them for bloodline limits."

Fugaku frowned deeply and waved his hands repeatedly. That was absolutely out of the question.

"What about Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water? It's isolated overseas, so Leaf Village's reach definitely can't extend there," Minato suggested.

"Even worse."

Yoru decisively rejected the suggestion.

"Hidden Mist Village is currently shutting itself away to build its 'Bloody Mist.' They can't even kill enough of their own people, much less tolerate outsiders with bloodlines."

"Going there would mean rolling around in a swamp. I don't have time to collect corpses for the clan every day."

Fugaku sighed and simply moved his finger to the vast desert in the lower-left corner of the map.

"Then only Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Wind remains. They've always been at odds with Leaf Village, so they should be willing to take us in."

At that, Yoru rolled his eyes so hard that his face was full of disdain.

"Clan Head, do you have some misunderstanding about our future quality of life?"

"Hidden Sand Village is so poor they're practically pawning their pants. The Fourth Kazekage digs for gold in the desert every day just to support his family."

Yoru rapped the map irritably with the hilt of his blade.

"If our whole family goes there, are we supposed to eat sand every meal, or haul bricks alongside the Kazekage?"

This left Fugaku and Minato completely silent.

Three of the Five Great Nations had been ruled out, while the smaller nations could never protect someone as formidable as them.

Was there really nowhere in this vast world for the Uchiha Clan?

Just as the two were at a loss, Yoru's finger landed firmly on the upper-left corner of the map.

There lay a range of treacherous, rolling mountains.

"We're going here. The Land of Earth, Hidden Stone Village."

Fugaku sucked in a sharp breath, his voice nearly cracking on the spot.

"Hidden Stone?! Yoru, have you lost your mind?!"

"During the Third Shinobi World War, we fought Hidden Stone so fiercely we practically beat each other's brains out!"

Minato's blue eyes widened, and his expression was quite a sight.

"Yoru, have you forgotten the Battle of Kannabi Bridge? Hidden Stone and Leaf Village are bitter hereditary enemies."

"And that old man Ōnoki has a notoriously foul temper. He's hard as a rock, and famous for being cunning and treacherous."

Seeing the two of them act as if they faced a great enemy, Yoru could not help but laugh softly.

"Cunning and treacherous is exactly what we need."

Yoru dusted off the map, his eyes gleaming with the calculating light of an old fox.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That old fox Ōnoki understands this better than anyone."

"We turned Leaf Village upside down and even took away the Fourth Hokage they feared most. That old man will probably laugh in his sleep."

Yoru stood and brushed ration crumbs from his hands.

"Most importantly, Hidden Stone Village is rich! They're filthy rich."

"They control more mineral resources than anywhere else in the shinobi world. Once we get there, we'll be like gods of wealth moving in."

Fugaku still had some concerns. He rubbed his hands together as he paced back and forth beside the bluestone slab.

"But... what if Ōnoki gets greedy and wants to place us under house arrest as weapons of war?"

At those words, Yoru slowly turned his head.

His originally black eyes instantly transformed into scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan patterns.

A terrifyingly tangible wave of chakra burst outward from him, making the scattered stones on the ground rattle and crackle.

"Would he dare?"

Yoru's voice was quiet, yet it carried overwhelming arrogance.

"Ōnoki is a shrewd politician, and shrewd people don't make losing deals."

"If he dares entertain any crooked thoughts, I won't mind using Perfect Susanoo to help him renovate Hidden Stone Village's Tsuchikage building."

Absolute strength was the best passport in troubled times.

Looking into Yoru's unfathomable eyes, Fugaku's pounding heart gradually calmed, and he finally set his mind at ease.

That was right. With a monster capable of beating up the Death God stationed among them, where in the shinobi world could they not go?

As Minato watched Yoru's confident profile, a relieved smile rose to his lips as well.

This once inconspicuous Uchiha genin had now become a chess player capable of easily stirring up the entire shinobi world.

"Break's over! Everyone, assemble!"

Fugaku swept out a hand and shouted with renewed confidence.

"Pick up the marching pace! Our destination is the Land of Earth!"

Over the following days and nights, the group chose the most concealed and difficult route.

Yoru personally led the way, keeping his Sage sensing active at all times.

Like a human high-precision radar, he easily avoided every Leaf Village pursuer and patrol team as though slicing through tofu.

The scenery along the way gradually changed dramatically.

The lush forests grew increasingly sparse, replaced by withered vegetation and exposed grayish-brown rock.

The wind and sand intensified, cutting painfully across their faces like tiny blades.

Yet no one in the group complained of hardship or fatigue.

They followed closely behind Yoru, their eyes burning with eager anticipation of breaking free from their restraints and embracing a new life.

Finally, at dusk on the sixth day.

A vast mountain range of jagged, interlocking rocks rose abruptly at the end of their sight like a natural iron wall.

They had reached the border of the Land of Earth.

The perilous canyon terrain resembled an ancient beast lurking in the twilight, radiating a heavy, oppressive presence.

The entire group stopped almost as one.

"Hidden Stone Village's border defenses are ahead. I can sense dense sensory barriers."

Minato narrowed his eyes at the canyon passage ahead. Years of combat instinct made his entire body tense.

"Yoru, how do we get through? Sneak in, or force our way through?"

Yoru casually rested his ninja blade on his shoulder and strode toward the canyon entrance.

"Sneak in? Force our way through? We're here to feast on the rich. Why should we skulk around?"

Yoru turned back and grinned at Minato and Fugaku, flashing a set of bright white teeth.

"Light up all your Sharingan. We'll stroll right in and wait for that old Tsuchikage to come out and welcome us himself!"