Akatsuki Organization, the Powerful Itachi, and Kisame

Two voices murmured from nearby, their tones filled with amazement.

Mitokado Homura nodded, his expression grave. "Yes. With him here, Konoha can remain stable and intimidate all sides, but..."

His voice trailed off. The unfinished words concealed the concerns and calculations of Konoha's higher-ups.

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing different thoughts in the other's eyes.

Yet they arrived at the same conclusion: no matter what, they had to bind Uchiha Mu firmly to Konoha's war chariot.

They hesitated no longer and immediately decided to send every gift left behind by the Five Great Ninja Villages

to Uchiha Mu, as a show of Konoha's higher-ups' sincerity. Even knowing that he would most likely not care, they still had to try.

But when they hurried to the mountaintop where Uchiha Mu had previously stayed, carrying mountains of gifts, they found it completely empty.

Only faint spatial ripples lingered in the air, proving that Uchiha Mu had once been here before quietly leaving without notice.

"This..."

The gravity left Mitokado Homura's face, leaving behind nothing but helplessness. He gave a bitter smile

and could only signal for the attendants to carefully place all the gifts on the stone table atop the mountain.

"Since Lord Mu isn't here, we'll return for now and find another chance to visit him later."

Utatane Koharu nodded, her expression complicated. "That works too. He was already arrogant by nature. Coming here so rashly would only make us seem deliberate."

The two turned and left, remaining silent throughout the journey.

They knew better than anyone that Uchiha Mu had never been someone who could be bought with material things.

His world held no struggles for power, no entanglements of interest.

There was only endless training, only the obsession of growing stronger, only Sasuke—the sole remaining bond of the Uchiha Clan—and those unspoken feelings buried deep in his heart.

Since material inducements would not work, the two pondered for a while before finally reaching a more resolute decision.

After returning to the Hokage Building,

Mitokado Homura immediately gathered all of Konoha's higher-ups for an emergency meeting.

The decision proposed during the meeting shocked everyone present:

all outstanding women of suitable age in Konoha would be selected for Uchiha Mu to choose from, and they could even be directly betrothed to him.

This decision seemed absurd, but it actually concealed the Konoha higher-ups' twofold calculation.

First, they wanted to obtain Uchiha Mu's powerful bloodline.

If he could father children carrying his bloodline, they would surely become powerful forces for Konoha in the future, carrying on that invincible power.

Second, they wanted to use marriage to firmly tie Uchiha Mu to Konoha's ship,

making him completely become Konoha's guardian, unable to remain detached any longer.

The higher-ups debated intensely. Some agreed, while others objected, but in the end,

under Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's insistence, the decision was made. They only needed to wait for the right opportunity to propose it to Uchiha Mu.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Mu knew nothing of the Konoha higher-ups' ridiculous scheme.

He had already left the mountaintop and arrived at an abandoned training ground in Konoha's back mountains.

At the training ground, Sasuke was desperately practicing Fire Release ninjutsu.

His entire body was drenched in sweat, his clothes long soaked through and clinging tightly to him, outlining the slightly slender yet upright figure of the youth.

Yet he showed no intention of stopping. His hands rapidly formed seals,

and with a low shout, he spat out a massive fireball that surged toward the training dummy in the distance amid scorching waves of heat.

"Boom!"

With a deafening blast, the dummy was instantly swallowed by the fireball and reduced to a pile of ashes.

But Sasuke showed no satisfaction. His brows furrowed tightly as his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun madly, scarlet light flickering in his eyes. Chakra surged around him once more as he prepared to use Fire Release again.

He wanted to grow stronger too badly. He wanted to defeat Itachi and avenge the Uchiha Clan. This obsession supported him as he trained with all his strength day after day.

Uchiha Mu stood quietly beneath the shade of a nearby tree, his gaze resting on Sasuke as an almost imperceptible trace of emotion flashed through his eyes.

In Sasuke, he saw his former self.

That unwillingness, that stubbornness, that resolve to grow stronger at any cost, and that loneliness hidden deep within—a loneliness no one could understand. In truth, though Uchiha Mu and Sasuke were brothers, Mu had been sent away from the clan at a young age because he lacked talent.

He had endured all the harshness and warmth of the world alone.

Just as Mu was lost in thought,

a strange, icy aura suddenly enveloped the entire training ground, instantly overwhelming Sasuke's chakra presence and sending chills down one's spine.

There was no warning, no sign at all.

Two figures appeared silently at the edge of the training ground like ghosts. Their chakra was restrained to the utmost, yet they carried a suffocating pressure.

They had walked through Konoha's streets, passed beneath the eyes of patrolling ninja, and entered as though no one were there. Not a single person had noticed them, much less stopped them.

"Mu, it's been a long time."

A deep, indifferent voice rang out, carrying a hint of distance and an almost imperceptible complexity. It was Uchiha Itachi.

He wore the Akatsuki Organization's iconic black cloak adorned with red clouds. His face remained handsome, but his gaze was icy and devoid of warmth, as though nothing in this world could enter his eyes.

Uchiha Mu raised his eyes, his gaze calmly landing on Itachi as he spoke lightly.

"It's you, Itachi. It's only been a few years, yet your strength has already reached this level."

He could clearly sense that Itachi was several times stronger than he had been at this point in the plot of his previous life. He had already reached the peak of the Kage level, only one step away from surpassing it.

Beside Itachi stood Kisame, another member of the Akatsuki Organization. He was tall and powerfully built,

his face marked by savage scars. The chakra around him was strange and cold, while his snake-like gaze remained fixed on Uchiha Mu and Sasuke, openly revealing the greed and wariness in his eyes.

The Samehada greatsword in his hand trembled faintly, as though it too had sensed the powerful aura and was eager to strike.

"Uchiha Mu, you truly live up to your reputation. Your aura alone is enough to make people wary."

Kisame sneered, his voice hoarse. "But I'm quite curious. Just how much real skill does this so-called strength that crushes those beyond the Kage level actually possess?"

The chakra around him erupted completely. Violent Water Release chakra swept across the entire field, his aura already reaching the peak of the Kage level.

He was evenly matched with Itachi. Standing side by side, the pressure they created seemed to freeze the air throughout the training ground.

As for Sasuke, the moment he heard Itachi's voice, his entire body abruptly stiffened.

The blood throughout his body seemed to freeze in an instant before boiling wildly. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan widened to its limit, his eyes filled with overwhelming hatred and killing intent as his teeth ground together.

"Itachi!"