Return

In the dark woods, Yume Ryoma stared intently at Uchiha Fugaku.

Behind Uchiha Fugaku, the once-proud Uchiha clansmen all kept their heads lowered, not daring to look up.

"Go back and save them!"

Yume Ryoma snorted coldly. From where the Uchiha had withdrawn, he could still hear sounds of resistance. Hizashi Hyuga's team should not have been wiped out yet.

"Hizashi's team has few men left. We cannot disobey Lord Danzo's orders and clash with Kumogakure's main force." Fugaku refused outright.

If this had been him a month ago, Fugaku, as a member of the pro-war faction, would absolutely have supported Ryoma's decision. Even when the Hyuga Clan had fallen into an ambush, he would have stepped in to save them.

But things were different now.

The voices and plans within the clan had already become known to the village. The village's attitude toward the clan was ambiguous, and Uchiha Fugaku had far too much to consider.

At the very least, he could not let too many clansmen die because of this war.

"But the conflict has already been provoked!"

"Since Lord Danzo entrusted this matter to me, you will listen to me now!" Yume Ryoma frowned and glared angrily at Fugaku.

Fugaku shot him a glance and said disdainfully, "I will not treat my clansmen's lives as a joke."

Danzo had been gone for days. Once Mitokado Homura arrived, it was uncertain whether this man would still hold command.

As long as he used Danzo's orders as an excuse, even if Danzo truly returned, he would not be punished.

"Is this the courage and foresight of you Uchiha, of you, Fugaku?"

The voice arrived before its owner.

The familiar voice rang in everyone's ears, leaving them all stunned.

"I truly never expected you, Uchiha Fugaku, to listen to me so obediently." Danzo's figure darted swiftly among the branches, quickly arriving before the crowd with a smile.

His smile was mocking, yet also carried a trace of regret.

Originally, in order to restrain Uchiha Fugaku and make him more obedient and steady, Danzo had let slip a little about the coup.

In this war, Kumogakure originally had less than half of Konoha's forces. With the constant surprise attacks, the gap between the two sides had only continued to widen.

As long as Fugaku, a member of the pro-war faction, could remain steady and value lives a little more, victory in this war would have been assured.

But he had never expected Hizashi Hyuga to be the foolish idiot who could not see the situation clearly and acted on his own accord.

Before the war, Danzo had spent an entire night discussing strategy with him. Had that bastard listened with his ass?

The original plan had been to wage guerrilla warfare first and wear down the enemy's strength. Then, when the time was right, they would swarm in all at once, reducing their own losses without dragging things out for too long.

Now, because of Hizashi Hyuga's momentary arrogance, they had lost nearly a quarter of their forces.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

A Kai and the other Root Ninja and Anbu Ninja arrived right behind Danzo.

Yet they all stood there blankly, staring at Danzo ahead of them.

"Lord Danzo!"

Yume Ryoma immediately dropped to one knee, his face full of shame. "This subordinate failed to live up to your expectations and did not command the team properly."

Danzo shook his head, signaling for him to rise, and responded, "This is not your fault. Those two disobeyed your orders and acted on their own. They are the ones who should explain themselves to me."

Ryoma was Danzo's man, so Danzo had to remove him from blame for this mistake.

Ryoma opened his mouth, still wanting to say something.

"Lord Danzo, Hizashi Hyuga ignored my attempts to stop him and entered Si Ming Mountain, where he fell into an ambush. Although I did not save him, the fault is not mine." Fugaku stiffly explained. He had never expected Danzo to appear the moment they mentioned him.

At his age, he had truly lived in vain, Danzo sighed inwardly.

Did he not know that when an elder was lecturing him, all he had to do was say yes, yes, yes, and there would be no more troublesome consequences?

"Lord Danzo, our men have sent word that Kumogakure has already dispatched reinforcements this way. They can arrive in roughly four or five days." Ryoma finally voiced what he had wanted to say.

He kept his head lowered, somewhat afraid to look at Danzo.

He had brought his men to find Uchiha Fugaku and Hizashi Hyuga precisely to tell them this, but he had not expected Hizashi Hyuga's team to have already attacked and suffered such devastating losses.

"So soon?"

Danzo frowned, and Fugaku was inwardly startled as well.

With one team gone, they only held a slight numerical advantage over Kumogakure. If the enemy reinforcements arrived, the situation would become rather unfavorable.

After thinking it over, Fugaku still took the initiative to advise, "Lord Danzo, I suggest we return to defend for a while and wait for Lord Mitokado to arrive with reinforcements."

"Bullshit!"

Danzo directly cursed, glaring furiously at Uchiha Fugaku. "Do not think I do not know what is going through that head of yours. I originally wanted to give you some guidance, but you are thinking far ahead."

"This matter is an opportunity to build a bridge of communication. As long as you have military merits, who would have the nerve to make a move against you? Do you understand what I mean?"

There were too many people around, so Danzo could not speak too plainly.

Fugaku froze. He had considered this before, but the Uchiha had earned plenty of merit over the years, and no one had ever treated them kindly for it.

Seeing his expression, Danzo knew he still did not understand. He abruptly stepped forward and whispered in his ear, "Since I am telling you this, it means the village does not wish to see that situation happen."

"We will help you take complete control of the Uchiha, rather than remain a puppet clan head who must heed the majority's opinions. I have said enough. If you understand, then obediently lead your Uchiha people and help me win this war."

Too lazy to continue arguing with him, Danzo waved his hand and roared, "The Kumogakure people do not know what is good for them! Everyone, follow me into Si Ming Mountain and avenge the Hyuga Clan!"

On the way here, he had noticed Kumogakure's encirclement. Combined with the situation here, he could roughly guess what had happened.

Whether they were Uchiha or members of other clans, they had long been holding back a bellyful of rage.

At Danzo's words, the two teams merged into one without hesitation.

They had no idea what Fugaku was burdened with. They only knew that this should have been an assured victory, yet they had fought a stifling battle.

Everyone made preparations to depart, leaving only Fugaku standing there blankly as he watched Danzo, unsure what he was thinking.

Huff—

Amid heavy panting, the few remaining Hyuga clansmen stood back to back, their minds utterly blank.

Feelings such as frustration and anger had long been cast aside.

Like walking corpses, facing an endless stream of enemies, they could only rely on their bodily instincts to resist and defend. Their exhausted minds could no longer support any other thoughts.

Not far from them, Hizashi lay lifeless atop a pile of corpses. This father, who had escaped the fate of suicide in the original story, had ultimately still died at Kumogakure's hands.

But he had still changed his son's original fate.