Not Letting Minato Namikaze Reap the Benefits

From the moment Uchiha Kyu made his move to the end of the battle, less than ten seconds had passed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been caught off guard and ambushed because he failed to dodge in time, leaving him severely injured, unconscious, and captured.

As for Danzo, Uchiha Kyu had known his trump card from the very beginning. Once a ninja's intelligence was thoroughly exposed, it was easy to counter them to death.

The subordinates they had brought along were all killed by the combined forces of the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan ninja. Not a single one escaped.

Not even the slightest word of what happened here could get out.

After humiliating Danzo, Uchiha Kyu cruelly broke all four of his limbs.

No matter how Danzo howled, it was nothing more than a deathbed wail.

"Stay still."

Uchiha Haruto knocked Danzo unconscious with a chop to the neck.

"Let me add another blow. There's nothing wrong with being careful."

Hyuga Hiashi had long known how cunning and treacherous Danzo was. Still uneasy, he struck again, sealing every meridian and acupoint throughout Danzo's body.

The Byakugan, combined with the Hyuga Clan's unique palm techniques, formed a distinctive Sealing Jutsu.

The Byakugan could easily see through the body's extraordinary meridians and channels, then strike chakra into key points along them to form walls.

This prevented a ninja from using even a single drop of chakra, turning them into an ordinary person.

Uchiha Kyu tossed Danzo's arm to Orochimaru. "Extract the Sharingan for me without damaging them."

"Just send someone to collect them tomorrow."

Orochimaru agreed without hesitation, and there was none of that obsessive desire for the Sharingan in his eyes.

Uchiha Kyu gave a grunt, then pointed at the ninja corpses on the ground.

"Do these relatively fresh corpses have any use for your experiments?"

"They were elite ninja, after all. Use them if you can. No matter how thick your reserves are, you can't waste them. Waste is shameful."

Orochimaru eyed the corpses greedily and licked his lips.

"I would ask the Hyuga Clan head for a favor. Please preserve the corpses' vitality for me."

Hyuga Hiashi frowned. "What do I need to do?"

When it came to experiments, Orochimaru clearly became more talkative.

"You only need to slow the rate of chakra loss. That will preserve as much of the corpses' vitality as possible and provide more accurate experimental data."

Hyuga Hiashi still did not understand what he was supposed to do, his brows tightly furrowed. "So?"

Uchiha Kyu could not help reminding him from the side.

"He means for you to seal these corpses' meridians, preventing chakra from flowing out of their bodies and keeping it within their channels. That way, the chakra can be used to maintain the cells' vitality."

"I understand." Hyuga Hiashi nodded solemnly and instructed his younger brother and clansmen to seal the corpses' meridians.

"Looks like you really do understand me."

Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Kyu with a meaningful gaze, letting out a sinister chuckle.

"I understand enough. Otherwise, I wouldn't agree with your ideals."

Uchiha Kyu said with a smile, "We got lucky today. The plan exceeded expectations."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi has fallen into our hands now. Orochimaru, guess what I'll do with him."

The original plan had only been to scheme against Danzo and reclaim the Sharingan. He had not expected Hiruzen Sarutobi to hand him such a perfect opportunity for an ambush.

That kunai had not been thrown by him. Otherwise, knowing that he could use the Flying Thunder God, the other side would have stayed far away from it.

Uchiha Okamoto had placed that kunai amid the chaos. It had originally been nothing more than a contingency, yet it had yielded such an abundant harvest.

Orochimaru answered with extreme calmness. "I guess you won't kill him."

Uchiha Kyu nodded and replied as though it were only natural, "Correct. Killing him would only let Minato Namikaze reap the benefits."

"Minato Namikaze currently holds less power than even a Konoha advisor. But once Hiruzen Sarutobi dies, Minato Namikaze can rightfully take over all authority."

"That is a situation none of us wants to see."

If Minato Namikaze had not been killed off by the plot, Uchiha Kyu would have even thought that he was the true Child of Prophecy, rather than Naruto.

Not to mention that Minato Namikaze had Kushina Uzumaki at his side, someone who had mastered Uzumaki Sealing Jutsu.

At this stage, Uchiha Kyu was not yet completely certain that he could kill Minato Namikaze and retreat unscathed.

War was merely an extension of political means.

The Uchiha Clan had not yet grown strong enough and needed a long period of development.

Once the Uchiha Clan stepped into the spotlight and took control of Konoha, Konoha's temporary weakness would inevitably trigger war on all fronts.

Uchiha Kyu was not so arrogant as to think his strength had reached the level of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, capable of taking on ten thousand enemies alone.

Before leaving, Uchiha Kyu also had people clean up all traces of the battle and destroy the laboratory.

No clansmen had died in this battle, though two had suffered overly severe injuries.

If not for Hyuga Hiashi and Orochimaru, those two powerful combatants, the casualties in this battle would certainly not have been so few.

That was precisely why Uchiha Kyu had brought Hyuga Hiashi and Orochimaru along for the operation.

On the way back, Hyuga Hiashi took his younger brother and the other clansmen and bid farewell first.

"I'll leave the follow-up to you. Send someone over tomorrow to collect the Sharingan from the arm."

Orochimaru quickly vanished from Uchiha Kyu's sight.

Once Uchiha Okamoto saw that the outsiders had all left, a smug expression appeared on his face.

"Congratulations, Clan Head. This was a complete victory. Even the Third Hokage was no match for you."

Uchiha Kyu flicked Okamoto's forehead. "Don't get cocky. The other side was merely careless."

"Your strength still needs improvement. Without their help, we would not have won so thoroughly."

"I'll work hard, Clan Head." Uchiha Okamoto hurriedly wiped the smile from his face.

"Haruto, notify the Fourth Hokage. Tell him that the Third Hokage was severely injured by Danzo and is currently recuperating in the Uchiha Compound."

"Danzo fled after suffering severe injuries. The Root Organization has already endangered Konoha's safety. The Security Force has the authority to arrest members of the Root Organization."

"Understood." Uchiha Haruto hurriedly nodded.

Meanwhile, Fugaku Uchiha, who was heading for Danzo's nest, did not need to wait for any signal at all. This operation was destined to succeed; failure was not possible.

"Uchiha Clan people, what are you trying to do? Rebellion?"

The ninja guarding the Root Organization base immediately noticed that Fugaku Uchiha and his group had come with ill intent and quickly fired a signal flare.

"Susanoo."

Fugaku Uchiha did not hold back. As he waved for his clansmen to charge, he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Without Danzo, the Root Organization was simply no match for Fugaku Uchiha, a wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Uchiha Compound, courtyard gazebo.

"Clan Head, the Fourth Hokage has arrived."

"Bring him in."

"Yes."

Uchiha Kyu turned to look at Hyuga Hiashi, who had rushed over immediately. Knowing full well why he had come, he did not waste words.

"This time, we achieved a complete victory. Danzo's position has left a power vacuum. Does the Hyuga Clan head have any interest in it?"