Forbidden Techniques Were Meant to Be Used, Not Hidden Away

Uchiha Shin carefully touched his eyes, his gaze full of hope as he looked at Uchiha Kyu.

"Clan head, with these eyes, can I help the clan now?"

Uchiha Kyu nodded approvingly and smiled. "Don't underestimate your own strength."

Uchiha Tadashi patted his chest and promised confidently, "Clan head, I'll definitely use these eyes to protect the clan too."

"It's just... the captain's eye?"

Uchiha Tadashi lowered his head, his voice carrying a sob as his hand clenched into a tight fist inside his sleeve.

To every Uchiha clansman, the Sharingan was even more important than their own life.

Izanagi and Izanami were forbidden techniques reserved for the Uchiha Clan's upper ranks. Only the clan's higher-ups were qualified to cultivate them.

Ordinary clansmen had no idea these two forbidden techniques even existed. After all, these techniques had once triggered a massive internal conflict within the clan.

"That was Izanagi, one of the clan's forbidden techniques."

"It sacrifices a Three-Tomoe Sharingan to rewrite any unfavorable reality, though it only lasts for a limited time."

"Once you return to the clan, I'll personally teach you this forbidden technique."

Uchiha Kyu felt there was nothing to hide. He had even considered making both forbidden techniques public to every clansman who awakened a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Forbidden techniques merely meant they were too dangerous, not that they had to be forbidden outright.

They were meant to be used, not kept hidden away.

"Clan head." Hirota Uchiha looked worried, deeply afraid that revealing this forbidden technique would cause the clan, which had only just found hope, to descend into infighting again.

Uchiha Kyu raised a hand to stop him from speaking and said calmly,

"The ancestors who created this technique originally intended it to protect the clan."

"We cannot fear and shun Izanagi simply because of one mistake. The clan needs to change, and our people need strength."

Hirota Uchiha could only sigh and explain earnestly.

"Clan head, I'm only worried that our people will be controlled by this power and do something irreversible to the clan."

"I have my own plans for this. You need not say any more."

"Yes."

Seeing that the clan head had made up his mind, Hirota Uchiha could only nod resignedly.

Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Tadashi listened from the side, their hearts filled with longing.

They yearned to learn Izanagi. That way, they would gain even greater power to protect their fellow clansmen.

Just like Captain Hirota had done earlier, using his Sharingan to protect the others.

The values of the younger generation were easily influenced by those of the older generation. The belief in protecting their clansmen had been passed down from generation to generation.

Uchiha Kyu told everyone to rest well, then went to visit the six heavily wounded clansmen who had bravely stepped forward to protect the others.

They were merely Chunin with Two-Tomoe Sharingan, yet at such a young age, they had possessed the courage and sense of responsibility to stand up for their clansmen.

On that point alone, Uchiha Kyu dared to bet that all six of them would awaken Three-Tomoe Sharingan in the future.

The six were severely injured and unconscious. Uchiha Kyu arranged for a medical ninja to care for them specifically.

The Konoha forces that had pursued the Mist Ninja also returned, and Uchiha Kyu gave the order to set up camp and rest where they were.

Having taken the initiative to command the Egawa Coastal Defense Line, Uchiha Kyu had no intention of personally ending the war too quickly.

On the contrary, he was waiting.

Waiting for the other ninja villages to make their move against Konoha as well.

Only amid such chaos could the Uchiha Clan fish in troubled waters.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, don't disappoint me.

Uchiha Kyu looked up at the night sky, his eyes filled with calculation.

Inside the command tent, Uchiha Kyu deployed the troops, assigning Hyuga clansmen to nearly every important position.

With the assistance of Hyuga ninja, even the Hidden Mist Technique could not breach the Byakugan's defense.

Hyuga Hiashi could not possibly allow Uchiha Kyu to come to harm. If Uchiha Kyu died, it would mean the Hyuga Clan would inevitably be purged by Konoha.

Therefore, even among the Hyuga Main Family's ninja, Hyuga Hiashi secretly assigned two Elite Jonin to protect Uchiha Kyu.

Hirota Uchiha lifted the tent flap and entered from outside, asking softly, "Clan head, aren't we going to retake the first line of defense?"

Uchiha Kyu looked up at him and gave a cold snort. "What are you in such a hurry for? Our most important task now is to stabilize the current situation."

"We aren't in a hurry. The Fourth Hokage is."

"If we drive back the Mist Ninja directly, this war will end with a whimper."

Hirota Uchiha seemed to understand. "I see. Clan head, you intend to use the war to buy time for our Uchiha Clan to develop?"

Uchiha Kyu praised him. "Smart."

Over the next half month, the Mist Ninja tried many methods to attack Konoha's final line of defense, but every attempt ended empty-handed.

During that time, Uchiha Kyu reached out to Konoha for supplies of strategic materials.

There was plenty of profit to be made on the battlefield. How much of those strategic materials had been consumed was a matter of Uchiha Kyu's word alone.

War was lucrative. That was no exaggeration.

Seven days earlier, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure had launched attacks on Konoha's borders on the same day with remarkable coordination.

Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi were run ragged. Fighting on multiple fronts had hollowed out Konoha's internal forces, and there was no one left to dispatch.

Minato Namikaze personally led reinforcements to the front line to resist the Cloud Ninja's assault.

The Cloud Ninja were personally led by the Fourth Raikage, who had once been defeated by Minato Namikaze during the Third Shinobi War.

Jiraiya had also been called back by Hiruzen Sarutobi. He led reinforcements to the Guyan Defense Line and blocked the Stone Ninja's fierce offensive.

The commander at the Mo'an Defense Line was Shikaku Nara.

In the past, Orochimaru would likely have been the one sent to take charge of the Mo'an Defense Line.

But now, Orochimaru had become estranged from Konoha's upper ranks. They had practically turned Konoha upside down and still failed to find him.

Within the Uchiha Compound, Fugaku Uchiha summoned Uchiha Shisui before him, his expression grave.

"Shisui, I suspect Konoha's upper ranks are preparing to act against us."

Uchiha Shisui was greatly alarmed, but quickly calmed down. "Impossible. We're at war right now. There's no reason for them to act against us."

"No. The more impossible it seems, the more likely it is."

Fugaku Uchiha frowned deeply. "That was how we acted against Konoha's major clans back then."

"The clan head went to the battlefield this time precisely to force Konoha into making a move and exposing its trump cards."

A ninja village as powerful as Konoha, especially one controlled by Hiruzen Sarutobi for decades, could not possibly have no hidden cards at all.

Besides the forbidden technique Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Hiruzen Sarutobi definitely held ninja forces unknown to him.

Uchiha Kyu did not want any destabilizing factors to remain. Only by making Hiruzen Sarutobi reveal everything could he be at ease.

In the world of Naruto, intelligence was the one thing that could never be taken lightly.

Intelligence was the key to facing an enemy.

Even someone as invincible as Kaguya Otsutsuki had been overwhelmed by superior intelligence, leading to her being sealed away again after breaking free of her seal.