"Release the Fourth Mizukage!" Mist Ninja roars came from all around.
A group of ninjas dressed in Kirigakure Anbu uniforms rushed Uchiha Kyu all at once.
"You want him? Then have him back."
Uchiha Kyu snorted coldly, slapped several Explosive Tags onto Karatachi Yagura, and kicked him toward the others.
BOOM!!!
A fierce flash erupted from Karatachi Yagura's body as the Explosive Tags detonated instantly.
The Mist Ninja who tried to catch Karatachi Yagura were immediately injured by the blast, while several who stood too close died on the spot.
Do not think Explosive Tags could not kill people.
Unless your body was as tough as the Raikage's, you would still die if you got caught in an explosion.
However, as a Jinchūriki, Karatachi Yagura barely preserved his life with the chakra released in time by the Three-Tails.
After all, if the Jinchūriki died, the Three-Tails would die as well, and it would take a long time for it to revive.
Uchiha Kyu merely wanted to teach Uchiha Obito a lesson by planting his own ocular power in Karatachi Yagura's mind.
At a critical moment, he only needed to seize Uchiha Obito's control and make Karatachi Yagura serve him instead.
At this stage, if Karatachi Yagura were killed, the most likely outcome would be Kirigakure's defeat and retreat back to Kirigakure. That did not align with Uchiha Kyu's plans.
His objective had not yet been achieved, so this war could not end.
When it ended would be up to him.
The recapture of the Egawa Coastal Front did not involve charging in on the same day. Instead, they advanced gradually, placing immense pressure on the Mist Ninja.
After fleeing, Uchiha Obito discovered that Uchiha Kyu had not seized control of Karatachi Yagura, and he could not help feeling smug.
It seemed Uchiha Kyu was not as terrifying as he had imagined. He could not even take away control.
Thus, Uchiha Obito began arranging successive waves of Mist Ninja reinforcements. No matter which side suffered losses, it would benefit his plan.
It would be best if Uchiha Kyu could be pinned down on the battlefield. Uchiha Obito did not believe Konoha would refrain from acting against the Uchiha Clan.
To Uchiha Obito, the clan was far less important than Rin.
It would be best if Konoha and the Uchiha Clan fought until both sides were crippled. That would make it easier to capture the Nine-Tails and revive the Ten-Tails.
War was fought with logistics, and even ninjas were no exception. Chakra consumption depleted a great many bodily cells, which required vast amounts of meat to replenish.
Disrupting the enemy's logistics was even more closely tied to the outcome of the war at the front.
If not for the Land of Fire possessing the most fertile land in the Shinobi World, Konoha likely would have collapsed long ago.
The reason the other ninja villages had repeatedly failed was that their logistics gradually could not keep up. Unable to outlast Konoha, they could only concede defeat in the end.
Konoha, Hokage Office.
Minato Namikaze rested his interlaced fingers beneath his chin, his gaze somewhat hesitant. "Lord Third, are we really going to make a move?"
"Could this tip Uchiha Kyu off and make him let the enemies at the front in? Wouldn't that be too risky?"
He had rushed back to Konoha the moment he stabilized the front, only to deal with his own people. He could not help feeling somewhat conflicted.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a cold, calculating smile. "Just rest assured."
"We only need to cut off the Uchiha Clan's younger generation. We are not exterminating the Uchiha Clan, so they will still have hope of recovering."
"That way, Uchiha Kyu will not fight us to the bitter end. Once the Uchiha are brought down to the same starting line as us, everything will return to how it was."
Whenever Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes now, the scene of blood staining the entire compound red that night appeared before him, tormenting him like a nightmare.
"What do you need me to do?" For Konoha's stability, Minato Namikaze could only agree.
Of course, whether Minato Namikaze agreed or not would not affect this operation in the slightest.
The Hokage's authority still rested in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands. Every time, he brushed Minato Namikaze aside with the excuse that he was still young.
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with hatred filling his voice.
"This matter must avoid Hyuga Hiashi. If the village's forces were not so depleted right now, I would not even want to spare the Hyuga Clan."
"You do not need to act. You only need to hold back the Hyuga Clan. With you there, Hyuga Hiashi will not dare to make a move."
As the Hokage who had ruled Konoha for decades, Hiruzen Sarutobi's hidden cards were far from limited to this.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had concealed it from everyone and secretly trained a force of deathsworn utterly loyal to him.
This deathsworn force numbered a full five hundred people. The weakest among them were Chunin, while the strongest was a Kage Level deathsworn.
Unless he reached the final moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never have revealed them.
They were the fruits of over twenty years of cultivation. Hiruzen Sarutobi intended to deploy them all tonight and ensure that nothing went wrong.
"I understand." Minato Namikaze nodded, his gaze resolute.
Kushina Uzumaki shoved the door open carelessly. Before she even entered, her shouting had already arrived first.
"Minato, I brought you food! Old man Third, you're here too? I didn't bring lunch for you."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Minato Namikaze with pity and shook his head. "There's no need. This old man isn't hungry."
"Mmm, so good." Minato Namikaze took a sip of soup, and his face instantly turned green.
If anyone could restrain Minato Namikaze, the best method would be to have Kushina Uzumaki poison him and kill him outright.
Because Minato Namikaze would definitely eat anything Kushina Uzumaki cooked.
Hyuga Compound.
Hyuga Hiashi paced back and forth through his courtyard with an anxious expression, his heart lodged in his throat and unable to settle.
Konoha's atmosphere was growing increasingly strange. Was the thing Uchiha Kyu had mentioned about to happen?
What he could not determine now was when Hiruzen Sarutobi would act, and what form that action would take.
Ever since he became the Hokage's advisor, those elders had become even more inclined toward the Hokage.
Did they not understand that once they sided with the Hokage and the Uchiha fell, could the Hyuga Clan still retain its current status?
What a pack of utterly foolish old relics.
Hyuga Hiashi could not help recalling something Uchiha Kyu had said during an idle chat.
Old fools who could not keep up with the times should be swept into history's trash heap.
"No, I have to make a clean break. I cannot let the Hyuga Clan be buried alongside those old fools."
Hyuga Hiashi immediately summoned his younger brother, Hizashi Hyuga, and explained his thoughts to him.
"Big brother, will this work?" Hizashi Hyuga swallowed instinctively in shock, sweat already beginning to bead on his forehead.
Hyuga Hiashi wore the air of someone willing to succeed or die trying, his tone utterly firm. "It has to work even if it cannot. Go. I'll wait for you at home."
Hizashi Hyuga had already prepared for the worst. "If anything changes, big brother, just pretend you know nothing. Leave everything to me."
"I'm the older brother." Hyuga Hiashi smiled and patted his younger brother on the shoulder.
Hyuga Hiashi regretted it as well. Had he known he would face such a choice today, he should have cooperated with Uchiha Kyu to purge the old fools in the family before Uchiha Kyu left Konoha.
Now, no matter what decision he made, those clan elders would argue against him regardless of right or wrong, simply to flaunt their authority.
Hizashi Hyuga turned and left decisively, leaving behind only one sentence.
"The branch family exists to protect the main family. Big brother, that is the meaning of my existence as a member of the branch family, and as your younger brother."
Before you continue