Uchiha Yan's eyes widened as he glared fixedly at the man before him, his gaze seeming ready to spit fire:
"You bastard! I sent the intelligence out ages ago. Given enough time, the Uchiha clan members would definitely have found out where I was.
Now that you've done this, everything I did was for nothing!
Seriously! Why have you lived so long? Couldn't you just die?"
?????
Genji looked baffled. "You sent it out? You've been under our surveillance the whole time, and there was nothing unusual."
"Through storytelling! Some of those sayings were things I'd said for the first time, and only the Uchiha clan members knew them."
To convince Genji that he had given up on escaping, Uchiha Yan revealed his original plan:
"Those stories spread easily, and a lot of those words resonate with people. If I'm right, they've already reached the fishermen along the coast of the Land of Sea. In a little while, they'll reach the Land of Hot Water."
"Why are you so certain your stories would spread easily?"
"The name Uchiha!"
Genji's pupils contracted sharply. He remembered now. As a distinguished clan with a thousand-year history, the Uchiha were known not only to ninja, but to ordinary people too.
Many people were naturally curious about such ancient, distinguished clans. Now that stories about the Uchiha Clan had appeared, their curiosity would naturally be stirred, and they would unwittingly show off what they knew.
After a long silence, Genji could not help voicing his admiration:
"Straight at human nature! I stumbled into this by sheer luck. Otherwise, you really might have escaped.
Do you truly not want to stay in Kirigakure? I could make you the Mizukage's aide and have you take over my position in the future."
"Do you believe that yourself?"
Uchiha Yan rolled his eyes. "Never mind your village. If Konoha found out I was in Kirigakure, they'd probably hunt me to the ends of the earth to kill me.
I'm done talking to you. I'm going fishing. You bastards don't keep your word at all.
You can forget about getting the intelligence on the Uzumaki Orphan and the Fourth Mizukage, too."
"I think you'll tell me!"
"Then we'll wait and see!"
Uchiha Yan promptly left. He feared Genji might notice something amiss. In his eyes, this man was even cleverer than the Third Hokage. This was a true politician.
Genji had never changed his mind. Once the war ended, he would let Uchiha Yan return. As long as Uchiha Yan went back to Konoha, the rift between the Uchiha and Konoha would grow ever deeper.
If a dead man suddenly returned, even if Konoha did not label him a rogue ninja, they would still move against him in secret.
His offer to recruit Uchiha Yan just now had merely been an attempt to see whether he could coax the Uzumaki Orphan's location out of him.
Faced with death, a person would seize any chance to survive. That was precisely why Genji had told Uchiha Yan that the Third Hokage already knew of his "death."
I was rash! This boy is even calmer than I imagined!
More than the Uzumaki Orphan's location, Genji wanted the intelligence Uchiha Yan held on the Fourth Mizukage.
Others might not see it, but he saw it clearly. The Fourth Mizukage really had changed, though not by much yet, and he did not know why.
Genji would never have imagined that the intelligence had long since been sent out and was already in Konoha's hands.
As he looked at the intelligence Uchiha Yan had sent, cold sweat broke out on the Third Hokage's forehead, and fear washed over him at what might have happened.
Utatane Koharu noticed the Third Hokage's reaction. It was the first time she had ever seen that expression on his face:
"Hiruzen, what happened?"
The Third Hokage handed over the intelligence, his expression exceptionally grave:
"Yan discovered Kirigakure and Kumogakure holding talks in the Land of Sea. They're preparing to join forces. According to Yan's thinking, half of Kumogakure's ninja will slip over to the Jinghai Town battlefield, while the remaining half will focus on keeping our forces occupied.
Once Konoha loses at Jinghai Town, Kirigakure will attack Konoha directly, forcing the Konoha ninja on the Land of Lightning battlefield to return as reinforcements.
While the Konoha ninja are rushing back to defend Konoha, they'll abandon their attack on Konoha and surround the returning reinforcements instead."
"What?!"
Utatane Koharu quickly took the scroll and scanned it, her expression growing uglier by the moment:
"No wonder! No wonder Kumogakure hasn't attacked. It's because the talks are still underway.
Judging by what this says, Hozuki Yae didn't come here for peace talks at all. It was Uchiha Yan's idea, to force Kumogakure to give up some of its interests and let Kirigakure seize the initiative.
Hiruzen, in that case, Genji's claim that Uchiha Yan was dead was an attempt to drive a wedge between Konoha and the Uchiha.
Why didn't Uchiha Yan say how to break up the alliance? Did he forget, or did he not know?"
"There was no need!"
The Third Hokage exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and looked out the window. "Konoha has ten thousand ways to break up the alliance. Besides, as long as we know what they're planning, it doesn't matter if they join forces.
What we have to fear is not knowing they've joined forces and suffering a swift defeat on either battlefield as a result.
Send word to Danzo and have him launch an all-out attack on Kirigakure. The current commander-in-chief is the Fourth Mizukage. Also tell him to be ready at any moment for them to replace their commander-in-chief."
"We're not breaking up the alliance?"
"No need. I'll write to Ōnoki. He'll know what to do."
"What about Uchiha Yan? With Jiraiya going to meet him this time, he'll most likely make it back. Are we still sending him to Jinghai Town?
I think we should drop that! Although the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai Disease is very severe, this boy is too important to Konoha. His intelligence-gathering ability is terrifying.
To survive a certain-death situation and send intelligence out, Hiruzen, I've never seen anyone like him. Most importantly, he's only twelve."
"Ah!"
The Third Hokage sighed. "Even if we were willing to let him go to the Land of Lightning battlefield, he wouldn't go.
Unless he dies, Danzo won't be able to vent his anger, and he'll inevitably go after the Uchiha Clan.
As long as he's still around, Danzo won't target the entire Uchiha Clan, only Uchiha Yan. He saw that clearly, and that's precisely why he volunteered to go to the Land of Water battlefield.
Otherwise, couldn't he have atoned for his offenses through service anywhere? Why insist on going to the Land of Water battlefield?"
"I'll talk to Danzo!"
"No!"
The Third Hokage refused without hesitation. "During the war, there must not be any conflict between Danzo and the Uchiha Clan."
"Hiruzen!"
Utatane Koharu's face was full of disbelief. "You're terrifying! Have you forgotten how you reacted when you first heard of Uchiha Yan's death?
Will there come a day when us old folks can be sent to die at any time too?"
"Koharu, you should understand the Hokage's responsibilities. Since I gave our teacher my word, I'll keep a proper watch over Konoha."
"Have you managed that?"
Bang!
Utatane Koharu slammed her fist on the desk. "You're always like this. The village on one side, your personal feelings on the other. You want to look after both, but you can't look after either.
What happens to the Uchiha Clan is beyond my control, but this boy is no less intelligent than our teacher. For Konoha's sake, this boy must live.
Look at his last sentence. To gather more intelligence, he'd rather wait a few more days. Can't you see the danger in that?
He's awakened his Sharingan. He isn't an ordinary Uchiha. Apart from Kagami, no Uchiha has ever done this much for Konoha.
Even Kagami only changed gradually after our teacher taught him. He wasn't like that from the beginning."
"Enough! I'll transfer him to Hizashi. From now on, he'll gather intelligence with Hizashi."
"That works! He is Clan Head Hiashi's younger brother, after all. Danzo probably won't dare go too far."
Before you continue