In the forests of the Land of Fire, Gengetsu led the Konoha Ninja swiftly toward the Daimyō's Residence.
The members of this team were very unusual. Apart from a dozen or so Uchiha Clan ninja, most of the rest came from the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans.
Moreover, even among those dozen or so Uchiha Ninja, only a handful were elites truly skilled in combat. The others were all administrative talents within the clan, proficient in government affairs, commerce, and resource allocation.
This was even more true of the Ino-Shika-Cho contingent, almost all of whom were experts in internal affairs selected from the Great Clans.
The reason Gengetsu brought so many administrators was that his purpose in visiting the Daimyō's Residence was not to apologize and admit fault,
but to eliminate the daimyo, a scourge left over from an old era that had persisted for a thousand years.
As for the problem of insufficient fighting strength? Gengetsu had never even considered it.
Gengetsu had absolute confidence in his current power.
To subdue a single Daimyō's Residence, Gengetsu alone was more than enough!
After traveling at high speed through the forest for half a day, even these ninja had expended a considerable amount of stamina.
Gengetsu stopped on a thick tree trunk, swept his gaze over everyone, and said calmly, "Let's take a break!"
At Gengetsu's order, the team immediately stopped. Everyone found a shady spot to sit and took out water flasks and soldier pills to replenish their strength.
Gengetsu approached a young Uchiha boy with a youthful face.
"Shisui, how does it feel to leave the village for the first time?"
Looking at the boy before him, Gengetsu smiled and couldn't help asking.
"Lord Fifth, it feels wonderful!" Shisui Uchiha abruptly straightened up, his expression incredibly excited and his voice filled with excitement he could barely conceal.
Shisui Uchiha!
This was the genius who would later be known as "Body Flicker Shisui" and awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He was also the tragic figure whose Sharingan was stolen by Danzo in the original story, and who ultimately jumped off a cliff.
Of course, the current Shisui had yet to attain those later achievements.
At present, Shisui Uchiha was merely a hot-blooded boy who had only recently graduated from the Ninja Academy, awakened his Sharingan, and barely reached Chunin strength.
Gengetsu had a very clear purpose in specifically bringing Shisui Uchiha along this time.
Gengetsu did not want this younger clansman with exceptional talent to be completely brainwashed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and those other hypocritical old men using the so-called "Will of Fire," only to end up a political sacrifice as he had in the original story.
"Shisui, learn all you can on this mission!"
"In this real Shinobi World, there are many things you can't learn at the Konoha Academy!"
Gengetsu patted Shisui on the shoulder and spoke earnestly.
"Yes, Lord Fifth! I'll do my best!"
Shisui Uchiha nodded firmly, his clear eyes filled with fervent admiration for Gengetsu.
The current Shisui had been taught from childhood that he could sacrifice everything for Konoha and the Will of Fire.
But now, Konoha's Fifth Hokage was none other than Uchiha Gengetsu!
Thus, the current Shisui Uchiha also held Gengetsu in immense reverence.
After resting there for half an hour, everyone had recovered most of their stamina.
"Move out! Keep going!"
At Gengetsu's command, everyone once again became streaks of shadow, darting through the forest.
Just after the team had traveled a dozen or so kilometers, Gengetsu seemed to suddenly sense something.
"Watch out! An ambush! Everyone, defend yourselves!"
Gengetsu's expression changed abruptly, and he shouted.
Unfortunately, however, he was still a moment too late.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of deafening explosions suddenly erupted.
Terrifying flames soared into the sky and swept toward the team.
A dozen or so ninja from the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans had no chance to react before they were blown to pieces amid agonized screams.
But that was not the end.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Along with the explosions, a dozen or so ninja wearing animal masks burst out of the surrounding treetops.
"Attack! Eliminate all targets! Leave no one alive!"
The ninja in the lead shouted.
Hearing this, the other masked ninja continued charging toward Gengetsu's team without the slightest hesitation.
As for who these animal-masked ninja were, there was no doubt: they were Root members who had come on Danzo's orders to intercept and kill Gengetsu.
Gengetsu reacted very quickly to Root's ambush, swiftly dodging and easily evading their surprise attack.
But the others in the team fared terribly. They did not possess Gengetsu's formidable strength.
Faced with the sudden attack, they suffered heavy losses.
Many were killed instantly without even a chance to react.
"Damn it! Lord Fifth! We've been ambushed by the enemy!"
"The enemy is extremely strong! We've suffered very heavy losses!"
Holding a short blade, Shisui Uchiha fell back in front of Gengetsu and spoke with a deeply grave expression.
During the attack just now, an enemy's kunai had also cut a wound across Shisui's right arm.
The other Uchiha Clan ninja were also fighting the enemy.
But the Root members had clearly come prepared, and they had the advantage of a surprise attack.
The Uchiha Clan ninja soon fell into a disadvantage as well.
Seeing everything before him, Gengetsu couldn't help frowning.
"Damn it! In that case, I'll have to use that move!..."
Gengetsu took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes. Then he opened them again!
Gengetsu's eyes glowed red, the three tomoe within them spinning wildly before finally linking together to form a mysterious, eerie hexagonal pattern!
At the same time, a shocking streak of crimson, bloody tears slowly flowed from Gengetsu's left eye, running down his cheek and dripping onto the ground.
A terrifying surge of dōjutsu power rapidly spread outward from Gengetsu.
"Dōjutsu-Heavenly Standing Sovereign!"
Then a sight that shocked everyone appeared!
Within a radius of several hundred meters around Gengetsu, visible ripples like waves on water actually spread through space.
The ninja who had just been killed in Root's ambush reappeared there amid those ripples.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was also known as the eye that reflected the heart.
Everyone who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan would gain a powerful dōjutsu unique to them.
And this was the reality-defying dōjutsu awakened in Gengetsu's left eye after he unlocked his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Heavenly Standing Sovereign!
It could turn unfavorable events that occurred within a certain period into things that had never happened, selecting only favorable events to become reality.
In its manifestation, this dōjutsu of Gengetsu's bore some resemblance to the Uchiha Clan's forbidden technique, "Izanagi."
However, each use of Izanagi would permanently rob one Sharingan of its sight.
Gengetsu's Heavenly Standing Sovereign, on the other hand, did not demand blindness as its price. It merely required an enormous amount of the user's dōjutsu power.
Most of the people Gengetsu had brought to the Daimyō's Residence this time were carefully selected talents skilled in internal affairs and commerce.
They were extremely important to Gengetsu's subsequent takeover of the Daimyō's Residence and control of the entire Land of Fire's economy.
Without these administrative talents, even if Gengetsu killed the daimyo, the Land of Fire would descend into endless chaos.
That was why Gengetsu had expended a vast amount of dōjutsu power to forcibly rewrite reality and resurrect them all!
At the sight of the resurrected people, every Root member stood dumbfounded.
"Wh... what's going on!?"
"They... how did they come back to life!?"
"Is this a genjutsu!? When were we caught in a genjutsu!?"
One Root member stared at the scene before him in astonishment.
Some Root members even thought they had fallen under a genjutsu and formed hand seals, hoping to break it.
Unfortunately, however, no matter how they formed their hand seals, it was useless.
The reality before them would not change.
Not only were the Root members astonished, but even the ninja who had just been resurrected were utterly bewildered.
"I... wasn't I blown to pieces!?"
"I clearly felt the pain of a ninja blade piercing my heart. How... how am I alive again?"
They looked at one another, none of them able to understand what exactly had just happened.
Just then, an Uchiha Clan ninja noticed the patterns in Gengetsu's eyes.
"Lord Fifth, your eyes!"
"Could it be! Could those... actually be the legendary... Mangekyō Sharingan!?"
The Uchiha Ninja pointed at Gengetsu's eyes, his voice turning shrill with extreme excitement.
"What!? The Mangekyō Sharingan!?"
"Lord Fifth has actually awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
For a moment, every Uchiha Clan ninja present erupted into fervent cheers.
As members of the Uchiha Clan, they had heard the legends of the Mangekyō Sharingan and knew very well what it meant to their clan.
It was the Uchiha Clan's ultimate power.
They had never expected Lord Fifth, Uchiha Gengetsu, to have obtained the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Root members also noticed Gengetsu's eyes at this moment.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan!?"
"Change targets! Prioritize killing Uchiha Gengetsu!"
At the Root leader's command, all the Root members immediately switched targets and charged toward Gengetsu.
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