In a valley of jagged rocks on the border of the Land of Earth.
The Uchiha Clan had been resting there for nearly half a day.
With the Clan Holy Land, a portable world, they had no need to worry about supplies or rest.
At that moment, most of the clan members were inside the holy land, curiously exploring their new home.
Children chased one another through the streets of their new home, their laughter ringing like silver bells.
The women busied themselves sorting the supplies brought from Konoha and arranging their new dwellings.
The entire holy land brimmed with the peaceful atmosphere of survivors settling into a secure, contented life.
Outside the valley, Uchiha Gen'yō stood atop a massive rock with his hands behind his back, gazing calmly into the distance.
Beside him, Shisui, Fugaku, and dozens of the most elite Jonin stood solemnly at positions around him, forming an airtight security perimeter.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the arrival of Ōnoki of the Two Scales, the Third Tsuchikage renowned throughout the Shinobi World.
"Gen'yō, do you think that old fellow will really come?"
Fugaku walked over to Gen'yō, a trace of uncertainty still on his face.
"Could he have already notified Konoha, planning to join forces with them and wipe us all out?"
"He wouldn't dare."
Uchiha Gen'yō's answer was simple and confident.
"That list is the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. As long as I'm alive, he won't dare act rashly."
"Right now, he probably wants that bunch in Konoha dead even more than we do."
As the two spoke, Uchiha Gen'yō's brow rose almost imperceptibly.
He sensed something unusual.
An extremely faint yet persistent sense of being watched, clinging like maggots to bone, quietly locked onto him.
The sensation was deeply concealed.
His former self might not have noticed it.
But after he had fused with the Sage Body and his mental power had received a god-tier boost, even the slightest malice directed at him stood out like a firefly in the dark, with nowhere to hide.
"Interesting."
A cold smile curled Gen'yō's lips.
"These sewer rats came faster than I expected."
"What's wrong, Brother Gen'yō?"
Shisui immediately noticed the change in his expression and asked warily.
His Mangekyō Sharingan activated instantly, scanning their surroundings, but he found nothing.
"Nothing. Just a few pests on our tail."
Uchiha Gen'yō spoke casually, as though discussing something utterly trivial.
He slowly closed his eyes, his vast mental power instantly sinking into his sea of chakra.
Soon, within his ocean-like expanse of Sage Body chakra, he found a faint, virus-like mark that did not belong to him.
It was an energy marker formed from an extremely insidious Juinjutsu formula, clinging tightly to a strand of his chakra and constantly transmitting his coordinates to the outside world.
The Soul-Devouring Cursed Seal? That old dog Danzo certainly spared no expense.
Gen'yō sneered inwardly.
This kind of Cursed Seal used the caster's own soul power as its catalyst.
Once planted, it would never dissipate unless the caster died or a stronger mental power forcibly erased it.
Erasing it would not be difficult for Gen'yō.
But wouldn't simply wiping it away let those pursuers off far too easily?
"Since you're so eager to play hide-and-seek, I'll give you a proper game."
A mocking glint flashed through Gen'yō's eyes.
He snapped his eyes open!
The triangular-shuriken-shaped Mangekyo in his right eye began spinning wildly!
"Kamui!"
An exquisitely precise spatial power instantly enveloped his entire body!
Under Fugaku's and Shisui's startled, uncertain gazes, Gen'yō's body actually grew somewhat illusory and transparent!
"Gen'yō, what are you doing?"
Fugaku asked in confusion.
"Just a clone."
Gen'yō spoke calmly.
While his body was in a state of Kamui Intangibility, an identical figure was forcibly separated from it!
This was no traditional Shadow Clone, but a nearly perfect replica composed of pure chakra!
More importantly, through his precise control of Kamui, Uchiha Gen'yō transferred the entire portion of chakra bearing the Soul-Devouring Cursed Seal into this chakra clone!
Once he had finished, Gen'yō gave the decoy that looked exactly like him an order.
"Go. Take them on a nice little tour of Death Valley to the south."
The decoy, identical to Uchiha Gen'yō, nodded slightly to the original, even curling its lips in the same perfectly synchronized, mocking smile.
Whoosh!
The next second, its figure became a purple afterimage and shot toward the southern horizon without hesitation!
It moved so fast that it even trailed a long sonic-boom cloud through the air!
"This... this is!"
Fugaku stared at the vanishing afterimage, his face filled with shock that overturned everything he knew.
"That's not the Shadow Clone Technique! I couldn't sense your chakra being divided at all!"
"And this clone's chakra signature is exactly the same as your original body's! How is that possible?!"
Beside him, Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly as he tried to see through its secrets, but ultimately he could only shake his head in vain, his eyes filled with awe at Gen'yō's unfathomable Dōjutsu.
"Brother Gen'yō, that ability of yours was practically made for toying with enemies!"
"Just a bunch of self-important flies."
Uchiha Gen'yō slipped both hands back into his pockets and spoke flatly.
"From the moment we left Konoha, I knew that old dog Danzo would pursue us at any cost."
"He must have some secret technique that can pinpoint my location."
"Rather than passively waiting for them to come knocking, I might as well give them some entertainment."
His gaze swept over the dozens of elite Jonin present, and his voice abruptly turned cold.
"Relay my orders!"
"Everyone, suppress your presence and enter the holy land to await orders!"
"What comes next is our real contest with Iwagakure. I don't want any blind fools interfering."
"Yes!"
All the Jonin answered in unison, then vanished from where they stood in flashes, returning to the Clan Holy Land.
Deathly silence fell over the valley once more.
Only Uchiha Gen'yō remained, standing quietly atop the massive rock like a statue, waiting for the guest who would soon arrive.
Meanwhile.
Hundreds of kilometers away, in the dense forests of the Land of Fire, dozens of dark figures flitted silently between the treetops at astonishing speed, like phantoms haunting the woods.
Every one of them wore a tight black combat uniform and a plain white mask without any markings, and their bodies exuded a thick, lingering aura of death and the stench of blood.
They were the sharpest blades in Danzo's hands, his darkest minions-the elites of Root!
At their head, a ninja wearing a mask marked with the character for "owl" held a crystal compass that continuously flashed with purple light.
The compass needle pointed unwaveringly south!
"The target is moving fast! He's almost outside the Land of Fire!"
Owl's voice was hoarse and cold, devoid of the slightest emotion.
"He must have noticed the village's pursuit and fled in panic!"
Beside him, another ninja of slight build, wearing a mask marked with the character for "crow," snorted coldly.
"Just his death throes."
"With Lord Danzo's Soul-Devouring Cursed Seal on him, we could drag him out even if he fled to the Pure Land!"
"Order all squads to deploy in the kill formation!"
Owl swept his hand sharply, issuing the final pursuit orders.
"The target is in Death Valley, fifty kilometers ahead!"
"The terrain there is complex, with strange rocks everywhere. It's the perfect burial ground!"
"This time, we cannot let him escape again! I'll use his head to wash away the shame of Root and all of Konoha!"
"Yes!"
Dozens of Root ninja answered in low unison, their speed surging once more!
It was as though they could already see the arrogant Uchiha Gen'yō dying a miserable, desperate death under their encirclement!
A vast net woven from death and conspiracy was rapidly closing!
But was the one they were chasing truly their prey?