Time passed slowly in the silent valley.
The sun sank westward, its blood-red afterglow painting the rolling mountains in magnificent yet forbidding colors.
Uchiha Gen'yō still stood atop the giant rock with his eyes closed, resting, as though he had become one with heaven and earth.
His patience was astonishing.
Finally, just as the horizon was about to swallow the last ray of sunlight.
A barely visible black speck appeared in the distant sky.
The speck flew toward the valley at an unhurried pace.
There was no killing intent, no hostility; even its chakra fluctuations were restrained to an extremely faint level.
Yet the tremendous pressure descending from the sky, belonging to a Kage alone, blanketed the entire valley like a mountain!
He's here!
Uchiha Gen'yō slowly opened his eyes.
His strangely shaped Mangekyo gleamed with an eerie, dangerous light in the dimness.
The black speck rapidly grew larger, finally resolving into an extremely short old man with long white hair, a beard, and an enormous bulbous red nose.
He wore an ocher ceremonial robe and a Tsuchikage hat, his hands clasped behind his back as he stood on a floating rock and looked down at Uchiha Gen'yō below.
It was none other than the Third Tsuchikage, whose name, Ōnoki of the Two Scales, had awed the shinobi world for decades!
"Heh heh heh."
An aged laugh, laden with scrutiny, echoed through the valley.
"The younger generation truly is formidable."
"In all my years, this is the first time anyone has dared to invite an old man like me in such a manner."
Ōnoki's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, fixed firmly on Uchiha Gen'yō as though he wanted to see straight through the young man, inside and out.
He could sense a terrifying power within this seemingly young Uchiha, one that made even his heart tremble!
That power was like an abyss, like an ocean-unfathomable!
"Invite?"
Uchiha Gen'yō raised his head and met Ōnoki's world-weary eyes, a teasing smile curling his lips.
"Lord Tsuchikage, I think you may have misunderstood."
"This isn't an invitation. It's a notification."
"A notification to come witness the beginning of a new era, and, while you're here, an opportunity to let everyone in your Iwagakure rise to greatness."
Arrogant!
Utterly arrogant!
Even with decades of composure behind him, Ōnoki could not stop his facial muscles from twitching at those words.
He slowly descended from the rock, his feet landing firmly on the ground with a dull thud.
"Young man, confidence is a good thing, but too much confidence is conceit."
Ōnoki snorted coldly, and an enormous wave of chakra pressure swept toward Uchiha Gen'yō like a tsunami!
He would first test what this brat was made of!
Yet faced with Kage-level pressure that could instantly bring any Jonin to their knees, not even the hem of Uchiha Gen'yō's clothes stirred.
He simply stood there quietly, as though what rushed toward him was not a raging tide but an insignificant breeze.
"Don't embarrass yourself with childish tricks like pressure."
Gen'yō's tone was filled with disdain.
"Let's discuss something that matters."
"I imagine you're quite interested in the gift I have."
Ōnoki's pupils abruptly contracted!
He withdrew his pressure, and for the first time, a grave expression appeared on his aged face.
The man before him was even harder to deal with than he had imagined!
"Where is it?"
Ōnoki's voice grew low and hoarse.
Uchiha Gen'yō said nothing, merely tossing the pitch-black scroll over.
His motion was as casual as throwing a stone.
Ōnoki caught the scroll, a flicker of wariness crossing his eyes.
He carefully inspected it, only slowly opening it after confirming that there were no traps.
A single glance made his breathing suddenly quicken!
Uncontrollable fury and killing intent erupted in his cloudy old eyes!
"Danzo! Sarutobi!"
"Well! What a Konoha! What a Root!"
Ōnoki gritted his teeth, gripping the scroll so tightly that his knuckles turned white!
What the scroll recorded was a hundred times more detailed than the contents list he had previously seen in the mental message!
Every spy's name, how long they had been undercover, how they transmitted intelligence, and even their recognition codes for contacting Danzo were all recorded with absolute clarity!
This was no longer mere evidence. It was a death list that would allow him to purge Iwagakure's entire upper echelon!
"Well, Lord Tsuchikage?"
Uchiha Gen'yō's voice sounded in Ōnoki's ear like a demon's whisper.
"Are you satisfied with this gift?"
Ōnoki snapped the scroll shut, forcibly suppressed the tumult within him, and raised his head, reassessing Uchiha Gen'yō with an entirely new gaze filled with apprehension.
"State your terms."
He knew perfectly well that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
With the other party putting forward such an earth-shaking bargaining chip, what he sought was certainly no small matter.
"My terms are simple."
Uchiha Gen'yō held up one finger.
"First, I want land. A territory large enough for our Uchiha Clan to live and flourish, undisturbed by anyone, belonging entirely to us!"
"Second, I want resources. Vast amounts of cultivation resources, money, and the right to share S-rank missions with Iwagakure!"
"Third, and most importantly!"
An overbearing light that brooked no question gleamed in Gen'yō's eyes!
"I want status!"
"We Uchiha aren't coming to be your dogs, nor are we coming to be your blades!"
"We are your allies! Strategic partners on equal footing with your Iwagakure!"
"I, Uchiha Gen'yō, will stand on equal footing with you, Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage!"
Earth-shattering!
Ōnoki was completely stunned by Uchiha Gen'yō's shocking declaration!
Equal footing?
The leader of a missing-nin clan actually dreamed of standing on equal footing with the Kage of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?!
He was about to refute these utterly fantastical terms.
But just then!
Something suddenly changed!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of kunai gleaming with the cold sheen of deadly poison shot like phantoms from the shadows on both sides of the valley!
Their targets were Uchiha Gen'yō and Ōnoki, who stood facing each other!
At the same time, three dark figures wearing masks marked with the character for "Root" silently appeared behind Gen'yō at a speed surpassing the Body Flicker Technique!
Three short blades coated in deadly poison sealed off every escape route in a triangular formation, stabbing viciously toward his back over his heart, his neck, and his head!
A sneak attack?!
No!
A killing strike!
Danzo's trump cards had actually seen through the decoy and come straight here!
Yet faced with a lethal encirclement capable of instantly killing any Kage-level powerhouse, Uchiha Gen'yō showed not the slightest panic.
He did not even bother turning his head, merely glancing at the incoming kunai as though looking at the dead.
"Quiet."
He slowly raised his right hand.
"Almighty Pu-no, Kamui is still more useful."
Hum!
An invisible repulsive force erupted with him at its center!
Half a meter from his body, the incoming kunai seemed to strike an invisible wall, instantly twisting and shattering into a skyful of iron fragments!
Before horror could even appear on the faces of the three Root assassins who had already closed in.
An enormous, fearsome arm formed from purple chakra burst out from behind Gen'yō, seizing all three firmly in its palm as though snatching up chicks!
Susanoo!
"Lord Tsuchikage."
Uchiha Gen'yō slowly turned around, a cruel smile appearing on his face as he watched the three Root elites struggling desperately in the palm, unable to budge the Susanoo in the slightest.
"It seems we'll have to clear away some trash before negotiating."
"How many seconds do you think I'll need to squeeze them into meat paste?"