"Who's the head of the Uchiha?"
"You'd better get on your knees to hear what our Fourth Raikage has to say!"
Iwagakure, the conference room on the top floor of the Tsuchikage Building.
An overbearing voice, brimming with lightning-like volatility, exploded like thunder inside the enclosed room.
The speaker was a tall, muscular Kumogakure ninja with dark skin.
He wore Kumogakure's signature white, single-shouldered combat uniform, exposing a sturdy, bronze arm tattooed with a raging thundercloud.
He was Darui, a Kumogakure Jonin and the Fourth Raikage A's most trusted right-hand man.
At that moment, Darui was impatiently picking his ear with his little finger, his listless, dead-fish eyes filled with undisguised contempt and arrogance.
Before him stood several members of the Council of Elders, led by Iwagakure's grand elder, Ishikawa.
These old men, who normally lorded it over Iwagakure and commanded a measure of respect even from the Tsuchikage, were now bowing and scraping, their faces plastered with fawning smiles.
"Lord Darui, please don't be impatient."
Grand Elder Ishikawa rubbed his hands together, his shriveled old face creasing all over with his smile.
"According to our intelligence, those homeless curs of the Uchiha have already entered the encirclement we prepared."
"Our elite Explosion Corps has prepared a magnificent 'fireworks display' for them."
"I'm sure we'll be presenting you with that little bastard Uchiha Gen'yō's head before long!"
"Hmph. You'd better."
Darui snorted and casually flicked the earwax he had dug out onto the conference room's expensive carpet.
"Our Lord Raikage is very interested in the Sharingan, but he has little patience for waiting."
"If Iwagakure fails to get the job done, not only will we in Kumogakure take those hundred pairs of Sharingan, but I suspect Iwagakure will also have to think carefully about what it can offer to appease our Lord Raikage's anger."
The blatant threat made the faces of the Iwagakure elders present change slightly.
But though angry, they dared not speak.
Grand Elder Ishikawa hurriedly offered an ingratiating smile. "Yes, yes, Lord Darui is right. We'll deal with the Uchiha as quickly as possible. We certainly won't keep Lord Raikage waiting!"
Though he felt humiliated, his heart was also full of excitement.
As long as he could use Kumogakure's power to eliminate the Uchiha, that grave threat, and then seize the opportunity to strip that old bastard Ōnoki of his authority.
Then he, Ishikawa, would be Iwagakure's new master!
For that goal, never mind a hundred pairs of Sharingan-even if he had to kneel and lick the shoes of Kumogakure's people, he would gladly do it!
"Report!"
Just then, the conference room door was shoved open.
An Iwagakure communications ninja stumbled and scrambled inside, his face filled with utter terror and panic.
"Grand Elder! This is bad! Something terrible has happened!"
"What is the meaning of this disgraceful panic?!"
Ishikawa frowned and snapped, "Has the Explosion Corps succeeded? Speak!"
"N-no..."
The communications ninja's voice trembled, and he was on the verge of tears.
"The Explosion Corps... has been wiped out!"
"We... we've completely lost contact with Captain Kari and his men!"
"What?!"
Ishikawa shot up from his seat. The fawning smile instantly froze on his face, replaced by boundless shock and disbelief!
Wiped out?!
What kind of joke was this?!
That was the Explosion Corps, led by Kari himself!
An elite force capable of facing an army of a thousand head-on!
How could they have disappeared without even making a ripple?!
"Useless! A bunch of useless fools!"
Ishikawa's face turned livid in an instant, and he kicked the communications ninja to the floor.
Watching from the side, a flicker of surprise crossed Darui's dead-fish eyes, but there was far more mockery in them.
"Oh? It seems Iwagakure's 'fireworks' weren't quite as dazzling as expected."
"Grand Elder, is this what you meant by 'as quickly as possible'?"
Darui's voice was languid, yet his words struck Ishikawa and every elder like resounding slaps to the face.
"Lord Darui, th-there must be some misunderstanding!"
Sweat covered Ishikawa's head as he hurried to explain.
But before he could speak.
A voice so calm it sent chills through them rang out at the conference room entrance without warning.
"There is indeed a misunderstanding."
"Because the stars of the fireworks display don't seem to have appeared yet."
Whoosh!
Everyone in the conference room turned toward the entrance at once!
At some point, the door had silently opened.
Several figures stood quietly in the shadows outside.
At their head was a young man in white robes, his black hair falling to his shoulders.
A faint smile played across his face, and his distinctive, unusually shaped Mangekyō Sharingan surveyed the "audience" in the conference room with interest, taking in their varied expressions.
Behind him stood Uchiha Fugaku, his expression icy, and Shisui Uchiha, his face solemn.
And the Iwagakure Jonin who should have been commanding on the battlefield-Kitsuchi!
"Uchiha... Gen'yō?!"
The instant Grand Elder Ishikawa saw the young man, his pupils contracted to pinpoints, and he cried out involuntarily!
Why was he here?!
Wasn't he supposed to be trapped in One-Line Sky Gorge?!
And Kitsuchi!
Why was he with the Uchiha?!
Could it be...
A terrifying thought surfaced in Ishikawa's mind, making the blood throughout his body seem to freeze!
"H-how did you get in?!"
An elder pointed at Gen'yō and demanded in a trembling voice.
This was the top floor of the Tsuchikage Building!
Security was as tight as it could possibly be!
How could they have appeared here without a sound?!
"Get in?"
Uchiha Gen'yō smiled.
He did not answer, merely stepping forward slowly into the conference room.
Fugaku, Shisui, Kitsuchi, and the others behind him filed in as well.
Yet there was not a trace of the dozens of Iwagakure Anbu who should have been guarding the entrance.
"It seems Iwagakure's hospitality really is quite 'special.'"
Gen'yō's gaze swept over the pale-faced elders before finally settling on the Kumogakure ninja, who looked languid but had the most powerful presence.
"You're the envoy sent by the Fourth Raikage?"
"That's right. Yours truly."
Though surprised by Uchiha Gen'yō's strange entrance, Darui's deep-seated arrogance left him without the slightest fear.
He remained just as languid as before, not even bothering to stand.
"Kid, you're Uchiha Gen'yō? You don't look like much."
He looked Gen'yō up and down, his tone full of flippancy.
"On behalf of the Fourth Raikage, I'm giving you Uchiha two options."
"First, hand over every Sharingan in your clan at Mitsudomoe or above, then surrender, all of you, and become Kumogakure's war slaves."
"Second, the armies of Kumogakure and Iwagakure will raze every place you inhabit and wipe you Uchiha from this world entirely."
"You have three seconds to think it over."
Darui held up three fingers, a cruel smile appearing on his face.
He seemed to already see the young man before him kneeling and begging for mercy.
The atmosphere throughout the conference room grew unbearably oppressive.
Though the Iwagakure elders were inwardly horrified, the presence of Kumogakure's envoy emboldened them again.
That's right!
So what if Uchiha Gen'yō was strong?
Would he really dare make enemies of both Iwagakure and Kumogakure at once?!
However.
Uchiha Gen'yō merely listened quietly to the end, then shook his head gently.
Rather than look at Darui, he turned to Grand Elder Ishikawa.
"A hundred pairs of Sharingan?"
"That's all you intend to pay for the lives of our entire Uchiha clan?"
Gen'yō's gaze sent a chill through Ishikawa's heart, but he steeled himself and said, "Uchiha Gen'yō! Don't get cocky! Now that Kumogakure and Iwagakure have joined forces, you couldn't escape even if you had wings! If you know what's good for you, surrender!"
"Is that so?"
Gen'yō chuckled softly.
He finally turned his gaze back to Darui.
Under the Kumogakure envoy's impatient stare, Uchiha Gen'yō slowly spoke.
His voice was quiet, yet it sent the temperature of the entire conference room plummeting to freezing in that instant.
"A hundred pairs of Sharingan certainly sounds tempting."
"But..."
"Aren't you mistaken about something?"
"I'm simply curious."
"Everyone in your Kumogakure, from top to bottom, old and young-all their lives put together."
"How many pairs of Sharingan would they be worth?"