Just as Uchiha Fucheng had predicted, the Sunagakure Ninja, having failed on the main battlefield, could finally hold on no longer!
After a brief moment of hesitation, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind decisively abandoned Sunagakure.
Without logistical support in terms of "manpower, wealth, and resources," Sunagakure was left with only one choice at this moment.
That was to surrender unconditionally and immediately sue for peace with Konoha.
Inside the core command tent of Konoha.
Sakumo Hatake and Tsunade were gathered there, holding secret talks throughout the night with the representatives of the Sunagakure Ninja who had come to sue for peace.
Compared to the Konoha-Sunagakure war in the parallel timeline, the Sunagakure Ninja had failed even more thoroughly this time.
The number of Sunagakure Ninja captured or eliminated was significantly higher than in the original timeline.
Who knew if it was Uchiha Fucheng, that little butterfly, flapping his wings here.
Without the hatred stemming from the tragic death of Nawaki, Tsunade's attitude toward the peace talks remained relatively positive.
She and Sakumo Hatake quickly reached a consensus, and Konoha took the initiative to lower their demands regarding war reparations and material compensation from the Sunagakure Ninja.
However, on the issue of the border with the Land of Rain, Konoha appeared exceptionally strict.
They not only required the Sunagakure Ninja to complete specific deployment tasks but also set requirements for the number of garrison troops and their defensive positions.
On the Sunagakure side, along the border of the Land of Rain, Konoha demanded that the Sunagakure Ninja complete the fixed-point deployment of specific units.
It was clearly intended to force the Sunagakure Ninja to draw more attention from the Ninja forces of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth.
The Sunagakure Ninja did not have many conditions they could bring to the negotiating table.
Under these circumstances, they had no choice but to agree to Konoha's ceasefire and peace agreement first.
At this moment, the first phase of the Second Ninja World War, [Konoha vs. Sunagakure], officially ended.
...
The Sunagakure Ninja signed the peace agreement, and Konoha's troops began to officially withdraw from the battlefield.
Due to the aerial surveillance of the giant Ninja Hawk, Garuda, all six Ninja Hawks used by the RootNinja for communication were captured and controlled by the UchihaNinja.
Uchiha Fucheng certainly understood that too many people knew he possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, so it was unrealistic to completely control all information being sent back to the Village.
However, he could still manage to control the information gap for a period of time and prevent Danzo Shimura from causing trouble on the road back to the Village.
As for whether he would be targeted by Danzo Shimura in the future, Uchiha Fucheng really wasn't afraid.
In this present time without Shisui, without Obito, and without Itachi, it was unlikely that Danzo Shimura and his hastily assembled Root organization would come into direct conflict with the Uchiha Clan.
What Uchiha Fucheng needed to do most urgently was to secure the authority of the Uchiha Clan head as soon as possible.
As for Danzo Shimura and Root, he just needed to deal with them cautiously.
On the return journey this time, Uchiha Fucheng also grew much closer to Sakumo Hatake because of Hatake Shoichi.
As the nephew of Sakumo Hatake, Shoichi was one of the few males in the samurai Hatake family who had become a Ninja.
And when he learned that Uchiha Fucheng had saved Hatake Shoichi more than twice, the usually stern Sakumo Hatake enthusiastically invited Uchiha Fucheng and the members of Shoichi's squad to eat a meal of roast whole lamb that he had cooked himself.
Perhaps due to his stunning knife skills and unique cooking techniques, in Uchiha Fucheng's eyes, the White Fang of the Leaf was definitely an excellent gourmet.
Even if he weren't a Ninja, he could probably make a fortune running a barbecue restaurant.
After interacting more, Uchiha Fucheng discovered that Sakumo Hatake was not a rigid and stern elder.
Instead, in Uchiha Fucheng's view, Sakumo Hatake was a very humorous and straightforward man.
No wonder he was able to create such a bizarre technique as the "One Thousand Years of Death."
The "forever young" mischief and humor deep in Kakashi's bones likely originated from Sakumo Hatake.
Uchiha Fucheng chatted and laughed with the White Fang of the Leaf, and also occasionally discussed medical Ninjutsu with Lady Tsunade.
His social butterfly behavior truly confused Uchiha Fugaku.
In his impression, his younger brother seemed to be an "Uchiha social recluse" who wouldn't say a word even if kicked.
"How did it happen that in just a few days, just as he said, Fucheng became so close to the White Fang of the Leaf and Lady Tsunade?"
If Uchiha Fucheng knew what Fugaku was thinking, he would certainly scoff.
This counts as being a social butterfly? This is nothing.
This is just basic social interaction for a normal person.
If Fugaku had seen him back when he was operating a private coal mine, having to deal with seven or eight inspection teams, five or six organized crime groups, and all sorts of competitors in a single month, Fugaku would probably be shocked to the point of blowing bubbles from his nose.
Any one of those messy affairs would have been enough to stress Fugaku out so much that it would trigger his Mangekyo.
In Uchiha Fucheng's words, anyone who could make a name for themselves in such a remote backwater would have their severe social anxiety cured!
...
Thanks to Uchiha Fucheng's careful handling, the disappearance of the eight RootNinja on the battlefield didn't cause even a ripple in a battle with over a thousand casualties on both sides.
By intercepting all the communication Ninja Hawks of the Root, Uchiha Fucheng also ensured that Danzo Shimura did not receive accurate information about his Mangekyo Sharingan in the first instance.
When the main force arrived forty kilometers from Konoha Village, the returning troops finally sent some more accurate information back to the Village.
The war briefing from Konoha's high command instantly alerted Danzo Shimura, who had not received any news from the RootNinja.
Previously, most of his attention had been drawn to the Land of Rain.
Danzo Shimura clearly sensed the scent of danger at this moment.
Touching his right eye, which was covered by a bandage, Danzo Shimura's expression was cautious and uneasy. "It's actually the Mangekyo Sharingan?! The Uchiha have produced another Mangekyo?"
Most of Danzo Shimura's Root subordinates were currently concentrated in the Land of Rain.
If he recalled these Ninja prematurely, the preparatory work in the Land of Rain would have been in vain.
And the eight RootNinja deployed in advance on the Sunagakure battlefield hadn't sent him a single message before the battle ended.
Abnormal!
Extremely abnormal.
When he discovered that all eight of his RootNinja had gone missing on the battlefield, Danzo Shimura immediately realized that he had been severely outplayed this time.
It had already been nearly a week since the RootNinja went missing; by the time he sent people to investigate at the border of the Land of Wind, the opportunity would have long passed.
Trying to find the real culprit was simply a pipe dream.
The conspiracy theories within Danzo Shimura's mind expanded infinitely.
In his eyes, the KonohaAnbu, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the KonohaAdvisors, the White Fang of the Leaf, Tsunade, the Uchiha, and even some of his own people in the Root who were duplicitous, were all suspects!
This inner conflict and hesitation also caused him to miss the final opportunity to ambush Uchiha Fucheng outside the Village.
...
For the ordinary villagers of Konoha, the returning victorious Ninja made them ecstatic.
Although there were also many families of fallen Ninja wailing and crying on the vehicles transporting the bodies.
But as Konoha was the victor, the Ninja were still welcomed with a great sense of ceremony.
Flowers, food, colorful confetti...
And the personal welcome from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
As the White Fang of the Leaf who had slain two Kage-level experts of the Sunagakure Ninja, Sakumo Hatake was synonymous with [Konoha Hero] at this moment.
With silver-white long hair and a red triangle armband on his left shoulder, seeing the White Fang of the Leaf's spirited appearance at this moment, it was hard for Uchiha Fucheng to imagine the scene of Sakumo Hatake's tragic suicide later on.
After the welcome ceremony, learning that his wife was about to give birth soon, Sakumo Hatake was already eager to return home.
This made Uchiha Fucheng recall something.
It seemed that Kakashi's mother had developed a very serious physical illness due to a difficult childbirth.
She passed away at a young age when Kakashi was still in his early childhood.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Fucheng looked at the back of Sakumo Hatake with a meaningful gaze.
"If I could save the mother of the Copy Ninja, could I change the tragic fate of this suffering father and son..."
You will get 30 chapter ahead for this fanfiction in patreon.com/AZOFFICIAL1