"Training stops here for now. The third exam may have some changes, and you two likely won't face each other then. But if you're unsatisfied, I can serve as referee another day," Hyuga Mirai said to Naruto and Sasuke as he approached Kushina and Mikoto. By the time he reached them, both women had already calmed their heartbeats.
"The war will begin soon. Prepare tomorrow; we depart the day after. Naruto, you'll go too—having the Nine-Tails inside you is a significant deterrent against ordinary ninjas."
Kushina patted her chest confidently. "Don't worry! I'm ready!"
She activated the Nine-Tails' chakra, which she had obtained from Ayaka early that morning. Her chakra could sustain the Four Red Sun Formation for a long time.
"Mirai-kun, I'm ready too. I've arranged the Federation's guard duties with my subordinates; we can depart anytime," Mikoto said with a gentle smile. Mirai had given her and Tetsuo Uchiha several potions that temporarily boosted her chakra enough to activate and maintain a complete Susanoo.
"War!?"
Naruto and Sasuke were shocked—this was the first time they'd heard of it. Upon learning about the third exam, their faces showed complete astonishment.
Sasuke, upon hearing Naruto could go to war, immediately turned to Mirai. "Uncle Mirai, I want to join the battlefield too."
"Not this time, Sasuke," Mirai shook his head. "Naruto can go because of the tailed beast inside him. And the Land of Rivers might not even see conflict. If you want to witness war, I can recommend you to Tetsuo."
Mikoto, worried about Sasuke, quickly interjected. "Sasuke, stay in the Federation and wait for me to return."
"But—"
"Listen. War is still beyond your reach. You haven't done many missions yet; you're not suited for the battlefield."
Mikoto's tone was firm. As Sasuke's only close family, she could not neglect him. Despite his performance in the Chunin Exams, the battlefield was completely different. Mikoto, having escorted a few logistics units before, knew the urgency and the threat from all directions.
Sasuke's strength was decent, but his lack of experience and absence of a tailed beast protection made going to war potentially fatal. Mikoto would never allow that.
Sasuke remained silent, concealing his dissatisfaction, planning to appeal to Mirai later. Mikoto noticed his reluctance. Though he had grown stronger, his chakra reserves and finishing skills were still insufficient. She had no other solution.
Mikoto's greatest trump card came from her Mangekyō Sharingan, awakened with Mirai's help. To enhance Sasuke's abilities, only Mirai could assist.
Though Mirai was approachable, Mikoto felt uneasy about constantly troubling him. Kushina had discreetly mentioned that Mirai liked modified maid outfits, which could be a way to persuade him. Mikoto felt conflicted—Mirai was about to marry, yet she enjoyed feeling needed.
The confidence from true strength was something Uchiha Fugaku never had. Mikoto, having seen Fugaku frown over the family and village, now felt that freedom with Mirai reflected a true strong person.
After notifying Kushina and others, Mirai informed Gaara of the departure time. The Four-Nation Allied Forces' schedule coincided perfectly with the start of the first exam. With both tailed beast jinchūriki on the field, resistance in the Land of Rivers would be minimal.
Mirai had prepared a clone for Naruto and Gaara, allowing the Chunin Exams to proceed normally while still monitoring the ninja allied forces.
The Puppetry Division had recently rushed production and completed two thousand chakra-sealing chains—barely enough for both battlefields.
In war, casualties were inevitable. These chains couldn't cover all forces in the Four Great Villages, so they could only hope that the hardliners would rush in first and get wiped out. Once those troublesome ones were gone, each remaining shinobi could be assigned one chakra-sealing chain.
Meanwhile, Sasori had completed a new mecha puppet for fusion combat. He intended to use the Fourth Raikage to test its strength. He still hadn't found any metal capable of withstanding Truth-Seeking Orb–level force, so he was switching test subjects. The Fourth Raikage was ideal: fast, powerful, and durable.
If the Raikage couldn't break the puppet's vulnerable joints, then Sasori's work had improved significantly.
However, Orochimaru had recently proposed the idea of a biological Sage puppet, which irritated Sasori. He preferred eternal metallic artistry. Yet after studying Orochimaru's research, he couldn't deny that some aspects were… tempting.
Still, he pushed himself to develop a new composite metal. Without it, many of his puppets lagged behind Orochimaru's creations.
Pakura had already departed in secret, leading the last group of reinforcements toward the Tea–Sand region to rendezvous with Uchiha Tekkai. The sea forces of the Alliance came from the Cloud and Hidden Mist. Since their top shinobi were deployed to the River–Sand battlefield, their naval invasion of the Sand Federation crumbled instantly against Pakura and Tekkai.
One wielded a temporary full-body Susanoo.The other possessed both Ice Release and Scorch Release, powered by a built-in reactor. Pakura could freeze an entire kilometer of ocean in seconds.
In today's shinobi world, the great nations publicly expressed excitement for the third exam—but privately they were already plotting how to tear one another apart.
Land of Fire – Capital
Danzo waited for news from Konoha. His eyes shifted slightly as he sensed something and lifted his head.
Five meters ahead, the air distorted. A masked man—Tobi—appeared.
"You again. If you're not bringing true sincerity, I won't accept your terms."
Danzo spoke flatly. The masked man kept asking for cooperation yet offered nothing worthwhile. Danzo naturally refused—especially since this man was the true mastermind behind the Nine-Tails incident. Danzo still hadn't figured out his real goals.
"A pair of Sharingan. And five sacrifices cultivated with Hashirama Cells—enough for Edo Tensei bodies to reach near their full strength."
Tobi stated his offer directly. If Zetsu couldn't retrieve Konoha's Forbidden Jutsu scroll no matter what, he had no choice but to negotiate with Danzo.
Nagato had foolishly started acting like a fisherman watching two sides fight. But now, with Tsunade capable of countering the Rinnegan and Hyuga Mirai being an unfathomable threat, things were worsening. Tobi had warned Nagato twice, but it only made Nagato more distant.
Ever since recovering his body, Nagato had begun slipping out of control.
Tobi clenched his teeth inwardly. He couldn't control the curse seal on Nagato anymore, yet couldn't abandon the Rinnegan either. With Nagato's arrogance growing, Tobi estimated a fifty-percent chance that the plan would fail.
Without another solution, the Eye of the Moon Plan would not succeed.
Tobi still believed the shinobi world was rotten. Even though the Sand Federation brought hope to him and Amegakure, as long as people existed, desire existed. Desire brought conflict. Every war in history was sparked by the selfishness of leaders.
Only the Eye of the Moon Plan could satisfy everyone—creating a dream where conflict disappeared, and no one died.
He had to achieve it.
Danzo listened and immediately raised the price several times. "Five pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan. Twenty sacrifices cultivated from Hashirama Cells."
Last time, the masked man had given him one such "sacrifice." Danzo's researchers found it far superior to Root's own wood-human experiments—highly compatible for Edo Tensei.
That was why their negotiations continued.
"So many Sharingan… and three tomoe at that…"
"Do you know how many Uchiha died that night? Far more than you do. The entire police force was wiped out, and every eye was harvested."
Danzo cut Tobi off. After that night, Danzo sent Root operatives to gather the Sharingan—but someone else had already taken them.
When he first met Tobi afterward, Danzo immediately knew who the culprit was. So his demands were not unreasonable.
Without Sharingan, Danzo would have to implant an ordinary limb, something intolerable for his ambition.
Tobi fell silent for a moment before replying. "I can agree to the Sharingan and the sacrifices. But you must act quickly. Edo Tensei alone isn't worth this price."
"I know that."
Since Tobi had conceded, Danzo agreed instantly.
He had never trusted anyone. After spending so much time around the daimyo, he had mastered every detail of the man's habits. His body double was prepared. Once the sacrifices arrived, he would use Edo Tensei to fulfill his lifelong wish.
(End of chapter)