In a small town within the Land of Fire, four men dressed as ordinary merchants arrived and quietly entered a house.
Once inside, the four dropped their transformation jutsu—revealing their true identities as shinobi.
They were none other than the current clan heads of the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mito, and Tsumura families.
The former clan heads had been imprisoned in Konoha for defying orders, and these four were the successors chosen to replace them.
"It seems you've all gained quite a bit," the Sarutobi clan head said meaningfully, sensing that the other three now exuded far stronger chakra than before.
"You're one to talk," the Shimura clan head replied with a grin.
"All of us have benefited greatly. Looks like joining that organization was the right call," Sarutobi remarked.
Though he appeared no different from an ordinary man, his body had undergone a mysterious transformation—one that had elevated his strength beyond recognition.
Once an elite jōnin, he had now ascended to Kage level—a power on par with the strongest in the entire shinobi world.
The other three, judging by their chakra, had likely gone through the same transformation and reached similar heights.
"Of course," said the Mito clan head. "If we hadn't joined that organization, none of us would have this kind of strength."
After their families were exiled, a mysterious organization had approached them. Eventually, the four clans pledged allegiance to it. In return, they received extraordinary physical modifications that boosted their power to new limits.
"It's a shame," muttered the Tsumura clan head regretfully. "If this were the old Konoha, the four of us—with our families behind us—could've easily launched a coup and overthrown the Hokage."
Four Kage-level shinobi backed by their clans was no small force. In the past, it would have been more than enough to topple Konoha's leadership.
But not now.
Konoha today was far stronger than ever before.
By their knowledge, the village currently housed six Kage-level powerhouses: Uchiha Shisui, a ninja from the Yuki clan who had defected to Konoha, Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Uchiha Fugaku.
Six Kage-levels—two more than their own side.
And among them, Uchiha Fugaku stood above them all, his power having long surpassed the Kage realm.
Against such a Konoha, any coup would be doomed from the start.
"No need to be so pessimistic," Sarutobi said calmly. "Even if Konoha is powerful now, revenge isn't impossible."
"Oh? And what do you have in mind?" the others asked, their eyes turning toward him.
The humiliation of exile still burned deep in their hearts. Only by drowning Konoha—and Uchiha Fugaku in particular—in blood could they avenge themselves.
"If the organization could transform us, turning elite jōnin into Kage-level shinobi, then imagine the true extent of their power," Sarutobi said slowly. "Do you really think we've seen everything they can do?"
"You want to use the organization's strength for revenge?" one of them guessed.
"Exactly," Sarutobi nodded. "Right now, only the organization has the power to make our vengeance possible."
"The organization is strong, yes," said Mito with a skeptical frown, "but that doesn't mean they can defeat Konoha. Uchiha Fugaku's power has already surpassed the Kage level—he's reached the realm of the First Hokage himself."
"No," Sarutobi said firmly. "You underestimate them. If they could grant us this much strength with lesser modifications, imagine what their most advanced techniques can do."
The others fell silent, thoughtful.
"If the organization truly possesses greater transformation methods," Mito murmured, "then perhaps… perhaps they could help us take our revenge."
"But Konoha won't be easy to topple. How do you plan to convince the organization to help us?"
"That," Sarutobi said, "is exactly why I called you here.
"You all received the mission to locate the vessels, didn't you? From what I've learned, those vessels are far more important to the organization than we thought. If we can find a perfect vessel, we can use it as leverage—to make the organization fight for us."
"A perfect vessel?"
The other three exchanged surprised looks. They had indeed been assigned that mission but hadn't realized how critical it was.
"Yes. A perfect vessel," Sarutobi said confidently. "If we can find one, I'm certain I can persuade the organization to help us destroy Konoha."
A few days later.
"Spatial Banishment!"
After recovering the chakra consumed by the Ten-Tails, Uchiha Fugaku activated the technique again, traveling to the moon.
Landing atop the massive floating meteorite where the Ten-Tails was sealed, he began his work.
"Spore Creation."
Countless tiny spores formed before him, suspended in the air by gravitational force.
"Chakra Absorption."
He drew vast amounts of chakra from the Ten-Tails, infusing it into the spores.
Instantly, the spores swelled like balloons, growing at a rapid pace until they each became identical copies of him.
Guiding them with gravity, Fugaku moved the new spore clones off the meteorite to the lunar surface—then began the process again, absorbing more chakra, creating more spores.
"Hmm?"
One of the growing spores caught his attention—it was developing far slower than the others, remaining the size of a small child even as the rest matured fully.
"A special spore clone," Fugaku murmured, a rare smile crossing his face. He had encountered this phenomenon twice before and knew exactly what it meant.
The last time, he'd created thousands of spore clones without a single special one appearing. He had begun to suspect he'd inherited Uchiha Obito's terrible luck along with his remains—but now, it seemed fortune was on his side again.
With chakra in abundance, Fugaku poured even more into the slow-growing clone.
Gradually, the clone grew—from a child to a teenager, and then into a full-grown man.
At last, it stood before him—a perfect duplicate.
"The third special spore clone," he declared. "You'll be No. 3."
The naming was simple but effective—a clear way to distinguish the special clones and track their order of creation.
"For now, your chakra hasn't recovered to full strength. Once it does, I'll evaluate your power."
Guiding the batch of new clones and No. 3 down to the ground, Fugaku resumed creating more spores until the lunar plain resembled a field of mushrooms after rain.
After crafting several thousand, he finally stopped for the day.
He sent the ordinary clones through a spatial rift back to the ninja world, while he and No. 3 returned via Spatial Banishment.
Two days later, once No. 3's chakra had fully stabilized, Fugaku brought him to a secluded area outside the village.
"Let's see what you've got. Chakra sensing."
As No. 3 released his chakra, Fugaku extended his perception—and his expression shifted in surprise.
"Tail Beast–level chakra…?" he murmured.
He had felt immense chakra before, but this was extraordinary—far greater than that of his previous special clones.
This one's chakra rivaled a tailed beast's.
Undoubtedly, No. 3 had inherited Fugaku's own chakra constitution—explaining such immense reserves.
"It's not quite Nine-Tails level," Fugaku noted with satisfaction, "but still among the top three in today's shinobi world."
He spent the next half hour testing No. 3's abilities.
In taijutsu, he matched most Kage-level fighters. In ninjutsu, his vast chakra gave him overwhelming power, even surpassing standard Kage levels.
His bloodline limits were limited to those shared by all spore clones, unable to perform any others—but that mattered little.
Overall, No. 3 was undeniably at Kage level, backed by tailed-beast-tier chakra.
"A perfect candidate for the Rinnegan," Fugaku realized, his eyes gleaming.
After all, transplanting the Rinnegan required a host with immense chakra—just like when Uchiha Madara implanted his into Nagato.
And No. 3 possessed even greater chakra than Nagato, along with Hashirama's cells. He was the ideal vessel.
Once transplanted, his power would skyrocket—perhaps not to Madara's level, but certainly beyond Nagato's, into the realm of the Super Kage.
With this, Fugaku would gain a new, immensely powerful subordinate—one with absolute loyalty, unlike any other.
Even Uchiha Sasuke might betray him one day.
But this one—No. 3—never would.
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