"Konoha is under attack? They can't cover both ends? It's already reached the village center?"
At the same time, scouts from Sunagakure and Kirigakure learned of Konoha's turmoil—and couldn't hide their delight.
They weighed it quickly. If Konoha was shaken, this might be the perfect chance to strike while the fire was burning and expand their influence.
So both villages began to stir, preparing to launch a surprise attack on Konoha.
Sunagakure moved first.
They sent every shinobi stationed near the border line straight toward Konoha, intending to land a crushing blow.
For a time, Sunagakure's forces surged forward like a desert storm, dragging sand and killing intent in their wake.
Inside Konoha, Fugaku Uchiha stood beside Shuoye Uchiha. Hearing the reports from multiple villages, worry crept into his expression.
"Lord Shuoye… using this as live training will temper our shinobi, but if other villages really take advantage of the chaos, Konoha's casualties could be severe."
Shuoye smiled, relaxed and assured.
"Fugaku Uchiha, don't worry. If I dared to do this, I have a way to finish it. Honestly, I'm hoping they come."
His words were short—yet steady, as if everything was already accounted for.
Some time later, the White Zetsu covering the hills and forests withdrew in full, leaving only a vast field of corpses behind.
The smoke of battle hadn't fully cleared. Konoha's shinobi were still caught between victory and exhaustion.
White Zetsu's retreat wasn't just proof of Konoha's strength—it reignited everyone's blood and fighting spirit.
But that brief calm didn't last.
A new report crashed down like thunder—
Sunagakure and Kirigakure had joined hands and were attacking Konoha.
The news detonated across the village.
"What?! They dare raid Konoha too?"
People looked at one another, anger and disbelief twisting together.
As arguments erupted, Danzō Shimura slipped into the crowd. A thin, barely visible smile tugged at his mouth as he began to fan the flames.
"Look at yourselves. This is what Shuoye's disastrous decisions have brought us—Konoha pushed into a corner!"
His voice was sharp on purpose, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
At Danzō Shimura's prompting, the two advisors stepped forward as well, echoing him and turning their accusations directly toward Shuoye.
"Shuoye, shouldn't you take responsibility for this crisis?" Homura Mitokado demanded.
"Making peace may be the best choice right now," Koharu Utatane added. "We've just finished a major battle. We shouldn't provoke another. I suggest we hand over the Tailed Beast! Shuoye, the Uchiha's vision is too short-sighted. I think Fugaku Uchiha should step down as Hokage—"
Their words sparked instant outrage.
Konoha's shinobi were worn down, but their pride and spine were intact. They could not accept this.
Eyes turned to Shuoye, waiting for his answer.
Shuoye didn't argue.
A cold light passed through his eyes.
And when everyone thought he might stay silent—
He moved.
A blur—like a specter—appearing in front of Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
"Undermining morale—death."
Shuoye's voice was flat and final.
The weapon in his hand became a streak of light, slicing through the air straight for their throats.
It happened too fast for anyone to react.
When the air settled, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were already collapsed in their own blood, eyes wide open in death.
Konoha fell into a silence so deep it felt like the world had stopped breathing.
No one had ever seen Shuoye this decisive—this cold.
Yet in that moment, the fear in the crowd transformed into something else.
Security.
Fervor.
"Undermining morale—death! They deserved it!"
Someone shouted first.
Then Konoha erupted.
"Undermining morale—kill!"
As the roar spread, a mechanical voice rang out in Shuoye's mind.
[System Notification]
Congratulations, Host. The number of awakened Zanpakutō users has met the requirement.
System Triggered. Reward: Second Zanpakutō — Ryūjin Jakka (Shikai).
Danzō Shimura's expression twisted between shock and resentment. He stepped forward, trembling, searching for any last scrap of control.
"Shuoye! You keep saying you'll solve the problems with Kumogakure and Kirigakure—how? Do you think your will alone can calm this? Look at these injuries! How are they supposed to fight?"
Shuoye smiled calmly.
"Injuries?"
He didn't answer the provocation directly. Instead, he raised his hand and said softly, "Lady Katsuyu, appear."
The moment the words left his mouth, it felt as if something ancient answered from beneath the earth.
Warmth surged up—vast, alive.
In the blink of an eye, an enormous Katsuyu appeared before them. Its body covered nearly half of Konoha, and its gentle eyes held trust and reverence for Shuoye.
"Lady Katsuyu?!" Danzō Shimura's voice shook. "How… how is that possible?!"
Konoha's shinobi stared, stunned into reverent silence.
Even Kushina Uzumaki couldn't hide her shock. She knew Lady Katsuyu's power—yet she had never seen such a massive form. It forced her to reassess Shuoye yet again.
Shuoye patted Lady Katsuyu lightly, signaling it to begin treating the wounded.
Lady Katsuyu nodded and split into countless smaller bodies. They flowed through the shinobi ranks, spreading a natural-energy-infused healing slime that sealed wounds at astonishing speed.
As minutes passed, shinobi who had been battered and bloodied began to recover. Color returned to their faces. Their eyes regained strength.
"To sustain healing on this scale…" Fugaku Uchiha murmured, watching quietly. "The chakra required is terrifying…"
His feelings were tangled—awed by Shuoye's ability, and shaken into deeper reflection about his own future.
He understood more clearly now:
To become truly strong, raw power wasn't enough.
You needed Shuoye's kind of vision—and the nerve to execute it.
After everything was stabilized, Shuoye let his gaze drift toward Danzō Shimura.
There was warning in it. And expectation.
As if he were saying: Don't cross the line, and we can coexist. Force my hand, and you'll pay for it.
Danzō Shimura's heart lurched.
He could feel Shuoye's killing intent—clear as a blade against his throat.
He knew he no longer had the capital to oppose Shuoye.
For a fleeting moment, the thought of defecting rose in him.
But hunger for power—and unwillingness to abandon the forces he'd cultivated for years—held him in place.
Far away, Obito received news of the White Zetsu army's defeat, as well as Sunagakure and Kirigakure's movements.
"Konoha… opened all ninjutsu for civilians to learn? Are they insane?"
His eyes hardened.
He understood at once—this was not the time to confront Shuoye head-on.
He turned to Black Zetsu and ordered in a low voice, "Prepare the formation of Akatsuki. We need more power."
Black Zetsu obeyed and withdrew. Obito sank back into thought, planning something larger.
Just as Konoha's shinobi were still basking in victory—and marveling at Shuoye's reach—
Urgent chakra fluctuations rolled across the sky.
A new threat was closing in fast.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, along with Kirigakure's jōnin, and Sunagakure's forces led by their gold-dust user and other elites, advanced like storm clouds pressing down on the land.
"Ha… look at all those White Zetsu corpses," one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen said, voice low and hungry. "Konoha must've taken heavy losses."
Sunagakure's jōnin wore smug expressions. Their leader sneered, as if Konoha's collapse was already guaranteed.
But when they reached Konoha's outskirts, ready to carve through what remained—
They froze.
Konoha's shinobi looked ragged, yes.
But their posture was straight.
Their eyes were bright.
There was no exhaustion. No pain. No fear.
It was as if the earlier battle had been nothing more than warm-up.
Kirigakure's shinobi shouted first, voices ringing high.
"Konoha! You're finished!"
What they received in return was only Konoha's gaze—cool, faintly amused.
Kirigakure's front line stiffened as an uneasy silence spread.
…Why are they looking at us like we're idiots?
"This… how is this possible?" the Kirigakure commander muttered, scanning faces for weakness—finding only calm resolve.
Then a laugh rang out from the side.
"Ha! Hokage! Look at these bodies—Konoha's losses must be severe. Allow Sunagakure to give you a helping hand!"
Sunagakure's forces arrived, pushing the atmosphere into something stranger still.
Their shinobi exchanged glances, unsettled.
Why were Konoha's shinobi looking at them the same way?
Kirigakure's group exhaled in relief.
Good. At least we're not the only fools here.
Sunagakure's leader finally sensed it too.
He studied Konoha's shinobi more carefully. Torn clothes, dust-stained skin—
—and eyes that shone with an inner toughness.
A bad feeling crawled up his spine.
What happened to them?
Did they take something?
How do they look buffed after a bloodbath?
Konoha's shinobi only answered with cold smiles.
At last, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and Sunagakure's leader exchanged a look and chose negotiation.
They hated it.
But the situation forced their pride down.
"Shinobi of Konoha," Zabuza Momochi said in a heavy voice, with a faint tremor he couldn't fully hide, "we did not come to start a meaningless war. We hope to hold peaceful talks and resolve the current conflicts of the shinobi world."
Konoha gave them no soft answer.
If anything, Konoha stood even straighter.
Fugaku Uchiha felt the resolve around him. He drew a breath, about to speak—
Then he met Shuoye's eyes.
Not command.
Encouragement.
Warmth surged through Fugaku Uchiha's chest. He nodded once, then stepped forward and declared loudly:
"Konoha will not compromise. And we will not negotiate with enemies."
"We will not bow to threats!"
The moment his voice fell, Konoha thundered.
"No compromise!"
"No surrender!"
"Sunagakure! Kirigakure! Get out of Konoha!"
Sunagakure's leader and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were shaken.
They had never seen Konoha this united—this fierce.
In that instant, they understood:
Konoha was no longer something to be bullied.
Hidden in the shadows, Orochimaru watched. Complex light flickered in his snake-like eyes.
"A Konoha like this…" he murmured. "It really is beyond my expectations."
Fugaku Uchiha felt his blood burn.
This is Konoha with an Uchiha in power.
He swore silently to protect this pride—this peace—and allow no one to stain it.
Elsewhere, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched quietly as Fugaku Uchiha and Shuoye stood side by side. Their silhouettes stretched long beneath the setting sun—unyielding.
A trace of nostalgia surfaced in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, as if he were seeing his younger self looking up at the First and Second Hokage.
And with it came bitter reflection.
"Perhaps… I really was wrong…"
Sunagakure and Kirigakure were shocked by Konoha's transformation.
But they did not retreat.
If anything, their determination sharpened.
After a brief exchange, the two forces decided to join hands and crush Konoha's rising momentum.
From the darkness, Obito watched it all with a cold smile.
He welcomed war.
Only chaos and bloodshed would open the path for his plan—the Eye of the Moon Plan.
With Shuoye's order, Konoha's clash with Sunagakure and Kirigakure officially began.
Konoha's shinobi surged forward like arrows released from a bow, spreading across the outskirts to meet the enemy head-on.
Smoke and blood thickened the air. Ninjutsu lit the battlefield in streaks and bursts, small skirmishes igniting one after another.
On another side of the field, the standoff between Shuoye and Sunagakure's leader drew everyone's attention.
"KID," the man sneered, seeing his side falter and preparing to enter the fight personally. "You're going to stop me?"
He met Shuoye's calm, unfathomable gaze—
—and for a heartbeat, he didn't dare move.
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