Konoha made no effort to hide its earth-shattering transformation.
A large number of shinobi had fled during the chaos, carrying the news with them.
Among them were spies from nearly every hidden village.
In barely ten days, the information spread throughout the entire ninja world.
The Land of Fire plunged into turmoil.
The Fire Daimyō imdiately mobilized his own forces and began constructing defensive lines.
At the sa ti, he sent agents to bribe the shinobi stationed there, promising them that Konoha would be reclaid and that order would soon be restored.
Quite a few ninja were persuaded.
The surrounding nations also began to stir.
But rather than act imdiately, they preferred to wait until the Land of Fire had exhausted itself in internal conflict before carving up the largest and richest nation in the shinobi world.
The one most stunned by the news was Itachi Uchiha.
Konoha… was gone?
No one could yet explain the full situation.
The only rumor spreading through the underground was that a mber of the Uzumaki clan had overthrown the village.
"Did he really succeed?"
Itachi still found it hard to believe.
He had no idea what Konoha looked like now.
But if it had declared independence from the Land of Fire and founded a new nation, then war was inevitable.
"When I heard the news, even I was shocked."
"I never expected soone like that to be hiding inside Konoha."
Across from him, Obito Uchiha was equally stunned.
Today had originally been the day he intended to take Itachi to Konoha to exterminate the Uchiha clan.
But now?
Konoha had collapsed before he even made his move.
The village that Minato Namikaze had given his life to protect was simply… gone.
"We're still gathering details."
"But according to current reports, the one who defeated the Third Hokage, crushed Konoha's forces, and took control of the village was the older brother of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
"A child."
Black Zetsu spoke in a tone full of disbelief.
Even he had thought the White Zetsu scouts were feeding him nonsense.
He had lived for a thousand years and had never witnessed anything this absurd.
Even among the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, none had been so monstrous.
The strongest of them all had been Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
And even those two had not begun to dominate the world until adulthood.
"That child is eight years old."
"You're telling an eight-year-old defeated the Third Hokage and the entire military force of Konoha?"
Obito's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"You expect to believe that?"
In his eyes, this was obviously false.
"Konoha is spreading misinformation."
"An Uchiha awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"They controlled the Nine-Tails jinchūriki and used the Nine-Tails to defeat the Third Hokage and Konoha's forces."
"That is the only explanation."
Obito declared his conclusion with absolute certainty.
It was perfectly logical.
There was only one truth.
Itachi remained silent.
During this ti, he had infiltrated Kirigakure and, after indirectly causing the death of a comrade, awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and his Amaterasu.
Even so, he believed Zetsu's intelligence was accurate.
After all, he himself had already lost to Uzumaki Shuji.
But he naturally had no intention of revealing that.
If they were heading to Konoha now, the less Obito knew, the better.
"That explanation does make sense."
"So the Uchiha have seized control of Konoha?"
Black Zetsu nodded.
His attention had been focused primarily on locating jinchūriki.
Konoha was notoriously difficult to infiltrate.
Its barrier system was troubleso, and the Hyuga clan's Byakugan made White Zetsu infiltration highly dangerous.
As a result, most Zetsu clones were stationed in the other major nations.
"In that case…"
Obito's visible eye narrowed.
"On this trip, we'll take the Nine-Tails jinchūriki as well."
"A Konoha like this no longer deserves to exist."
Though he claid to hate the village, Obito still carried remnants of his forr attachnt.
Once upon a ti, he had dread of becoming Hokage.
"We should leave imdiately."
"If the Uchiha stabilize the situation, things will beco more troubleso."
With that, Zetsu sank into the earth.
Obito turned to Itachi.
"You're not a Konoha spy, are you?"
"If you are, that would be rather tragic."
"After all… Konoha no longer exists."
"I ca here to pursue greater power."
Itachi's voice was as cold as ever.
Still, he was deeply troubled.
The news that "Madara" intended to move against Konoha might be impossible to deliver in ti.
He could only hope the village would not be caught unprepared.
"Excellent."
Obito nodded approvingly.
"Then this ti, we will wipe out the Uchiha once and for all."
"?"
Elsewhere, Orochimaru stared at the intelligence report in silence.
The information he received matched Zetsu's.
The older brother of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
The son of the Fourth Hokage.
Eight years old.
Defeated Hiruzen Sarutobi and conquered Konoha.
"What a fascinating world."
"Minato's son accomplished this?"
"Or perhaps…"
He licked his lips.
"Minato transferred his soul into his child's body."
Unlike others, Orochimaru did not dismiss the report as impossible.
In his mind, it was entirely plausible.
"Either way…"
He crushed the failed experintal subject before him.
"I need to return."
The events in Konoha interested him far more than any ongoing experint.
The sa was true for Jiraiya and Tsunade Senju.
No matter what feelings they held toward the village, they could not ignore such a monuntal event.
Jiraiya simply refused to believe the reports.
It sounded too absurd.
Minato's son?
Tsunade's feelings were far more complicated.
She no longer had anyone precious waiting for her in Konoha.
She did not even know why she was returning.
Across the ninja world, spies and emissaries began converging toward the newly founded Empire of Uruk, desperate to uncover the truth.
anwhile, in Konoha itself, everyone was busy farming.
"Earth Release: Furrow Formation!"
Hashirama Senju slamd his palms together.
The ground split open into perfectly straight furrows, each less than ten centiters deep.
A farming technique he had developed himself.
Specialized entirely for planting crops.
To Read 60 ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon/DarkVerse146
User Comments
0 comments from readers