章 235: Chapter 234: Worthy of the Hyuga Name
"You did well, Shisui," Hiruzen said, patting the young man's shoulder.
"As the leader, you must always remember that the purpose of war is to protect our comrades in the village. If we have to sacrifice all the Uchiha, then victory would be meaningless."
"Supreme Commander, I..." Shisui raised his head, his face full of emotion.
His gaze swept over the scrolls spread out on Hiruzen's desk, a hint of shame flickering in his eyes.
There were three scrolls in total, and their contents were largely the same—urgent reports to the front-line command center about large-scale troop movements in the Wind, Earth, and Lightning nations.
The reason why Konoha had urgently launched a decisive battle against Kirigakure last night was due to the advantage of Shisui and a few other top shinobi secretly arriving at the front lines. If they had missed that window of opportunity, it would have been extremely difficult to deliver a crushing blow to Kirigakure later on.
—To prevent Konoha's power from growing uncontrollably, the Wind, Earth, and Lightning nations would not want to see the downfall of Kirigakure.
"Shisui, Shikaku, let's have a chat," Hiruzen waved his hand.
"You both were on the front lines; tell me, what were those self-destructing creatures?"
"Apologies, Supreme Commander, but my Sharingan still couldn't fully see through their nature. However, these creatures seemed to target the Sharingan, and initially, they didn't specifically attack the Uchiha..." Shisui paused, thinking. "I suspect that they activated their self-destruct mechanism after seeing Susanoo."
"So, the enemy not only understands Konoha, but they also know about the Sharingan, even the secrets of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Heh... Shisui, Shikaku, do you think Kirigakure has that kind of capability?"
The Commander and Vice Commander of the ANBU remained silent.
In all three of their minds, a single name surfaced simultaneously.
—Obito Uchiha!
Two years ago, Obito had mysteriously disappeared from the village... Was he finally about to stir up trouble again?
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe, then softly instructed, "Something isn't right... Whether or not those things are related to Obito, the plan to destroy Kirigakure is no longer feasible. We need to return to Konoha immediately. With only Orochimaru left there, the defenses are certainly insufficient."
Shisui and Shikaku nodded in agreement.
The old man with the pipe pondered for a moment longer, furrowing his brow in frustration. "But before we leave, we must clean up the mess. Shikaku, you're in charge of negotiating with the envoys from the Wind, Earth, and Lightning nations. Make it clear that Konoha has no intention of annexing Kirigakure."
"I'll personally write a letter to the Mizukage to initiate peace talks and stop the war. Shisui, you're responsible for delivering this letter to Kirigakure and bringing back their War Reparation Notice."
"Yes, Supreme Commander!" ×2
As the two stood up, Shisui hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up, somewhat embarrassed.
"Supreme Commander, I'll definitely deliver the letter to the Mizukage, but what if they refuse to cease fire and issue the reparation notice?"
"Hahaha..." Hiruzen chuckled and shook his head.
"Impossible. We've already fought all the way to Kirigakure's doorstep. If they still refuse to surrender, it must be because they've used too much water-style jutsu and washed away their intellect!"
...
"We will never surrender!"
Mei Terumi smashed the table in front of her, speaking coldly.
"There's no need to discuss surrender anymore... Once Konoha sends an envoy, I'll make it clear—Kirigakure will fight the enemy to the bitter end, now and in the future!"
The people in the hall fell silent, but to Mei's surprise, although most of the higher-ups looked grim, no one opposed her decision.
On second thought, it made sense.
—In a way, paying an astronomical sum in reparations might be worse than continuing to fight. Shinobi, after all, are used to living dangerous lives where they lick blood off their blades. Kirigakure has always had a pragmatic view of death.
Moreover, even though they didn't know where the Mizukage had found their reinforcements, Kirigakure had already avoided the threat of total annihilation. Staying in their own village was far better than submitting to Konoha.
As for whether the reinforcements had other motives or might harm the village, Kirigakure had little energy to consider such matters. A few hours ago, the village had faced the threat of complete destruction. Could things possibly get any worse?
Seeing no objections, Mei breathed a silent sigh of relief and began discussing the next phase of their war plans.
...
"Captain, did you see that just now?"
"What?" Sae Hyuga looked at Natsuki Uchiha in confusion.
"Lord Shisui's jutsu!" The young kunoichi practically jumped with excitement.
"I heard about it! At the gates of Kirigakure, Lord Shisui used an incredibly powerful ocular jutsu!"
"Oh... that one?" Sae nodded, the image of the terrifyingly powerful green skeletal figure flashing through his mind. "It was indeed impressive. I've never seen such a perfect jutsu that balances offense and defense."
"Hahaha, our Uchiha's Sharingan really is the strongest..." Natsuki said, her eyes narrowing in delight as her chin nearly pointed up to the sky.
Sae couldn't help but laugh. Although many in the village thought the Uchiha were arrogant, he found them to be quite decent, openly proud of their clan—a vital strength for the village.
'Clan, village...' The nine-year-old boy suddenly froze, as if he had thought of something, and a wave of discomfort surged in his heart.
He stood up, making a few perfunctory remarks, and left the Konoha camp, not knowing where to go, so he just ran in a random direction.
Half an hour later, he sat gasping under a large tree, removed his forehead protector, and stared blankly at the Konoha symbol on it.
*Slap!*
He slapped himself hard.
"What an idiot... Why didn't I tell the commander about that man... Sae, are you planning to betray the village?"
The boy muttered to himself, biting his lip so hard that blood trickled down, though he didn't seem to notice.
Even he didn't understand why he had concealed the fact that the man had appeared on the battlefield.
Was it because of the bond of being from the same clan? Ridiculous! That bastard had not only robbed the lives of over 90% of their clan but had also killed his parents. He wanted nothing more than to tear that man apart!
Was it because he wasn't sure if the information was accurate and didn't want to make a false report? That couldn't be it either. Despite his young age, he was a Chunin in the ANBU, and there was no way he could mistake the Byakugan!
So what was it, Sae? In your heart, what exactly...
"Are you crying?"
In the silent depths of the forest, a clear voice suddenly reached the boy's ears.
Sae looked up sharply and saw a long-haired man standing atop a tree, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Running off on your own is a serious violation of military discipline, but you're lucky. I'm not the type to tattle."
The man, Yuto Hyuga, looked down at the nine-year-old boy, his tone playful.
"Speaking of which, you really didn't report my whereabouts to Konoha... So, your name is Sae Hyuga?"
The young man chuckled, a sinister smile curling his lips.
"As expected... of someone with the Hyuga name,"
(End of Chapter)
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