NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42 - Advance! Advance!
From that point on, Mikoto remained completely obedient.
Perhaps she had pinned all her hopes on Sasuke; the despair surrounding her slowly faded away.
And because the clan knew nothing about the truth behind Fugaku's death, they gradually began to accept her presence again.
Yet whenever Mikoto heard the clan curse Itachi, she could only bitterly smile and shake her head.
Her child... how did he end up walking such a path?
Three days later, the Uchiha had fully recovered.
Those injured during the previous battle had healed quickly thanks to the vast supply of resources.
And many of the gifted among the clan had grown even stronger after experiencing real combat.
In fact, eight members awakened the third tomoe in their Sharingan.
Kaede did not rush to bring out the God Tree sapling.
His own Mangekyō Sharingan had evolved through the power of the Hōgyoku.
If not for its full-spectrum enhancement, there was no way he could have reached Kage-level strength the moment he awakened his eyes.
But the other clan members had no such divine artifact.
He planned to wait until they captured Takigakure, giving everyone time to master their three-tomoe Sharingan before granting them further growth.
After all, the clan's future lay far beyond the shinobi world — building solid foundations was critical.
At dawn, Kaede led a hand-picked team of 100 elite clan members toward Takigakure.
The rest of the combat-capable Uchiha stayed behind to protect the elderly and children.
Once Takigakure was secured, Kaede would immediately arrange for their relocation.
At the same time—
The other shinobi villages, after days of observation and thorough investigation into Konoha's weakened state, finally bared their fangs!
Kumogakure was first to strike, sending a 2,000-strong vanguard through the Land of the Moon and the Land of Hot Water, arriving at the borders of the Land of Fire.
Behind them waited a full support force of 4,000 more shinobi!
Only 3,000 were left in the village to guard against potential ambushes from other nations.
Next was Iwagakure.
Their vanguard, no smaller in number than Kumogakure's, passed through the Land of Grass and arrived at the border of the Land of Fire.
Sunagakure, having watched in silence, couldn't hold back any longer.
Led personally by the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, a force of 3,000 elite shinobi marched through the Land of Rivers, aiming straight at Konoha.
Only Kirigakure remained passive, torn apart by internal conflict.
…
"Tch! What a wasted opportunity!!"
In a hidden corner of Kirigakure, Terumi Mei slammed the intelligence report on the table in frustration.
Beside her, the elder Genshī could only sigh with regret.
He tried to reason with her. "The internal crisis should be our top concern right now."
"Yagura has been massacring the bloodline clans indiscriminately. Our strength has already dropped significantly."
"And the only Kirigakure shinobi who truly understand what's going on… we've only rallied 300 of them."
"If we don't deal with Yagura soon, we'll be the next Konoha."
Terumi Mei knew he was right, but she still looked unwilling.
This was such a golden opportunity!
If Kirigakure got involved now, they could carve out a huge chunk of resources from Konoha!
But instead, all she could do was sit back and watch other villages reap the rewards…
"No way!" she growled, slamming her hand on the table and rising to her feet.
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get! The more I hold back, the more it feels like a loss!"
She declared firmly, "We're not missing this opportunity!"
"Yagura's tyranny has left Kirigakure with barely any resources as is."
"So what if we only have 300 people? We'll go raid some loot anyway!"
"Better than sitting here doing nothing!"
She looked around the room at the jōnin present.
"Who among you still has the guts to join me and take these 300 on a little trip?"
The jōnin looked at each other, most hesitant.
These were their only 300 loyal shinobi.
If Konoha went all-out in desperation, they'd be lucky if half made it back alive.
Their strength was already dwarfed by Yagura's forces — another loss like that could mean the end of their uprising.
Seeing their reluctance, Terumi Mei felt utterly disappointed.
"A bunch of grown men, more cowardly than me?!"
"Fine! I'll go myself!"
She stormed out in anger.
Some jōnin tried to stop her but quickly backed down, knowing her power — especially with two bloodline limits.
But some others… saw their chance.
This was it! A golden opportunity!
They were all admirers of Terumi Mei. What better time to earn her favor?
Shff shff shff!
Six men leapt to their feet!
They locked eyes, metaphorical sparks flying between them.
Then, all snorted coldly and ran after her.
Once the room fell silent, the remaining jōnin began murmuring again.
"Sigh… Terumi Mei is still too young. We can't afford more losses right now."
"Yeah. Even if Konoha's weak, they're not pushovers we can bully with just a handful."
"If they suffer heavy casualties… what happens to our cause?"
…
The debate grew louder until Genshī slammed his cane down hard.
"Enough!"
"None of you had anything to say earlier, but now you won't shut up?"
He scolded them fiercely:
"Don't you understand Terumi Mei at all? You think she's someone who loses control that easily?"
"I support her leading a team. With her at the helm, our people won't be in serious danger."
Ultimately, Genshī's authority forced the room into agreement.
For context: Genshī was one of the founding elders of Kirigakure.
Having served under four Mizukage, his prestige rivaled that of the Mizukage themselves.
…
"That's Takigakure up ahead."
In the forest, Naoto pointed toward the massive waterfall in front of them.
Beyond that waterfall lay the hidden village.
It was Takigakure's natural defense.
Kaede nodded. "It's a beautiful place."
Naoto sighed. "Too bad it'll likely go up in flames today."
Kaede chuckled. "Doesn't matter. Once I take it, I'll rebuild it in our name."
The clan members behind him all laughed confidently.
With Kaede leading them, how could Takigakure possibly resist?
But then—!
"ROAR!!"
A deafening beastly roar thundered from beyond the waterfall.
It was followed by a crushing wave of chakra pressure!
Kaede's eyes lit up.
"The Seven-Tails… looks like we came at the perfect time."
If the beast was still sealed in its jinchūriki, subduing it would've been tricky.
But from the feel of things, Takigakure was in the middle of a host transfer ceremony.
Kaede raised his hand. "Attack!"
In an instant, the Uchiha elites sprang from the shadows of the forest.
The hidden sentries of Takigakure barely had time to blink before everything went black.
In less than a minute, all scouts had been eliminated.
Then, Kaede led his forces boldly through the waterfall and into the village.
Despite having the Seven-Tails, Takigakure was still just a minor village.
As he stepped through, the first thing Kaede saw was the massive form of the Seven-Tails near the edge of the village.
Surrounding it were dozens of panicked Takigakure shinobi.
The host transfer ceremony had clearly gone wrong.
…
(End of Chapter)
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