Yūshin felt distinctly like he'd been set up.
For a moment, he even connected White Zetsu's assassination attempt with the seemingly heaven-sent—yet dangerously hot-to-handle—gold mine, suspecting some conspiracy was at work.
But this was pure malicious speculation, born from his knowledge of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
After all, the plan to clear surrounding ninja forces was Yūshin's own design—he could at least confirm he wasn't being "remote-controlled" by Black and White Zetsu.
Regardless, a child carrying gold through the marketplace was far too conspicuous and would inevitably become everyone's target.
Yūshin was certainly aware of this. His rationality wouldn't be clouded by greed. After understanding the causes and consequences, he immediately ordered his forces to withdraw.
But the problem was: while they could abandon the gold mine, what about the gold already mined by Takahashi's forces and the coins already minted? Surely they couldn't abandon those too?
On one hand, as leader, Yūshin had to consider his ninja's morale. Everyone had fought desperately to take this territory—he couldn't just abandon everything without taking anything. Such behavior would be inexcusable no matter how you looked at it... Yūshin couldn't explain the full truth to everyone.
So these spoils of war had to be brought back.
On the other hand, even if they abandoned the loot on site, once news spread, would other powerful forces believe The Fireflies organization had "taken nothing"? On the contrary, they'd assume Yūshin had discarded so much gold because he didn't care about it.
Why wouldn't he care? Because what was left behind was just scraps—the real treasure had already been collected.
This was a small but effective trap: when gold falls into your pants, it becomes shit whether it really is or not.
So was this matter actually connected to White Zetsu?
Yūshin quietly left Kikyō Castle, traveled far away, then transformed into White Zetsu and returned, pretending to be a distant arrival meeting with the local White Zetsu to gather intelligence.
The result was that these White Zetsu knew very little. Yūshin only confirmed that White Zetsu placed great importance on Shichimi's Sharingan... Because the key nodes of recent events in Kikyō Castle were all handled by Black Zetsu and White Zetsu's main body, the ordinary White Zetsu below had no sense of secrecy toward their "kind," but what they didn't know, they simply didn't know.
Seeing these White Zetsu knew little, Yūshin held back no longer, directly turning them into several "energy packs" and one "constitution experience pack"... Since they had no intelligence value, let them become fuel to help Yūshin shine bright.
However, Yūshin wasn't entirely without gains—he did learn one relatively important piece of information.
According to White Zetsu, the assassination operation against The Fireflies organization's leader Yūshin would only be carried out after The Fireflies organization resolved Takahashi daimyo and the Takenaka Clan.
Such a clear operational sequence indirectly indicated that Black and White Zetsu had come prepared and planned to intervene heavily in Kikyō Castle.
Despite the mounting crisis, Yūshin had no way to evacuate the organization—how could a base be abandoned so easily?
Black Zetsu targeting The Fireflies organization so quickly exceeded Yūshin's expectations, but since things had reached this point, both sides had no choice but to clash.
Before instigating such events, Black Zetsu certainly hadn't anticipated what he would face. In fact, upon realizing who the enemy was, Yūshin had already devised his ultimate countermeasure... Even if his side failed, he wouldn't let Black Zetsu succeed.
When push came to shove, Yūshin would spread the "Black Tadpole Looking for Mommy" story throughout the entire shinobi world, using the most vivid and dramatic language to describe the Ōtsutsuki family's melodramatic saga to all ninja.
The content would include the God Tree, Ten-Tails, the Sage of Six Paths brothers, chakra's origins, Ninshū's founding, the Nine Tailed Beasts' origins, explaining the birth of the shinobi world's mastermind Black Zetsu, what White Zetsu really was, and their thousand-year conspiracy and ultimate purpose.
Honestly, once such news spread, though it would throw Black Zetsu into chaos, it would be difficult to gain credibility initially—most ninja would treat such news as fanfiction of the "Sage of Six Paths Creation Legend," equivalent to the shinobi world's version of "prehistoric fantasy."
Come on, could ninja really have been manipulated by one family for thousands of years? Who could believe that?
But as Black Zetsu's plan continued implementation and the message's contents proved true one by one, the ninja's not-so-bright minds would surely realize that the so-called absurd novel was actually a book of prophecy.
Black Zetsu's plan might still be implementable, but he'd never encounter smooth sailing again in this lifetime.
So an incredibly abstract, absurd, yet extremely realistic scene occurred: after recognizing Black Zetsu's threat, besides actively preparing for war, Yūshin was actually writing a book... This didn't sound like something a human would do.
The Fireflies organization's elite forces were all concentrated, and the organization's war strategy shifted from offensive to defensive.
Others besides Yūshin didn't need to consider too much—the reason for preparing for war was quite sufficient: the gold mine issue.
The gold mine would certainly attract powerful forces' covetousness, and the organization would definitely have to fight this unknown enemy.
At an earlier time, due to Yūshin's deliberate leak, White Zetsu's main body received news of the assassination failure quite promptly, plus an even worse reality.
"The assassination operation failed," White Zetsu's main body said to Black Zetsu.
"Why? Is that leader's strength really that formidable?" Black Zetsu was stunned—why did everything seem inauspicious lately?
"We didn't even test how strong the opponent actually was... That ninja organization's leader can also detect our presence and see through our disguises," White Zetsu's main body stated the facts very calmly.
Black Zetsu: "..."
What was going on? Something that wouldn't happen once in a thousand years was occurring repeatedly at the same time?
After a long silence, Black Zetsu finally said:
"Those who can sense us are either extremely sensitive to negative emotions like hatred, or have exceptionally pure hearts..."
"I heard that organization's leader founded the ninja organization to help the weak, and after establishing it, he actually protected those ninja with insufficient strength behind him, personally handling wars and high-risk combat, fearless of death."
"He's probably one of those rare ninja with pure, selfless hearts who's willing to sacrifice for others."
White Zetsu's main body didn't react immediately—how had this turned into praising the opponent? But he was good at playing along:
"Perhaps so. Such ninja are rare but not nonexistent... Their organization's ability to develop might be precisely due to his leadership charisma."
Yūshin's heart was truly pure. When Black Zetsu said this, he certainly didn't know Yūshin was considering posting his big-character poster, exposing his family secrets to the public... In other words, "doxxing" him.
Black Zetsu nodded:
"The assassination failure doesn't matter. Being able to detect White Zetsu isn't a big deal either. Once the next phase of the plan begins implementation, they'll be buried by the shinobi world's history."
Their current location was the Hagoromo Clan's intelligence gathering department.
One day later, all White Zetsu near Kikyō Castle were eliminated, and the main body temporarily lost its intelligence source near Kikyō Castle.
Now Black Zetsu knew those three words "doesn't matter" were spoken too early. He became somewhat frantic:
"Since you know there's risk of exposure, why not avoid those people? This isn't just stupid—it's absolutely stupid!"
...
Uchiha Clan.
Due to Uchiha Madara publicly exposing the clan's internal ghostly conspiracy during the previous invasion incident, the hidden demons and monsters were forced into the open.
Affected by this event, though the clan head remained clan head, the original high-ranking elders lost power, and the young faction led by Madara began rising and gradually seizing control.
Everything seemed to be improving, but there were still hidden dangers because the power transition was smooth and stable, preventing the old forces from being thoroughly purged.
Those elders had merely lost influence—they faced no threat to their lives or even judgment... Only one elder died in the incident, and he even received the honor of dying while resisting foreign enemies, while his guard ninja received light punishment for inadequate protection.
Uchiha Madara understood the principle of eliminating problems at their root, but he couldn't apply such cruel methods within the clan, because then he'd be in the wrong... Everyone was blood relatives who saw each other daily—after they'd lost power, how could he drive them to extinction?
Honestly, this "humane" approach actually highlighted the superiority of the ANBU system. ANBU ninja hid their identities, killed while masked, obeyed only the Kage, and were completely ruthless—this could greatly deter various forces inside and outside the village.
No wonder everyone called the Second Hokage sinister—because he really was sinister, and ANBU perfectly matched his temperament.
Want to cause trouble during his administration? Your head would be gone faster than your troublemaking.
In short, those who've held power never willingly give it up. If you can't eliminate them completely, they'll definitely try to counterattack.
At this moment, a former elder named Uchiha Shi was whispering poison in Clan Head Uchiha Tajima's ear.
"Clan Head, losing Nameless's Sharingan was already an enormous loss for the Uchiha Clan. Under these circumstances, we cannot allow another Sharingan to remain outside."
"If we lose a second Mangekyō Sharingan... the price would be too heavy—the Uchiha simply cannot bear it."
"Taking ten thousand steps back, even for your sister's personal safety, we cannot let her wander outside. That small organization has no ability to protect a Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Perhaps it's precisely because they covet the Sharingan's power that they deceived and misled Shichimi... After all, her situation is special. Though born long ago, her actual age isn't great—perhaps her mind isn't mature."
Some things weren't convenient to say directly—perhaps this Uchiha Shi was secretly cursing Shichimi as love-brained.
Uchiha Madara had previously executed a mission to persuade Shichimi to return home. Though the mission failed, he still brought back relevant information about her location, so the Uchiha knew general intelligence about The Fireflies organization.
Uchiha Tajima actually strongly agreed with this elder's words, but he still hesitated... Family interests were one thing, but he didn't want to completely break relations with his sister.
"If we want to eliminate that small organization and make Shichimi lose her shelter, forcing her to return to the Uchiha... Madara and the young ninja in the clan might not approve of our methods and might even tip off Shichimi."
"We don't need to deploy large numbers of our ninja. You know the previous incident was all caused by the Hagoromo Clan—they owe the Uchiha. We only need to deploy a small number of ninja; the remaining combat power can be requested from the Hagoromo Clan."
Uchiha Tajima's heart stirred. To heal their relationship rift, both sides had previously considered conducting a joint operation—perhaps this was an opportunity?
Using the Hagoromo's power to achieve his own goals, Uchiha Tajima had absolutely no psychological barriers. As the elder said, the Hagoromo owed the Uchiha.
"But would the Hagoromo Clan be willing to help? They wouldn't gain any benefit from this."
"That would require you to personally negotiate with them, Clan Head."
Uchiha Tajima was silent for a while, but ultimately nodded. As a clan head's responsibility, this finally overcame the last trace of familial affection in his heart. Concerning the clan's future, he decided to "abandon private interests for public duty."
"We can bring Orikawa along—ultimately have him persuade Shichimi."
...
Two days later, Uchiha Tajima brought two trustworthy ninja and once again went to the Hagoromo Clan's village.
Tajima spent the entire journey considering how to persuade the Hagoromo Clan—he had no idea how much persuasion it would take.
However, what completely surprised him was that he didn't need to persuade them at all. By remarkable coincidence, the Hagoromo Clan also had designs on that small ninja clan.
Such coincidence? Truly "after dark willows and bright flowers, another village appears."
They didn't know a force was secretly pushing them to unite, hoping that Uchiha Tajima would appear on the battlefield while someone would disregard Uchiha Shichimi's life and death—the ultimate goal being to merge two Mangekyō Sharingan into one.
"Why are you interested in that remote region's small organization?" Uchiha Tajima asked Hagoromo Clan head Hagoromo Kushi.
"Because we received valuable intelligence..."
Hagoromo Kushi explained the good news about discovering a gold mine in the remote region, then added: "It happens we need a joint operation to enhance mutual trust, so I think this is a good opportunity—the mission difficulty isn't great, and the benefits are very substantial."
Such good fortune?
Uchiha Tajima thought for a moment and said: "What a coincidence—I originally came for this remote organization too. We don't need the gold mine, but have another purpose."
He explained Uchiha Shichimi settling in Kikyō Castle, stating his side didn't need any gold mine—they only needed to bring Shichimi back to the Uchiha.
"This... are you certain? Doesn't this make you seem somewhat disadvantaged?"
Disadvantaged? Wasn't a Mangekyō Sharingan more valuable than any gold mine?
Uchiha Tajima shook his head: "This operation will be led by you. We Uchiha will only send a small number of ninja for coordination and support."
Joking aside—how could he possibly be disadvantaged?
Hearing Tajima say this, Hagoromo Kushi's suspicions completely disappeared. Resolving that small organization was already easy work. If the Uchiha's purpose was bringing back their own clan member, there really was no need to contribute much effort... How much you contribute determines how much you get back. To monopolize the gold mine, Hagoromo Kushi was happy with this arrangement.
From beginning to end, neither thought this operation would be dangerous.
One only cared about the Sharingan, the other only about the gold mine—they didn't even notice The Fireflies organization's novel organizational form.
Look at the treatment Yūshin received from the Kojii Clan...
One could only say there were differences even among great ninja clan heads.
After finalizing cooperation agreements, what remained was the timing issue. Anyway, such small-scale battles could be launched instantly by great ninja clans—no war preparations needed.
"So when do we act?"
"When? Of course, the sooner the better."
Yūshin and his Fireflies organization were being treated as a dish on the table. The bitter truth was this couldn't even be called arrogance, because the strength difference between both sides was indeed not on the same level.
Unknowingly, he was about to face the greatest crisis in his history.
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