As night deepened, the Hidden Mist's offensive gradually weakened.
Shisui leaned against the edge of the trench, wiping the water stains off his ninja sword while listening to his comrades discuss his earlier Body Flicker Technique, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
He looked up toward Konoha, as if he could feel the gaze of his older cousin Shine in the distance—he knew that this battle was not only for Konoha but also to prove the strength of the Uchiha, to ensure the name "Shisui" would no longer be just a label for a "Genius," but a symbol of awe in the Ninja World.
Meanwhile, in Konoha, Shine had long since returned to bed but remained wide awake.
He could almost hear the roar of Fire Release on the Kirigakure Battlefield and see that red figure darting through the mist.
"Shisui, don't let me down," he murmured to himself. Outside, the moonlight happened to fall upon the uchiha clan crest by his pillow, reflecting a cold and dazzling light.
The sunlight the next morning was exceptionally soft, casting tiny golden flecks onto the tatami through the gaps in the paper windows.
Shine woke up leisurely, the bitter scent of the Boston ivy in the courtyard lingering at the tip of his nose, and the crackling sound of his mother Muyu lighting a fire in the kitchen in his ears—this was the deepest sleep he had had in six months, free from the blood of the battlefield and the schemes of the higher-ups, filled only with the familiar scent of home.
He stretched, his fingertips rubbing the scabbard of the ninja sword by his pillow; it was an old item used by his father Senba in his youth, the warmth of the years still hidden within the wood grain.
"Lord Shine, Xiu has sent intel!" Chi's deep voice suddenly rang out from outside the door, carrying a hint of intentionally lowered urgency that broke the morning silence.
Shine's pupils constricted suddenly, and his relaxed muscles tensed in an instant, as if he had returned to the moment of receiving reports on the battlefield.
But he quickly suppressed his surging Chakra, his tone returning to its usual calm: "Come in and speak."
The paper door was gently slid open, and Chi walked in quickly holding a sealed scroll of intelligence, habitually bending his knees to salute.
Shine waved his hand, his fingertips still carrying the lethargy of having just woken up, a faint smile playing on his lips: "We are all Clan Members who have faced life and death together; there's no need for such formality before me in the future—if you keep bowing, be careful not to wear out the hilt of that heavy sword of yours."
Chi froze at first, his hand gripping the intel tightening slightly, then a simple, honest smile broke across his dark face, the corners of his eyes reddening slightly: "Understood, Lord Shine!"
"Does Xiu have results?" Shine sat up straight and pointed to the cushion opposite him.
Chi hurriedly handed over the intelligence, his tone turning serious again: "He found Uzumaki Karin and her mother, but Xiu mentioned in a postscript... the information you provided seems to have a bit of a time discrepancy."
"Discrepancy?" Shine frowned slightly, taking the intel and unfolding it.
On the yellowed stationery, Xiu's handwriting was neat and powerful, clearly stating: "Uzumaki Karin was born less than three months ago, her mother Uzumaki Kana is weak after childbirth, and her father Uzumaki Kyukaku was rescued along with them."
He read it word by word, his fingertips pinching the edge of the paper, and he helplessly slapped his forehead with a light smack.
"Damn timeline..." Shine cursed inwardly. Kishimoto's messy timeline from the manga he read in his past life had actually caused him to misremember Karin's birth year—it's currently the 48th year of Konoha, and Karin has indeed just been born.
As he was rubbing his brow in frustration, his gaze paused on the name "Uzumaki Kyukaku": This is an unexpected pleasant surprise; having the newborn's father alive will help make the Uzumaki Clan Bloodline more complete.
He stood up and walked to the window, lighting a candle with a fire striker and holding the intel over it. The flames licked the stationery, and the black ash curled into a small ball in his palm before he gently blew it out the window.
"Send word to Xiu," Shine's voice regained its decisiveness. "Take the Uzumaki family of three to rendezvous with Jin. He is stationed at the Land of Whirlpools base—it's our closest outpost to Kirigakure and Iwagakure; it must be held."
"Later, I will dispatch twenty Clan Members there. Tell him to take advantage of the stalemate on the Kirigakure Battlefield to expand the base three times deeper underground. It must be made absolutely airtight."
Speaking of which, he suddenly remembered something and turned to Chi, adding: "Have Crimson and Jin return to Konoha first; I have a new mission for them. Qi, Genki, Yue, and Hien will form a four-man squad to covertly infiltrate the territory of the Hidden Mist and find children from the Yuki Clan and Kaguya Clan—remember, only Prodigies under the age of five. Older ones have complicated thoughts and are hard to train."
He paused, his gaze becoming exceptionally sharp: "The Hidden Mist has been purging small clans lately, so security will definitely be tight. Tell them it's best if they can take them away stealthily, but if they detect any signs of alertness, they must retreat immediately—don't feel bad for those few children. If our people are lost, I won't be able to bear it."
Chi felt a surge of emotion in his heart, but just as he was about to voice his loyalty, he saw Shine raise an eyebrow and say in a teasing tone: "After all, if you guys lose even a finger, I'd have to go through the trouble of finding a replacement. How bothersome."
"Hahahaha!" Chi burst out laughing, his dark face turning flush as he patted his chest in assurance. "Don't worry, Lord Shine! Even if we lose our ninja swords, we will never let ourselves fall in the Hidden Mist! Even if we die, we'll make sure the message gets back!"
"Stop talking about dying," Shine tapped his arm and pointed outside. "The scent of miso soup is wafting from the kitchen. Remember to go have breakfast after sending the message—with your appetite, if you go on a mission on an empty stomach, be careful not to let Genki make fun of you."
"Understood, Lord!" Chi nodded vigorously and was about to head out when Shine called him back.
"Wait," Shine added, "tell Xiu to pay more attention to the secret passages in the Ruins of the Land of Whirlpools. The Uzumaki Clan must have left escape routes back then. Once found, seal half of them and keep the rest as a backup plan."
"Your subordinate understands!" Chi solemnly complied and then quickly left. The moment the paper door closed, Shine looked out the window; the morning mist was gradually dispersing, and the silhouette of Konoha became clear in the sunlight.
The base in the Land of Whirlpools, the Prodigies of the small clans in the Hidden Mist, Shisui on the battlefield... a great web concerning the rise of the Uchiha was quietly spreading out under his arrangement.
The warmth of the miso soup from breakfast was still in his throat when Uchiha Senba set down his teacup and tapped the edge of the table twice—it was a signal he used to summon subordinates in his youth. Shine's heart stirred; just as he finished wiping his mouth, he saw his father stand up with a solemn expression he had never seen before, the laziness from ten years of seclusion having vanished.
"Come with me." Senba's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.
Chi and Yan were already waiting at the courtyard gate, the hems of their black clan robes neatly pressed. Seeing the two come out, they simultaneously stepped aside into a guard stance without a single extra word throughout.
Shine followed behind his father, walking along the bluestone path toward the depths of the Clan Compound. The Uchiha Clan Members they passed along the way instinctively bowed to Senba—even after ten years of not interfering in clan affairs, this powerhouse who once held a third of the Moderate Faction's influence remained the clan's acknowledged "stabilizing force"...
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808