Far in the distance, in a concealed corner.
A dark-skinned woman dressed in standard professional kunoichi attire stood together with several Cloud Village ninjas, her cold gaze fixed on a faraway point.
One could clearly see that in the direction of her stare, Ning Feng had activated Susanoo, shielding his brother within it.
If anyone were here, they would be shocked to recognize this woman—
She was none other than Mabui, the Fourth Raikage's secretary.
In the original Fourth Great Ninja War, it was she who used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to teleport the Fifth Hokage Tsunade and the Fourth Raikage A to the battlefield to confront Uchiha Madara.
She was a ninja of exceptional intellect and rich combat experience—one of Kumogakure's most troublesome figures.
"Prepare the chakra cannon."
Mabui's calm voice sounded.
Immediately, a cannon-like device slowly emerged, its muzzle locking firmly onto Ning Feng's Susanoo in the distance.
Several Cloud Village jōnin began forcefully channeling chakra into the device, condensing it into a chakra shell.
This chakra cannon was no joke—it was one of Kumogakure's long-term research achievements, capable of compressing a ninja's chakra into artillery-level firepower to obliterate enemies.
In the original movie canon, Kumogakure had nearly blasted the moon out of the sky with this very weapon. Its destructive power was terrifying beyond words.
Of course, the current version didn't possess that level of might—but it was more than enough to deal with Konoha's top-tier elites.
In truth, this chakra cannon was one of Kumogakure's hidden trump cards, rarely deployed.
"Mabui-sama," a Cloud jōnin reported calmly, killing intent flickering in his eyes,
"our Cloud jōnin have already mixed in with Uchiha Peak and Uchiha Itachi. We can strike at any moment."
The Konoha side would never have imagined that Kumogakure and Kirigakure's plan went far beyond mere diversion.
They had deliberately sacrificed expendable Cloud jōnin to lower the Uchiha clan's guard—
all to annihilate them in one decisive blow.
Uchiha Peak was indeed powerful and brilliant, but even he likely hadn't realized that he had already stepped into Kumogakure's carefully laid trap.
"Proceed according to plan."
Mabui sneered.
Ever since Uchiha Peak began rising to prominence, Kumogakure had taken note of him and tailored this entire scheme specifically for him.
Especially now that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan—that alone made him an unacceptable threat.
"Mabui-sama," another Cloud jōnin hesitated, frowning,
"when Uchiha Itachi heard that his brother had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, he only showed excitement and no suspicion. I find that… odd."
"You mean," Mabui narrowed her eyes slightly,
"that with Uchiha Itachi's intelligence, his reaction shouldn't have been so simple?"
She paused for only a moment before shaking her head coldly.
"Hmph. Even with the combined intelligence of Uchiha Peak and Uchiha Itachi, they won't expect the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the sparrow behind. Carry it out."
Though doubtful, the Cloud jōnin obeyed.
The chakra shell was loaded.
In his mind, no matter how strong Susanoo was, it would be reduced to ashes under the chakra cannon's blast.
As the cannon finished locking on—
The Cloud jōnin disguised as Uchiha Shisui and other Uchiha clansmen suddenly lunged toward Ning Feng and Uchiha Itachi, revealing countless explosive tags strapped to their bodies.
These weren't ordinary Cloud jōnin.
They were members of Kumogakure's special suicide assault unit, trained from childhood to feel no fear of death—
living human bombs.
Boom!!!
The chakra cannon fired.
In an earth-shattering roar, the distant forest was instantly flattened. The terrifying shockwave even erased an entire corner of Konoha Village—
Even the Hokage Residence far away shook violently.
"Heavenly Transfer Technique!"
Seeing the assassination seemingly succeed, Mabui immediately activated her space–time ninjutsu, preparing to teleport the chakra cannon back to Kumogakure.
They were extremely satisfied with this operation.
With Uchiha Peak and Uchiha Itachi dead, the Uchiha clan would suffer a devastating blow—and Kumogakure would face far fewer threats in the future.
However—
Before Mabui could retreat, a calm voice echoed:
"Susanoo."
Mabui didn't even have time to react.
A gigantic Susanoo hand seized her midair, crushing down with overwhelming force, pain contorting her face.
At the same time, her eyes widened in disbelief.
In the distance, the figures of "Uchiha Peak" and "Uchiha Itachi" that had been obliterated by the chakra blast suddenly burst apart—
Turning into countless drifting bubbles.
They were nothing but Multiple Shadow Clones.
In truth, back when Ning Feng was slaughtering the Cloud jōnin, he had already sensed other Cloud forces lurking far away.
When his brother Itachi arrived, Ning Feng had secretly signaled him.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, the two had already withdrawn from the battlefield—
leaving only shadow clones behind.
After all, if Uchiha Itachi truly saw his brother awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, how could his reaction have been limited to mere excitement?
They had already left long before the chakra cannon fired.
"What… how is this possible?!"
Mabui's face drained of color.
Their plan was flawless—so perfect that even Namikaze Minato himself might have failed to see through it.
Even now, Ning Feng felt lingering shock.
Kumogakure actually used a chain scheme…
Unfortunately for them—
Under the vastly expanded perception of the Mangekyō Sharingan, all enemies were laid bare, and all schemes were exposed.
"I only predicted that you would predict that I predicted your prediction."
Uchiha Peak curled his lips slightly.
Uchiha Itachi remained silent the entire time.
His intelligence was far too high to fail to see through basic Transformation Techniques—but even he hadn't imagined that Kumogakure would deploy such an elaborate chain trap just to kill the two of them.
Yet one question lingered in his mind—
How exactly did my little brother awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?
The Mangekyō required overwhelming emotional trauma.
The evolution to the three-tomoe Sharingan, he could accept as Ning Feng's rage.
But the Mangekyō…
Then, suddenly, it clicked.
The Cloud jōnin's true target had included him, the elder brother.
To protect him—to ensure he wasn't harmed—
Ning Feng's emotions must have surged violently enough to force the awakening of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
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