Evil Uchiha Itsuki

Everyone who survived from the Warring States Period has fought countless battles! The Senju brothers are no exception.

They are among the best of the best.

In their brief clash, they quickly realized they couldn't defeat Uchiha Itsuki, so they immediately changed tactics, switching from a strong offense to a delaying strategy.

They were fully aware of their Edo Tensei (Reanimation) state and used its advantages.

The surrounding Sarutobi clan ninjas, following their orders, also started assisting them in draining Uchiha Itsuki's strength.

Seeing this, Itsuki made a decisive choice.

Since sealing the Senju brothers was impossible, it was time to retreat.

Today's results were already plentiful.

This battle would have an impact no less than the destruction Pain caused in Konoha.

However, unlike Pain, who used the Rinnegan to resurrect everyone in Konoha, this time there would be no one to bring back the dead Konoha ninjas, civilians, and the Fire Nation's nobles.

The outcome was sufficient; it was time to pull back.

The Senju brothers had endless power.

Even though Itsuki was stronger than the two brothers at the moment, if the fight dragged on, he wouldn't be able to hold out.

His power wasn't limitless.

Although he also knew the Flying Thunder God technique, the two brothers had a better understanding of it than he did, and their combat experience was superior. He truly couldn't do much against them.

So!

The Two-Tails transformed into a small cat and perched on Itsuki's head.

Itsuki used the Flying Thunder God technique and appeared on the head of the Nine-Tails.

"Yo, everyone, having a heated battle?" Itsuki asked with amusement, looking at the people present.

Jiraiya was panting heavily. He had been the main fighter, using various Sage techniques that had made the Nine-Tails roar in anger.

He even found an opening for Hiruzen Sarutobi, who used his massive staff to push the Nine-Tails out of Konoha's core area.

But!

With one big leap, the Nine-Tails returned.

Itsuki had told it that fighting in Konoha's core area would prevent Konoha's ninjas from going all out.

And the Nine-Tails wasn't stupid.

With so many people fighting against it, the fox had to come up with some tricks.

No fool would ignore a chance to create an advantage.

Orochimaru wasn't sitting idle either; with a single slash of the Kusanagi sword, he managed to wound the Nine-Tails.

And with a large number of Konoha ninjas surrounding it, the Nine-Tails was starting to take significant damage.

So.

When Itsuki stood on its head, the Nine-Tails stopped attacking and glared coldly at the Konoha ninjas.

The Nine-Tails' senses were still sharp.

As soon as Itsuki arrived, it clearly detected that the Senju brothers were also heading this way.

The Nine-Tails didn't want to be sealed again.

"Uchiha Itsuki!!!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared, his face twisted in anger.

Itsuki looked at him with interest and said, "Got something to say?"

Hiruzen glared at him with hatred, gritting his teeth. "I…"

"Stop!" Itsuki interrupted immediately, waving his hand in exasperation. "Don't even start; you're giving me a headache!"

"Isn't everything that happened today your plan from the start?"

"You just didn't expect me to be this strong and turn the tables on you."

"So what? You can plot against me, but I can't fight back?"

"That kind of bandit logic might work on weaker people, but against someone as strong as me, it's laughable."

Hiruzen's lips trembled in anger.

Today was destined to become Konoha's shame.

How would Hiruzen Sarutobi face anyone after this?

"Sensei!" Itsuki turned his attention to Orochimaru.

At this moment, Orochimaru was very tense.

His entire body was on edge, ready to flee at the slightest sign of danger from Itsuki.

He was especially cautious about Itsuki's Genjutsu.

It was his natural nemesis! 

To Orochimaru, the Uchiha were his worst enemies.

"Sensei, your sword is impressive!" Itsuki said with a smile, looking at the Kusanagi sword in Orochimaru's hand. "This should be a Kusanagi sword. I remember there's more than one of these, right, Sensei?"

The Kusanagi swords in the ninja world were never just one but a set.

Orochimaru's brow twitched slightly. "What are you trying to say, Itsuki-kun?"

"Sensei, your scheme against me this time made me very angry. So give me one of your Kusanagi swords as compensation!" Itsuki casually remarked. "If you give me one, I'll pretend nothing happened today."

Orochimaru was stunned.

"Really?"

"Do I need to lie to you, Sensei?" Itsuki smiled.

After a moment of thought, Orochimaru opened his mouth and spat out a sword.

Itsuki smiled.

He had guessed right.

This Kusanagi sword was the same one Sasuke used in the original story.

Itsuki liked this sword—it was sharp and durable.

Though he didn't quite understand how Orochimaru could spit out a snake, which then spat out a sword.

Was he playing some kind of Russian nesting doll game?

"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen shouted angrily.

"Sensei!" Orochimaru sighed. "I don't want to be targeted by someone as terrifying as Uchiha Itsuki."

"You…"

"Enough, Monkey!" A deep voice interrupted.

Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama had arrived on the battlefield.

In an instant, Itsuki and the Nine-Tails were surrounded.

But Itsuki didn't seem to care at all.

Who was surrounding whom wasn't entirely clear!

Even Senju Tobirama wasn't confident he could stop Itsuki.

Neither was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After all, Uchiha Itsuki also knew the Flying Thunder God technique.

He could take the Nine-Tails and leave the Four Red Yang Formation; their so-called "surrounding" was meaningless.

"Uchiha Itsuki!" Senju Tobirama shouted. "You can leave, but you can't take the Nine-Tails with you."

"Nope!" Itsuki grinned. "The Nine-Tails is coming with me. We're good friends."

Senju Tobirama's gaze sharpened. "Uchiha Itsuki, you're incredibly strong, but that doesn't mean we don't have ways to deal with you."

Itsuki looked at him calmly. "Using Edo Tensei? That would indeed be troublesome."

"Edo Tensei is more than enough!" Tobirama said slowly, emphasizing each word. "If you don't leave the Nine-Tails, we'll go to the Uchiha clan ourselves. Believe me, two immortal bodies with infinite chakra are enough to destroy the Uchiha clan!"

"We have all the time in the world; we don't mind taking our time."

"Tobirama!" Hashirama interrupted with a displeased expression.

But Tobirama didn't even glance at him.

On this point, Tobirama was unyielding, even to his elder brother.

"Haha!" Itsuki laughed. "You could destroy the Uchiha clan, but I could also destroy Konoha!"

"Senju Tobirama, don't threaten me. If you dare touch a single finger of the Uchiha clan, I'll come to Konoha myself and crush it. If you don't believe me, feel free to try!"

"The Uchiha clan now has four pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan, the Two-Tails and Nine-Tails, and many powerful fighters. If you cause trouble in Fire Shadow Village, we'll come and live in Konoha. Worst case, we swap homes!"

Tobirama's expression turned cold. "So you've made up your mind."

Itsuki replied indifferently, "Konoha schemed against me. You can't expect to pay nothing for that. There are no such free lunches in the world. Even Orochimaru had to give up a Kusanagi sword."

"Konoha's higher-ups conspired against me this time. They even worked with other villages to set up this massive trap. If I don't teach them a lesson, everyone will think they can walk all over me."

Their eyes locked across the space, neither willing to back down.

You touch my Uchiha clan, and I'll move into Konoha. We'll all go down together!

The atmosphere became deathly quiet.

You could hear a pin drop!

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi shut his mouth.

When Senju Tobirama was present, no one else had a say.

Though Hiruzen had been Hokage for decades, longer than the Senju brothers combined, his fear of his teacher was deeply ingrained.

"Tobirama!"

Hashirama's voice was deep as he said, "Let them go."

He had personally captured the Nine-Tails and was all too aware of the kind of power it possessed.

If he let the other side wreak havoc without restraint, especially with Uchiha Itsuki assisting, the Leaf Village might actually be doomed.

Even now, the village was severely weakened, unable to withstand more turmoil.

Tobirama let out a cold laugh. "Uchiha Itsuki, very well. I'll remember you. The second Madara Uchiha—you truly live up to the title."

"The second Madara Uchiha?" Itsuki sneered. "What is Madara to me? A loser. He's not even worthy to be compared to me, let alone calling me the second of anything. I, Uchiha Itsuki, am destined to become the next Sage of the Six Paths, a truly great ninja."

"Arrogant!" Tobirama spat, disappearing in an instant.

"Sigh..." Hashirama sighed as well, chasing after Tobirama.

Itsuki paid no mind to those left behind. Riding the Nine-Tails, he swaggered away.

"Lord Hokage!"

An ANBU member looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, signaling with his eyes—should they let them leave?

Hiruzen gently shook his head and approached the Hokage Rock.

The Hokage Rock of the four Hokage now had only three heads.

Hiruzen's head had yet to be completed.

The First and Second Hokage were both there, silently watching their carved faces.

As soon as Hiruzen arrived, he felt immense pressure.

The suffocating feeling made cold sweat break out on his forehead.

"Monkey, you've outdone yourself!" Tobirama sneered at Hiruzen. "I'm impressed. The Sarutobi clan, with its 3,000 Sarutobi troops—how did you manage that? It's more than the combined numbers of the Uchiha and Senju clans after the village was founded."

Hiruzen stayed silent.

"Speak!" Tobirama roared. "You watched as I dismantled the Senju clan with your own eyes! Did you not understand what I meant? Why did I do that?"

The civilianization of the ninja clans—that was Tobirama's plan.

There was no equality among ninjas.

Ninja clans enjoyed better treatment.

They possessed vast resources.

They had complete ninja system inheritances.

What did civilian ninjas have? Only hard work!

So Tobirama took action against his own Senju clan.

The Senju, who had produced two Hokage, were the most powerful clan of the time—stronger even than the Uchiha.

Tobirama had dismantled them.

Now, only a few years later, a new, even larger clan had emerged!

The meaning behind his dismantling the Senju was completely lost.

"Monkey, you've really gone too far," Hashirama sighed.

Supporting thousands of ninjas—how many resources would that require? Having been Hokage, Hashirama could only imagine it, and it made his head spin.

Hiruzen still said nothing.

What could he say? What was there to say? The facts were right in front of them, nothing needed to be said.

Whoosh!

Just then, three more figures appeared.

Danzo Shimura!

Koharu Utatane!

Homura Mitokado!

"Heh, it's you guys?" Tobirama laughed, but his face showed no joy. "It's been a while. I hear your clans have also grown quite large."

"Teacher..." the three mumbled awkwardly.

"With all that chaos in the village, where were you?" Tobirama asked calmly, ignoring their greeting.

The three froze.

They didn't know what to say.

Koharu and Homura hadn't fought in so long. Facing the Nine-Tails would've been suicide—how could they bear to do that?

They were alive, and held great power.

If they died, they would lose everything.

As for Danzo…

I need to keep myself alive so I can become Hokage and lead the Leaf Village to dominate the ninja world.

I will usher in a new era.

Fighting the Nine-Tails is not my job!

Of course, none of them dared say this out loud, or they'd surely get slapped.

In front of the Second Hokage, it was best to behave.

Try to act clever? Clearly, they hadn't been beaten enough.

After a brief outburst of anger, Tobirama sat down on the Hokage Rock in resignation.

Besides scolding these people, there wasn't much else he could do.

Looking at the current Leaf Village, smoke was rising everywhere.

Over a third of the village had been destroyed!

Along the way, how many had died?

He didn't dare think about it! Couldn't think about it!

And who knew what else had been lost?

The state of the village was like a young girl blindfolded, legs spread…

Anything could happen!

"What's the deal with Uchiha Itsuki?" Tobirama asked coldly, one word at a time. "Tell me everything you know about him. If you lie... you know the consequences?"

"Yes!" The three responded hastily.

And so, Uchiha Itsuki's entire life, from childhood to just before the recent incident, was laid out in front of the Senju brothers.

"Ha… ha…" Chiyo was panting heavily.

Old age was catching up to her.

Even a brief battle drained her considerably.

If this kept up, she'd exhaust herself to death.

The Sand Village's jonin gathered around her, concern evident on their faces.

"Elder Advisor, are you alright?" one of them asked.

"I'll live… for now," Chiyo replied nonchalantly. "But Rasa…"

The jonin's faces darkened.

The joy of attacking the Leaf Village vanished in an instant.

The Kazekage was dead!

What good was it to kill so many people?

Their leader had fallen.

"Sigh..." Chiyo sighed. "The Sand needs a new Kazekage."

Their expressions became even more complicated.

They already knew who Chiyo was referring to.

Before the attack, they had discussed it with that person in the Leaf Village.

"Lady Chiyo, does it really have to be her?" one jonin couldn't help but ask. "Don't we have other options?"

"Other options? Like who?" Chiyo asked, surprised. "Besides Pakura, who else has the qualifications to lead as the Fifth Kazekage? Go ahead, name them."

The jonin's lips moved, but after a long pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "What about Gaara?"

Chiyo glared at him. "You want a 12-year-old, emotionally unstable jinchuriki to become Kazekage? Are you out of your mind?"

(End of Chapter)