It's easy to guard against thieves by day and night, but a traitor within the family is impossible to defend against.
On the surface, the insider was Uchiha Orikan—after all, the "stolen goods" had passed through his hands before leaking out. But the real traitor was Uchiha Madara.
The intelligence reached Nanami's hands through what seemed like a simple process, but it was anything but easy. Probably only Uchiha Madara could obtain the Uchiha clan's core secrets so quickly.
He really was the elders' thoughtful little padded jacket.
Of course, in Uchiha Madara's mind, this intelligence would only reach Nanami, so it didn't count as leaking to outsiders.
The problem was that Nanami hadn't returned to the Uchiha alone. The intelligence was immediately passed to Genma.
"With my abilities, the guards aren't a concern—they can't see me anyway. The issue is these barriers… I'm not confident I can slip through without consequences." Genma lightly tapped the map on the table with his finger as he spoke.
There was another extremely troublesome point: Genma couldn't assassinate Uchiha shinobi.
This wasn't a matter of capability. In fact, even among the elite Uchiha, a significant number of shinobi wouldn't be able to evade Genma's assassination.
The problem was he couldn't do it—because Nanami's surname was "Uchiha."
Her goal was to rescue someone, not to kill. Rescuing one person while slaughtering many more on the side, especially killing far more than saving, made no sense no matter how you looked at it.
So Genma was somewhat constrained.
"It seems we'll have to rely on the intruders' strength. Let them cause chaos, and we'll seize the opportunity to act."
Nanami's idea was perfectly reasonable, but too conventional—and thus a bit passive.
Genma's gaze returned to the map. Staring at the marked details, he suddenly spoke: "The barrier's key nodes shouldn't be too hard to destroy, right?"
Under normal circumstances, barriers were indeed difficult to handle. But the map in Genma's hands clearly marked the barrier's layout.
He knew exactly where the key nodes were and how the techniques were distributed.
It was like dismantling something with the instruction manual in hand, without worrying about breaking it. The difficulty was practically negligible.
"That's true, but it would definitely alert the enemy and draw both sides' attention."
Nanami thought Genma was planning a brute-force charge. Even if they could break into the barrier's interior, escaping the Uchiha village with a prisoner would be nearly impossible.
"Then what do you think—would the Uchiha clan immediately relocate the target if we alert them?" Genma asked again.
Nanami thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"Unlikely. First, even if a few nodes are destroyed, repairing them is easy. Second, rashly moving the target would only give potential enemies a chance to exploit the chaos…"
"Strengthening defenses and holding steady is their most likely response. The old fogeys in the clan aren't hard to read."
"Good. If I'm calling the shots… the Uchiha compound isn't chaotic enough yet. We need to pile more work on the Uchiha shinobi. Only then will our operation have a better shot. Doesn't matter how the chaos starts—as long as it's chaotic, we're golden."
In Genma's view, playing it safe was basically rigid thinking. Nanami's "old fogeys" comment said it all. People like that—however radical they were in their youth, they became just as stubborn in old age.
Nanami thought to herself: You're getting impatient for the other intruders to make a move, so you're planning to stir things up yourself?
"I'm going to test the barrier tonight."
"Isn't that too reckless?"
As expected, Nanami immediately expressed concern. She wondered if Genma was underestimating the Uchiha.
"It's not about being reckless. Before we launch the actual rescue, we have to confirm the target's confinement conditions."
"Otherwise, we'd be going in completely blind. Even if you gather intel on the 'cell' later, there's a huge difference between hearing about it and seeing it with your own eyes."
To break someone out of prison, you needed to know the layout beforehand. Otherwise, it was just too haphazard.
Nanami thought it over and agreed.
Unlike the other group of intruders, she and Genma had to get the person out alive. The difficulty was far higher.
The other faction either just needed to take a pair of eyes or destroy both the person and the eyes on the spot. Clearly, that approach was more in line with shinobi tactics.
"Fine. I'll leave the reconnaissance to you, but… don't go overboard." Nanami could only nod in approval.
She hadn't noticed that during their discussions, things somehow always ended up following Genma's lead.
"I'll move tonight. You keep gathering intel. That dumb kid's pretty efficient—have him keep sniffing around the higher-ups' movements… and start planning our escape route."
Genma assumed there was just one mama's boy feeding Nanami intelligence, so he thought the kid was impressively quick. In reality, there was more than one "dumb kid."
Next, Nanami explained the barrier's details to Genma, pointing out which nodes were easiest to destroy and where vulnerabilities would appear afterward.
Genma planned to act at night, but he didn't idle during the day.
One intruder was already dead, but logically, the others wouldn't have infiltrated alone. Either they were already hiding inside the Uchiha compound, or they were lying in wait around the village. So Genma wanted to locate them as much as possible.
But that was extremely difficult. Calling it a needle in a haystack might be a slight exaggeration, but one person like Genma couldn't possibly identify suspects so quickly.
The Uchiha compound was a large village with too many nooks and crannies.
And if the other group was that easy to spot, why would Genma need to look? The Uchiha would've found them long ago and torn them to pieces.
The village had too many dark corners, making it easy to hide filth. Even under the midday sun, shadows lingered where light couldn't reach.
"Why are those Hagoromo shinobi holding back?"
"Normal. They want to maintain relations with the Uchiha clan while not ignoring potential threats lurking in the dark."
"Trying to have it both ways naturally makes their actions drag and lack decisiveness."
"Their relationship is solid. At this rate, this incident might not achieve the goal of turning them against each other."
"No problem. Once a crack appears, it only widens. There's no going back to how things were… Humans forget some things easily but cling to others until death."
"Like a mom far away, right?"
White daring to tease Black.
Looks like a certain White Zetsu was tired of living.
"Everyone, be careful. Don't get too close while observing. Yesterday, five unlucky fools died to area attacks… Death is fine, but watch where you die. Don't expose our presence."
"Disposing of bodies is a hassle."
"Keep watching the Hagoromo shinobi. If they're still clueless, we'll have to give them a subtle nudge."
"Heh, hope they live up to their role."
At midnight, Genma arrived at the perimeter of the building holding the target. He quickly sensed something off.
First, eight White Zetsu were monitoring the area.
This surveillance method likely meant White Zetsu couldn't infiltrate the building without triggering the barrier—meaning the barrier's detection, alert, and defense capabilities exceeded White Zetsu's usual countermeasures.
If White Zetsu couldn't sneak in, Genma probably couldn't either. This confirmed his earlier judgment.
There was also something puzzling… Why were so many White Zetsu here acting as "fixed cameras" for no apparent reason?
"Could what's happening now be tied to the mastermind behind the scenes?"
Genma recalled how White Zetsu once treated Nanami's Sharingan as a "backup of a backup." So… did the imprisoned shinobi have a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, and were those eyes the so-called "backup"?
But that didn't add up. If so, shouldn't White Zetsu be protecting the eyes? Why were they letting them fall into danger?
Genma's thinking was on the right track, but not entirely. After all, he didn't know Black Zetsu's full plan… Black Zetsu had shifted gears, now fully focused on pushing Uchiha Madara's Sharingan to evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo.
Other eyes weren't as critical anymore.
A pair of closely related Mangekyo wasn't easy to come by.
The method to permanently preserve Mangekyo Sharingan's light was absurd to begin with—who would think to stack four eyes from two brothers?
No need to guess—Black Zetsu was behind it.
After thinking it over, Genma decided to proceed. First, scout the prison, then "scrape off" the White Zetsu here.
He silently approached a barrier technique node and found a Uchiha shinobi on guard duty.
The shinobi wasn't very focused—understandable. Security work like this easily made people drowsy.
This was a small underground room, sealed tight on all sides. No White Zetsu were monitoring… They wouldn't bother watching a place that wouldn't change for years.
Genma emerged behind the shinobi and struck the back of his neck with a knife-hand strike.
For safety, he didn't hold back.
Though he wouldn't assassinate Uchiha shinobi, in this moment, he'd rather accidentally kill the guy than let him detect his infiltration method… An accident was an accident—what could Nanami say?
The shinobi, completely unprepared and struck without mercy, collapsed like a overcooked noodle.
Genma fully revealed himself, then drained all of the shinobi's chakra.
Facing the barrier node, he poured the freshly harvested chakra straight into it, reversing the technique's flow.
The node instantly suffered a "blood backflow" effect, shattering into disarray.
Not done yet, Genma casually destroyed the node's base, physically preventing quick repairs.
A gap indeed appeared in the barrier. He immediately slipped through the "mouse hole" into the interior.
The bad news: defenses were airtight. The good news: this was a "private suite." Only the target was held here… showing how much the Uchiha clan feared this person.
So after entering the barrier, bypassing surface structures, and reaching another underground space, Genma didn't need to search—he immediately spotted the person awaiting rescue.
"Who's there? You don't seem like a guard."
Before Genma even got close, the person sensed him. This shocked Genma.
This was the rescue target? First impression: not exactly a powerhouse.
The person was frail and petite, looking like a malnourished middle schooler. Their face was covered, so Genma couldn't see it.
They lay flat on a stone platform like a mouse stuck on glue, limbs bound tightly by techniques, especially from the bridge of the nose to the forehead, layered with sealing formulas.
Under such restrictions, Genma figured they probably couldn't even circulate chakra. Yet they instantly detected his arrival… Impressive.
"Wait, this chakra is…"
Genma was currently disguised as Nanami, with her chakra signature to match.
"I'm Uchiha Nanami. How are you holding up?"
"Big Sis Nanami, it's really you?"
"It's me. I'm here to get you out, but not right now… I triggered the barrier. This place will be surrounded soon. How are you?" Genma spoke quickly.
Unfortunately, he was Nanami's brother, not her sister, so he couldn't bond emotionally.
Hearing this, their breathing quickened for a moment, but after suppressing their emotions, they said:
"Big Sis Nanami, I'm okay… You don't need to take this risk. Standing against the entire Uchiha clan for me isn't worth it."
"Cut the chatter. This is decided. Can these restraints on you be removed easily?"
Huh, it's been a while—why does Big Sis sound so… manly? Sensing the confusion in Genma's tone, they quickly explained:
"Not easily, but they can be forcibly removed… I can endure it."
Forcibly removed? Sounds rough.
Genma didn't have time to say more. He extended a finger and gently pressed it to their shoulder.
The motion was cautious, like touching a live wire.
"Huh, my chakra…"
"Borrowing a bit. I need to withdraw… Just hang in there. You'll be rescued within days."
Leaving those words, without waiting for a reaction, Genma turned and left.
He retraced his path, but upon reaching the surface, he didn't leave stealthily.
His body shrank further, the "burden" on his chest gone… Using the borrowed chakra, he transformed into "Nameless."
Outside, chaos erupted. The Uchiha shinobi had indeed detected the barrier breach.
This time, they couldn't leisurely encircle intruders like before—the intruder had reached the prison.
If that dangerous person was freed, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Then…
"There!"
Since Genma just stood there openly, he was quickly spotted.
Several Uchiha shinobi rushed to a stop not far in front of him.
"You… why…"
At such close range, they slammed on the brakes, legs trembling as if seeing something terrifying.
One person's voice even turned shrill.
Genma ignored them, hands rapidly forming seals:
Fire Style: Majestic Dragon Flame
Intense flames grazed the heads of the frozen Uchiha shinobi, then struck the building behind them. They didn't resist—in fact, they collapsed in fear, looking nothing like proper shinobi.
They knew exactly what they'd done, so they were utterly terrified of the small figure before them.
After one Fire Style, Genma released a second, more powerful one—but he was just using it like fireworks.
Fire Style: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique
Four fire dragons soared into the sky, fully exposing the caster's position in the night.
To impersonate Nanami, Genma had specially learned these two standard Uchiha Fire Style techniques from her before coming to the village.
As for transforming into "Nameless"—Genma was "pulling aggro."
On one hand, to expose the prison's location to his hidden "partners." On the other…
"It escaped—that Mangekyo…"
"What?"
"Oh no."
After firing the techniques, Genma started running circles around the area. The nearby White Zetsu reacted quickly, tailing him.
Boom!
Next moment, the "Majestic Dragon Flame" inexplicably blasted a wall. To others, it looked like "Nameless" was either burning air or demolishing buildings.
But as the wall collapsed under the heat, several white figures rapidly detached from it, trying to merge into the ground.
Bang!
Genma stomped on the fallen wall. The White Zetsu attempting to move immediately rooted in place, then…
Scraping time.
Junk, junk, junk…
Physical experience…
Junk, junk…
Junk…
Earth nature change.
Jackpot?
Genma's heart leapt. This must be what they called heaven rewarding diligence.
His movements were swift and efficient—luring White Zetsu, absorbing their chakra, then kindly burying their corpses.
He wasn't sure what exposing White Zetsu bodies to the Uchiha would do, but he instinctively stayed cautious, avoiding uncontrolled variables.
Of course, a key reason his plan went smoothly was that the pursuing Uchiha shinobi all held back, dragging their feet, even acting cowardly.
Genma hadn't seen the face he was wearing now.
But apparently, this face could make Uchiha children stop crying.
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