The next morning, the air was cold, and frost clung to the weeds by the roadside.
Konoha Cemetery.
A thin mist coiled above the gravestones.
This place, too, had been affected by the war, but since it was near the village's outskirts, it hadn't been reduced to a crater like the central area of the Hidden Leaf.
Early that morning, after working through the night, Orochimaru had prepared everything.
At that moment, all of the Uchiha clan's wooden coffins had been exhumed from the earth—around three hundred in total.
Because the cemetery had been caught in the crossfire, some graves at the edges were destroyed, their corpses completely fused with the soil.
Fortunately, Orochimaru had personally dug up all the coffins of the key Uchiha members for Uchiha Yu. After all, when it came to grave digging, he was a professional.
The coffins were placed neatly along the edge of the massive pit. On the other side lay freshly dug black earth, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.
In addition, Orochimaru had also arranged the bones of the ninjas he once stole from Konoha, including the corpse of the once-famous "White Fang of the Leaf."
Looking over the scene, Orochimaru seemed quite satisfied. From within the white mist behind him, a group of Grass-nin and shinobi from other villages slowly approached.
These were the Grass-nin Uchiha Yu had sealed within the Totsuka Blade—around four hundred of them, making up the majority of the sealed ninjas.
Back when Grass Village had cooperated with Konoha to hunt down the Uchiha fugitives, they had spared no effort.
After Uchiha Yu destroyed Grass Village, he didn't kill them. At first, he had planned to use them as mobile chakra batteries for the Yasakani.
But now that Uchiha Yu possessed two tailed beasts, he no longer needed these weak Grass-nin. They were perfectly suited to serve as sacrifices for Edo Tensei.
Besides, those Grass-nin were greedy and cruel—guilty of countless atrocities. Their deaths were long overdue.
Now, their eyes glowed red as they arrived at the cemetery, kneeling in four orderly rows in front of the graves.
Their movements were soundless. Despite the cemetery being filled with both corpses and living people, the silence was eerie—so oppressive it chilled the heart.
At first, the Sound-nin assisting Orochimaru with the excavation felt nothing toward the corpses.
But as the Grass-nin sacrifices entered, moving like the walking dead, the Sound-nin began to grow uneasy.
Their minds were filled with mixed thoughts—wondering what kind of torment it would be if even death were no longer under one's control.
"Begin."
Uchiha Yu's voice cut through the mist from behind Orochimaru.
Orochimaru turned to see Uchiha Yu approaching, leading the Uchiha squad at a calm pace.
"Understood." Orochimaru's response was short. "Even in death, the Uchiha were buried at the cemetery's edge. Some graves were damaged during the war, and a few remains were lost."
Uchiha Yu replied, "It doesn't matter."
He scanned the coffins—there were enough. As long as a few of the old Uchiha elders were resurrected, the new shinobi system could operate smoothly.
Those Uchiha elders had spent their entire lives studying how to dismantle and replace Konoha's shinobi structure, preparing to seize control of the village after the war.
Unfortunately for them, after a lifetime of being unrecognized, they met their end through betrayal and the blade of their own clan.
Seeing Uchiha Yu's indifference, Orochimaru gave a wicked smile and gestured to his subordinates.
The Sound-nin immediately began opening the coffins and collecting materials needed for Edo Tensei.
Tamao spoke up excitedly, "Boss, some of those old guys never liked you. When they're revived, leave them to me—I'll teach them a lesson!"
Uchiha Yu's lips curved faintly. "Alright."
The other Uchiha members broke into cold sweat. Was Tamao seriously planning to make their resurrected clansmen do manual labor on construction sites?
Still, after learning that Uchiha Yu intended to perform Edo Tensei on the entire Uchiha clan, some Uchiha who had lost family members specifically requested that he not resurrect their loved ones.
After all, this was the shinobi world—they didn't want their families to be summoned back by Edo Tensei, forced to endure the pain of this world a second time.
They themselves had no wish to be resurrected in the shinobi world after death, either.
Uchiha Yu agreed to their request.
This time, his reason for using Edo Tensei on the Uchiha clan was mainly to bring back those old men and use them as gears—embedding them into various departments, fitting them into the enormous, intricate machine that was Konoha.
There weren't many people in the shinobi world that Uchiha Yu could truly trust.
Rather than promoting outsiders before the shinobi he trained were ready, it was better to make use of the dead Uchiha.
Uchiha Yu believed that once those old fossils saw the current shinobi village with their own eyes, they'd probably be delighted—and by the time he wanted them gone again, they might not even wish to die.
To make the Uchiha clan a true fighting force, he needed to capture enough White Zetsu and improve the quality of the sacrifices to upgrade them.
Boom—
As the coffin lids were lifted, the Edo Tensei ritual officially began. Under the misty weather, everything felt strangely eerie.
Bored, Uchiha Yu opened his inner "prison space" vision.
Sensing the dim light, Tobirama and Hashirama still had their eyes closed. Only after adapting did they slowly open them to observe the outside world.
Taking a glance around, the two roughly guessed what Uchiha Yu intended to do.
Hashirama turned his head toward Tobirama and sighed,
"Tobirama, look—your forbidden techniques are causing trouble again!"
Tobirama scoffed,
"Big brother, this has nothing to do with me. This is the distortion of human nature. A jutsu is just a tool—its outcome depends on the hands that wield it."
"All right, all right. I can't win an argument with you."
Hashirama turned away, sulking in silence.
A new day began—with Tobirama already in despair.
At this moment, the most eager ones were people like Tamao and the others, while the most nervous stood beside Uchiha Yu—Sasuke and Mikoto.
Their faces were tense.
Cold sweat gathered in their palms.
Ever since Uchiha Yu had said yesterday that he planned to resurrect the Uchiha clan, Mikoto hadn't been able to sleep.
If the Uchiha clan was to be revived, then naturally the former clan head—Fugaku—would be among them.
How would she and Sasuke face Fugaku?
How would they face Uchiha Yu afterward?
Sasuke shouldn't have come, but when he learned of Uchiha Yu's plan to "revive" the Uchiha clan, he insisted on witnessing it himself.
Fortunately, Orochimaru had mentioned earlier that many bodies were lost when the graveyard was damaged during the war.
Upon hearing that, Mikoto felt a faint sense of relief.
She glanced around nervously, biting her lip.
Then Orochimaru said,
"Bring over the coffin of the Uchiha clan head first."
At those words, Mikoto and Sasuke's hearts both skipped a beat. Mikoto's face turned pale.
Uchiha Yu, however, remained expressionless.
He wasn't the type who would taunt Fugaku to his face with something like, "Your wife's lovely, your son's obedient—don't worry, I'll take good care of them."
Facing Fugaku didn't burden him in the slightest.
To him, that man was merely a coward who couldn't even protect his wife or his clan.
Considering how well Uchiha Yu treated Mikoto and Sasuke, Fugaku should really be thanking him after being revived.
Boom—
The coffin containing Fugaku was opened by the Sound shinobi. Mikoto and Sasuke's bodies trembled at once—they turned their eyes away, hearts pounding.
Moments later—
"Hm?"
"This…"
"What's going on?"
Not just the Sound shinobi—even the Uchiha ranks began to stir.
Mikoto and Sasuke, regaining their senses, looked toward Fugaku's coffin—only to widen their eyes in shock.
"…"
Uchiha Yu stepped forward. Inside the coffin, there was no corpse—only a small wooden box.
A wooden box used in the shinobi world… was an urn.
°°°
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