"Watch out for Wood Release!"
Fox of the ANBU had warned them that Uchiha Madara's subordinates also wielded Wood Release. After Uchiha Gogo shouted the warning to his younger brother Tōka, he surged to the front.
The three-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly inside his crimson eyes.
The White Zetsu at the front sighed, almost admiringly. "As expected of Sharingan just like Madara-sama's… what beautiful eyes—ugh!"
White Zetsu had no concept of death.
They were countless split bodies.
Even in battle, they kept chattering nonstop.
Uchiha Gogo's long blade cleaved the White Zetsu in front of him.
From crown to groin—split cleanly in two.
The cross-section was strangely neat. No brain. Just pale, woodlike fibers packed inside.
It was hard to understand how something like that could move… or think.
Konan fell into panic again—just like last time.
Konoha shinobi had appeared out of nowhere, trying to take them. Then bizarre figures had appeared around them, blocking the Konoha shinobi.
Yahiko stepped in front of Nagato and Konan and shouted, "Don't panic! I'll protect you!"
Uchiha Gogo flashed in with the Body Flicker Technique and kicked Yahiko away.
The motion was casual—like Yahiko was nothing more than an annoying wooden post.
Yahiko slammed hard into a nearby tree trunk. A crate of liquor bottles on his back cracked open.
Ignoring the glass shards biting into his back, Yahiko spotted the Konoha forehead protector and pulled out a kunai.
Uchiha Tōka appeared in front of him and drove a punch into Yahiko's chest, smashing him back against the trunk again.
Glass dug deep into Yahiko's back.
When he slid down, the bark was smeared with blood and glittering shards.
Konan realized—just like last time—Nagato was Konoha's true target.
She threw herself in front of him.
And like trash, she was kicked away.
Maybe someday they would become names that shook the shinobi world… but right now, Yahiko and Konan were far too weak.
Uchiha Gogo charged straight for Nagato.
Nagato looked at Konan, sent flying, then at Yahiko collapsed at the base of the tree. Blood stained Konan's lips. Yahiko's back was a mess of bleeding cuts where the glass had torn him open.
Nagato's bangs… lifted.
A strange chakra spread outward from him.
Uchiha Gogo in front of him—and another Uchiha shinobi striking from behind—both felt as if they had slammed into an invisible wall of air.
They were blasted away instantly.
In the distance, Yako's eyes narrowed.
His talent is terrifying… he's already mastered Shinra Tensei.
Even the White Zetsu were caught in it—several were flung through the air.
They shouted excitedly mid-flight.
"It's that technique! Just like the one chosen by Madara-sama!"
The space around Nagato was cleared in an instant.
Even puddles and wet grass vanished, exposing raw yellow soil.
Only seconds later did the rain finally fall back down again.
The four Uchiha Tokubetsu jōnin climbed up from the ground, bodies aching.
One of them held his arm at an unnatural angle—broken.
What kind of power was that?
Why would a nine-year-old orphan possess a seal-less technique like this?
In the distance, Uchiha Kagen asked, "Fox Squad Leader, do you know what technique that was?"
"I don't," Yako replied calmly. "Maybe some secret technique of the Uzumaki."
Uchiha Gogo and the others charged Nagato again.
And just like before, they were repelled again by Shinra Tensei.
Uchiha Gogo glanced at where he'd landed the second time… then where he'd landed the first time. The second was much closer.
"Again!" he barked. "He's only nine! His chakra reserves are limited! His power is weakening!"
After the third repulsion, Nagato burned through his remaining chakra. His body swayed—and he collapsed.
A White Zetsu rose from the ground and caught him.
More and more White Zetsu surfaced around them—over a hundred.
Some stayed behind to cover the retreat. Others hoisted Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan onto their backs and fled in a single direction.
Yako leaned toward Uchiha Kagen. "Clan Head Kagen, our chance is here. White Zetsu is taking Nagato Uzumaki to Uchiha Madara!"
Uchiha Kagen's mouth went dry.
Fox's tone sounded… excited.
If we really find Madara, then what?
Did they really need to be this eager to locate him?
They were here to investigate Madara—not to die proving they found him.
But when Fox led ANBU in pursuit, Uchiha Kagen had no choice but to follow.
Fox didn't move fast. He pursued at an even pace for several minutes.
A few kilometers from the town, a dense forest spread ahead.
Deep within it, the trunk of a massive tree… moved as if alive.
The bark split open slowly.
An aged Uchiha Madara appeared within the hollow.
Uchiha Kagen's heart clenched.
Madara's face was filled with open irritation.
There was no doubt about it—Konoha had disturbed him again.
Once, twice, three times. Madara's gaze turned ugly.
Leaning on his scythe, Madara sized up Uchiha Kagen and spoke.
"You're the son of that traitor Uchiha Homura?
When I left Konoha, my greatest regret… was not killing Uchiha Homura.
And you dare stand before me?"
When Madara defected, no one from the Uchiha followed him—because Uchiha Homura had seized power from within the clan,
ending Madara's rule over the Uchiha.
Madara would never acknowledge that as his own failure. To him, everything was betrayal—his subordinates turning against him.
Especially with Uchiha Homura moving in the shadow of Senju Tobirama.
Tobirama had even granted Uchiha Homura the position of head of the Konoha Police Force.
After Uchiha Homura died, both clan leadership and the Police Force command passed into Uchiha Kagen's hands.
"How ironic," Madara sneered. "The proud Uchiha clan… reduced to kneeling before its mortal enemy, the Senju.
The Konoha Police Force? I wonder what the Uchiha ancestors of the past thousand years would think, seeing their descendants turned into the Senju clan's watchdogs—
No… not even watchdogs.
Konoha barely has anything to do with the Senju anymore. The Uchiha are watchdogs for Sarutobi, Shimura, and that pig-deer-butterfly trash.
Even more disgusting.
Uchiha Kagen. I know your name.
Have you stood before your father's grave and told him that the Uchiha can't even be the Senju's dogs anymore?
Does serving Sarutobi Hiruzen fulfill Uchiha Homura's dreams for the Uchiha?"
Yako nearly wanted to applaud.
If Naruto in the original story was the king of Talk no Jutsu, then Uchiha Madara was the king of venom—master of trash talk, master of psychological warfare.
Those who faced Madara—Ōnoki, the Five Kage, all of them—none escaped without scars in their minds.
Senju Hashirama truly suppressed Madara in raw power…
But when it came to breaking people with words, Hashirama couldn't compare.
Uchiha Kagen lowered his eyelids, memories flashing—years of pressure and restraint from Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo.
The Second Hokage had once said the Uchiha were dangerously unstable—when they lost everything and suffered mental shock, their temperament could shift abruptly, and their power could surge.
That was why Konoha constantly restrained the Uchiha clan.
Uchiha Homura and Uchiha Kagen had worked desperately to keep the clan controlled, so the extremists wouldn't drag everyone into ruin.
And yet—who would've thought the one endangering the Uchiha most…
was the clan head from generations past: Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Kagen lifted his head and stared at Madara.
"My father's path—and mine—was correct! At the very least, the Uchiha are still alive!
Uchiha Madara… stop.
Stop targeting Konoha. Stop sheltering the surviving Uzumaki. Stop sending your subordinates to assassinate ANBU and Guardian Captain after Guardian Captain.
All you're doing is making the Uchiha clan's position even more impossible!"
Yako felt a sudden flash of unease.
If Madara denies all of this… what then?