The border of the Land of Fire.
A blonde beauty with a curvaceous figure was researching medicine while asking, "Aren't you worried?"
Rin shook her head and said nothing.
"If he dies, your eligibility to trade with me will be gone." Tsunade stopped her work and said seriously.
"The knowledge is already in my head." Rin smiled confidently, tapping her head with her finger, making a light thumping sound.
Tsunade smiled slightly and said nothing, but suddenly scattered some powder that fell onto the trees and grass. In an instant, the vegetation withered rapidly, falling into a near-death state. The surroundings became somewhat desolate.
"Speak." Tsunade said.
Rin's pupils constricted slightly. She hadn't expected Tsunade to have already noticed the existence of those white humanoid monsters.
Seeing this, she no longer had any reservations and said, "The Uchiha clan is too abnormal."
Tsunade frowned. "Abnormal? They only have a few dozen clan members left. Facing tens of thousands of the Allied Shinobi Forces, being able to barely hold them off is already considered good."
If it were Konoha, it would have been destroyed a dozen times over.
Rin shook her head, recalling her five years with the Uchiha clan, a faint smile appearing as she asked, "Do you know what the dream of the Uchiha clan is?"
Tsunade shook her head.
Shizune, who was working seriously, also looked up.
Rin narrowed her eyes and smiled. "To dive into a crowd and unleash their ultimate."
Tsunade: "?"
Shizune was stunned for a moment, then remembered the previous rumors about Hiromi and asked curiously, "Imitating Hiromi?"
"Pretty much. They view Hiromi as an idol, and their personalities are more or less irritable."
Rin looked up slightly at the blue sky, as if seeing someone, and narrowed her eyes, saying, "They would never let this stifling situation continue even if they died, unless... it was his order."
"Him? Hiromi? He's not the clan head, nor is he that emperor or whatever. Is his word really that effective?" Shizune became even more curious.
Rin's face darkened as she said, "The Uchiha is Hiromi's absolute domain. For example, when he said they were leaving Konoha, not a single person in the entire Uchiha clan objected, and they moved immediately."
Tsunade nodded half-doubtingly and said, "Then why would Hiromi want to delay the war?"
"I don't know, but it should be related to the Tailed Beasts and Obito."
When Rin mentioned "Obito," although her expression was calm, the subconscious tension in her brow showed the turmoil in her heart, carrying a hint of teeth-gritting hatred.
Tsunade nodded and scattered some powder, causing the surrounding vegetation to quickly regain some vitality. Clearly, the topic was over.
While Rin planned to continue developing a highly adhesive poison, she glanced at the medicine Tsunade was seriously developing instead of gambling or drinking. She didn't know what it was, but based on the ingredients, she could roughly judge it to be a lethal poison with strong heat-resistant properties. It was clearly aimed at Hiromi.
Tsunade sensed her gaze and smiled confidently. "Just to keep him from killing my brother."
Obviously, she had taken to heart what Rin had said: "Being resurrected doesn't mean he won't kill."
When the time comes, if Hiromi really wants to kill her brother, wouldn't it be fine to just poison Hiromi?
Rin watched quietly, her emotions unreadable.
A few seconds later, she seemed to give up on something, sighed, and warned, "If you do this, he will definitely kill your brother."
Tsunade's hand grinding the powder froze, and she looked at Rin stiffly. "I'm putting all this effort into researching poison to save my brother, and the result is that doing this will only make him die faster?!"
"Hiromi can be persuaded by kindness but not by force. Instead of developing poison, it would be safer to just make him some takoyaki."
After Rin finished speaking, she expressionlessly continued developing her own poison. It was as if only by being so cold could she erase the momentary softness she just felt.
Tsunade: "..."
She stiffly lowered her head, looking at the heat-resistant poison she had almost finished developing. This was a super heat-resistant poison developed on the basis of Chiyo's work, capable of poisoning someone so severely that they couldn't even use a shred of Chakra. She was very confident in this poison.
"But... what if it doesn't work?"
"Even if it works, what if he is hunted down by Hiromi later?"
Tsunade froze there for a moment, her mind filled with conflict.
Shizune also stopped her work. A few minutes later, Shizune reminded her, "Tsunade-sama, are we still developing it?"
Tsunade's expression became more animated, but she still fell into deep thought, with only the rustling sound of Rin developing poison continuously ringing out.
A few minutes later, Tsunade seemed unable to bear the conflict. She flipped the table in a rage, scattering the powder all over the ground.
Seeing this, Shizune felt heartbroken and nearly suffocated.
Part of that result was hers too!
Then, Tsunade left in a huff.
After a startle, Shizune hurriedly chased after her, shouting, "Tsunade-sama! Where are you going?!"
Tsunade's irritable voice came back. "To get some money."
Soon, miserable screams rang out from a certain stronghold.
Then, Tsunade entered a town.
Three hours later, at the town entrance.
Tsunade ran out in a hurry. Behind her, a group of fierce-looking men rushed out, chasing her with blades.
—
Uchiha Imperial City.
The relatives and friends of the Uchiha Clan Members had died tragically that day, making the clan members' personalities gloomy. Coupled with their already somewhat irritable nature, they were increasingly unable to control themselves under the current circumstances.
After a month of fighting the Allied Shinobi Forces, the clan members all went to see Fugaku.
"I can't take it anymore!"
"We're only allowed to kill ten every day, and we have to make sure it looks natural and not staged. We can't even kill ten every single day. I've never suffered such a grievance."
"Letting me go commit suicide would be less stifling than this!"
"I just want to rush in alone and unleash my ultimate!"
"Exactly!"
Fugaku inexplicably felt the tense atmosphere from when the Uchiha planned a Coup d'état in Konoha, and he suddenly had a massive headache. However, he was also curious why Hiromi wouldn't let the Fifth Great Ninja War end quickly.
So, he took a group of clan members to see Shisui. Shisui didn't know the reason either, but he chose to stand on Hiromi's side.
"If you really can't stand it, let's just have the Uchiha clan run away."
Uchiha Clan Members: "???"
Do you even hear yourself? My grand Uchiha clan would actually choose to run away?
Fugaku frowned. "No matter what, we can't just run away, right?"
Perhaps Shisui also felt this method wasn't great, so he said, "I'll talk to Hiromi."
Hearing this, the irritability in the clan members' hearts subsided slightly.
—
Hall of Contemplation, basement.
Hiromi was on the side, controlling the violently fluctuating Chakra. Nearby, Shikaku was playing shogi alone.
Shisui arrived.
Hiromi didn't move at all, but Shikaku smiled and asked, "Are the clan members dissatisfied?"
Shisui was startled. His legs, which were walking toward Hiromi, turned toward Shikaku instead, and he sat down on the other side of the board.
"It seems you've already talked to Hiromi." Shisui said.
While straightening the board and gesturing for Shisui to play, Shikaku said, "Not really, it's just a guess. Hiromi said he needs to research something and told me to handle things if anything comes up."
Seeing how Shikaku grabbed every opportunity to make him play shogi, Shisui knew Shikaku's hands were itching for a game.
He smiled and followed Shikaku's lead, saying while playing, "The clan members are dissatisfied with the arrangements for this Fifth Great Ninja War, they feel it's too stifling."
"In that case, how about not letting them take the field?" Shikaku said.
Shisui was taken aback and asked curiously, "How?"
Shikaku smiled. "Edo Tensei."
Shisui understood, his eyes brightening. "That is indeed a good way, but won't the Uchiha's intention to delay the Fifth Great Ninja War be too obvious?"
Shikaku asked, "Are you worried about being seen through by the mastermind?"
Shisui nodded, he was worried about ruining Hiromi's plan.
Shikaku seemed a bit happy. While playing chess, he smiled and said, "It's fine. As long as the temptation is big enough, everything is not a problem. When the time comes, it'll be a clash of both sides' hidden cards."
Shisui nodded as if he had realized something.
"Checkmate." Shikaku said suddenly.
"Hmm?" Shisui was stunned, his gaze focusing on the board, trying to think of a way to break the situation. But after three moves, he still fell into a dead end.
"Again." Shisui said.
"Isn't the matter urgent?" Shikaku said while immediately straightening the board.
"I can't let the clan members know I'm overly concerned about this matter. It's better to come out after a few hours." Shisui smiled.
Hearing this, Shikaku became even happier.
The two continued to play shogi, sometimes solemn, sometimes laughing loudly, feeling very comfortable.