Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

War is all about having a legitimate reason for starting it. With the peace treaty still in effect, the three kingdoms of Lei, Tu, and Shui, who do not want to defy the world, must find a plausible excuse for their impending war.

We'll come to your door to protect your rights!

That's the best reason they could think of.

"You've made such a big fuss just for this?"

Uchiha Kagami blinked, somewhat bewildered. More than twenty years had passed since Konoha sold the Tailed Beasts. During such a long period, the major nations that acquired the Tailed Beasts hadn't mentioned it at all. Why were they suddenly bringing up the sale application now?

"Don't you realize how much time has passed? Why didn't you come in previous years?"

Faced with Uchiha Kagami's questioning, Onoki and the other two tensed up, a hint of unease flashing across their faces.

You're really talking without any sense of the situation. Don't you even know who was in charge a few years ago?

Are the God of Ninjas and the Dark Lord of the Ninja World people they can easily swindle?

Do you even know the value of the Susanoo Buddha statue?
"Don't change the subject. Just tell me whether Konoha acknowledges this matter or not."

Onoki wiped the eye drops from the corner of his eye, his voice carrying a hint of threat.

Seeing the three men's rather grim expressions, Uchiha Kagami immediately realized that these guys were all bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. They only dared to provoke him because the First and Second Hokage were not present.
"Go find whoever sold it."

Uchiha Kagami curled his lip in disdain. If they wanted to extort money, they should just say so. Although Konoha was currently in a slump, these guys in front of them were not people they could easily take advantage of.

He was confident he could take on three opponents at once, so he wasn't afraid of Onoki's threat at all.

"you!"

Unexpectedly, Uchiha Kagami's attitude remained so firm, and Onoki's eyes gradually turned cold.

They should go find whoever sold it. The people who spearheaded the purchase of the tailed beasts back then are either dead or missing. Who else can they turn to?
Thinking about this, Onoki suddenly felt an itch in his head, as if he were trying to recall something important, but before he could think it through, Nozomi, who was already impatient, had already made her move.
boom--!
A sudden burst of violent lightning illuminated the scene, and Hina's massive body, imbued with the power of thunder, left afterimages in the air as he charged straight towards the unsuspecting Uchiha Kagami with unstoppable momentum.

"Uchiha Kagami, is it? I've been looking forward to fighting you."

As Xi moved at high speed, his mouth gaped open, his face contorted in a cruel grin.

Years ago, he thoroughly thrashed Danzo and his men in the Land of Iron. If it weren't for his senior brother's intervention, he would have almost achieved the feat of soloing the F6 area.
Now he is determined to make up for the regret of that year and kill Uchiha Kagami, who escaped the net.

"Lightning Release: Black Hand!"

Fueled by the surging fighting spirit within him, his raised hand gradually turned as black as ink, and the terrifying destructive power emanating from the black lightning far surpassed that of the blue.

"Tsk! A muscle-bound idiot."

Looking at Nozomi who had acted without permission, Onoki felt a headache coming on. What was originally a justified situation had turned into a provocation, giving them ammunition to criticize him.

Must be stopped!

He immediately used the Light-Heavy Rock Technique to fly into the air, his hands, radiating blue chakra, clasped together, and the ground began to tremble. Then, a gigantic rock arm appeared in Xi's inevitable path.
Earth Release: Rock Arm

"Don't bother me, little potato!"

With a roar, Xi showed no sign of slowing down, his arm crackling with black lightning slamming into the rock's arm.
humming—

The hard rock was as fragile as glass before his dark hand, shattering at the slightest touch.

"It's over."

Upon seeing this, Onoki's vision blurred; if the younger one was beaten, the older one would surely follow.

Putting aside Madara Uchiha, whose whereabouts are unknown, Izuna Uchiha, who was also incredibly strong, simply left, not died.

If Uchiha Kagami were to suffer any mishap today, tomorrow a towering, golden Gundam would be standing at the entrance of their village, sharpening his eighty-meter-long machete.

"Xinei!"

Seeing his dark hand about to strike Uchiha Kagami's chest, Xi's smile became even more sinister.
"Don't worry, I'll avoid the vital points, okay?"

However, the next second, a beam of green light shot into the sky, freezing his bloodthirsty smile on his face.
"Gah Bang!"

The cracking sound of bones breaking was extremely jarring at that moment.

"what!!!"

Feeling an excruciating pain in her palm, Xi couldn't help but let out a piercing scream.

After the scream, he clutched his twisted arm, dodged backward, and distanced himself from Uchiha Kagami.

"Huhu. Huh."

A cold sweat soaked Xi's back. He endured the excruciating pain and took several deep breaths. The previous arrogance in his eyes was gone, replaced only by regret for his lack of intelligence.

"You've actually opened a kaleidoscope."

Meanwhile, Onoki and Katsura, standing to the side, also assumed a wary stance, their faces grave as they looked up at the dark green, half-giant that had suddenly risen from the ground.

"Susanoh."

Seeing the half-Susanoo wielding the massive, dark green shield before him, Onoki's deepest fears were instantly stirred; the terrifying oppressive aura of Madara Uchiha from years past still lingered in his mind.

"Your information is outdated, Onoki."

Gui frowned, his heart filled with resentment towards his useless teammate. Wasn't it said that Uchiha Kagami only had three tomoe?

"I never expected him to be so cunning. No wonder he's a born evil Uchiha."

Sensing the reproach in his ally's tone, Onoki's expression tightened. In an attempt to salvage the situation, he resorted to personal attacks against the Uchiha clan.
"I'll take your earlier offense as your way of greeting me. Now I'll ask you one more time: do you still want to apply for after-sales service?"

Standing atop his half-body Susanoo, Uchiha Kagami exuded arrogance, the alluring patterns in his pupils radiating an intense pressure.
"We paid for this, can't we even express this basic demand?"

Onoki felt a little suffocated by the cold, sinister gaze, and forcibly turned his head to the side, his words becoming slightly gentler than before.
"Is Konoha a place where big businesses bully their customers?"

“I told you, go find whoever sold it.”

However, Uchiha Kagami, who had already seen through their true intentions, remained unmoved by their words. The pattern in his eyes shifted slightly, and his immense ocular power instantly poured out, transforming into a tangible pressure that pressed down on the three below.
"Well"

The three were suddenly struck hard, and their faces turned red at the same time.
"Damn it, don't push your luck!"

To be so humiliated by a junior, Gui, whose age and seniority were inversely proportional to his presence among the group, finally opened his eyes, which had been narrowed for so long.

"hiss"

Kazuki Ohnoki suddenly felt the air around him begin to cool rapidly and couldn't help but gasp.
"Tick!"

The humid air turned into water vapor and dripped down, turning into crystal-clear, cold crystals by the time it hit the ground.

"This is."

Mirror also sensed the change in the surrounding temperature. Looking down at the white frost climbing up his Susanoo, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The Third Mizukage's mastery of Ice Release was truly remarkable; he was even able to freeze Susanoo.

But he remained completely calm. He channeled his eye power into the Susanoo beneath his feet, and a humming, spiraling spear instantly materialized.

"Break!" With a sweep of the spear, the frost beneath Susanoo's feet instantly crumbled into fragments and fell to the ground.
On the other side, Katsura's expression did not change despite the Ice Release being broken; his attack was merely a probe.

"Onoki, are you really going to be a coward? How about we switch? You're more suitable to be the Three-Tailed Rider than I am."

Turning to look at the conflicted Onoki, Katsura curled her lips in a mocking smile.

"Are you really prepared to completely break ties with Konoha?"

Onoki was always very thoughtful; before making any decision, he would repeatedly weigh the pros and cons of each choice.
In his view, although this is Konoha's most vulnerable moment, breaking ties with Konoha will not bring much benefit to Iwagakure.

"For our Hidden Mist Village, even the worst outcome is a good outcome."

Katsura glanced at him, and though she didn't say it explicitly, she revealed the desolate state of Kirigakure.

Today, Kirigakure is arguably the weakest of the Five Great Nations. Constantly suppressed by the Land of Whirlpools, they can't even secure the most basic mission quotas.
Not only are they facing difficulties externally, but the powerful bloodline families within the village, who possess immense wealth, are also not on the same page as the village. They are constantly plotting to create a major scandal, leaving Katsura, who also comes from a bloodline family, in a difficult position both inside and outside the village.
Faced with this predicament of internal and external troubles, the only way for Kirigakure to break free from its predicament is to launch a war, thereby rallying the disunited hearts of its people and halting its collapse.

"Damn it, you actually tried to play tricks on me!"

Onoki was startled upon hearing this. No wonder Katsura had been keeping a low profile all this time; he was planning to quietly create a big scandal, and this was a move to drag their two countries into the mess.

"There's nothing I can do; I'm the Mizukage, after all."

Gui forced a slightly apologetic smile, slowly clasped her hands together, and an extremely sharp and chilling aura was about to descend.

"After this, we'll be even."

"What do you mean, 'even things over'? I don't owe you any money!"

"My hair is a wig."

"Forehead"

Just as Onoki hesitated, Katsura had finished preparing his killing move.

【Secret Technique: Absolute Zero】

Everyone felt the surrounding space freeze for a moment, and a faint white mist rose from Gui's body, seemingly elusive, yet moving at an astonishing speed.
Even more strangely, wherever the white mist swept over, everything seemed to freeze in place; leaves stopped falling and streams stopped flowing.

"This is?"

Mirror, standing inside Susanoo, frowned in confusion as he watched the strange white mist gradually approaching him. He immediately activated the spear in Susanoo's hand, preparing to dispel it.
"Ok?"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, he discovered something terrifying: his pupil power seemed to have been frozen, trapped within his eyes.
Not only that, the chakra within the meridians was also frozen.
"Could this be the legendary forbidden technique, Absolute Zero?"

If Uchiha Kagami still couldn't guess that it was Katsura's doing, he could have gouged out his own eyes and drowned himself in the lake.
Feeling slightly anxious, he immediately prepared to dispel the immobilization of Susanoo and create distance between himself and the strange white mist.

Unfortunately, it was too late. What was frozen in Uchiha Kagami was not only his chakra and ocular power, but also his mobility, which was frozen by the inexplicable coldness of the space.

"Damn it, move!"

"Stop struggling. My Absolute Zero is a forbidden technique that can even freeze space."

Seeing the astonished expression on Uchiha Kagami's face, Katsura, maintaining his exclusive forbidden technique, slowly began to explain.

Why didn't you say so sooner that you had such a powerful forbidden technique?
Onoki, who was also affected by absolute zero, was filled with regret.
He and his teammates were of one mind, and his teammates played mind games with him.
If Gui had revealed how amazing his forbidden technique was to him earlier, he would have been on par with him long ago.

With absolute zero as a stable hard control, wouldn't his Dust Escape be able to achieve a 100% hit rate?

Katsura had no time to pay attention to Onoki. Maintaining this forbidden technique required extremely precise control; the slightest mistake would lead to failure and subsequent backlash.
"Don't worry, I'm just temporarily sealing you off for a while."

Looking at Uchiha Kagami, who was already enveloped in a white mist of absolute zero, he said calmly,

"Who do you think you're underestimating? I'm the Konoha Village Chief!"

Feeling the biting chill emanating from the surrounding white mist, the pattern that had been frozen in the mirror's eyes began to show signs of loosening.

Gui, who had initially been certain of victory, suddenly changed his expression.
The white mist enveloping Uchiha Kagami suddenly thickened.

No, it should be said that the white mist changed from one cloud to two clouds.

"How can it be?!"

Upon discovering the additional wisp of white mist that had appeared out of nowhere, Gui instinctively tried to manipulate it, but received a rejection response.

The two identical clouds of white mist began a struggle in mid-air, and Gui, gradually becoming strained, turned pale and then bluish.

"Damn it, who's behind this?"

"you guess."

Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, Uchiha Kagami's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"Impossible, how could you possibly escape the control of absolute zero?"

Katsura looked into the distance in surprise, and saw two figures slowly emerging from within the white mist-shrouded Susanoo.

"Just because I can't do it doesn't mean you can't."

Uchiha Kagami stopped and stepped aside, revealing another figure that had been blocking his view to everyone.

"If you want to attack me, try boxing with your shadow first!"

"Nani?!"

The people present stared intently, instantly dumbfounded. Gui, in particular, was as if he had seen a ghost, almost losing his composure and accidentally dispelling the forbidden technique he had just cast.

"what!"

Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration, another cloud of white mist erupted, instantly engulfing Gui's absolute zero completely.

"puff!"

With the forbidden technique broken, Katsura suffered a backlash and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Seeing this, Uchiha Kagami nodded in satisfaction, and another wisp of white mist dissipated into the world.

"Phew, it's finally warm."

As soon as the effect of absolute zero disappeared, the two people, Onoki and his companion, who had been under control, felt lighter, and the icy coldness vanished without a trace.
"Gui, what's wrong with that guy?"

Upon regaining his freedom, Onoki did not choose to criticize his teammates. Instead, with a solemn expression, he helped up Katsura, who was spitting blood.

"Cough cough cough I don't know either."

Katsura, suffering from the backlash of absolute zero, is in extremely poor condition. His internal organs and meridians are frozen. If it weren't for the power of the Three-Tails protecting his heart, he would have died on the spot.
"He is the Water Shadow."

Uchiha Kagami smiled faintly and began to introduce the dojutsu creation behind him to the group. It was a replica of the Third Mizukage that he had made using the dojutsu Shinkyo.

Supporting his fractured hand, Xi's questioning gaze shifted back and forth between the two water shadows. Even with his weakened perception, his keen combat instincts allowed him to discern that both were physical entities.

With a furrowed brow, he couldn't help but complain to Gui, who was pale as a ghost beside him.

"He is the Water Shadow, then who are you?" (End of Chapter)