Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

During the three Shinobi World Wars, various villages participated for different reasons. Most of them were motivated by self-interest, while a small number were driven by factors such as hatred. However, no village launched a war with the intention of completely annihilating a particular opponent in mind!

This time, the Cloud Ninja were merely taking advantage of the chaos.

They were thinking about taking a piece of flesh from Konoha, rather than thinking about completely destroying Konoha.

Similarly, Shisui never considered launching a counterattack into the Land of Lightning and erasing the Hidden Cloud Village from the map. The limit he could imagine was simply defeating the Cloud Ninja army and driving them back home in one fell swoop.

"I misunderstood, Zongxian, no, clan leader, your decision is correct!"

Zhi Shui obediently bowed his head and submitted.

He was really afraid that Zongxian would clapp his hands and say, "Let's go and uproot the Cloud Ninja!" For some reason, he felt that Zongxian was entirely capable of making such a decision!

"That's good!"

Zongxian didn't dwell on the topic, but instead turned his attention elsewhere.

"Someone, where are the sealing team members? Come here quickly and seal this guy away temporarily."

Hearing the commotion, the members of the Sealing Team surrounded Killer Bee. The group consisted of people of all ages, spanning three generations. Like the Barrier Team, the Sealing Team was a small group of ninjas with special identities. The village would select children with talent in sealing techniques to join the Sealing Team and cultivate them through internal training.

Because the Cloud Ninja has both the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, the sealing team was specially dispatched!

However, Konoha had suffered a series of defeats before, and the sealing team had no opportunity to use their skills. They had only been retreating with the main force. Now, this was the first time they had been put to use. Moreover, unlike what they had imagined, they were going to fight the Eight-Tails or the Two-Tails in a team. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was directly defeated and was just waiting for them to seal him.

but,

After whispering amongst themselves for half a minute, the group of people gathered around the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Hokage, my lord."

The middle-aged, gray-haired deputy leader of the sealing class approached somewhat awkwardly.

"What's wrong? Is the sealing not going well?"

"No, the seal is fine. I don't need to lift a finger to handle it." As the vice-squad leader spoke, the members of the sealing squad didn't just stand by and watch. They had already begun to set up a new seal on Killer Bee. Their movements weren't very skillful, but they were still quite orderly.

"What's the problem?"

Zongxian looked over in confusion.

"Well... setting up the seal is simple, but we can't confirm its effectiveness right now. According to the information we've gathered, this Eight-Tails Jinchuriki from the Cloud Ninja is a perfect Jinchuriki. This is the first time we've encountered a situation where the Tailed Beast and its Jinchuriki are one and the same, so..."

"I see."

Zongxian nodded. That makes a lot of sense. Although Killer Bee, the perfect Jinchūriki, doesn't have Naruto's golden Pikachu mode, having a Tailed Beast that doesn't cause trouble but wholeheartedly helps is a completely different situation from an ordinary Jinchūriki. In the case of an ordinary Jinchūriki, the Tailed Beasts are basically too lazy to care about the Jinchūriki's life or death!

"So, in the general sense of a Jinchūriki, how long can a seal last?"

A casual question left the man in his fifties speechless.

"...Are you saying you're not even sure about this?"

Zongxian stared wide-eyed.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

The old man nodded with a forced smile.

"Well, our Konoha only has one Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but as you know, there have been three generations of Nine-Tails Jinchuriki so far, all from the Uzumaki clan. They are the ancestors of sealing techniques, so there's no need for us to get involved. We've examined the seal on the third-generation Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and it's so solid that we have no use for it..."

"So, to be honest, since the Sealing Team was established, we haven't had any actual achievements in sealing tailed beasts or jinchūriki. We've only done a little sorting and theoretical deduction based on some documents left by the Uzumaki clan."

Zongxian stared speechlessly at the old man who spoke of shame but showed no remorse on his face; his skin was as thick as a city wall.

Okay!

He really didn't know that Konoha's sealing team was in such a situation. It seemed to have inherited most of the Uzumaki clan's legacy, but in reality, it was a theoretical group lacking practical experience.

"Alright, I know your worries. Just do your best. I will keep the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki by my side and keep an eye on him. I will suppress any problems as soon as possible. By the way, since we lack opportunities to practice, let's take this opportunity to explore the experience of sealing tailed beasts and Jinchuriki. As long as we do not kill the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, you can do whatever experiments you want."

"Yes, yes! Please rest assured and leave it to us! Assistant Hokage, our theories are absolutely sufficient; what we lack is the opportunity to put them into practice. This time, we will definitely leave behind detailed and usable documents for future generations."

Elderly people, especially those who are quite old, often have faces that look like blooming chrysanthemums, their smiles so wide that their eyes are almost closed.

Just as the old man lifted his foot to tell his companions the good news,

"Oh, right, I'll assign you another task: investigate how the Cloud Ninja cultivate so-called perfect Jinchuriki."

"The method for cultivating a perfect Jinchūriki? I understand!"

The old man nodded solemnly, waited two seconds and, finding no new orders, then scurried off to join his companions. Five or six seconds later, a group of people erupted in deafening cheers, interspersed with blatant praise and flattery such as "Hokage's assistant is wise!"

Zongxian glanced at them for a few seconds, confirming that the sealing of the Eight-Tails seemed to be working without any problems. He then ignored the people and looked up at the dark sky above the beach umbrellas, and at the snow falling from the endless darkness. The snow was getting heavier and heavier. Fortunately, the wind wasn't too strong, otherwise it would have turned into a blizzard, which would have been a real headache!

"It's a bit too slow!"

"What's too slow?"

Shisui sat next to Sogen. Due to the excessive use of Susanoo and the battle with the Eight-Tails, even with Samehada helping to replenish the damage, he was ultimately unable to completely relieve the burden. After releasing Susanoo, his face was covered in blood.

The amount of bleeding was so large that it was worrying whether even the brain was ruptured!

Zhishui was too exhausted to work, so he sat down to rest and recuperate. He and Zongxian each sat down in a chair. Zongxian had said that they should set up tents for the wounded first. Some clever fellow pulled out a beach umbrella that was sealed inside a scroll and opened it.

then,

This led to the unusual sight of the two sitting under a beach umbrella in the heavy snow!

"When we rushed over earlier, we found some traces. At the time, we thought they were spies planted by the Cloud Ninja, so we sent Zhiwei with people to investigate and deal with them... But they haven't returned yet, which is a bit too slow!" Zongxian frowned, wondering if it really was that guy Uchiha Obito.

"If it's not the Cloud Ninja... you mean?"

Zhi Shui raised an eyebrow.

He immediately thought of that bastard who claimed to be Uchiha Madara!

“I’m not sure, I can only say it’s possible.” Zongxian frowned and stood up abruptly. “No, I have to go and see for myself. If it really is that person, Zhiwei and the others might be in danger. They’ve already driven back the Cloud Ninja. If the Aburame Clan Chief is lost now… that wouldn’t be a good thing!”

"I am coming too!"

Shisui struggled to stand up.

However, he was met with a cold stare from Zongxian. "Don't make things worse, Shisui. What can you do in your current state? Just stay here and rest! Someone, um... Tetsuka, go find Elder Fugaku and ask him to come over."

Having been conscripted, Uchiha Tetsuka happily went to find Uchiha Fugaku!

A short while later, Fugaku Uchiha, who was busy leading people to clean up the battlefield and tidy up the corpses of the Uchiha clan members, arrived. Although the former clan leader had also used Susanoo and the Mangekyou Sharingan, his body could still hold up compared to Shisui, who had almost exhausted his eyes.

After the battle ended, they didn't sit idle; instead, they volunteered to clean up the battlefield!

Of course, this was partly to avoid talking about Sogen. Fugaku Uchiha didn't really want to discuss his Mangekyou Sharingan, but it seemed he couldn't avoid it after all. Upon receiving the message from Tekka Uchiha, he sighed deeply, but still rushed over as quickly as possible.

but,

"Elder Fugaku, please take charge of the army in my place for now. I have some business to attend to!"

Zongxian's words surprised him somewhat. Wasn't he asking about the Mangekyou Sharingan?

Just as he was about to speak, Yamanaka Mokuren suddenly rushed over and stood in front of Sogen, her breathing erratic, but she still managed to say urgently, "Hokage's assistant, the Aburame clan chief has sent a message requesting reinforcements! They've encountered the rogue ninja Orochimaru! They request your assistance!"

[Chapter 194: Making a Deal with Orochimaru]

Yu Nu Zhiwei felt that her luck was really bad today!

He initially thought it was just a matter of searching for a few spies planted by the Cloud Ninja, a simple task. He figured he'd finish this quickly and then head to the main battlefield. Of course, he wasn't careless. The Cloud Ninja also had many powerful experts, and it wouldn't be unusual for him to be caught off guard and suffer a setback.

It was this caution that saved their lives.

Instead of the expected Cloud Ninja, they were nearly wiped out by Orochimaru's surprise attack. Fortunately, all four of them were Jonin and proficient in sensory ninjutsu, which allowed them to sense something was wrong beforehand, thus preventing Orochimaru from killing them all in one move.

only--

I never expected it to be Orochimaru, that S-rank rogue ninja!

This is Konoha's only S-rank rogue ninja.

As one of the legendary Sannin who were once a source of pride for Konoha, and who even competed for the position of Fourth Hokage, Shinobu Aburame knew all too well just how powerful Orochimaru was. During the Second Shinobi World War, Shinobu Aburame was fortunate enough to fight under Orochimaru's command, and she also witnessed Orochimaru's actions during the Third Shinobi World War.

Orochimaru's terror was beyond their ability to withstand!

The four of them were no match for Orochimaru!

Hyuga, Aburame, Yamanaka, and Inuzuka all seem to possess either bloodline limits or family secret techniques, but Orochimaru was born and raised in Konoha and commanded a large army as the supreme commander. These bloodline limits and secret techniques were not secrets to Orochimaru!

He needs to understand the abilities of different people in order to make strategic and tactical commands.

Of course, each family has its own methods of keeping secrets. Orochimaru's understanding of these bloodline limits and family secret techniques was limited to knowing what they were but not why they were.

But that's enough!

Orochimaru didn't need to know the secrets of each family's bloodline limits and secret techniques. Just knowing their effects and corresponding abilities was enough for him to take targeted countermeasures against each of them in battle, and that's exactly what happened.

Gentle Fist, insect techniques, the Yamanaka clan's spiritual secrets, and the Inuzuka clan's combat techniques with their ninja dogs—none of these could be effectively used against Orochimaru.

"Huff—huff—! Captain Zhiwei, I feel like I'm about to reach my limit!"

Hyuga Hinata, a young Jonin from the Hyuga clan, unleashed a palm strike that missed its mark. The shockwave pierced through the snowflakes, but it did not cause Orochimaru any damage. It only slightly delayed Orochimaru's approach. Together with Yamanaka Santen and Inuzuka Shiba, they fought while fleeing.

"Hold on, we've sent out a distress signal after three days."

The snow was falling harder and harder, making ordinary communication methods like flashbangs useless. Fortunately, one of them was Yamanaka Santen. After discovering that the target of their reconnaissance was Orochimaru, he immediately used the Yamanaka clan's mental technique to contact Yamanaka Kokuren over a long distance, quickly and briefly conveying the situation and requesting support.

This area was a top-notch lookout point that Orochimaru had specifically chosen.

The towering hillside offered a commanding view of the battlefield, allowing them to witness the two Susanoo beating the Eight-Tails. This gave them hope for reinforcements, as even though the battle wasn't over, they figured reinforcements would be able to come to their aid.

In order to prevent despair from taking control of them, they could only think like this.

"The problem is that we probably won't be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive."

Hyuga Himon chewed on the soldier's ration pill in his mouth, and said with a wry smile, "My chakra... is almost exhausted!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Nu Zhiwei was speechless in rebuttal.

Insufficient chakra

This is a common, unsolvable problem faced by the four of them.

If Susanoo and the Tailed Beasts displayed overwhelming and unparalleled power, then Orochimaru was showing a different kind of silent power, like a hunting python, slowly tightening its grip on its opponent until the prey lost all ability to defend itself and was finally swallowed whole.

They are just the simplest C-rank Wind Release and Earth Release techniques.

In Orochimaru's hands, however, it possessed indescribable power, always able to unleash astonishing effects at the perfect moment.

Aburame Shimi's insects were largely killed by the combined attack of Wind Release and explosive tags. Yamanaka Santen's mental techniques were repeatedly taken over by the small snakes summoned by Orochimaru. Inuzuka Shiba and the ninja dog Haru's attacks were easily dealt with by Orochimaru using Earth Release.