Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Ai now finds that she can no longer hear that strange, peculiar voice she wanted to hear, and a tearing pain surges through her heart once again.

"I wonder what his situation is like now..."

Hearing the Raikage mutter to himself, Mabui tried even harder to keep his breathing as quiet as possible.

"Where's the earthen platform? Why isn't it here yet?" Ai changed the subject.

"Lord Tsuchidai went to visit Troy with the medical ninjas and asked me to come back and report the situation to you, Lord Raikage," Mabui hurriedly replied. But just as she was speaking, a knock sounded on the door, and Tsuchidai's voice came from outside.

It wasn't just an earthen platform that entered through the door.

Following behind him were the listless Heath and Troy.

Originally intending to die in battle, Hii ​​did not die as he wished on the battlefield. As an all-around genius Jonin who was proficient in sensory ninjutsu and medical ninjutsu, he was very popular in the village. His comrades felt that it was more valuable to let Hii live.

then,

hope did not die; instead, he survived and withdrew with the army.

As for the unfortunate Troy, he was knocked unconscious by the retreating Ai and forcibly brought back.

"Tutai, I heard from Mabuyi that the army didn't suffer many casualties?"

"Yes, most of those who died in battle were Jonin. The dozens of Genin who were injured were all slipped and fell in the snow while retreating in a hurry. The snow was too heavy, and they couldn't see whether there were pits or bumps ahead, so they got injured. However, none of the problems were serious. The unluckiest one only had a fracture and will recover in twenty days. The others just sprained their ankles and had abrasions..." Tsuchida rambled on about a bunch of trivial matters, and A didn't interrupt, but just listened patiently.

Normally, Raikage A would personally handle matters like calming the troops' morale, but today's defeat, which wasn't exactly a crushing loss, dealt him a huge blow. In addition, the fierce battle with Fugaku Uchiha had drained him of a lot of energy, and maintaining the Lightning Release Chakra Mode at full power for too long would eventually tire him out!

After returning, Ai really didn't have the strength to patrol the camp anymore, so he could only entrust Tu Tai to appease the troops in his place.

Tsuchida rambled on and on, but eventually ran out of things to say and could only look at the silent Fourth Hokage.

"This time... we lost!"

After a long silence, Ai finally spoke, and what he said made Mabui's eyelids twitch. hope, standing behind the earthen platform, looked extremely pale. Troy's face was already so bad that it couldn't get any worse.

"It was a crushing defeat. Konoha's strength was even greater than we expected." Under Mabui's astonished gaze, Tsuchida bluntly echoed the Raikage's statement about the defeat. However, there was always a "however" to that statement.

"However, the battle between us and Konoha is not yet over! Why is Lord Raikage sighing here? Are you preparing to send a letter of surrender directly to Konoha? If you have made up your mind, I can write the letter of surrender for you right now!"

"...I lost my composure."

Ai straightened his back, and the dejected air about him dissipated a little. Perhaps it was because he had rested for a while. In any case, his eyes and brows were more energetic. "Compared to him... ever since he fully mastered the power of the Eight-Tails, to be honest, I never thought he would get into trouble."

"The situation isn't at its worst yet! In terms of overall strength, we still hold the advantage. This defeat was due to a lack of intelligence. If we had known that two members of the Uchiha clan had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, we would have insisted on taking Yugito down with us..."

There are three people.

Ai interrupted Tu Tai's words.

"Uchiha Fugaku, that should be his name, right? The previous head of the Uchiha clan also awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"..."

Tsuchikage opened his mouth, then fell silent for a moment. He had witnessed firsthand just how powerful Susanoo was. He knew very well that two and three were completely different concepts. With only two Susanoo, the Cloud Ninja, with their strength and proper preparation, still had a certain chance of winning the upcoming battle.

But if it's three Susanoo...

Then this debt will need to be recalculated!

"What exactly happened? Lord Raikage, please explain in detail." Tsuchidai couldn't suppress his confusion and wanted to get to the bottom of it. This was no small matter, and if he didn't find out, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully. Even after he found out, he probably still wouldn't be able to sleep soundly.

"I was entangled by that Uchiha Fugaku. At the time, I was thinking that I would do whatever it took to kill Uchiha Fugaku, but unfortunately I was just a little short of succeeding. Also, Troy, what happened to you? How could you be controlled by someone so easily?"

Ai looked at Troy.

The Uchiha clan's genjutsu is so powerful that even a Jonin cannot break free in a short time, but that is different from manipulating a Jonin for one's own use. Troy's mental will is not that fragile, is it?

"It was my carelessness!"

Troy's voice was somber, "But... when I made eye contact with that Uchiha Fugaku, somehow, I suddenly... wasn't afraid anymore! I didn't care about the Sharingan's genjutsu at all. Even though I knew perfectly well that the Sharingan's genjutsu was terrifying, I was genuinely unafraid at that moment. Then, for a moment, everything blurred, and I mistook you, Raikage-sama, for Uchiha Fugaku..."

He had already heard about the stupid things he had done during the investigation.

"You're not afraid of the Sharingan's genjutsu anymore?"

Ai's eyes widened.

What's going on here? He originally thought Troy had been directly controlled by Fugaku Uchiha using genjutsu, but according to Troy's explanation, something felt subtly off.

"Lord Raikage."

hope then chimed in.

"what happened?"

“I think Senior Troy may have been under the influence of genjutsu twice,” hope said in a deep voice. “According to Senior Troy, the first time he accidentally saw Fugaku Uchiha’s eyes, he was under the influence of genjutsu and his mind was manipulated. He was no longer afraid of the Sharingan, so he boldly and fearlessly stared at Fugaku Uchiha. Then, the second time he was under the influence of genjutsu, which reversed the images of you, Raikage-sama, and Fugaku Uchiha.”

"However... the essence of illusion is deception, lies, and making people indulge in falsehood. It is impossible to directly control a person's mind. There is no such illusion in this world... at least, in my knowledge, I have never heard of illusion being able to do that."

hope smiled wryly.

His mind was a complete mess right now; his chaotic emotions and overwhelming confusion were giving him a terrible headache.

"Changing people's minds... Yukito!!!"

Tu Tai cried out in surprise.

then,

Ai's pupils contracted sharply.

hope's expression changed drastically as his mind raced.

It is clear that the changes in Yugito Nii are definitely related to the Uchiha clan. Even though no traces of being manipulated by genjutsu were found on Yugito Nii, the more this is the case, the more terrifying it is.

"Is this... a Sharingan genjutsu? Or is it a Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu?" Tsuchida's expression was extremely grim. "Back then, Yugito changed her personality after fighting with that Uchiha Shisui."

"But Troy is alright now?"

Ai looked at Troy.

Troy nodded hurriedly, saying repeatedly, "I'm alright!"

"Perhaps it's because they are different people?"

Tu Tai answered subconsciously.

Immediately, he shook his head and sighed, "We have too little information about the Sharingan, and we can't get a clear answer no matter how much we speculate. The problem now is... what should we do next? Konoha now has two... no, three Susanoo, while we have lost Killer Bee. To be honest, the situation is not very optimistic!"

Tu Tai gasped as if he had a toothache.

Three Susanoo, three pairs of so-called Mangekyou Sharingan, and genjutsu that seems to be able to modify people's minds and wills... Just thinking about it gives me a headache!

"Contact the Iwa ninja and ask them to contribute more!"

Ai gritted his teeth and said, "Konoha is using all its strength against us. In that case, let Iwa ninja take advantage of us. As long as Iwa ninja's advance goes smoothly, I don't believe Konoha won't divide its forces to deal with Iwa ninja."

He had not yet received intelligence that Jiraiya was leading his army to the Land of Grass to fight the Iwa ninja.

Since the war between Konoha and Kumogakure began, both sides have intensified their crackdown on spies. Even after Sogen and Jiraiya launched their attacks, Akimichi Torifu directly ordered Konoha to enter a state of wartime control, making it extremely difficult for Kumogakure's spies planted in Konoha to transmit intelligence!

"The Iwa ninja may not act according to our plans."

"No matter what they do, as long as it forces Konoha to divide its forces, that's fine."

"Then... Lord Raikage, what kind of outcome do you intend to achieve with this attack on Konoha?"

Tudai asked.

This question was originally unnecessary, because from the beginning they were just trying to gain as much advantage as possible without any specific strategic goal. But now they have suffered a great loss, losing the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and their chances of winning the next battle are not high.

At this moment,

We can't keep fighting aimlessly like this.

"We should at least capture a few valuable prisoners from Konoha to exchange for Killer Bee," A said slowly. At the end, he lowered his voice and continued, "At the very least, we should get the Eight-Tails back." The Eight-Tails and Killer Bee seem to be one, but in reality, they are different.

It would be best to bring back Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

But if the situation is not optimistic, then at least we should get the Eight-Tails back.

To put it more bluntly, a Jinchuriki can die, but a Tailed Beast can never be lost. This is the true view of all ninja villages regarding Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts, whether it's the Cloud Village or the Leaf Village.

"In that case, we should send an envoy to contact the Iwa ninja."

Tu Tai breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Raikage was not blinded by hatred and still managed to prioritize the situation.

He knew very well how deep the bond was between Ai and Killer Bee, the two sworn brothers, and was therefore very worried that Ai might do something impulsive at this time.

"What if Konoha attacks again?"

hope couldn't help but ask a question.

"Of course we'll fight back! This defeat was because we didn't know how powerful the Mangekyou Sharingan was. But now that we know the Uchiha's strength, we'll figure out a way to deal with them. With our forces, even if we can't easily defeat Konoha, Konoha won't be able to take advantage of us again and again," Tsuchida said decisively.

The ninjas feared most in battles when there was a lack of information.

To give a prime example, consider the battle between Jiraiya and Pain. Even though Jiraiya's strength was insufficient to defeat Pain, who possessed the Rinnegan, knowing the secret of Pain's Six Paths clones would have made it much easier for him to escape unscathed!

Susanoo is powerful,

But the Cloud Ninja are not to be trifled with!

We'll deal with Susanoo the same way we dealt with the Tailed Beasts before. Even if the two methods aren't entirely compatible, we can always modify them according to the situation. With the strength of the Cloud Village's military, we can still afford the losses. In terms of sheer numbers, the Cloud Village is now undoubtedly the strongest among the five great ninja villages.

"Let's do it this way!"

Ai made a decision.

then,

The envoys of the Cloud Ninja braved the wind and snow to travel west to the Land of Earth.

[Chapter 197. Burning a candle at both ends]

The snow continued to fall until midnight.

The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and the cool moonlight fell like mercury, reflecting a cold light on the snow. This created a stark contrast between the light and the small flames. Although it was late at night, not everyone was asleep.

The ninjas on night watch patrolled the camp silently.

The large tent in the center of the camp was brightly lit.

Sogen sat in the tent, admiring the Banana Leaf Fan under the lamplight. The upturned corners of his lips clearly showed his good mood, which made Shisui, who was sitting next to him, very curious. "Sougen, is this fan the Six Paths Ninja Tool?"