Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

As the head of the village, it was expected that Puru would possess considerable power. Although their own ninja village had begun planning long ago, it was only recently that they had truly begun to infiltrate Kusagakure. The fact that they could gather this intelligence so quickly meant that Iwagakure had already made some gains within Kusagakure!

It is 100% certain that there must be people who have been divided and recruited by Iwagakure among those around that leader of the Uru clan, but they are not of such high status that it is difficult for them to obtain the most accurate first-hand information!

This will make Iwagakure's judgment and actions more difficult. However, there is a premise that Iwagakure will still act according to the established rhythm and rules. If they just push through without regard for anything else, all the conspiracies will vanish in the face of absolute power. But as mentioned before, doing so will have relatively serious side effects. The advantage is that it is worry-free, effortless, and convenient!

After quickly reading through the intelligence, Shoji looked up at Onoki, who was seated at the head of the table, and asked in a deep voice, "Has the intelligence team gathered any information about unusual activity in other countries? Especially in Sunagakure and Kumogakure?"

Although the probability is not very high, it is indeed something to be wary of. The reason why Konoha was not mentioned is because Hiruzen Sarutobi's personality has been thoroughly understood by Shoji. In addition, the information he learned when he returned to Konoha that Danzo Shimura's freedom was temporarily restricted to a certain extent by the Third Hokage makes it almost impossible to rule out the possibility that Konoha would actively participate in the affairs of other ninja villages!

The village that needs the most vigilance is Kumogakure. They have the motive and the strength, and they don't necessarily need to confront them directly. It's very possible that they could secretly instigate other forces to cause trouble for Iwagakure.

From a general perspective, Sunagakure shouldn't have that kind of courage and confidence, but it's hard to say for sure. Who knows, maybe the Fourth Kazekage just likes to cause trouble in this way?

Onoki was able to grasp the meaning behind Shoji's words immediately. Onoki had considered these things in advance. The reconnaissance and intelligence personnel responsible for the border areas of the other two countries, as well as those lurking in the two major ninja villages, were also collecting relevant intelligence very seriously and meticulously. Judging from the current situation...

"There haven't been any significant moves yet. Sunagakure has only slightly strengthened its border defenses, while Kumogakure has reduced its border garrison as we withdrew some of our troops!"

Onoki gently shook his head and said.

"So that means this was purely an action by Kusagakure itself? That's a bit strange. What gave that leader such courage?"

Jiang Si raised an eyebrow slightly, and said with a hint of surprise.

“Yes, that’s what I’m concerned about too. Although the leader of Kusagakure isn’t exactly outstanding, he doesn’t seem like a fool. He must have some kind of backing. With Akatsuchi and Arai there, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. But to prevent any uncontrollable accidents, Shoji, I need you to go there personally. The method doesn’t matter, as long as it doesn’t affect our main plan. I entrust you with handling this matter!”

Strategically, Onoki naturally held Kusagakure in utter contempt. From the bottom of his heart, he truly did not believe that a mere Kusagakure could turn the world upside down. It was not like Takigakure or Amegakure. Onoki's disdain for Kusagakure was to be expected, but how one views something is one thing, and how one acts on it is another. Even a lion will fight a rabbit with all its might, which was one of Onoki's life principles.

The Hidden Grass Village is a crucial piece in the grand scheme of building a powerful ninja village in the future. Therefore, Onoki plans to directly dispatch one of his most trusted aces, Shoji, to handle this unexpected incident.

"Yes, Lord Third Generation, please rest assured, I will definitely minimize the impact and resolve this situation in the shortest possible time!"

Jiang Si had already made the necessary mental preparations before coming over, and at this moment, he straightened his body and replied loudly.

"Well, there's no time to lose, you should set off immediately!"

"Yes, Lord Third Generation!"

After bowing deeply, Jiang Si swiftly disappeared from the Tsuchikage's office.

After returning home, packing his luggage briefly, informing his grandmother, and notifying and arranging for Kabuto to help him with any extra work besides experimental research, he was able to return.

Shoji left directly from the main gate of the village and sped off in the southwest. In the past two months of recuperation, Shoji's condition had basically returned to its peak. Although the experiment of extracting the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan caused his eyesight to decline further, he was still far from going blind. Moreover, a ninja's five senses are naturally many times more acute than those of an ordinary person!

The limited vision will not really affect Jiang Si's strength. Moreover, with his current pupil power, it is enough to support Jiang Si in fighting another relatively easy battle!

Besides, Shoji really didn't believe that a mere Grass Village could cause any major trouble. If the Grass Village leader, Uryu, really had such abilities, Grass Village might not have ended up in this situation.

But in fact, it must be said that Shoji somewhat underestimated the decisiveness and courage of the leader of Kusagakure this time. Or rather, no matter who it is, once they are forced into a desperate situation, they can easily make decisions that are completely different from their previous selves.

Uru, who has always prioritized following his heart and could even be described as timid at times, finally decided he could no longer endure it as Iwagakure pushed him step by step to the point of almost completely losing control of Kusagakure!

Jiang Si is wrong about one thing!

The reason why Uryu did not choose to take action of resistance from the beginning was that some preparations he needed were not yet in place. Uryu knew very well that if he wanted his ninja village to break free from the control of Iwagakure and completely get rid of the danger of being annexed, he either had to introduce a third party to fight, so that his ninja village could stand in the middle and have the best of both worlds.

Either they could possess a certain level of threat, making Iwagakure hesitant to act against them, or they could be completely useless, as Konohagakure couldn't rely on them at all, and Sunagakure was crippled by Iwagakure!

While Kumogakure had the will and the ability, the timing was somewhat unfortunate. If they could have waited another year or two, Kumogakure might have offered a helping hand, but not now, and Ura couldn't wait that long.

Therefore, Pulu's choice was very direct and simple: to give his own ninja village the power that Iwagakure would fear, and to let Iwagakure see their determination to die rather than surrender. This was the only chance to save his own ninja village and preserve his supreme power!

The latter is the most important point.

As someone with an undisguised and intense greed for power, Puru was willing to pay any price. To achieve this, Puru began to plan and scheme from the moment he made up his mind. It was easy to contact the people in his own ninja village, but there was one crucial item that required time to prepare and transfer!

Today, not long after receiving the news from Iwagakure, and just as Shoji was heading south on the orders of the Third Tsuchikage, Ura-ro had already made thorough preparations at the checkpoint!

When Shoji was about half a day's journey from Kusagakure.

Kusagakure Village, afternoon.

In Pulu's own residence.

At this moment, there were already thirty or forty Grass Ninjas dressed in the Grass Village uniform. Almost all of them were Chunin, with only ten being Jonin. They were all Uryu's most trusted and loyal subordinates!

It's not that Uryu only has a handful of mid-to-high-level Grass Ninja under his command—if that were the case, Uryu would truly be a failure—but rather that these are people Uryu can still ensure 100% loyalty to him even after Iwagakure's tentacles have reached in.

Among the remaining Grass Ninja, there are some unreliable elements. Of course, the more Grass Ninjas to cooperate when the plan is launched, the better. But before it starts, Uryu will only let his core people know, including his son, Mammoth!

Of course, there was one thing that Pulu himself overlooked: his most confident little group was eventually infiltrated by Iwagakure. One or two people were divided and lured by Iwagakure to become Iwagakure's most reliable informants. Perhaps the only thing to be thankful for was that these one or two people were not the absolute core members.

The aforementioned Kusagakure Jonin were either 100% loyal to Uryu or felt that their interests were completely intertwined with Uryu's, so the Iwagakure faction, which was the most important part of Uryu's plan, had no way of knowing about it!

"The operation is scheduled for tonight! Everyone, proceed according to the established plan. Pay close attention to the timing; do not act rashly too early, nor delay the battle. Remember, this is the key to whether our Kusagakure can escape the enslavement of the evil Iwagakure. If we fail, Kusagakure will lose its future completely. In a few years, it may not even have the name of Kusagakure anymore. For our homeland, I urge you all to fight to the very end!"

In the uppermost position.

Pu Lu looked intently at the grass ninjas below and spoke in a strong and resonant tone.

"Yes!!"

"Very good, then may your military prowess be assured!"

May your military prowess be great!

The grass ninja below also suddenly lowered their heads and responded loudly.

"whoosh"

"whoosh"

"whoosh"

"Whoosh!"

Then, with a forceful wave of his right hand, each of them leaped away from their original positions and sped toward their target areas. They needed to make all the necessary preparations before nightfall and then launch their own Kusagakure counterattack at the appointed time. Ura's plan was quite simple!

By using the strongest counterattack from their Grass Village to make the Stone Village suffer, and then proactively sending someone to submit, Uryu never believed that his own village alone could defeat the Stone Village. His goal was to make the Stone Village realize that forcibly annexing their Grass Village would be more harmful than beneficial, and a losing proposition, thus forcing them to abandon the plan!

As long as he can ensure the relative sovereignty of his own ninja village and still firmly grasp the majority of the power of the entire Kusagakure village, Uryu is not afraid to pay a higher price, but there is a prerequisite: that Iwagakure village must have something to worry about!

Pulu understood this very clearly, and he was quite confident about it!

However, Mammoth was clearly not as confident as his father. Having personally experienced the direct intimidation brought by Uchiha Shoji, even though more than half a year had passed, the impact of that event was still deeply imprinted in Mammoth's heart.

"Father, isn't what we're doing a bit too risky? Let's stop for now. With the strength of our Grass Village alone, it's difficult to resist the entire Stone Village. It would be best if we could contact Konoha, Kumogakure, or at least Sunagakure. Only then would we have a chance to break free from the Stone Village's control!"

After all the grass ninjas below had left, Mammoth, who had been barely maintaining a calm demeanor, stepped forward and stood beside his father, Uryu, and couldn't help but speak with a hint of worry.

As the only biological son of Uryu, Mammoth knew all too well the resources of his village. It seemed to have a ninja force of around two thousand, but most of them were genin, the number of chunin was extremely small, and the number of jonin, even including special jonin, was an absolute minority. Under such circumstances, the Iwagakure village had a force of over a thousand stationed in the Land of Grass, including more than thirty jonin, including Akatsuchi, the personal disciple of the Third Tsuchikage!

Although Mammoth didn't know exactly how strong Akatsuchi was, comparing him to Shoji, even if there was a difference, Akatsuchi shouldn't be too much weaker. Suppressing their Kusagakure would definitely be more than enough. Given this situation, Mammoth really didn't think his own ninja village had much of a chance of winning!

And once such a violent counterattack is launched.

The consequences of the failure were entirely predictable for Mammoth.

There's only one word—death!

"Of course I understand your concerns, Mammoth, but my son and I have no way out. Konoha, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure are all unreliable. If the ninja world changes again, it's uncertain whether we'll still be around. Iwagakure's ambitions are too great, so great that they want to completely devour our Kusagakure. Do you think they'll let us go? You have to understand, Mammoth, if we don't take this gamble, we'll die sooner or later. Unlike ordinary Kusagakure ninja, even if Kashiwagi and Qingze join Iwagakure, they can still be trusted and valued. But we can't!"

Pulu turned around, his face filled with a heavy expression, and said.

"Besides, even if we, father and son, can live peacefully in the end, Mammoth, can you accept becoming just an ordinary member of Iwagakure? Our long-cherished wish, our shared ambition, is going to end here completely!"

Pulu's words.

This caused Mammoth's expression to momentarily freeze.

Yes, for other grass ninja, the identities of this father and son are far too special. If you put yourself in their shoes, if he were the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, he probably wouldn't have let them go. Even if he did, after fully enjoying the wonderful taste of power, he would have been reduced to just an ordinary ninja.

Mammoth felt a chill run down his spine just from imagining the scene. It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. This is a common trait among almost all humans. Of course, this is not to say that it is 100% true. There are some exceptions. But they are just exceptions. Pulu and Mammoth were obviously not among them. They absolutely could not accept losing their power and becoming just an ordinary ninja!

It's important to know that their initial ambition was to make Kusagakure a force to be reckoned with, on par with the Five Great Ninja Villages, so that they could experience firsthand what it meant to be called a 'Kage'!

Upon thinking of this, Mammoth subconsciously took a deep breath, and the expression on his face became extremely firm.

"Furthermore, you don't need to worry, Mammoth. Your father doesn't intend to resist to the end. Moreover, our Grass Village has an ace up its sleeve. I believe this ace will make the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure hesitate to act!"

At this point, a rare look of confidence appeared on Pulu's face as he spoke with full conviction.

Clearly, this so-called trump card is the biggest reason why Uryu dared to launch a counterattack against Kusagakure without any external assistance.

"An ace? Our Kusagakure Village?"

Mammoth was slightly taken aback, a look of confusion appearing on his face. How come he didn't know that such a thing existed in his own ninja village?

"Hehe, come with me. It's time to let you know the biggest trump card of our ninja village!"

Pu Lu smiled slightly, and then led his son, Mammoth, deeper into the house.

After passing through the main house, you arrive at a hidden door. Pushing it open, you step down a spiral corridor that leads directly to the bottom.

The further down the mammoth went, the more he felt a chilling aura.

It's only a few minutes' walk.

Mammoth felt as if he had been through a very long time.

They finally arrived at a rather dimly lit, extremely spacious underground clearing.

Then what came into the mammoth's view was a giant cube-shaped box, except that four lifelike human faces were engraved on the four sides of the box!

The special energy fluctuations that the mammoth had sensed earlier came from this special box, and now, upon closer inspection...

Mammoth's heart seemed to be completely gripped, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a fanatical look on his father's face.

"Father? Is this the ultimate secret weapon of our Kusagakure that you spoke of?"

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Mammoth turned to look at Pulu in the seat next to him, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Oh."

"That's right, this box is called the Box of Elysium. It is the ultimate weapon created by the legendary Sage of Six Paths and used exclusively by him. With such a trump card, our Kusagakure has the strength to force Iwagakure to retreat!"

With an air of extreme confidence, Pulu turned to look at his son, Mammoth, and said this.

"What? The legendary Sage of Six Paths? Father, is this true? This box... the Box of Elysium?"

Upon hearing his father's words.

Mammoth's pupils contracted sharply involuntarily.

The look of disbelief that appeared on his face as he stared at Pu Lu, his voice rising sharply at that moment.

These words were also blatantly filled with surprise and delight.

Although it's still unclear what exactly this so-called Box of Bliss is, the Sage of Six Paths is the legendary strongest person in the ninja world a thousand years ago, the progenitor of ninjas. The fact that such a person used a treasure that is also called the ultimate weapon makes it seem very plausible!

Moreover, from the very beginning, Pulu could sense a very sinister and terrifying aura emanating from that box of bliss.