Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

"It was probably destroyed in the battle, it doesn't matter. As long as it's dead... Let's take it back to report."

The four-person team simply put Tobirama's body into a sealing scroll and headed towards Kumogakure.

There was no desecration of the corpse.

The situation remains unclear, and no one can guarantee that the new Raikage will not return the Second Hokage's body. To desecrate a corpse could very well draw one into an unseen vortex, making them a political sacrifice and leading to an unexplained death.

In just one day.

The Second Raikage and the Second Hokage, renowned throughout the ninja world, died one after another.

In just one day, the ninja world changed dramatically!

...

On the other side, the four members of the Shadow Guard were fleeing in a sorry state.

Even though Tobirama single-handedly held off the main force of the Gold and Silver Brothers, the remaining strength was still too much for the four of them to handle.

A large number of the remaining pursuers, like bloodhounds, relentlessly clung to their backs.

Following their teacher's dying wish, the four of them split up and each broke through the encirclement.

The perspective shifts to Koharu Utatane. As the weakest of the four, her abilities mainly consist of medical ninjutsu and sensory ninjutsu, making her essentially a support-type ninja.

Contrary to her strength, she was actually in the safest position among the four. Relying on her excellent perception, she drew fire for her three companions while maintaining a safe distance from the pursuers.

Koharu Utatane quickly calculated the route in her mind and muttered to herself, "At this speed, it will take another three days to reach the Konoha camp."

Normally, three days would be enough time for her to return directly to Konoha.

However, they were being pursued and could only resort to flanking maneuvers to break through the encirclement, which greatly slowed down their retreat.

She leaned against a rock, swallowing a soldier's ration pill to quickly regain her strength, her thoughts drifting away...

The teacher is probably dead.

After returning to the village, Hiruzen will become the new Hokage, and she, En, and Danzo will become his assistants. Although they are one rank lower than the elders, for these young people, it is a huge leap forward.

The teachers have placed their hopes for the future on the shoulders of their younger generation.

She secretly resolved not to let her teacher down and to realize her ambitions, transforming Konoha into the ideal place she envisioned.

Just now.

Koharu's expression suddenly changed, and she abruptly looked up at the sky.

A chilling, ominous chakra was rapidly approaching. At the edge of their vision, a pitch-black shadow was rapidly growing larger.

They came for her!

Xiaochun turned and ran away as soon as she was transferred to another room...

High in the sky, Uchiha Yan looked down at the figures fleeing in panic on the ground, his tone contemptuous: "Not bad perception, but unfortunately, it's still too slow."

That's all.

She performed a Leap of Faith twenty meters above the ground, launching herself in Gundam form. Without pausing, she continued to control her summoned beast, Satoru, flying at full speed towards the Leaf Village's Forest of Death.

boom!

The silver-white Susanoo crashed to the ground, raising clouds of dust and rubble like a guardian of the earth, while blocking Koharu Utatane's path.

As the smoke cleared, Uchiha Yan, protected by Susanoo, was completely unharmed.

Koharu Utatane looked at Susanoo, her pupils contracted sharply, and she recognized the attacker.

"You are... Uchiha Yan!"

A legendary rogue ninja of Konoha, and one of the most vicious criminals in the ninja world.

A chill swept over my entire body.

Uchiha Yan stood within the Susanoo skeleton, his tone languid and mocking: "You said the exact same things your poor teacher said when he was alive."

"You...you killed the teacher?!"

“Yes.” Uchiha Yan admitted without hesitation, “Your teacher, the Hokage of Konoha, was concerned about whether you had escaped alive until his death. Tsk, I really can’t bear to kill him.”

These words shattered Xiaochun's last psychological defenses.

Knowing she was trapped by Susanoo and had no chance of escape, grief and anger overwhelmed her reason. Rage replaced the fear of death, and she gripped her kunai tightly, activated the Body Flicker Technique, and recklessly stabbed at Uchiha Yanagi.

As a Konoha ninja! As a disciple of the Second Hokage, I should die standing up, even if I have to die!

clang!

The kunai pierced Susanoo's armor, but it didn't leave a mark; instead, the kunai itself broke off.

In Koharu's eyes, there was only resentment and despair.

The next second, Silver Susanoo grabbed her body and lifted her high.

Uchiha stared expressionlessly at the Konoha female ninja struggling futilely in his hands.

immediately……

Boom

A heavy, dull thud exploded, mixed with the rustling sound of bone fragments rubbing together.

With just one grip, Koharu Utatane's bones shattered, and her body collapsed limply.

Core member of the Bronze Generation, member of the Shadow Guard, future elder of Konoha, assistant to the Hokage...

Turning to Xiaochun's room.

Born 5 years before Konoha.

He died in Konoha 21.

He was 26 years old.

Chapter 166 We felt the same pain!

Killing a Konoha ninja was no burden for Uchiha Yan.

It was just an ordinary task.

He carelessly tossed Koharu Utatane's body to the ground, deactivated Susanoo, and then turned and disappeared into the forest, searching for his next prey like a grim reaper.

...

The Hidden Cloud Pursuit Force, the Passionate Assassins, the Shadow Guard, and the Konoha Rescue Force.

The four factions are entangled together, and the rebellion storm stirred up by Gold and Silver Horn is developing in an uncontrollable and unpredictable direction.

The first to end the chaos was the Cloud Village faction.

Having resolved the issue of the human jinchūriki going berserk, Illaoi was the first to return to the village.

Looking at her home in ruins, Illaoi was furious.

He knew very well that if it weren't for Kinkaku and Ginkaku instigating the internal strife and killing the Second Raikage, Uchiha Yan would never have had the opportunity to infiltrate and destroy the village and plunder the secret techniques.

However, due to the enormous losses suffered, the elders who had originally remained neutral or supported the Second Raikage began to change their attitudes, advising him to put aside his grudges and that the village should not be allowed to break out into internal strife again.

Even though Kinkaku and Ginkaku have committed serious mistakes, for now they can only be spared to atone for their crimes and continue fighting for Kumogakure.

If they die, the Cloud Village will have a huge gap in top-level combat power.

This time, however, Illaoi ignored their advice. Enraged, he roared, "How can we rebuild Kumogakure with these two insects around?!"

Ignoring all warnings, he activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode and rushed out of the village to hunt down Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who had been summoned back to the village overnight.

Soon after, an astonishing commotion broke out on the outskirts of Kumogakure.

The explosion of the Tailed Beast Ball was accompanied by the sound of thunder...

About an hour later.

Illaoi appeared at the entrance of Kumogakure, dragging the nearly dead Gold and Silver Horns back to the village with one in each hand.

Both of them had exhausted a lot of energy in their battle with Tobirama Senju and were in extremely poor condition. Even if they forced themselves into a half-tailed beast state, they were no match for Illaoi.

Thus, the Hidden Cloud Village took the lead in suppressing the rebellion.

However, Illaoi remained rational and did not kill the two men.

Uchiha Yan's attack on the village made him realize the current weakness of Kumogakure. The Gold and Silver Brothers deserved to die, but the Nine-Tails' chakra within them couldn't simply go to hell with them.

Illaoi ordered the sealing team to seal the two's chakra, sparing their lives for the time being, pending the extraction and transplantation of the Nine-Tails' chakra. At the same time, he assigned his trusted men to imprison Kinkaku and Ginkaku in the Cloud Village prison, placing them under strict 24-hour guard.

Once the mess in the village is cleaned up, the two will be transferred to Hozuki Castle in Kusagakure.

When it comes to imprisoning serious criminals, Hozuki Castle is the expert.

After ending the rebellion, Illaoi declared herself the Third Raikage amidst the ruins.

Soon, he encountered his first major problem after becoming the Raikage. The Gold and Silver Horns forces returned the bodies of the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage to the village.

This is by no means an achievement that brings glory; on the contrary, it's a hot potato.

With the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, killed by the Gold and Silver Brothers, no one could predict Konoha's subsequent attitude. Whether they would continue the peace-seeking strategy left by the Second Hokage or use the opportunity to reignite the war remained uncertain.

The only saving grace was that what was returned was not Tobirama's head, which was still in a wooden box, so there was still room for maneuver.

"Put Tobirama Senju's remains into a sealing scroll and send an envoy back to Konoha."

Illaoi quickly made a decision, ordering someone to convey the attitude of the Cloud Village to Konoha, indicating that the Cloud Village had no intention of provoking conflict again, and that the Gold and Silver Brothers, the culprits of this incident, had been executed.

A battle between Kumogakure and Konoha is inevitable sooner or later. The most crucial thing right now is to end the war and allow the ravaged village to recover.

Subsequently, Illaoi officially ordered the entire Hidden Cloud Village to observe three days of mourning to pray for the Second Raikage's soul and to bury his remains.

...

Senju Momoka led a Konoha rescue team of more than ten people through the front line and into the Land of Lightning.

The team relied on Hyuga's Byakugan for long-range reconnaissance, the Inuzuka clan's ninja dogs for scent tracking, and the Aburame clan's poisonous insects for chakra perception. After several investigations, they finally found the place where Tobirama Senju died.

Corpses littered the fields...

The bodies of the Cloud Ninja have begun to show signs of decomposition.

The ninja dog and the parasitic insect slowly probed, finally stopping in front of a dead tree.