Chapter 44: Mist Village Assault (Please Continue)

Very good, just like that.

In the Underground Laboratory, Madara Uchiha was observing Uchiha Haori and their situation through Bai Jue's line of sight.

Although Madara was confident, this guy Uchiha Haori would inevitably replace Obito, even surpass Obito.

He saw Uchiha Haori's excellence with his own eyes, and even once thought, "Did I choose the wrong person?"

But he is Madara Uchiha; once he makes up his mind, there's no need for him to change it.

Especially since this kid Uchiha Haori is too clever to handle, choosing him inevitably risks mishaps.

More importantly, in his view the two are actually the same.

Since the decision is made, he naturally wants to check how these "actors" are doing.

Uchiha Haori indeed met his requirements, and one could say he performed exceedingly well!

But he is now pondering something: should he, to avoid trouble, preemptively take necessary measures against Kakashi and Lin Na, those two kids?

Never.

After much thought, Madara finally spoke.

You guide the Mist Village people to Kakashi's side; the most important thing is to separate them, understand?

No problem, Lord Madara.

Soon, a Bai Jue emerged from the wall, nodded, and agreed outright.

But Lord Madara, there's another matter I need to report to you.

What matter?

Madara was a bit puzzled, yet he appeared unusually calm.

That kid Uchiha Haori brought a woman from the Uchiha clan over.

Bai Jue shrugged and said in a relaxed tone.

But we don't know what they were actually doing; anyway, that woman split from him before entering the Leaf Village camp.

A Uchiha woman?

Madara frowned upon hearing this; he truly didn't know about it.

He told Obito that it was to ensure Uchiha Haori and these "actors" get on stage, but actually he knew these people couldn't possibly not come.

Mist Village personnel suddenly appeared in Grass Country, apparently intending to sabotage the peace talks.

Leaf Village, facing this situation, naturally dispatched elite forces, such as Kakashi, who was already carrying out the bridge‑bombing mission, and others.

Moreover, Minato Namikaze himself was on the front line; he needed to cooperate with Leaf's people to complete the negotiations, so his squad would naturally take part.

As for Uchiha Haori, this guy has fought both in Whirlpool Country and Mist Village, and also earned merit in Grass Country.

A talent like that, given the current circumstances, no village could afford to let him stay away!

Thus he knows little about the Uchiha side, especially that clan has utterly disappointed him.

Unless it's to gather essential intel, he wouldn't pay much attention.

Do you know who that woman is?

Madara pondered for a moment before asking.

Don't know, we haven't investigated.

Bai Jue shrugged and replied offhand.

We only discovered it after they entered Grass Country.

Fine, it doesn't matter who she is.

Madara thought, then shook his head.

Observe more; if she's troublesome, lead her to Rock Village, otherwise let Mist Village deal with her.

Although an unexpected incident arose, Madara didn't mind it much.

To him, handling it or not made no difference, as long as Kakashi and Lin can't recognize her, and provide Obito with the necessary disguise.

Then, even if Minato Namikaze shows up, it doesn't matter!

Also, be ready to inform Obito at any time.

He has been looking forward to it, so let him face reality.

——

Uchiha Haori, where do you think these Mist ninjas actually hide?

In the forest of Grass Country, Lin looked at Uchiha Haori with curiosity.

Among the three of them, only Uchiha Haori has dealt with Mist ninjas, which is why Kakashi is willing to follow Uchiha Haori's command.

"Actually, Mist ninjas aren't that easy to locate,"

Uchiha Haori pursed his lips at the remark; tracking Mist ninjas isn't simple, even though he once risked his life fighting them in Whirlpool Country.

Moreover, embarrassingly, Uchiha Haori finds it hard to tell Kakashi that he was the one ambushed back then.

The reason he has been hopping squads since Whirlpool Country is largely because his former teammates were all wiped out by Mist ninjas.

"Come to think of it, you rarely talk about your time in Whirlpool Country,"

Kakashi turned his head and asked curiously.

"And you hardly ever speak of your teammates,"

"The war in Whirlpool Country really isn't worth mentioning,"

Uchiha Haori put on a helpless expression, sighed, and said.

"As for my teammates, they all died at the hands of Mist ninjas; I was just luckier,"

Uchiha Haori's words made Kakashi and Lin feel a pang of guilt; they even regretted why they asked such a question.

Now they seemed to understand why Uchiha Haori could utter so many thought‑provoking words.

Only by having experienced and felt it can one truly empathize!

"Sorry."

Lin whispered, and Kakashi's eyes were filled with remorse.

"It's fine, let's stay focused on the mission."

Yuzhi saw his gaze and instantly understood that the two had gone off track, but he wouldn't explain.

After all, he had swapped teammates two or three times before finally starting to hop onto any team.

He can barely recall the names of those early teammates now.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Yuzhi furrowed his brow, halted his steps, and made a tactical gesture.

In that instant, he activated his Sharingan, and his eyes swiftly scanned the surroundings.

Kakashi, seeing Yuzhi's move, also lifted his forehead protector, and the crimson Sharingan slowly rotated within his sockets.

"Looks like there are enemies."

Yuzhi said quickly.

"There's chakra in the air; the mist ninjas are preparing the Mist Village technique. Be careful."

"Okay."

Kakashi and Lin nodded immediately, but in that very moment a massive water dragon roared and surged toward them!

No reminder was needed; Yuzhi and the others leapt up and dodged the water dragon.

As they scattered and landed, the chakra in the air surged dramatically, and in an instant everything around became somewhat hazy.

"Is it the Mist Village technique again?"

Yuzhi felt a headache upon seeing this; back in Whirlpool Country that technique had really trapped him badly.

He had never figured out why Leaf Village let the Uchiha handle Mist Village, and why Uchiha Fugaku agreed.

One must know that Mist Village excels at water release and also possesses the Mist Village technique; that's far from friendly to the Uchiha.

Especially at its strongest, the Mist Village technique can even obscure the vision of the Rinnegan!

"However, the chakra infused by those mist ninjas' Mist Village technique isn't much; it doesn't amount to anything for me."

Yuzhi's eyes spun rapidly; he could see others' presence and positions through the mist.

Even though his sight was very hazy and only showed the flow of chakra, it was enough for him!

Buzz—

The Ninja Sword sliced through the sky, producing a series of sounds, and swung straight toward Yuzhi's back.

But the next moment, Yuzhi suddenly turned around, his crimson Sharingan looking even more flamboyant in the mist.

PS: I've seen many seniors claim Hikari's presence in the village is unreasonable; here's a brief explanation of my view.

1. Ziraiye, one of the Legendary Sannin, when he returns leading a team, not to mention the gate‑guarding ninja, the ANBU wouldn't even try to block him.

2. The protagonist himself is a Leaf Village hero, which further builds trust, and a large force entering the village wouldn't be recorded individually.

3. The original work shows Ziraiye has no interest in the higher‑ups' petty affairs; he can't even dodge quickly enough to get involved, so under the premise of trusting the protagonist, he wouldn't say much more.

4. Isn't Hikari's strength such that disguising himself without being discovered is difficult?

5. At this point, Danzo might not pay much attention to the Uchiha unless something extraordinary happens—like the protagonist meeting Kushina. Right now he's preparing for the Hokage, and he's also confronting the Water Country and Nagato during this period, resulting in his roots being heavily reorganized.

6. Though he might be called out for old deeds since he was seen, at least it won't be now; the protagonist has time to make amends.

I wrote based on the above factors, not just whatever came to mind; I just didn't go into such detail for fear of being called filler.

————————

Newbie kneels, begging for a continuation; now a continuation decides the fate of an entire book—nurturing a book is easy, but can also kill it.

Thanks to all the seniors, Onz.

(End of chapter)