There were still three days before Namikaze Minato would officially take over as the Fifth Hokage.
"Has Lord Renji left the village?"
When Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi returned to the Hokage’s office to report to Tsunade, they received this piece of news and could not help feeling surprised.
At such a critical time, the strongest person in the entire village had actually left?
"I heard he discovered something. That guy always does whatever he wants without telling anyone. He really is getting on my nerves."
Tsunade pouted before turning her gaze toward the two Uchiha in front of her.
"Have you two discovered anything new?"
The moment this topic was brought up, the astonishment on their faces immediately turned into despair. The two of them knelt on one knee before Tsunade and reported:
"Yes. The Uchiha have officially decided to launch their rebellion on the day Lord Minato takes over as Hokage... My father has gathered all Uchiha combatants who are chuunin rank or above to participate in it."
Namikaze Minato said sadly,
"After all, we still couldn’t stop it?"
The sins committed by his own disciple were going to be borne by the entire Uchiha clan.
The guilt Minato felt was self-evident.
"If we count them up, there are only a little over two hundred Uchiha combatants at chuunin level or above. Even if Uchiha shinobi possessing the Sharingan can fight three enemies at once, going up against Konoha would still be no different from throwing an egg against a rock."
Nawaki stroked his chin as he analyzed the situation.
"Clan Head Fugaku must have another move prepared. I imagine..."
"The only information I’ve obtained so far is that my father possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Itachi continued.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan? I once heard Grandpa Tobirama mention that throughout the entire Warring States period, the only ones who awakened that ultimate form of the Sharingan were the brothers Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna."
Tsunade instantly fell into reminiscence.
"I have also fought against Uchiha Obito’s Mangekyo Sharingan. It is indeed a very powerful ocular technique. But even so, that alone isn’t enough to deal with Konoha. The clan head must have another fallback plan that he hasn’t told Itachi about."
Shisui spoke again.
After a long silence, Tsunade shook her head and sighed.
"Regardless, the Uchiha rebellion is already an unchangeable fact. Make arrangements for the security deployment during the succession ceremony. When the time comes, we will immediately..."
Although the Uchiha had once been their sworn enemies, after what had happened to the Senju, Tsunade did not want the Uchiha to walk down the same path.
She could not tolerate the two hundred people who were actually launching the rebellion.
Unlike Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo in the original story, she would not allow innocent Uchiha civilians who had nothing to do with the rebellion to be implicated.
This was the greatest concession she could make.
"Please wait, Lord Hokage!"
Just as Tsunade was about to issue the order, Itachi suddenly interrupted her.
His gaze was firm as he said,
"If we allow my father and the others to launch the rebellion, the Uchiha will be branded with an indelible stigma. And the Uchiha civilians who survive will find it even harder to live in Konoha in the future."
Eight years ago, the incident in which the Nine-Tails was controlled by the Sharingan had already driven the gap between the villagers and the Uchiha to its extreme.
Many villagers had transferred the anger they had originally directed at Naruto onto the Uchiha.
And if the Uchiha launched another rebellion...
Even if the masterminds, such as Uchiha Fugaku, were suppressed, how would the villagers view the surviving members of the clan afterward?
As a clan of criminals who had attempted to rebel against the village twice?
The very thought was chilling.
"Indeed. Itachi has a point."
Namikaze Minato nodded in agreement.
"...Do you have some other solution?"
Tsunade asked in return.
Itachi clenched his fists tightly.
"The sins only need to be borne by one person."
The northern border of the Land of Fire, at the boundary where it met the Land of Hot Water.
"In-Yō: Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!"
Unlike the ordinary Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation of the Hyuga clan, black and white chakra intertwined to form a unique rotation resembling a In-Yō sphere.
Its destructive power was far greater than that of an ordinary Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation.
Everything within a radius of dozens of meters was utterly destroyed.
"Is that the true Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation? Quite impressive."
A figure burst out from the gaps within the In-Yō Palm Rotation, his tone carrying a hint of teasing.
It was Renji, who had left the village.
As the In-Yō Palm Rotation dissipated, it revealed the face of a middle-aged man.
His hair, pupils, skin, clothing... everything about him was uniformly pale.
Anyone who had watched Naruto would have been able to recognize at a glance that these were unmistakable characteristics of the Otsutsuki clan.
And several hundred meters away on either side stood two children who looked to be around eight years old.
One of them was Hyuga Hinata, who had left the village together with Renji.
The other possessed the same deathly pale characteristics of the Otsutsuki clan.
However, his eyes were wide open without any eyeballs within them.
He was a naturally blind boy.
Otsutsuki Toneri.
That was his name.
And the person fighting against Renji was none other than his father.
The current head of the Otsutsuki branch family on the Moon, Otsutsuki Masato.
The Otsutsuki clan living on the Moon would periodically use the passage left behind by their ancestor, Otsutsuki Hamura, to connect with the world below and observe how the world left behind by the Sage of Six Paths was developing.
If the world showed signs of heading toward destruction, the Otsutsuki living on the Moon would intervene.
Not long ago, the Otsutsuki branch family on the Moon had determined that the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths were slaughtering one another.
Without a doubt, they believed this was a sign that the world was heading toward destruction.
Therefore, the Otsutsuki should intervene and destroy this old world.
However, the main family opposed the idea.
The two sides consequently fought a fierce battle.
The war ultimately ended with the complete annihilation of the main family, leaving only the father and son, Otsutsuki Masato and Otsutsuki Toneri, alive from the branch family.
Although the father and son both advocated destroying this "old world," their clan had suffered such heavy losses that they were no longer capable of doing so.
Thus, they could only observe the situation on Earth while waiting for an opportunity.
However, during this visit to Earth to observe the world...
They had kicked an iron plate.
Although Otsutsuki Toneri had been born blind, he possessed an extraordinary sensory ability comparable to that of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, back in his prime.
He had taken an interest in Hinata, whose body radiated an exceptionally pure Byakugan aura.
After secretly observing her for several days...
He encountered the great gray wolf behind this little white rabbit.
The great master, Hatake Renji.
"Destroy the world? Your chuunibyou is way too serious..."
Renji was utterly speechless.