On the surface, it seemed entirely unreasonable that Uchiha Sasuke hadn't slipped away by now. Obeying orders and staying put quietly simply wasn't his style.
In reality, however, he had already ventured out for several scouting trips. After a bit of "field research," he had gained a certain understanding of the chaos of this era. During his solo excursions, every shinobi he encountered—whether they were traveling alone, in pairs, or in squads of four or ten—would immediately attack him without a word the moment they laid eyes on him.
Fortunately, none of these shinobi were a match for Sasuke. Usually, he only needed to employ Raiton (Lightning Release) to deal with them all. It left him wondering: Why do the shinobi of this era seem so weak?
Of course, that was nonsense. The shinobi he ran into were mere small fry; they didn't exactly have "strength" worth mentioning. It could only be said that Sasuke only possessed a clear sense of judgment and recognition when facing enemies weaker than himself.
There was a time when Sasuke had a "non-lethal" setting, leaving enemies strewn across the battlefield defeated but alive. But first, that was in the past; second, such a practice was ill-suited for this era. The overall quality of the low-to-mid-level shinobi in this age was indeed eyesores, but they were prone to sudden, desperate acts. Pulling out an Explosive Tag and attempting to take a powerful enemy down with them was a daily occurrence.
All in all, Sasuke had begun to understand why Hane Genma claimed that multi-clan alliances were the trend of history. However, regarding the Uchiha, his resolve remained unshaken. Perhaps Konohagakure could be established, but the Uchiha joining it was inevitably a mistake.
Sasuke's way of thinking was linear; he saw most things in black and white. Regarding the fate of the Uchiha in the future, he believed that to correct a wrong, one must go to the extreme—the problem had to be solved at its root. Ultimately, he was just stubborn.
His brother was named Uchiha Itachi (Weasel), but if we were sticking to the "animal kingdom," Sasuke should really be called the Uchiha Mule.
Finally, before the "Uchiha Mule's" patience was entirely exhausted, Genma returned to Firefly Village.
"You're too slow. What you do is completely different from what you say. How long does a plan need to be prepared before it can be executed?"
The moment Sasuke saw Genma, he didn't just complain; he accused.
Genma thought to himself that if he wanted to achieve a decisive, one-shot effect, he naturally had to spend time preparing. Only a hothead would rush in blindly and get beaten like a dog—much like a certain someone's plan to capture the Eight-Tails. That action was "swift and decisive," but what was the result?
"You haven't been idle during this time either. Well? Have you fully understood this shinobi world yet?"
This era was more than half a century apart from the one Sasuke originally came from, yet the overall environment felt like two different worlds.
"Hn. The shinobi here all seem insane. None of them are thinking clearly." Sasuke briefly explained some of his experiences.
Genma couldn't help but look the guy up and down a few times. Then he looked again, finally saying in a slightly strange tone: "Is it possible that the problem is you? Or more accurately, is it the clothes you're wearing?"
First, Sasuke wore no armor. Second, he was still wearing his Akatsuki uniform.
Shinobi clothing in this era was extremely plain—either dusty gray or dull black. But Sasuke? Black robes with red clouds. He was the height of fashion. Walking through the shinobi world in that style was practically a walking taunt. Even if both sides had a hundred shinobi in a team battle, Sasuke would undoubtedly become the primary target for focused fire.
Sasuke: "..."
Right, why am I still wearing this cloak? Is it because it's cold in winter?
"So, what is your plan? How do you intend to keep the Uchiha away from the Senju?"
"It's simple. First, you don't want to see the Uchiha suffer heavy casualties, right? So, we will maneuver the Senju to attack the Uchiha's allies. We will make the Uchiha feel heartache and resentment, but no physical pain. The relationship between the two sides will become even more sinister, yet the Uchiha themselves won't suffer losses."
"Without allies, the Uchiha can still rival the Senju, but the Uchiha group will be weaker than the Senju coalition. If the Uchiha Clan Leader, Madara, is sane, he will proactively distance himself from the Senju."
Genma began his minor sophistry. Setting aside the logical flaws in his words, the reality was that Madara's mind wasn't "normal" in that sense—Madara was exactly the type of person who became more frenzied the stronger his opponent was.
Sasuke looked at Genma with eyes full of astonishment. "This is the level of your plan? Your plan is only at this level?"
Their perspectives were different. Sasuke naturally felt Genma's intellect was a bit "low." Genma's true goal was to wipe out the Hagoromo Clan, not to sincerely help Sasuke. The reason he was bluffing and bringing Sasuke along was simply that he valued Sasuke's "taunt" skills.
Genma felt that Sasuke's ocular power wasn't enough to control the Kyuubi (Nine-Tails). Look at those who had controlled it: first, Uchiha Madara with the Eternal Mangekyo; second, Uchiha Obito with a Mangekyo boosted by Hashirama's cells. Sasuke only had a regular Mangekyo, and it wasn't even the Genjutsu-specialist type. Therefore, Genma prepared to take a safer, secondary approach to manipulate the Nine-Tails' actions.
"Do you have a better way?" Genma asked, taking advantage of the fact that this "time-traveler" couldn't see the current political landscape of the shinobi world.
Sasuke fell into silence. After a while, he spoke: "I'll trust you just this once. After this incident is over, I will take independent action to achieve my goals."
"Of course, no problem. Your legs belong to you; it's not like I can stop you."
Genma didn't care what Sasuke planned to do afterward. Even if the other party left, it just meant his duty as a "babysitter" was over. Did Sasuke have the ability to change the entire shinobi world? No.
To put it another way, could Sasuke beat the Madara of this era? Faced with the grand trend of the world, even Madara had to yield, let alone Sasuke. So, Sasuke could do whatever he wanted; Genma would just humor him. It was merely a "mantis trying to stop a carriage"—why bother blocking him?
"Then let's begin the operation."
"Is there a problem?"
"Wait a moment. I'll change my cloak."
Leaving the follow-up matters to Nara Hideyuki, Genma and Sasuke formed a duo and launched a vanguard mission.
They traveled all the way to the northeastern part of the continent. Based on previously gathered intelligence, Genma began "following the map." After searching four or five locations, he finally caught the trail of the Kyuubi.
In this era, a Tailed Beast was no different from a mobile natural disaster. The areas where it moved were basically devoid of human habitation. Because of its chakra, the aura it radiated was wicked and oppressive; ordinary people simply couldn't withstand it.
How did Genma know he had caught the Nine-Tails' tail? Because he felt as if he were currently standing in the middle of a heavily polluted chemical plant. Certain things in the air made breathing exceptionally uncomfortable.
"I remember this chakra. It's the Kyuubi. You want to borrow its power... you want to use my ocular power to control it."
Genma was a normal person; he couldn't exactly say, "I look down on your ocular power a little bit."
"There's no need for that much trouble. That would consume too much of your Mangekyo. The ocular power of the Mangekyo is a finite resource; you have to use it sparingly... Come, let's find a place with a clear view of the Kyuubi."
See? That's the social grace of a seasoned man.
The two followed the mountain path upward. As they walked, they felt increasingly uncomfortable. On one hand, the Kyuubi's scent in the air grew thicker; on the other, the temperature was rising, and the smell of sulfur was everywhere.
What they were currently climbing was actually a volcano.
Upon reaching halfway up the mountain, they looked toward the east. There, they saw a massive, orange-red body lying comfortably in an oversized hot-spring lake... The Kyuubi was taking a bath.
While the shinobi fought to the death, the Tailed Beast lived quite comfortably. Who could you even complain to about that?
"Have you seen the Kyuubi before?"
This was Genma's first time witnessing a Tailed Beast in person. Facing such a lifeform—if one ignored its lethality—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to praise it as "magnificent and grand" or to marvel at the ingenuity of nature's creation... Wait, scratch that. The Kyuubi was a man-made creation.
Sasuke first nodded, then shook his head. "I've never seen the Kyuubi in this state. It's more lethal than I imagined."
Immediately after, both their figures stiffened. Just as they were critiquing the Kyuubi, those massive eyes instantly snapped toward them. This thing's sensory abilities seemed quite powerful.
The Kyuubi's reaction was a bit odd. After seeing the two of them, its expression was initially violent—its fox eyes narrowed into slits, and it pulled back its lips to reveal rows of bone-white teeth. But for some reason, its gaze then became filled with curiosity.
Genma didn't have time to study the Kyuubi's psychological shifts. Isn't this the expression a dog makes when it sees a toy?
He reached out and patted Sasuke on the shoulder, saying, "Do it. I'm counting on you. My abilities aren't well-suited for dealing with such a large target."
"Do it? How?"
"Where's your black flame? Against a target this big, you surely won't miss."
For some reason, Sasuke felt discriminated against.
If you viewed an ability like Amaterasu as a purely offensive skill, you were dead wrong—because its actual killing power was hard to demonstrate. But if you changed your perspective and treated it as a taunt, you'd realize... Holy crap, it's a God-tier skill.
Sasuke squinted his left eye and then slowly opened it. Immediately, black flames ignited on the Kyuubi's body.
The Kyuubi froze for a moment. Then, the intense stinging pain caused it to let out a miserable scream. It thrashed around in the hot-spring lake, seemingly trying to douse the black flames. However, not only did the burned area on its body expand, but even the surface of the lake began to catch fire.
Although the Kyuubi was an ominous creature, it hadn't offended Genma before. Seeing it scream so piteously, he even felt a bit of sympathy.
Sasuke covered his left eye with one hand and turned to look at Genma, seemingly sensing something. "Could it be that you, too, are a lover of small anim—"
"I'm not. Don't talk nonsense."
"...Will your plan work? The Kyuubi won't be burned to death, will it?"
"Burned to death? Heh."
Seriously, who has Amaterasu ever actually burned to death? Aside from some grass and flowers?
Sure enough, after the initial panic, the Kyuubi regained its reason. In the next instant, a massive amount of chakra surged from its body. This chakra cloak wrapped around the black flames and then separated from the Kyuubi's body.
Having rid itself of the Amaterasu, the Kyuubi's eyes gleamed with malice as it looked at the duo again. Its current mood could well be imagined.
"When we lead the Kyuubi later, don't create too much distance."
"Why?"
Before Sasuke could react, he saw the Kyuubi open its mouth wide toward them. Black energy spheres began to converge at its maw... The Kyuubi was beyond furious; it was going to spit a Bijuudama (Tailed Beast Ball) right out of the gate.
Steam swirled around Genma as he grabbed Sasuke by the collar with one hand.
The Bijuudama arrived in an instant.
Genma suddenly surged into the sky, narrowly dodging the attack. But in the next moment...
The Bijuudama struck the volcano. A massive explosion instantly turned half the sky red. Genma and Sasuke were like feathers in a storm, blown about until they lost control of their bodies. Though not directly hit, they could hardly escape the atmospheric shockwave caused by the explosion.
Genma drifted toward the direction of the Kyuubi. After escaping the danger zone, he set Sasuke down. Closing the distance with the Kyuubi again, he tossed a single shuriken at the beast.
What is this? A flick to the forehead from the Fire Cloud Evil God?
Reasonably speaking, this attack had zero lethality, but its "insulting factor" was off the charts.
The Kyuubi was utterly livid.
It was only because Genma had mastered the Keijogyan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique) and could fly—possessing extremely flexible movement in 3D space—that he dared to target the Kyuubi. Otherwise, that Bijuudama would have been enough to kill him instantly.
Genma was also breaking out in a cold sweat. With his current strength, he basically couldn't touch a Tailed Beast. He had to focus 100% of his attention on his positioning; otherwise, one mistake and his entire life would be forfeit.
But regardless, with Genma acting as bait, he had firmly hooked this "stupid fox." Once a Tailed Beast loses its temper, can you really expect it to have any rationality left?
It could only be said that the taunting effect of Amaterasu was too good. Truly a top-tier aggro-pulling skill.
Genma began to demonstrate his "mob-kiting" techniques, leading the Kyuubi toward the designated direction.
After most of the day had passed, night had fallen.
The Senju clan had deployed two hundred shinobi, currently hiding just outside the detection range of the Hagoromo village. At the head of the group was the Clan Leader, Senju Butsuma. Tobirama served as his strategist; Hashirama did not appear to be present.
Additionally, there were one hundred shinobi gathered from three other friendly clans. Whether the goal was total extermination or not was a separate issue; if managed correctly, these three hundred men would have no problem crushing the Hagoromo clan.
Senju Tobirama vaguely sensed some prying gazes. These eyes likely belonged to the other helpers Genma had recruited... If the Hagoromo clan had detected them, they would have already launched a counterattack by now.
Tobirama glanced at the red cloth tied to his left arm, finally understanding why they were told to do so.
"Where are the people from Firefly? When are they moving? The appointed time has already passed."
Looking up at the night sky, Senju Butsuma was becoming restless. Could the so-called "Firefly" organization have broken their promise? This was exactly why external forces were so untrustworthy.
"Firefly's people are lying in ambush on the other side. There don't seem to be many combat personnel," Tobirama thought for a moment before deciding to speak the truth. "It seems their leader, Genma, hasn't reached his position yet."
Butsuma was about to scold his son, but at that moment, Tobirama suddenly stood up.
Though nothing could be seen in the darkness, he instinctively turned his gaze toward the east. Because he sensed something so exaggerated, his mouth even hung open.
At the same time, several Hyuga shinobi standing near them also looked in that direction, the veins and meridians bulging on their faces indicating they had activated their Byakugan.
"It's coming," Tobirama whispered involuntarily.
Butsuma immediately pressed, "What's coming?"
Tobirama turned his head to look at his "stone-headed" father and said:
"Genma... and..."
"The Battering Ram..."
"They're here."
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