Chapter 238: Birdsong Cliff

Chapter 238: Chapter 238: Birdsong Cliff

Inside a cave near the border of the Land of Hot Water.

"Cough, cough..."

The moment Hyuga Kagami removed the mask from his face, he began coughing uncontrollably.

The coughing grew more and more violent, as though some foreign object had lodged itself in his throat.

Only after a long while did the coughing gradually subside.

Wiping away the blood that had seeped from the corner of his mouth, Kagami’s expression turned somewhat grim.

The burden imposed by the pair of Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets had far exceeded his expectations. Earlier, he had merely activated the Mangekyo Sharingan without using a single ocular ability, yet this hastily cultivated clone body was already showing signs that it could barely withstand the strain.

"No wonder maintaining just one Mangekyo Sharingan in its three-tomoe state nearly cost Kakashi half his life..."

Still slightly short of breath, Kagami muttered to himself.

There was no doubt about it.

Judging from the current situation, using this hastily cultivated clone body to wield an entire pair of Mangekyo Sharingan was clearly beyond its capabilities. Kagami could already feel himself struggling to keep up.

Toying with the Homura mask in his hand, Kagami thought to himself,

"Looks like if I really want to bring out the full power of the Mangekyo Sharingan, I’ll have to clone a body that possesses Uchiha blood!"

In the current shinobi world, as far as Kagami knew, there were only two non-Uchiha shinobi who had transplanted Sharingan: Kakashi and Danzo.

Even now, Kakashi was still unable to bring out the power of Kamui in his left eye. Danzo was in an even more troublesome situation. He needed to implant the First Hokage’s cells into his body to maintain a fragile balance with the large number of Sharingan he had transplanted, ensuring that his own cells would not be consumed by either side.

It was clear that neither of these two non-Uchiha Sharingan transplant recipients could truly bring out the Sharingan’s full power.

Yet despite also possessing transplanted Sharingan, when Obito faced Konan’s sea of explosive tags, the duration of the Izanagi he used far exceeded the duration of Danzo’s Izanagi.

This undoubtedly proved that as long as one possessed Uchiha blood, even if the Sharingan had been transplanted from someone else, they could still bring out at least seventy to eighty percent of its power.

At this thought, Kagami fell into contemplation.

"Every member of the Uchiha Clan possesses Fire-nature chakra. Cloning a Fire Release clone using Uchiha blood wouldn’t deviate from my Kekkei Mora plan, and it would also allow me to make use of the Mangekyo Sharingan—and even the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan later on. The only question is... whose cells should I use for the clone?"

......

Back in the village.

News that members of Kamigami had once again appeared within the Land of Fire quickly made its way back from the front lines.

The Third Hokage, who received the news immediately, called an emergency meeting.

Every member of the advisory council, including Danzo, Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin, and the elite jonin drawn from the major shinobi clans were all present.

At the same time, a clan meeting was also underway at the Uchiha residence.

Inside the main hall.

Clan Head Fugaku sat with his arms folded across his chest, his face still wearing that same perpetually stern expression.

The elites of the Uchiha Clan sat quietly below him. Although none of them spoke, many had faces brimming with eagerness for battle.

Fugaku glanced toward Shisui in the corner, a trace of doubt flashing through his eyes.

Before this, Fugaku had basically concluded that Shisui was Homura of Kamigami. Because of that, he personally had little interest left in the operation to hunt down Kamigami.

Instead, he was far more concerned about what exactly Kamigami was trying to accomplish, and whether there was any way the Uchiha Clan could make use of Kamigami in their upcoming rebellion.

But with the latest intelligence coming back from the front lines, along with Uchiha Hiiragi’s adamant report, Fugaku found himself confused once again.

"Could I have misunderstood Shisui?"

Anyone in Fugaku’s position would inevitably cling to that sliver of hope.

After all, aside from Fugaku himself, Shisui was currently the only Mangekyo Sharingan wielder in the Uchiha Clan. He was unquestionably one of the clan’s greatest fighting forces.

Deep down, Fugaku simply did not want to accept the possibility that Shisui had joined some other secret group.

After pondering for a long while, Fugaku said, "Kamigami’s Homura has appeared again. The Uchiha must take action. This time, I’ll personally lead the team to hunt down Homura!"

The Uchiha elites gathered in the hall immediately erupted in enthusiastic agreement.

Fugaku’s gaze then fell upon Shisui.

"Shisui, you’re coming with me!"

"Yes!"

Thinking of the secret message Kagami had sent him earlier, Shisui nodded immediately without the slightest hesitation.

Shisui knew perfectly well that merely having Homura show himself once would not be enough to dispel everyone’s suspicions.

Only by actually fighting Homura while appearing as himself could he make the rumors collapse on their own.

After returning home, Shisui thought about the time and location written in Kagami’s secret letter.

"The time Senpai wrote in the letter is six days from now, and the location is Birdsong Cliff. Could Senpai be telling me to go to Birdsong Cliff six days from now and put on a show with him? But if I go there as myself... then who’s going to play Homura?"

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Shisui unfolded the map and studied it again.

Birdsong Cliff was located in the northeastern region of the Land of Fire, close to the border of the Land of Hot Water. It was a hilly region littered with jagged rocks, and its terrain was extremely complicated. Not only were there numerous sheer cliffs and precipices, there were also many seemingly bottomless bogs and swamps.

It was precisely because of this treacherous terrain that few people ever ventured near Birdsong Cliff.

As a result, the area had become a paradise for birds, with their calls echoing throughout the region all year round.

Thus, it came to be known as Birdsong Cliff.

Putting away the map, Shisui thought,

"Senpai must have had a reason for choosing this place. I’m sure he’s already made all the necessary preparations!"

......

At a temporary camp in the Land of Hot Water.

A Kumogakure shinobi entered the tent carrying a document and reported, "Lord Raikage, we’ve confirmed the whereabouts of the Kamigami members!"

The Fourth Raikage snatched the document from his hand and quickly swept his eyes over it before immediately ordering,

"Gather our men!"

At that moment, Aida, a Kumogakure jonin possessing the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai, tried to dissuade him.

"Lord Raikage, I must remind you that we’ve already signed a peace treaty with Konoha. If we rashly enter the Land of Fire at a time like this, diplomatically, we’ll be putting ourselves in an extremely unfavorable position."

The Fourth Raikage pulled out a classified document.

"This is a request for joint cooperation sent by Konoha. So there won’t be any diplomatic disputes over this operation!"

After looking through the document, Aida had no further objections and immediately began organizing their forces.

Before long, Kumogakure’s elite shinobi had assembled.

The Fourth Raikage gave no lengthy speech to rally them. He simply roared,

"Those bastards not only killed Gloya, they even took his corpse to the black market and traded it in for the bounty! Kumogakure will never let such a humiliation go unanswered!

"Move out!"

In an instant, the Kumogakure force, their momentum surging, set off toward the Land of Fire under the Fourth Raikage’s command...