Chapter 266: Uchiha En

Chapter 266: Chapter 266: Uchiha En

Seeing the earnest look on Uchiha Ryota’s face, Hyuga Kagami took a moment to organize his thoughts before saying, "If I told you that getting rid of you and your brother was actually for the sake of saving the Uchiha Clan, would you believe me?"

Uchiha Ryota froze.

After thinking it over, he seemed to understand a few things, and a hollow, dispirited look gradually came over him.

Kagami said calmly, "The rebellion you Uchiha are planning is doomed to fail. Even if you somehow manage to succeed by sheer luck, all you’ll accomplish is destroying Konoha and reigniting another Great Ninja War."

Ryota said in a low voice, "But Shisui’s way won’t save the Uchiha either."

"The waters of the shinobi world run far deeper than you imagine." After a brief pause, Kagami continued, "I don’t know whether the other approaches can save the Uchiha Clan, but I do know that the path you radicals have chosen is absolutely wrong. It’ll only bring ruin upon yourselves and everyone around you. Of that, I’m certain."

The crisis facing the Uchiha Clan did not come solely from within the village, from hardliners of the Hokage faction represented by Danzo.

Outside the village, there was also Obito, who had been scheming all along to wipe out the Uchiha Clan.

Therefore, an Uchiha rebellion would only weaken Konoha as a whole, giving Obito, who lurked in the shadows, even greater freedom to act without restraint.

After a long silence, Uchiha Ryota said bitterly, "I hope you’re right."

With that, Uchiha Ryota took out a kunai and, without the slightest hesitation, ended his own life.

Looking at Uchiha Ryota, whose breathing had ceased and whose body showed no signs of life, Hyuga Kagami murmured, "There’s one more thing I didn’t tell you. Although the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan represents the pinnacle of the Uchiha bloodline’s Yin Release Kekkei Genkai, it still isn’t the end. Using it as a foundation, it’s possible to reach for an even higher and more powerful dojutsu Kekkei Genkai. That’s why, to me, it possesses irreplaceable research value..."

......

One week later, inside a cave somewhere in the Land of Rain.

Poof...

As the smoke dispersed, a battered Shozaimaru appeared before Uchiha Shinichi.

Looking at Shozaimaru, whose body was covered in wounds and wrapped all over in bandages, Shinichi frowned. "Hey, how the hell did you get beaten up this badly?"

Shozaimaru sprawled weakly on the ground and said, "Meow... Those tiger stripes couldn’t scare that One-Eyed bastard at all! And that trick you taught me about puffing up my fur didn’t work either!"

Shinichi curled his lip. "Stupid cat!"

Shozaimaru handed Kagami’s secret message scroll to Shinichi, then held out a bandaged paw.

"That’ll be two thousand, please!"

Shinichi’s expression froze, and he hurriedly asked, "How much did you charge Kagami?"

Shozaimaru replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Two thousand too! This kitty is working while injured, meow. Of course the service fee gets doubled!"

After spending two thousand ryō to send Shozaimaru on his way, Shinichi immediately opened the secret message scroll.

He had barely skimmed a couple of lines before his brows knitted tightly together.

"What the hell is he up to?"

The secret message Kagami had sent contained only a single instruction.

Three days from now, Shinichi was to head to the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, meet someone there, and bring that person along to observe Hiruko’s entire upcoming Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual.

"Does this guy think Hiruko’s Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual is some kind of ordinary fireworks show? He actually wants me to bring someone along to watch? Has he lost his mind?"

Shinichi scratched his head, completely baffled by Kagami’s instructions.

The members of the Akatsuki were hardly kindhearted people. Even Shinichi himself had to remain vigilant at all times within the organization to guard against someone stabbing him in the back.

So he genuinely couldn’t understand why Kagami, who had always been cautious and conservative, would suddenly make such an outrageous request.

Even so, Shinichi decided to head to the rendezvous point first and see for himself.

As far as he was concerned, if the person Kagami had arranged for him to meet was reliable, then he could reluctantly give it a try.

But if the person turned out to be unreliable, there was no way Shinichi would bring some liability straight into the lion’s den that was the Akatsuki.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

After several rapid leaps, Uchiha Shinichi arrived at the rendezvous point specified in Kagami’s secret message.

This was the border where the Land of Rain met the Land of Fire. As far as the eye could see, dense, verdant forests stretched out in overlapping layers.

The moment he crossed into the Land of Fire, the skies cleared.

Shinichi took off his raincoat and grumbled inwardly, "The Land of Rain really isn’t a place fit for humans!"

For the Uchiha Clan, who excelled in Fire Release ninjutsu, the Land of Rain’s seemingly endless gloomy, rainy weather was unbearably stifling.

That was why Shinichi absolutely hated staying in the Land of Rain.

Just then, Shinichi suddenly looked into the distance.

Deep within the forest, he spotted a figure slowly walking toward him.

Before long, the figure arrived in front of Shinichi.

As Shinichi sized up the newcomer, a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

The other person was a girl around sixteen or seventeen years old. Her features were exceptionally refined, and there was something equally extraordinary about her bearing that immediately drew the eye.

The girl’s attire seemed fairly casual. Her lustrous black hair was tied into a ponytail that hung behind her head. She wore a tight-fitting combat suit beneath a finely crafted black outer robe, with a longsword sheathed at her waist.

Shinichi’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The person before him was clearly a girl, yet whether it was her expression, demeanor, or the way she walked and moved, Shinichi could not detect even the slightest trace of feminine delicateness.

Her expression was calm and composed, while her gaze was restrained and profound.

What was even stranger was that Shinichi was certain he had never seen her before.

Yet for some reason, he found the girl strangely familiar, as though he had known her for a long time.

"That’s weird... Is it just because she’s too damn pretty?!"

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Shinichi asked, "Hey, who are you?"

The girl replied calmly, "I’m the person you’ve been waiting for."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "And why should I believe you?"

The girl said, "You don’t need to believe me. You only need to believe Lord Kagami!"

Hearing her mention Hyuga Kagami, Shinichi’s suspicions eased somewhat. He immediately asked, "What’s your name? And why does he want me to take you to observe Hiruko’s Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual?"

"My name is... Uchiha En." The girl paused for a moment before continuing, "As for why Lord Kagami wants you to take me to observe Hiruko’s Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual, it’s because Lord Kagami is very interested in Hiruko’s experiment."

"Uchiha En?!"

Shinichi was stunned for a moment. Then, his three-tomoe Sharingan appeared as he said coldly, "Don’t try to fool me. I’m an Uchiha too. There’s no one in the clan named Uchiha En!"

Shinichi had only defected from the village recently, so he knew exactly who belonged to the Uchiha Clan.

If this exceptionally beautiful girl really were an Uchiha, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize her.

The girl offered no explanation.

She simply activated the Sharingan in her eyes...