Naruto: The Sage Body of Konoha

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Madara: I'm Not Hiding Anymore, Time to Show My Cards (4K)



A suffocating silence blanketed the battlefield.

Due to the catgirl's shocking words, every Kiri ninja's attention had shifted toward the Third Mizukage.

Had the Mizukage been manipulated by a ninja from the Uchiha clan using genjutsu?

Under normal circumstances, no proud ninja from Mist would ever believe such a ridiculous rumor.

But the current situation was… abnormal.

Because many of them clearly remembered something that had happened a year ago—

The Leaf Village had been invaded by mysterious enemies, culminating in a massive battle at the Valley of the End. Though it had originally seemed unrelated to Mist, news later came out from the Leaf Village revealing that the invading ninjas possessed the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan and even summoned the Three-Tails Isobu during combat!

As everyone knew, the Three-Tails was one of only two tailed beasts under Kiri's control. Since it had never found a suitable jinchuriki, it had lived deep beneath a nearby lake, constantly monitored by Kiri's Anbu forces.

Who could have guessed that the Three-Tails had been stolen away, becoming the summoning beast of some rogue Uchiha ninja?

This revelation shook the entire Kiri to its core.

Later, high-ranking elders within Kiri dispatched numerous ninjas for long-term and large-scale searches but never managed to find a trace of the Three-Tails.

Eventually, the Third Mizukage had no choice but to issue an order officially abandoning the search.

The issue was eventually buried.

Yet just moments ago, everyone could clearly see Three-Tails' chakra radiating from the Third Mizukage himself, proving he had become the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails.

That was… deeply suspicious.

"Mizukage-sama?!"

The Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist withdrew from the battlefield and fanned out into a loose formation, subtly surrounding both the Third Mizukage and Madara.

Especially the cloaked figure sitting in a wheelchair, hidden beneath a hood—Madara—who found himself locked under all seven pairs of eyes.

After all, if what the catgirl said was true, then this individual was likely the Uchiha ninja who had manipulated the Mizukage.

"What do you mean by this?!" The Third Mizukage roared in anger, pointing toward Heiyan in the distance and shouting at the Seven Swords, "The enemy is right there! What are you waiting for?! Kill her now!"

Unexpectedly, the Seven Swords remained unmoved.

"Mizukage-sama, please open your eyes and let us see," Juzo Biwa suddenly spoke up. At the same time, his Cleaver Sword was deliberately angled toward the Third Mizukage.

None of the other six said anything, yet their expressions ranged from suspicion to amusement to scrutiny, all awaiting the Third Mizukage's response.

For years, the Third Mizukage had always kept his eyes shut regardless of the occasion, making it a signature trait.

This habit hadn't seemed strange before—after all, Kirigakure had plenty of oddities—but now, combined with the possibility that someone had fallen victim to the Sharingan's genjutsu, which would also cause their eyes to display the Sharingan pattern…

This behavior suddenly appeared deeply questionable.

In fact, many in the village had long been resentful of The Third Mizukage's rise to power, and among them were the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist.

In Mist, overthrowing one's superiors was a long-standing tradition. Once discovering something suspicious about the Third Mizukage, people like Biwa Juzo wouldn't hesitate to seize power themselves, replacing him by merit and choosing a new Mizukage.

At this moment, the situation for the Third Mizukage and Madara Uchiha's group was extremely disadvantageous.

Faced with the Seven Swords' direct challenge, the Third Mizukage was about to speak up, ready to defend himself forcefully. But suddenly, his entire body stiffened. His facial expression became very rigid, as if he were a puppet controlled by strings. Then, under everyone's confused and shocked gaze, he slowly opened his eyes.

Of course... [Sharingan].

"A collective sharp inhale filled the air."

The Seven Swords exchanged sharp glances, as did the other elite ninja from Mist.

They decided to act immediately, capturing the Third Mizukage while simultaneously restraining Madara Uchiha and the other two.

But just at that moment, Madara Uchiha sitting on the wheelchair let out a long sigh.

It was him who manipulated the Third Mizukage into exposing his true nature on purpose.

Because he was tired.

At this moment, Madara no longer wanted to pretend. He finally dropped the act.

One of Madara's hands slowly extended from beneath his cloak. The back of the hand showed protruding blue veins, tight wrinkled skin, appearing extremely aged. Then, in broad daylight before everyone's eyes, he lifted his hood.

After so many years, he finally appeared before the world showing his true face.

"This old man... who is he?!"

Many Mist ninja stared at the elderly figure before them—one with long white hair, looking frail and with only one eye—and found it unbelievable.

Could such an old fellow really have controlled the Third Mizukage?

They all thought Madara was too old, too weak-looking to be taken seriously, failing to recognize his true identity.

Except Kakuzu.

"Gulck..."

Kakuzu's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, instinctively stepping back several paces, his face already overwhelmed with shock.

This old man... could it possibly be...

Inside Kakuzu's mind, a majestic image emerged—an individual equally renowned as Hashirama Senju, standing shoulder to shoulder at the peak of the ninja world.

Yet wasn't he supposed to have died in battle at the Valley of the End years ago?

Kakuzu's thoughts spun into chaos.

Previously, he had accepted a commission from Black Zetsu, instructing him to protect an important individual throughout this journey. And for this bodyguard duty alone, Black Zetsu offered him a sky-high reward of fifty million ryō.

No matter how Kakuzu thought about it, he never expected that the mysterious VIP he had pushed around in a wheelchair these past days was actually—Madara Uchiha!

Suddenly,

An unimaginable and massive chakra erupted from Madara Uchiha's body, creating indiscriminate tangible oppression upon the surroundings and everyone present.

BOOM-CRACK!

Centered on Madara, the ground within a radius of ten meters violently collapsed inward, its surface instantly cracking into countless fissures.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Under the crushing weight of this aura of dominance, the Seven Swords of the Blood Mist were the first to succumb, one after another sinking to their knees and prostrating themselves on the ground.

To them, it felt as if gravity had multiplied ten times over. Moving a finger, blinking an eye—even breathing—became nearly impossible.

At that moment, all the high-ranking elders of Mist fell prostrate before Madara Uchiha, staring at him in terror.

"From today onward, I shall be the ruler of Mist."

Madara slowly spoke these words. At the same time, his single eye activated its ocular power, subtly influencing everyone's willpower.

Instilling fear within them—and forcing their submission.

Once he had completed his display of dominance, Madara withdrew his aura, reverting to his frail old form—appearing even older than before.

But no one dared question his strength anymore.

The Third Mizukage remained silent and knelt on one knee before Madara Uchiha, bowing his head low and awaiting orders.

"I offer my service, Lord."

Kakuzu, seeing this, also wisely followed suit and echoed those words, then imitated the Third Mizukage by kneeling down.

"Hehe..."

The high-ranking ninja of Mist, led by the Seven Swords, gasped for breath one by one. Their faces turned pale, and their entire bodies were soaked in cold sweat, as though they'd just been pulled out of water.

Then, they were given their first command by their new leader.

"Kill that catgirl."

Madara Uchiha stared into the distance at the catgirl and said coldly.

Immediately, everyone stood up. A dozen gazes locked together outward, focusing on Heiyan, who had been watching silently from afar like a spectator.

"I... think I've really enraged Madara completely."

Observing what had just occurred, Heiyan murmured to himself.

He hadn't expected that a careless taunt would have such a massive effect, escalating the situation so rapidly.

Undeniably, every time he encountered Madara Uchiha, he could always infuriate the man halfway to death. That alone could be considered Heiyan's unique talent.

With that, he said simply: "It's time I take my leave."

Without another word, Heiyan dropped a smoke bomb. In the resulting cloud, he swiftly activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the battlefield unnoticed.

Left behind were the Akagakure shinobi, standing there in shock.

Ten kilometers away, on a small island hidden among the trees.

Shwip!

Heiyan suddenly appeared, landing within the woods upon the island. On a nearby tree stump, he had previously marked the [Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain] Flying Thunder God formula.

"While Madara has forcefully suppressed the rebellion of the Seven Swords and become the new ruler of Mist, with his frail body, how long can he maintain his oppressive rule? How many times can he push himself before breaking? Once the people of Mist discover that he is merely strong on the outside but weak inside—a mighty bow already losing tension—they won't willingly accept his rule."

Heiyan gathered his thoughts, musing inwardly.

In his opinion, over the coming period, Madara would inevitably launch bloody purges within the Mist Village until he eliminated all those who resist, tightening total control over the village.

With that, the plan for Mist to attack Uzu Country would certainly be postponed—or even abandoned entirely.

His mission here had already succeeded.

In the past few days, he successively took on the identities of Lord Takemikazuchi and the catgirl, launching a thousand-mile raid from the Land of Lightning to the Land of Water. You could say he single-handedly halted the war plans of several major factions.

What Heiyan planned to do next was return to Konoha before the enemy could regroup, then bring reinforcements to Uzugakure to shift from a defensive stance to an offensive one in this war.

So, he found an abandoned well on the island. After leaving behind an Enshinsui seal within the Land of Water, he performed the technique and vanished.

Heiyan still made a quick stop at Uzugakure first, meeting with Katsuyu to check the progress of the teleportation formation's construction. After bidding farewell to Ashina Uzumaki, he used the Enshinsui and returned to Konoha.

However, what no one could have expected was—

Right after Heiyan left, a red-haired man walked into the backyard of the meeting hall.

He approached the well, gazing at the Enshinsui seal around its mouth, eyes flickering with thought. Then, after forming a string of seals, he pressed his palm against the edge of the well.

Buzzzzz!

A vibration came from the well opening, emitting dazzling white light, followed by a loud *crack*—the Enshinsui seal left by Heiyan had been completely neutralized.

The red-haired man turned around, expressionless.

He…was actually Genichiro Uzumaki, the successor personally chosen by Ashina Uzumaki, and also the Jinchuriki of the Six-Tails.

Behind Konoha.

One year had passed—Heiyan finally returned to Konoha.

He headed straight toward the Hokage office.

Along the way, Heiyan clearly sensed a tense atmosphere that hung thick throughout the village. Many villagers no longer wore cheerful, peaceful expressions like they used to; instead, worry and anxiety filled their faces.

Because all signs pointed to peace ending soon—war among the great nations could break out at any moment.

Picking up bits from villagers' conversations, Heiyan learned that border clashes had been breaking out frequently.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kosuke Maruboshi, Might Guy…his teachers, friends, and acquaintances had all left the village by now, sent to the frontlines for critical missions.

When Heiyan met with Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the latter sat surrounded by towering piles of documents, puffing continuously on his pipe, filling the Hokage office with smoke.

It was obvious that Hiruzen had been under great stress lately—his forehead showed several new wrinkles, making him look five or six years older.

That wasn't surprising. Over the past year, tensions between the Land of Fire and its neighbors had sharply escalated.

There was nothing they could do to stop it. With Konoha sitting at the heart of the shinobi world, owning the most advantageous and fertile land, it was inevitable someone would covet it.

Faced with such a situation, Hiruzen couldn't help but recall the First Great Ninja War.

Back then, after the death of the First Hokage, the other four Kage took advantage of Konoha's lack of leadership, invading the Land of Fire simultaneously and causing countless casualties.

More than a decade later, it seemed as if history might repeat itself—with Konoha being declared war upon and besieged by the four great ninja villages once again.

Under such immense pressure, even Hiruzen often found himself unable to sleep at night.

"Hey, Heiyan, you're back?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was lost in thought when he suddenly looked up, surprised but pleased to see the young man standing before him.

Although the youth's formerly short white hair had now grown into long black strands, and his overall appearance had changed noticeably, Hiruzen still instantly recognized him as Konoha's #1 Genius.

"Hokage-sama, I've returned."

Heiyan gave a slight smile and bowed respectfully to the Hokage.

The two exchanged brief greetings, and Heiyan quickly began recounting his training over the past year to Hiruzen.

Then Heiyan got straight to the point, telling Hiruzen every single detail about his discovery—an alliance between Mist, Cloud, and the Golden Exchange aimed at attacking Uzu Country.

"Such a thing actually exists?"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen shot to his feet in shock. He never imagined that Uzu Country—Konoha's most trusted ally—was facing an imminent crisis threatening its very survival as a nation and clan.

"I'll immediately organize a high-ranking elder meeting, summon elite ninja units, and send them to Uzu Country for reinforcements."

He made an immediate and decisive judgment.

At those words, Heiyan finally relaxed and let out a quiet sigh.

This way, he would have enough justification when accounting to Mito Uzumaki, Kushina Uzumaki, and all the other members of the Uzumaki clan.

Having once been a member of the Uzumaki clan, he had already done more than enough for his clanspeople.

"Oh, Hokage-sama, could you tell me where Sensei Kosuke, Duy, and Tsunade have been sent on missions?"

Before leaving the Hokage's office, Heiyan suddenly asked.

Though usually, the tasks assigned to high-level ninja within the village were confidential, at such a sensitive time, Heiyan genuinely worried about his teachers' and friends' safety.

"Of course."

Hiruzen didn't think much of it; he completely understood Heiyan's concern for his companions, so he readily took out several mission files and handed them over to the young man.

Heiyan took them and quickly flipped through the pages.

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