Rising Shadows: Uchiha's Wrath

"Yeah, we can't just let them go!"

"That's right! The leader gave an order—we are not afraid to sacrifice for the sake of the village!"

...Under the angry words, the leader slowly stood up.

He said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I won't just let this matter go!"

"That... blond woman, I know her. She is... Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha!"

"I will immediately question Konoha and demand they return our Jinchūriki!"

"If they refuse, we will not hesitate to start a war!"

"Yes!"

Hearing the words, the group of Taki-nin immediately responded in unison! Seeing this, the leader's face suddenly revealed an imperceptible smile.

...Actually, Takigakure is not as weak as Kaito imagined.

In terms of both the quantity and quality of its shinobi, Takigakure far surpasses other small villages—only falling short of the Five Great Nations. It remained uninvolved in both previous Great Ninja Wars.

And because the village is extremely well-hidden, it has never had conflicts with other shinobi villages.

As a result, for decades, the shinobi of Takigakure have had little experience in real combat! That is why their methods sometimes seem reckless and unrefined.

However, the current leader of Takigakure is highly ambitious. He has already begun reforms to strengthen the village!

And now, with their Jinchūriki taken, this is the opportunity he has been waiting for!

After all, Konoha is currently at a critical moment, and many forces in the ninja world are eager to take advantage of the situation!

With Tsunade taking their Jinchūriki, Takigakure has the perfect excuse to launch an attack!

Whether Konoha is truly responsible or not... it doesn't matter! Konoha will have to bear the blame no matter what!

With a sense of pride, the leader thought to himself:

"Watch closely—the rise of Takigakure begins now!"

"I will surpass Konoha and make this village one of the new Five Great Shinobi Nations!"

***

"What?!"

In the Hokage's office, Danzo slammed his hand on the table, glaring at the Anbu before him.

"Taki Shinobi dared to send a diplomatic warning to us?!"

The Anbu, unfazed, responded, "Yes, Hokage-sama, Danzo-sama. Takigakure has openly questioned us before the entire shinobi world."

"They claim that Tsunade-sama has taken their Jinchūriki."

"For this reason, they are demanding we return their Jinchūriki immediately—otherwise, they will declare war on Konoha!"

Danzo's expression darkened with fury. He roared, "This is outrageous!"

"A minor village like Takigakure dares to threaten Konoha with war?!"

With that, Danzo turned sharply toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Konoha cannot let this slide. I will take my forces from Root and wipe Takigakure off the map!"

"Hiruzen, give the order!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not immediately respond. Instead, he took a slow breath from his pipe.

Then, he spoke.

"Danzo, calm down. There are still many unanswered questions in this situation."

"First, why would Tsunade go to Takigakure to kidnap their Jinchūriki?"

"Second, if she did, what could her intentions possibly be?"

Danzo frowned.

He was about to respond when he suddenly noticed the Anbu still present in the room.

He hesitated.

Hiruzen took note of this and dismissed the Anbu.

"Leave us."

The Anbu nodded and disappeared in a flash, leaving only the two elders in the office.

Now that they were alone, Danzo no longer held back.

"Hiruzen, do you think Tsunade may want revenge on Konoha?"

"After all, when she left, she already harbored resentment about the Senju Clan's fate…"

At these words, Hiruzen's hands trembled slightly. He took another deep drag from his pipe, his eyes clouding with uncertainty.

Danzo's words had struck the darkest corner of his mind.

After a long silence, Hiruzen finally composed himself and spoke.

"Tsunade would not do such a thing."

"Yes, she left Konoha partially because of her resentment toward us…"

"But at her core, Tsunade loves this village. That much is undeniable!"

"She wouldn't do something that would put Konoha in even greater danger!"

Danzo sneered.

"You believe that?"

"People change, Hiruzen. It's been nearly ten years!"

"Are you truly certain that Tsunade is the same person she was before?"

"She has ignored every attempt at communication for years."

"And when Konoha was on the brink of destruction recently, she never once reached out to help!"

"If not for Jiraiya's return, Konoha might have fallen!"

"A woman like that… can you still say with confidence that she isn't a threat to Konoha?"

Hiruzen's heart wavered. He frowned.

"Speculating about Tsunade is pointless right now," he said.

"Our top priority is dealing with Takigakure."

Danzo scowled.

"Hiruzen, you cannot keep running from reality!"

"Konoha is at its most vulnerable. We can no longer afford to show mercy!"

"Let me handle both Tsunade and Takigakure!"

"Trust me—I will take care of everything."

Hiruzen took a deep breath.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"Fine. I will leave both matters in your hands."

"But remember one thing, Danzo—-Tsunade is a hero of the Second Great Ninja War. She is the Daimyo's appointed princess, and she is the granddaughter of the First Hokage."

"Unless we have no other choice, Konoha must not sever ties with her completely!"

Danzo smirked.

"Of course, Hiruzen. You have my word."

The very next day, rumors about Tsunade began spreading throughout Konoha.

Mob 1: "Did you hear? Takigakure is preparing for war against us!"

Mob 2: "Yeah, and apparently, it's because Tsunade-sama kidnapped their Jinchūriki!"

Mob 3: "No way! Why would Tsunade-sama do such a thing?"

Mob 2: "I don't know, but the whole ninja world is talking about it!"

Mob 4: "Maybe Tsunade Sama has her reasons…"

Mob 3: "It's not just that!"

"Remember when Kumogakure was causing trouble? We tried reaching out to Tsunade for help, but she ignored us!"

"If it weren't for Jiraiya-sama, we might have lost that battle!"

Villager 1: "Wait… is that true?!"

Rumors spread like wildfire.

Gradually, the people of Konoha began to develop resentment toward Tsunade.

Her reputation, once revered, was now rapidly declining.

And this was exactly what Danzo wanted.

He wasn't just thinking about the present—he was planning for the future.

Hiruzen, aware of the rumors, remained silent.

Danzo, seeing this, felt satisfied.

He gathered his forces from Root and swiftly departed for the borders of the Land of Waterfalls.

Though Root only had about 1,000 operatives, Takigakure had over 2,000 shinobi—giving them a numerical advantage.

But Danzo was confident.

Root was made up of elite warriors, while Takigakure's forces were largely inexperienced.

Still, Danzo was not foolish enough to engage in immediate combat.

As per Hiruzen's instructions, he first attempted diplomacy.

"Konoha did not know Tsunade's actions," he explained to Takigakure's leader.

"We have been unable to contact her."

"This could very well be the work of another village, attempting to frame Tsunade to drive a wedge between our two villages."

"We ask that Takigakure sees through this deception and does not fall for an enemy's schemes."

However, the leader of Takigakure had no interest in diplomacy.

He heard something else in Konoha's words—weakness.

If Konoha had truly been at full strength, they would never have come to negotiate in the first place.

Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to expand Takigakure's influence, he launched an immediate attack on Danzo's forces.

What followed was a one-sided massacre.

Despite their superior numbers, Takigakure's shinobi were no match for Root.

Within just three days, Takigakure was on the verge of collapse.

No matter how weak Konoha had become, it was still leagues above a minor village like Takigakure.

Danzo, with his shadow-level strength, led the charge.

The strongest shinobi in Takigakure was merely an elite Jōnin.

However, despite their rapid progress, Danzo was not satisfied.

Takigakure was proving to be more stubborn than expected.

Eliminating them would take at least two to three months.

And in that time, the situation could shift dramatically.

Suna and Iwa had been watching Konoha's decline closely.

Now, with Konoha's forces divided, the borders of the Land of Fire were left severely under-defended.

Each side had barely 1,000 shinobi.

And in Konoha's heart, only about 1,000 combat-ready fighters were left.

If Suna and Iwa decided to strike now—Konoha would be defenseless.

The enemy wouldn't waste this opportunity.

As soon as they received news of the conflict between Konoha and Takigakure, Suna and Iwa began mobilizing their forces.

The destruction of Konoha was now a very real possibility.

---

"Hey, have you calculated this?"

Tsunade shouted at Kaito with a hint of dissatisfaction.

To avoid being caught up in the war and ruining his mood, Kaito had taken Tsunade and the others to the border of Takigakure.

"Calculate? Why bother with something so unnecessary?"

Kaito turned his head and smirked, unfazed by Tsunade's words.

He was in a great mood today. Just last night, Kaito had extracted a portion of the Seven-Tails' chakra from Fū.

After absorbing and integrating it, he unexpectedly reached the critical point of his chakra reserves. Then, with the help of his system, he successfully broke through to the peak of the Super Kage level!

At this point, his strength was already comparable to Uchiha Madara before unlocking the Rinnegan and Hashirama without Sage Mode. And once he acquired the remaining Tailed Beasts—the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails—he could finally reach the level of the Six Paths!

This trip was turning out to be perfect.

"But it was all just a coincidence," Tsunade said with a wry smile.

"You took Fū with you, left the Taki-nin alive, and yet they still blamed everything on Konoha. This is just..."

Kaito chuckled. "I've never been one to overthink things. I just crush obstacles with sheer power!"

"This time, Konoha was just unlucky."

"Fū is still just a kid, and what happened that day—watching her villagers try to kill her—left a deep impact."

"If she ends up with a lasting trauma because of it, that wouldn't be worth it."

Saying this, Kaito ruffled Fū's hair.

Seeing this, Tsunade dropped the subject.

Even though they had only traveled together for a few days, she already understood Kaito's personality.

He never bothered lying, nor was he as ruthless as the rumors claimed.

Kaito continued, "But I didn't expect Takigakure to declare war on Konoha."

"Even if Konoha is weaker now, a small village like Takigakure still isn't in a position to challenge them."

"Takigakure's shinobi lack real combat experience, and their strongest fighters are only elite Jōnin at best."

"So no matter how much this incident weakens Konoha, Takigakure is doomed to be wiped out."

"They thought they were being clever, but they miscalculated."

"Where are we headed now? Back to Kirigakure?" Tsunade asked.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Why go back just to sit in an office all day? That's boring."

"Since we're already out, let's travel for a year or so and have some fun!"

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched. "With a Mizukage like you, the Mist shinobi must be—"

Kaito laughed. "They should feel lucky to have a leader like me!"

As they joked and chatted, the group slowly approached the border between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Grass.

Since both countries were relatively small, neither was particularly rich in resources.