92: Countdown to Darkness! Fugaku decides to flip the table

The mountain wind blew, stirring up scorched dust.

Tsunade knelt on one knee, her fingers on Jiraiya's wrist pulse, her golden hair falling to obscure all expression on her face. Shizune stood anxiously by her side, holding Tonton, her breathing barely audible.

Jiraiya's face was ashen, his lips cracked, yet he managed to force a smile, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows.

"How is it… Do I have a chance… to continue admiring my collector's edition manuscripts… huh?"

Tsunade ignored his nonsense. Her fingertips surged with Chakra, forming a emerald green, rhomboid seal, which she slammed onto Jiraiya's lower abdomen.

"Seal!"

A gentle yet powerful force instantly locked down the rampant toxins within his body. She stood up, her expression grave, and shook her hand, a slight tingling sensation in her wrist.

"The toxin is temporarily suppressed, but it's constantly eroding the seal. I've never seen this before; we must return to the Village immediately and process it in the highest-grade laboratory."

Jiraiya let out a long breath, as if he had just been given a second chance at life.

"Ha…" He recovered his strength and started being improper again, "Tsunade, when you were examining me just now, your expression was very gentle."

A vein throbbed on Tsunade's forehead. She glanced at him but said nothing.

The only path to Konoha was a treacherous mountain road.

Shizune supported the weakened Jiraiya, while Tsunade walked at the very front, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Suddenly, the mountain let out a grating groan.

"Lady Tsunade, be careful!"

Giant rocks mixed with earth cascaded down from above like a waterfall, threatening to completely engulf the narrow mountain path.

Tsunade didn't even lift her head. She clenched her right fist and punched towards the collapsing mountain.

"So annoying!"

The force of her punch sent a shockwave, pulverizing tons of falling rocks into dust before her with an invisible, immense power. Amidst the swirling dust, Tsunade's gaze pierced through the rubble, directed towards the dense forests on either side of the mountain path.

There, two lingering Chakra presences intertwined in the air. One was cold and ruthless, devoid of life, a style she recognized from Root. The other, though equally concealed, carried a faint, standardized aura belonging to the Wood Leaf Hidden Village ANBU.

They were like two invisible vultures, fighting over a 'corpse' that was almost within their grasp.

Tsunade was thoroughly enraged.

She slammed her hands together.

"Summoning Technique!"

With a 'bang', a gigantic Slug appeared out of thin air, almost filling the entire mountain path.

"Slug, 'cleanse' these nearby mountains, leaving not an inch untouched!"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

The next moment, countless small Slug clones shot out from the main body, surging in all directions like a tide, spraying purifying and healing mucus along the way. A few muffled grunts and sounds of hasty retreat came from the forest, accompanied by the 'sizzling' of branches and leaves corroded by the mucus.

The Root and Anbu, who had been secretly observing, were utterly disheveled at that moment, no longer daring to make any subtle moves.

On a distant mountain peak.

Zi Luo looked at the world-destroying punch and the overwhelming Slug, his honest face filled with shock.

"Good heavens, this is the legendary Sannin… Much more imposing than when the elders in the Village bang on tables during meetings."

Tang Yan, meanwhile, squatted down and picked up a bit of dust blown by Tsunade's punch, sniffing it at the tip of his nose. His pupils slightly constricted.

"No, it's not just an internal Konoha struggle."

Zi Luo leaned closer: "What is it?"

"There's a very faint, but extremely pure Iwagakure scent mixed in with the Earth Release Ninjutsu residue," Tang Yan stood up, dusting off his hands. "People from Iwagakure are involved too; they seem to want Tsunade dead on the way even more than Danzo. The more chaotic Konoha is before a new Hokage takes office, the more advantageous it is for them."

Land of Fire, Tanzaku Street.

The air of the pleasure district was always murky, a mixture of alcohol, cheap perfume, and the sweat of gamblers.

A group from the Uchiha Police Force stood at the street corner, their new uniforms and stern demeanor clashing sharply with the decadent environment around them. Uchiha Yashiro, who led them, scanned every dark corner of the street with an eagle-like gaze.

A drunken gambler, swaying, bumped into a young Uchiha Clan member.

"Hic… What are you looking at? Never seen… ugh…"

The young team member's eyes instantly turned cold, his hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"Stop, Inaho." Uchiha Yashiro's voice was not loud, but it made the team member named Inaho stiffen and release his hand.

Yashiro did not look at the gambler, only calmly at the depths of the market. The gambler, half-sobered by Inaho's killing intent and further intimidated by Yashiro's dismissive attitude, scrambled away into the crowd.

"Captain Yashiro, why are we in a place like this? Our mission target is a rogue ninja, not this trash." Inaho lowered his voice, full of disdain.

"Shut up, and sense carefully." Yashiro said coldly, "The last trace of the target's presence is right here. He carries the scent of snakes and poison."

"What are you looking at? You Konoha watchdogs, have you also been assigned to a place like this?"

A man with a pointed chin and monkey-like cheeks leaned against a doorway, a toothpick in his mouth, brazenly sizing up the Uchiha group. A few thugs behind him burst into laughter.

Inaho's face instantly darkened, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning rapidly, his killing intent almost solidifying. The hilt of the sword at his waist was already creaking in his grasp.

"Stop."

A hand rested on his shoulder, not heavy, not light, but it calmed all of Inaho's surging thoughts. Uchiha Yashiro ignored the provoking man, not even giving him a second glance. His gaze swept over the crowd, surveying the various people hiding behind windows and in alleyways, eager for a spectacle.

A moment later, Yashiro's lips curved into a smile, devoid of any warmth.

He said not another word, simply issuing an order to his clansmen behind him.

"Activate Sharingan, conduct 'order scan'."

"Yes!"

Over a dozen scarlet eyes lit up simultaneously in the dark alleys of Tanzaku Street, like the eyes of beasts suddenly opening in the night. At this moment, they were not weapons for combat, but the most efficient intelligence gathering tools.

Mechanisms hidden under gambling tables, spare dice in the dealer's sleeves, secret compartments in the gang leader's money pouch, dirty deals taking place in dark alleys, even a certain boss's private stash hidden under the third brick of his outhouse, unknown even to his wife…

All the darkness and wickedness of Tanzaku Street had nowhere to hide under the Sharingan's insight.

In less than half a day, thick scrolls were placed before all the underground faction leaders of Tanzaku Street. Uchiha Fugaku had arrived at some point; he sat quietly in the main seat, a row of expressionless clan members standing behind him, Yashiro and Inaho among them.

He did not extort, nor did he threaten, simply pushing the scrolls gently forward.

"The Uchiha Police Force is here to maintain order. Our target is a rogue ninja, and we hope no 'incidents' occur during the search."

This 'record of crimes' was sharper than any blade. It brought not the threat of death, but the fear of being completely controlled. The local bosses present, looking at the secrets recorded on the scrolls that could ruin their reputations, felt cold sweat soaking their backs.

The entire Tanzaku Street fell into an unprecedented, eerie calm.

The investigation proceeded with surprising smoothness. In a long-abandoned tavern, an Uchiha Clan member, while cleaning a cobweb-filled bar, heard a slight hollow sound as his foot stepped on the floor. He stopped, his scarlet Sharingan scanning, the wood grain of the floor peeling away in his eyes, revealing a cleverly hidden entrance to a basement.

"Captain, there's something here."

The captain walked over. Lifting the floor, a musty, sealed-off smell wafted up. He waved for the others to stay put and descended alone.

In the basement's hidden compartment, a complete set of Iwagakure communication equipment lay quietly, alongside several meticulously drawn Konoha defense maps.

The captain picked up a map, his pupils suddenly contracting to pinpricks.

On the map, the Uchiha Clan's territory was heavily marked with a glaring red circle!

The Iwagakure attack, the Konoha higher-ups' scapegoating, this humiliating mission, and now this map pointing directly at the Uchiha… Countless clues connected in Fugaku's mind, forming a vast and chilling conspiracy.

Report the intelligence to the Village? Danzo's old face would immediately show a 'just as I expected' smile, then use it as an excuse to place even heavier shackles on the Uchiha's neck.

Conceal it and act alone? That would play right into the enemy's hands, solidifying the Uchiha's 'malicious intent' accusation.

No matter the choice, it was a dead end.

Receiving the intelligence, Fugaku stood in the shadows of the Uchiha compound, slowly clenching his fist, his knuckles turning white from the effort. After a long time, he released his hand, and the dark Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes slowly rotated in the darkness, reflecting an eerie, blood-red light.

An incredibly daring, even insane plan, sprouted in his mind.

Since it was death either way, why not… take the opponent's king before the table is overturned?