Uchiha Patriarch !

Two days later in the morning, Kurotsuchi visited Iwagakure's hospital again, sneaking into "Doctor Shiso's" office through the window, as was her routine. She took iodine from the cabinet to disinfect her wounds and patiently waited for Dr. Shiso to start her shift. 

As the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi was raised with a traditional elite education. She was technically enrolled in the ninja academy, but had never attended a single class. Instead, she received private tutoring at home, and whenever her grandfather had time, she would also receive training from him and his two disciples. 

However, this didn't make Kurotsuchi's life any easier than that of the academy students. Quite the opposite, in fact. To avoid bringing shame to her grandfather or her family, she trained relentlessly, never sleeping in after the age of five. Her daily routine of early morning training was what brought her to the hospital, wounded, so early today. 

"Why is she so late today?" 

Kurotsuchi muttered as she stared at the closed door. Doctor Shiso had a precise routine, never arriving late unless she was off duty. In the two years Kurotsuchi had known her, this was the first time she had been late. Still, Kurotsuchi didn't think much of it at first, only worried that something might be wrong with Shiso's health. 

After waiting another twenty minutes, she still hadn't seen the familiar figure of Doctor Shiso. Her concern grew stronger. Just as she was debating whether to go find her at home, the door suddenly burst open. But instead of the warm smile that usually greeted her, Kurotsuchi was met with a squad of Iwagakure's ANBU, who stormed into the room like a swarm of bees. 

The ANBU raised their weapons instinctively, some even throwing shuriken at Kurotsuchi, not realizing at first who she was. By the time they recognized the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage sitting in the office chair, it was too late to stop their attacks. 

Clang! Clang! 

The shuriken were deflected. Kurotsuchi's Earth Release Hardening Technique had already been honed through years of hard training. Deflecting a few shuriken without any chakra-enhancement was easy for her. But in her eyes, she was still far from the level of her older brother, Deidara, who could hold his own against jonin-level ninjas. 

"Kurotsuchi?" 

The ANBU commander appeared in the doorway. 

"Uncle Fumiya?" Kurotsuchi recognized the man immediately. 

He was a close friend of her father's and one of her grandfather's most trusted subordinates. She often saw him in both her father's and grandfather's offices. 

"What are you doing here?" 

Just as Kurotsuchi recognized Fumiya, there was no way he wouldn't recognize the Tsuchikage's beloved granddaughter. He had seen her when she was born and watched her grow over the years. 

"I should be asking you the same, Uncle Fumiya. Why are you here with the ANBU?" 

Despite her young age, Kurotsuchi wasn't timid. Unlike other kids her age, she wasn't afraid to speak up, and even dared to question him. 

"...I'm pursuing a Konoha spy." 

Fumiya hesitated for a moment before revealing his mission. After all, Kurotsuchi had free access to the Tsuchikage's office, and keeping secrets from her was pointless. He also wanted to know why she was there. 

As he spoke, he cast a quick glance toward the corner of the room, where someone was hiding — not their target, but an ANBU assigned to protect Kurotsuchi. 

"A Konoha spy?" 

Kurotsuchi had heard about the spy hunt two days earlier, but why would the pursuit lead them to Doctor Shiso's office? The smart girl's face turned pale. "Uncle Fumiya, are you saying Doctor Shiso is a Konoha spy?" 

"We're not sure yet. We have no direct evidence linking her to Konoha, but this morning we confirmed from another captured Konoha spy that the intel sent back to Konoha was accurate. The Walking Priestess from Konoha has infiltrated our village, and based on our investigation, Doctor Shiso is one of the suspects." 

Fumiya wouldn't have personally led this mission if it didn't involve the legendary spy from Konoha, the Walking Priestess. 

"Doctor Shiso hasn't shown up for work yet. She's late today," Kurotsuchi said, her face growing paler. If Doctor Shiso really was a Konoha spy, had Kurotsuchi inadvertently leaked intel to her? Two days ago, she had mentioned the village's plan to hunt spies. 

She didn't want to believe it, but how could she not, when Fumiya had no reason to joke about such a serious matter? 

However, Kurotsuchi held back her emotions and answered Fumiya's earlier question. "I got hurt practicing Earth Release this morning, so I came here to see Doctor Shiso. We met two years ago. She's a skilled doctor, and since the medical ninjas at home are busy taking care of Grandpa, I usually come to the hospital for treatment." 

"I see." 

Fumiya didn't doubt her story. Even if Kurotsuchi was lying, what could he do? It wasn't as if he could interrogate or read her mind. 

He signaled the ANBU to search the office. As they rifled through drawers and cabinets, Kurotsuchi stood up, allowing them to take over the desk and chair. She moved closer to Fumiya, her voice filled with a last sliver of hope. 

"Uncle Fumiya, is Doctor Shiso's situation serious?" 

"...There are three suspects we're investigating. We've already apprehended the other two. One turned out to be a Sunagakure spy, and the other was a rogue ninja who snuck into the village. But we haven't found Doctor Shiso yet." 

Fumiya spoke cautiously, but his meaning was clear. Whether or not Doctor Shiso was the spy, the fact that they couldn't find her was a bad sign. There was also a small chance she had been killed to cover up the truth, but that was unlikely. If spies could kill notable figures without detection, the ANBU would have much to be ashamed of. 

"Doctor Shiso… she has a congenital heart condition…" 

"Kurotsuchi, I know Doctor Shiso is skilled in medicine, but it wouldn't be surprising if she had evaded our scrutiny. It's normal for spies to infiltrate villages; they're like weeds — you pull one, and another pops up." 

"Our village can't even grow weeds!" Kurotsuchi retorted. 

Fumiya chuckled, acknowledging her point without arguing further. 

The ANBU finished their search of the office and reported that they had found nothing suspicious. The room was immaculately clean, too clean. 

"Nothing at all?" Fumiya frowned. 

They had already searched Doctor Shiso's residence with the same result. Everything was spotless, too perfect to be believable. In Fumiya's experience, suspects this clean usually had something to hide. 

He could sense it: Doctor Shiso was no ordinary prey. 

"Let's go, Kurotsuchi. We're going to see the Tsuchikage. This Doctor Shiso… she's a big catch." 

— — — 

Like most ninja villages, Iwagakure had adopted many elements from Konoha, including the concept of a "Kage Building." While each village put its own local twist on the design, constructing such a building was far simpler than replicating the complex systems of the ninja academy or medical institutions. 

For example, Iwagakure's "Tsuchikage Building" was a tall, cylindrical structure, built against the sturdy rock mountain behind it. 

Later, under Onoki's orders, the Iwagakure forces ambushed the Kumogakure ninja, a group they initially had no conflict with. They sent out five divisions, a total of 10,000 soldiers, with the intention of crushing the Iwagakure frontline forces. However, they never expected the Third Raikage to be so fierce and determined, as he chose to cover the retreat of his subordinates alone. 

What truly devastated the Iwagakure soldiers was just how incredibly powerful the Third Raikage was. An entire army of 10,000 Iwagakure ninjas surrounded him, but it took three days and nights of continuous fighting to finally bring him down through sheer numbers. The casualties were so severe that when Onoki saw the final numbers, he almost couldn't catch his breath. 

Although the death toll wasn't extremely high—fewer than 1,000—things weren't any better. The Iwagakure ninjas, who excel at group combat, still managed to put up a fight. They were no weaklings like those from minor ninja villages such as Yugakure or Shimo-nin, but the Raikage's "Hell Stab" technique had such immense penetrating power, and it was particularly effective against the Earth Release techniques that Iwagakure ninjas specialized in. 

Though fewer than 1,000 died in the battle, the number of severely injured or disabled ninjas, no longer able to continue their careers as shinobi, reached a staggering 4,000! 

The Third Raikage was ruthless, prioritizing incapacitation over killing. This tactic, while less fatal, still removed over 4,000 Iwagakure soldiers from combat and placed a huge financial burden on the village. While the Iwagakure villagers might see these injured men as war heroes, Onoki viewed them as an economic disaster. In short, the Third Shinobi World War left no true winners. 

Even Konoha, which appeared victorious on the surface, had suffered greatly from the repeated assaults. If Konoha, in its prime, was in such a dire state, then Iwagakure, which was completely defeated, was even worse off. Things were so bad that of the 6,000 troops they had mustered, more than half were young men under the age of 18. 

The situation was so grim that even Kitsuchi, Onoki's own son, didn't support his decision to go to war with Konoha, just as he had opposed the earlier assault on Kumogakure years ago. 

"Kitsuchi, haven't you seen the intelligence reports about Konoha's defeats at the hands of Kumogakure in the Land of Hot Water?" Onoki, who was usually irritable and quick to anger, didn't lash out at his son's opposition this time. It wasn't because he had suddenly become more patient, or because Kitsuchi was his son, but rather because they had already argued about this over ten times in recent days. 

At first, Onoki had been furious, but after so many arguments, he was too tired to keep getting angry. 

"But hasn't Konoha already stopped Kumogakure's southern advance? Kumogakure only rushed to contact us because their offensive was stalling and they want to drag us into this war!" Kitsuchi, who had repeated this point multiple times, wasn't about to give up on dissuading his father from starting a war with Konoha. 

"Kitsuchi, this is a rare opportunity. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is dead, and so is that old scoundrel, Danzo Shimura. Konoha has never been weaker. If we don't seize this chance, once Konoha's new generation matures, the tables might turn on us…" 

Onoki narrowed his eyes as he recalled the intelligence from Kumogakure, which mentioned the "Mangekyou Sharingan" and "Susano'o." These names awakened the deepest fears he harbored, nightmares that had haunted him for decades. 

Most of today's young people had no idea how terrifying the Uchiha truly were, or at least not in the same way Onoki understood. As one of the few who had witnessed the terrifying power of Madara Uchiha, a man who seemed more demon than human, Onoki knew all too well how fearsome the Uchiha clan was. The "Mangekyou Sharingan" and "Susano'o" were nightmarish abilities. 

Fifty years ago, if the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, hadn't been so committed to peace and coexistence, Madara would have wiped out all opposition and made Konoha the supreme ruler of the ninja world. Thankfully, Hashirama had stopped him. 

Now, a new Uchiha with the Mangekyou Sharingan had emerged. Of course, not every Uchiha could become as powerful as Madara, but even one possibility was too many. 

It's not about fearing ten thousand possibilities, but fearing the one that might come true. 

If there were a thousand Madaras, there would be no hope. You might as well lie down and wait for death. But the real fear was if another Madara appeared and decided to conquer the ninja world. Without another Hashirama to stop him, the consequences would be catastrophic. 

This was why Onoki abandoned his original strategy of stalling and agreed to Kumogakure's request to send troops south. 

If possible, he wanted to eliminate the threat before it could grow. 

"Lord Tsuchikage, if Konoha is as weak as we believe, shouldn't we let Kumogakure wear them down? There's no need for us to get involved. The village needs to recover, and don't forget, the Third Raikage died at our hands. Kumogakure may not truly want to cooperate with us. They might be trying to drag us into this, and Konoha might not be as weak as they appear." 

After so many arguments, it was clear that neither father nor son would convince the other. Both were entrenched in their positions and saw themselves as being in the right. 

In truth, it was hard to say who was correct. Kitsuchi, who had never experienced the terror of Madara Uchiha firsthand, couldn't understand his father's hostility toward Konoha. Meanwhile, Onoki, trapped by his fear of the Uchiha, was willing to pay a high price to deal with any potential threat. 

Just then, there was a knock on the door. 

"Come in!" Onoki paused his argument with his son and turned to see Kurotsuchi enter with Bun'ya. He was slightly surprised. "Kurotsuchi, why are you here with Bun'ya?" 

Kurotsuchi walked quickly to her grandfather's side but remained silent, head down. 

Onoki frowned slightly, then turned to Bun'ya, who bowed to Kitsuchi before speaking, "The spies from Konoha have all been captured, except…" 

"Except?" 

"The traveling priestess may have escaped." 

Bun'ya quickly relayed the information about the "Doctor Shiso" without adding any personal bias, including the scene in the doctor's office where Kurotsuchi was involved. 

"Bun'ya? Are you sure? Doctor Shiso is the traveling priestess?" 

Kitsuchi was shocked. As a doting father, he had personally investigated anyone Kurotsuchi interacted with, including Doctor Shiso. Since Kurotsuchi had mentioned the doctor several times, Kitsuchi had ensured that the young doctor's background was thoroughly examined. 

He had confirmed that Doctor Shiso posed no threat, which is why he had allowed his daughter to associate with him. 

In fact, Kitsuchi himself had a good relationship with Doctor Shiso, as it wasn't often one would pass up the chance to get close to a young, talented doctor with a bright future. 

"I wish it wasn't true, but based on the current evidence, even if Doctor Shiso isn't the traveling priestess, they're likely an exceptionally skilled spy." 

Bun'ya smiled bitterly, aware that Doctor Shiso had connections with several of the village's higher-ups. 

Among the three suspects believed to be the traveling priestess, Bun'ya had left Doctor Shiso for last, hoping that if they could capture one of the others first, they wouldn't need to bother the doctor. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone his way, and the traveling priestess proved to be a legendary spy indeed. 

"So, Doctor Shiso…" Onoki murmured to himself, his voice loud enough to be heard by the others. "If Doctor Shiso is truly the priestess, then Konoha has outplayed us. The entire village's plans may already be known by Konoha!" 

Onoki's tone turned grim. "However, don't think you'll escape so easily from the Land of Earth. Bun'ya, gather elite forces from the Anbu and pursue her. According to your report, she was still in the village last night, so she can't have gotten far!" 

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!" Bun'ya responded firmly. 

"Grandfather, can I come too?" 

It was Kurotsuchi, who had been silent until now, that suddenly raised her head to ask. 

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