Chapter 482: 482.Worst Case, Just Lock the Door and Release Sasuke and Naruto

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"I’m just here for a casual stroll. Do you believe me?"

Whether you believe it or not, I believe it myself.

Of course Ōnoki didn’t buy such obvious rubbish for even a second.

He was simply relieved that he had been prepared. He had left the village and come personally to the front-line camp to take command. Otherwise, there was a real chance Kazuki would have launched another surprise attack.

As for whether Konoha would truly keep the scale of the war under control, Ōnoki didn’t dare take their word for it.

He only knew one thing: you could never fully trust the words of an enemy. He had to make every possible preparation and stay on high alert.

As for the so-called "controllable scale" of the war, that would ultimately depend on Konoha’s actions. At the moment, Iwagakure had no ability to launch proactive offensives and could only respond passively to whatever came their way.

Not wanting to dwell on that topic any longer, Ōnoki frowned deeply, his voice heavy with concern:

"The Akatsuki organization really is a restless bunch. I’m afraid once the war between the five great villages ends, that will be when they truly begin to move."

"Perhaps."

Even Kazuki couldn’t say for certain exactly when the Akatsuki would make their move.

However, he was confident of one thing: in the short term, the Akatsuki would not act recklessly.

There was also Nagato’s personal condition to consider.

Although the battle in the Land of Rain had been Nagato’s shining moment, the Rinnegan did not truly belong to him. The price of forcibly using the Rinnegan was enormous. Given how broken and fragile Nagato’s body already was, simply managing to hold on without collapsing was already an achievement.

Right now, Nagato was probably hiding somewhere, quietly recuperating from his injuries.

The longer the Akatsuki delayed their plans, the better it was for Kazuki. With the passage of time, his own strength would continue to grow day by day, while the next generation would also steadily mature.

The key players in that next generation were Naruto and Sasuke.

Thanks to Kazuki’s deliberate guidance and support, the two boys were already growing much faster and earlier than they had in the original timeline.

Once those two fully matured, even if the Akatsuki managed to bring out Uchiha Madara, Kazuki wouldn’t be worried in the slightest.

Worst case scenario? Just lock the door and release Sasuke and Naruto!

The Sage of Six Paths would never sit idly by and watch his own mother run loose to wreak havoc on the shinobi world. With that ultimate safety net in place, there was nothing to fear.

As for everything else, there was no need to overthink it.

The Akatsuki’s schemes were a problem for the entire shinobi world, not something that fell solely on Uchiha Kazuki’s shoulders.

If a fight was coming, everyone would face it together. Expecting him to single-handedly confront the entire Akatsuki organization was impossible.

That was why Naruto and Sasuke needed to grow stronger—and quickly.

As for the fact that Itachi was still alive and well, and Sasuke hadn’t obtained his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Kazuki wasn’t worried about that at all.

As long as the Sage of Six Paths was willing to invest the necessary resources, he could easily turn Sasuke’s Mangekyō into an Eternal Mangekyō and even grant him a Tomoe Rinnegan on top of that.

Without needing to sacrifice Itachi, Sasuke could still reach the Six Paths level of power. So why bother sacrificing Itachi at all?

Kazuki had worked hard to raise this little minion There was no way he would allow him to be thrown away so easily.

If anyone had to be sacrificed, it should be Fugaku instead.

"..."

Am I overthinking things?

Fugaku suddenly felt a wave of inexplicable malice wash over him. He immediately became alert, scanning his surroundings warily.

This earned him a puzzled look from Itachi and a "what’s wrong with this guy?" stare from Orochimaru.

Neither of them could understand why Fugaku had suddenly become so jumpy, as if some terrifying enemy was lurking nearby.

Noticing the strange looks from Itachi and Orochimaru, Fugaku realized he had been overly sensitive.

Unfortunately, there was no way he could explain what he had just felt.

Under the premise that Mangekyō Sharingan could be transplanted between blood relatives, sacrificing Fugaku would clearly be far more cost-effective than sacrificing Itachi.

Kazuki couldn’t help but wonder who had taken Fugaku’s Mangekyō Sharingan in the original story.

If it had been Itachi, why hadn’t he transplanted it into himself?

Doing so would have freed him from the burden of his illness and prevented him from dying so early.

In the end, Kazuki could only conclude that the power of "plot armor" was truly formidable.

The story had demanded that Itachi be sacrificed for Sasuke’s sake.

Rather than making practical use of a "useless" asset by transplanting Fugaku’s eyes instead.

"Since the Tsuchikage has come in person and is busy overseeing the reconstruction of your camps, I won’t disturb you any further. I hope your village’s camps are completed as soon as possible, and that your new defensive lines are established quickly as well."

Kazuki had never actually intended to launch another raid on the camps this time. At the very least, making a public appearance on the border was necessary.

He wanted Ōnoki to understand that he could show up here at any moment. With that constant concern hanging over their heads, even if Iwagakure had the spare strength to launch a major offensive against Konoha, they wouldn’t dare act recklessly.

"Hmph."

Nothing good can come from this.

Ōnoki let out a cold snort but made no further move. He stood atop the border marker stone and watched silently as Kazuki and his group departed.

"Lord Tsuchikage."

Only after Kazuki had gone far into the distance did the Iwagakure ninja finally dare to approach.

Ōnoki reassured them calmly:

"It’s fine. You can continue building the camp without worry. From now on, we’ll simply watch Konoha’s next moves. If they want to fight, we’ll gladly oblige!!"

"Lord Advisor, why did the Tsuchikage personally appear on the border line?"

On the way back, Fugaku couldn’t help but ask the question that had been bothering him.

Kazuki spread his hands helplessly:

"Why else? He’s guarding against me, of course. He’s worried that the newly rebuilt camps will be attacked and destroyed by me again, so he came personally to oversee things. Until the camps are fully completed, Ōnoki won’t be leaving the front lines."

"Then the war..."

"Proceed as planned. As long as the fighting doesn’t become too intense, Ōnoki won’t personally take action. He doesn’t dare to act rashly."

The situation on the Takigakure battlefield was already giving Ōnoki enough headaches. If the war with Konoha expanded in scale as well, Iwagakure simply wouldn’t be able to withstand being attacked on two fronts. That was why Ōnoki would choose to fight defensively.

If Konoha sends a large force, Iwagakure will grit their teeth and fight back. Unless they reach the point of absolute desperation, they will never surrender or give up.

If Konoha chooses to drag things out with small-scale operations, Iwagakure will simply match them step for step and fight a slow war of attrition.

This way, Iwagakure can also concentrate more of its strength on the Takigakure battlefield.

At this stage, the war had already progressed beyond the point where Ōnoki could simply declare it over if he wanted to.

Until a clear outcome was reached, Ōnoki would never call for a ceasefire. Otherwise, he would have no way to explain himself to the villagers or the village’s leadership.

Even if he ultimately lost, he would at least have a reasonable explanation to fall back on.

Even if he had to carry a heavy black pot of blame on his back.

Given Iwagakure’s current situation, Ōnoki could not be forced to step down simply because he lost one battlefield. There simply wasn’t anyone suitable to take over the position of Tsuchikage.

Deidara, whom Ōnoki had once viewed as a potential successor, was far too unserious—his head was filled with nothing but explosions and art. Kurotsuchi was still just a wild, carefree girl. Neither of them could be relied upon to shoulder the burden of leading Iwagakure anytime soon.

"Next comes the real test of wits and courage. Orochimaru, don’t disappoint me."

"I’m looking forward to it as well."

Orochimaru licked his lips with his long tongue. Both Itachi and Fugaku instinctively took a step away from him, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the man as possible.

Not everyone could comfortably accept Orochimaru when he looked and behaved like some kind of snake princess.

This included Kazuki.

He really wanted to remind Orochimaru about it, but in the end he held his tongue.

After all, he would be staying back in the village from now on. The distance would be great, and since he wouldn’t have to see it, he wouldn’t have to feel disgusted by it.