Uchiha Ran watched Osāi kneeling on the ground with a faint smile. There seemed to be a quiet gleam in his eyes as he spoke calmly, almost gently.
"Osāi, you kept thinking you'd already broken free of the Sharingan's genjutsu… but it looks like you guessed wrong."
Osāi clutched his chest in agony, desperately trying to stem the blood pouring endlessly from the wound. He couldn't accept what he was seeing. He had always believed he could easily perceive and dispel Sharingan genjutsu—yet now that belief had been shattered by Uchiha Ran himself.
"Did you cast it… when you drew your sword?" Osāi half-knelt on the ground, his voice trembling. "Impossible! There's no way a genjutsu could avoid disrupting my perception, my chakra flow, and still leave me fatally wounded without me realizing it!"
"Damn you, Uchiha brat—what exactly did you do?!"
Looking down at the kneeling Osāi, Ran seemed almost possessed by the air of a villain from some tragic tale. Instead of killing him immediately, he calmly explained:
"This is my genjutsu—Fleeting Life, Dreamlike Illusion. The moment I drew my blade, you were already completely hypnotized."
"…Complete hypnosis?" Osāi lowered his head.
"Yes. Complete hypnosis. Unless you're a very specialized sensory-type ninja, you'll never realize you're under it. Even now that I've told you, you still can't break it." Ran's voice was steady, emotionless. "So go—repent in the Pure Land."
Ran seemed almost unhinged as he slowly drove Fleeting Life, Dreamlike Illusion deeper toward Osāi's brain.
"Uchiha brat!" Osāi suddenly roared, grabbing the blade that was piercing toward his head. "The ninja path is built on sacrifice! Someone like you—who toys with an enemy after thinking you've won—will only invite your own destruction in the end!"
"Disappear into dust with me!"
"Lightning Release Secret Art—Thunder Roar, Eighth Form!"
BOOM—!!
A massive explosion erupted. A blazing fireball burst into the sky as lightning scattered wildly in all directions. A magnificent, compact mushroom cloud rose upward, arcs of plasma crawling across the battlefield.
The explosion was deafening. The entire sky was dyed a blinding gold.
In the final instant, Osāi remembered a conversation he once had with the Third Raikage.
"Osāi, stay behind me. The beautiful lands of Konoha—we will claim them."
"Yes, Third-sama! I'll follow closely behind you and eliminate every threat Konoha poses!"
Lightning surged outward. Osāi's voice echoed faintly through the blast:
"Brat! Come die with me—!"
But in the end… it was nothing more than wishful thinking.
Uchiha Ran was already standing on a distant tree trunk, calmly watching the shockwave roll past.
"What a shame, Osāi. I already told you—you were completely under Fleeting Life, Dreamlike Illusion. Everything you saw, everyone you perceived, could have been an illusion." Ran sighed lightly. "I was only curious whether you'd reveal any useful intelligence."
"With that explosion, I don't even need to erase the body. Figures… insects are best left crawling on the ground, then scattered by the wind."
He turned away, eyes cold.
"What matters now is reaching the Land of Frost for reinforcements. You weren't even worth another glance."
With a reverse flick of his wrist, Ran sheathed Fleeting Life, Dreamlike Illusion. In the next instant, he vanished—leaving behind only two leaves drifting slowly down from the tree.
Not long after Ran departed, a replacement Frost-nin patrol arrived at the site.
"There are only traces of a large-scale lightning explosion. Everything else has been wiped out."
"It was Kumogakure. Only Cloud ninja can produce Lightning Release with this level of power. They've been active in the Land of Rice Fields lately. Lord Frost has already ordered Jōnin Pinto to investigate."
"Damn it… are they targeting our Land of Frost now?"
"Don't jump to conclusions. Let the higher-ups decide."
"Yes, sir."
Soon after the Frost ninja left, another group arrived at the scorched battlefield.
"Damn it! Why would Osāi use a forbidden technique and sacrifice himself in a place like this?!"
"Troi-sama… should we still proceed with capturing the Seven-Tails of Takigakure?"
"No." Troi shook his head grimly. "Without Osāi's Storm Release, and with Lord A and Killer B absent, we can't handle the Seven-Tails anymore. We're pulling back—regroup with Dodai-sama."
"Yes, Troi-sama!"
The leader of the Frost Ninja Village had already anticipated Uchiha Ran's arrival with Namikaze Minato's request for aid. When news came that an important trade route had been destroyed by Kumogakure, his anger flared immediately. He ordered Jōnin Pinto to accompany Ran straight to the Land of Rice Fields' border.
Before departure, the village leader gave Pinto a final warning:
"Pinto, don't push yourself too hard. Leave as much as possible to Konoha's ninja."
Along the way, Pinto chatted casually with Ran.
"Ran-san, you're an impressive Uchiha—so young, yet already operating on the border."
"You flatter me, Pinto-jōnin," Ran replied modestly, adjusting his glasses. "I'm just an ordinary Uchiha. The truly outstanding ones are those elders who've already awakened their eyes."
Pinto neither agreed nor disagreed. Everyone knew the truth—among the Uchiha were prodigies who rose young, and late bloomers who grew terrifyingly strong over time. Especially on border battlefields, an Uchiha who experienced drastic change would inevitably awaken the Sharingan.
Before long, Ran and Pinto returned to Konoha's encampment.
They reported the situation in the Land of Frost to Namikaze Minato. Pinto also confirmed that Kumogakure had, in effect, already violated Frost territory.
"A large-scale Lightning Release explosion…" Minato murmured. "So besides the A–B duo, Kumogakure has other heavy hitters here as well."
"We've almost completely uprooted their outposts," Nara Shikaku added. "I suspect they're about to make a move. Commander, perhaps it's time to meet them directly. They've been lingering in the Land of Rice Fields—everyone's on edge."
"I agree," Minato nodded. "Right now we have the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, myself, Jōnin Kurenai Yuhi, Jōnin Pinto, and Ran, Tsubaki, and Dōmu. We're more than capable of meeting them face-to-face."
As he spoke, Minato handed a special kunai to Inuzuka Tsubaki.
Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique had already matured. He entrusted the marked kunai to Tsubaki, whose scouting abilities were exceptional, instructing her to return toward the Fire Country border and secure a hidden, safe area. If a dangerous battle broke out, he would retrieve everyone instantly with Flying Thunder God.
He also ordered Dōmu and Uchiha Ran to remain at the rear, prepared to scatter their Flying Thunder God kunai across other parts of the battlefield if necessary.
At the same time, inside Kumogakure's tent, A was furious.
He didn't know who Osāi had fought.
He didn't know who had killed him.
He didn't even know whether Osāi had managed to take his enemy down with him.
Tomorrow.
He would meet Konoha's ninja.
Osāi's death would not go unanswered.
The future Fourth Raikage slammed his fist into the ground, rage crackling through the tent like thunder.