"Die!"
Using his teammate as a human shield, the Kirigakure Jōnin swung his blade, aiming to decapitate the brat in Uchiha clan attire standing before him.
Frightened by the madman's behavior, Uchiha Yōwan froze, forgetting to resist. He stared motionless with his newly awakened Sharingan as the enemy's sword came down toward him.
"Ah!"
With a blood-curdling scream, the Kirigakure Jōnin was knocked back by an invisible attack. Clutching his abdomen, he began wailing in pain.
"Getting distracted in war is a fatal mistake!"
A cold voice rang out as a Hyūga clan ninja leapt in front of Yōwan and struck the Kirigakure ninja's neck with a palm strike.
"You are..."
Seeing the person's face clearly, Uchiha Yōwan instinctively pressed his legs together.
It was the Byakugan punk, Hyūga Iroha.
Perhaps because his infamous nickname had spread throughout the village and he had given up entirely, whether on the Kumogakure battlefield or now on the Kirigakure front, Hyūga Iroha would use his wildly inaccurate Eight Trigrams Air Palms to target male ninjas exclusively, dealing excruciating pain to countless men.
As a result, the nickname that once only circulated in Konoha gradually spread to the ears of ninjas from all the major hidden villages.
"Alright, let's keep fighting!"
Ignoring Yōwan, Hyūga Iroha turned his gaze toward another male Kirigakure ninja.
"Are you alright, Yōwan?"
Not long after Hyūga Iroha left, an adult Uchiha ninja approached Yōwan and checked on his condition.
"I'm fine. I... I was saved by someone from the Hyūga clan. I didn't expect them to use their own teammate as a shield."
Yōwan couldn't understand their behavior. Compared to when he was younger, he had matured quite a bit. Though he still carried the typical Uchiha pride and sharp tongue, his actions were guided by the belief that no comrade should ever be abandoned.
"To them, there's no such thing as comrades—everyone is just a tool to be used. You'll get used to it."
Frowning as he knocked away a kunai that had come from who-knows-where, the Uchiha ninja stood by Yōwan's side.
Like Wada, he was part of the Uchiha's hawkish faction. Naturally, he wouldn't just sit back and watch Yōwan die.
"This war is likely to drag on for a long time. You'll need to get used to this kind of life, Yōwan."
"War... What has war brought us..." Yōwan stared at the gruesome battlefield ahead, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
...
Due to the war, the normally heavily guarded ANBU prison had lost a large number of its watchful shinobi, and patrols had become much less frequent.
Too old to join the battlefield and personally protect his grandson, Uchiha Wada wasn't idle. Early that morning, he went alone to the ANBU prison to request a visit with Uchiha Setsuna, who was still locked up and serving time.
When he was young, Setsuna had wanted to leave Konoha with the rest of the Uchiha clan, but because of his age, he was denied—something that became a thorn in his heart.
Later, after Uchiha Madara attacked Konoha and "died" at the Valley of the End, Hashirama soon passed away and Tobirama took over. Setsuna felt threatened as Tobirama began implementing anti-Uchiha policies, so he tried to incite a rebellion.
Wada had joined him in that plot.
But when Tobirama swiftly crushed the attempted uprising and locked the rebels in his notorious "little black room," Wada, who once swore he was the inheritor of Madara's will, instantly chickened out. He started claiming he was a loyal Konoha citizen and had never considered a coup.
Due to his overly sincere attitude—and the lack of solid evidence—Wada and a group of clansmen who signed written guarantees were released. Only die-hard rebels like Setsuna were kept in prison permanently.
After Tobirama was "permanently stationed" in the Land of Lightning by the Gold and Silver Brothers, Hiruzen Sarutobi became the Third Hokage. Wada, who had been quiet for years, began to stir again. He covertly gathered a group of hawkish Uchiha, though this time he didn't dare plan a coup. They simply met occasionally to share meals and grumble about Konoha's leadership.
Now, with the outbreak of war and his grandson deployed to the battlefield, Wada suddenly felt the urge to visit his old comrade. So he submitted a visit request to the prison.
"Uchiha Setsuna?"
The ninja in charge of reception frowned as he read the name on the request and looked up at Wada.
"Is there a problem?"
Irritated by the man's gaze, Wada was about to snap, but remembering everything that had happened, he quickly softened his tone like a docile little sheep.
"No, it's just... Uchiha Setsuna is already dead. His body has already been claimed by someone."
After digging through a stack of dense files, the ninja found the one he was looking for and handed it to Wada.
"Dead? How's that possible?"
Wada was stunned—not surprised that Setsuna had died, but rather confused by the fact that someone had claimed his body.
Setsuna's parents had long passed, and he'd never married before his arrest. Who would've taken his body?
Staring at the death certificate with a bright red seal, Wada suddenly realized something. He hurriedly returned the paper to the ninja.
This was bad. It looked like Setsuna still had followers active on the outside. Wada couldn't afford to get dragged into that mess.
Without another word, Uchiha Wada fled the ANBU prison at full speed.
...
"That bastard Mogera... could he have been killed by these little brats?"
In a bamboo grove, after waiting fruitlessly for Mogera, Hikaru and Daishi began searching and eventually spotted Takeshi and his group.
"Let's capture them and ask."
As he spoke, Daishi began forming hand signs.
Once his body turned completely transparent, Daishi began silently creeping up behind the group.
As soon as Daishi was in position, Hikaru prepared to trigger the trap they had set up in advance.
"Enemy attack! Obito, Kakashi, Rin—get behind me!"
Before Hikaru could act, Takeshi—who had already sensed the presence of Iwagakure scouts—reacted first and threw a Flying Thunder God kunai.
"Tch, we've been discovered?"
Seeing the kunai flying at him, Hikaru triggered the trap and dodged out of the way.
This gave Takeshi the opportunity to strike. Using the Flying Thunder God kunai as a beacon, he instantly teleported to Hikaru and hurled a handful of senbon.
"Such speed!"
Surprised by Takeshi's sudden appearance, Hikaru activated his hidden mechanisms and launched sleeve darts to deflect the senbon.
He blocked it? Even after a Flying Thunder God attack?
Takeshi's expression turned serious—he hadn't expected the enemy to react so quickly in this situation.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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