Without a moment's hesitation, Izuna ordered, "Prepare to attack!"
The others were stunned. "Second-in-Command," someone immediately said, "didn't you say we should adopt a defensive strategy?"
"The situation has changed." The five-clan alliance was already difficult enough. If the Ino-Shika-Cho joined the fray, things would become even more troublesome. The immediate priority was to prevent them from joining the alliance. At the end of the day, they were simply afraid of joining a losing fight. In that case, the Uchiha would take the initiative and prove to them that a cornered lion is more dangerous than a jackal. They would scare the Ino-Shika-Cho into staying out of it.
"This battle must make a name for the Uchiha! We have to scare those bastards into not making a move!" Uchiha Kong roared, finally able to vent his pent-up frustration.
***
About thirty miles from the Uchiha's stone fortress, in the encampment of the five-clan alliance, Hagoromo Masanari, as the instigator of the attack and the leader of the strongest clan, was naturally the alliance's commander.
In the main tent, Masanari sat in the seat of honor. Below him, in two rows, sat the heads of the other clans: Fuma Setsuna of the Fuma, Watanabe Ya of the Watanabe, Saito Oki of the Saito, and Kikawa Yoichi of the Kikawa. They were currently gathered for a banquet, not for pleasure, but to entertain an honored guest—Nara Enkaku. He was the envoy sent by the Ino-Shika-Cho, and thus the target of their recruitment efforts. Although Masanari didn't normally give the Ino-Shika-Cho much thought, now that he was facing the Uchiha, he wanted all the firepower he could get.
"Clan Head Hagoromo, I'm afraid I truly cannot hold my liquor. This will be my last cup," said Nara Enkaku, who wore his hair in a spiky ponytail just like the future Nara Shikamaru. He declined Masanari's offer of another drink with a weary smile.
Masanari set down his cup and laughed. "Very well, I won't insist. But when you return, Master Enkaku, you must be sure to tell the three clan heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho that now is the perfect opportunity to devour the Uchiha. An opportunity that comes once in a century."
"Yes, yes, I will certainly relay the message," Enkaku replied, nodding repeatedly, though his thoughts were elsewhere entirely. The Uchiha might seem to be in dire straits, but as one of the top clans of the Warring States, they wouldn't be so easily destroyed.
*Dong! Dong! Dong!*
The heavy toll of a bell rang out. The five clan heads, who had been flushed with wine, sobered instantly. They all knew what that bell meant.
Enemy attack!
Sure enough, a Fuma clan ninja entered the tent and knelt. "Report! An Uchiha force of about two hundred is advancing on our position!"
Nara Enkaku's pupils constricted. *Two hundred? That's nearly half of the Uchiha's northwestern forces,* he thought in shock.
The wine wore off Masanari in an instant. He rose to his feet with a cold smile. "The Uchiha truly are a bunch of madmen, to actually initiate the attack." Any other clan would have chosen to defend their fortress and recuperate, but the Uchiha couldn't be judged by common sense. They were lunatics.
"Clan Head Hagoromo, let the Kikawa clan strike first!" offered Kikawa Yoichi, the head of the Kikawa clan, who was an elite Jonin. His strength was the weakest among the five clan heads, but the combined might of the alliance gave him immense confidence.
Masanari was more than happy to let this eager fool take the lead. "Excellent! Then let Clan Head Kikawa strike the first blow in our conquest of the Uchiha. Take six hundred ninja and meet them in battle."
He was sending out a force three times the size of the Uchiha's. Like Izuna, Masanari wanted to secure a decisive victory in the first battle to create a good impression and show the strength of the five-clan alliance to the Nara envoy.
***
Unlike the eastern battlefield where they had fought the Senju, which was surrounded by mountains, the western region was a vast, open plain. This meant that strategy would be difficult to employ; it would be a clash of pure strength. The side with more numbers had the advantage. In other words, the situation was not in the Uchiha's favor.
But unlike Hagoromo Masanari and the others, who were watching from a lookout tower in the rear, Izuna, clad in his red armor, stood at the very front of the two hundred Uchiha clansmen.
"Hm? The one in the lead isn't Uchiha Kong..." the Saito clan head muttered from the center of his formation, using a sensory ninjutsu to assess the battlefield.
"No, sir. That is the Uchiha clan's newly appointed second-in-command, Uchiha Izuna," a Hagoromo scout explained.
"So Uchiha Gakugyo stepped down?" The Saito head's eyes opened, his lips curling into a fox-like smile. "Just as well. Let's see what he's capable of. We have three times their numbers."
***
"Second-in-Command, enemy numbers are approximately six hundred," an Uchiha scout reported, appearing beside Izuna with a Body Flicker. "They are led by the head of the Kikawa clan, Kikawa Yoichi."
"Kikawa Yoichi..." Izuna's eyes twitched. According to Kong's briefing, this man was merely an elite Jonin. He dared to lead the vanguard? Did he really think the Uchiha were easy prey?
At that thought, Izuna raised his right hand high. In an instant, the clansmen behind him activated their Sharingan in unison. From the lookout tower, Hagoromo Masanari and the others felt as if they had just seen a field of malevolent crimson stars ignite on the opposing side.
*Whoosh!*
The next moment, Izuna swung his right hand down, whipping up a gust of wind that ignited the first flames of war.
"I am the head of the Kikawa clan, Kikawa Yoichi! You, the leader of the Uchiha—"
Kikawa Yoichi, leading the six hundred ninja of the five-clan alliance, had just started his pre-battle speech when he saw Izuna on the other side give a sharp wave of his hand.
"Haaaah!"
The two hundred Uchiha ninja let out a unified roar. Their black uniforms blurred into motion, and from a distance, the pure black army charged forward with unstoppable momentum.
"Hmph! The Uchiha truly are all madmen!" Kikawa Yoichi spat. He had hoped to make a good showing in front of the alliance. His strength was the weakest among the five clan heads, so even when they carved up the Uchiha's territory, his clan would likely receive the smallest share. That was why he had proposed to lead the vanguard, to earn merit.
"Water Release: Water Flow Slash!"
"Lightning Release: Emotion Wave!"
"Wind Release: Twin Rasengan!"
Izuna's dual Wind Release: Rasengan combined with his clansmen's water and lightning jutsu, instantly merging into a massive, S-rank destructive ninjutsu with three elemental affinities. It looked like a natural disaster poised to swallow everything in its path.
"Defense!" Yoichi roared. The front line retreated over ten meters, replaced by the second line of ninja, who slammed their hands on the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Dozens of stone and earth walls, massive enough to alter the terrain, shot up from the ground, forming a barrier in front of the allied forces.
*BOOM!*
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