"Kill them! Let's go kill them!"
"Wipe out these five clans!"
"They dared to take advantage of the Uchiha while we were recuperating! Let them know the consequences of offending us!"
Many had lost comrades and relatives in this war.
The moment Izuna spoke, more than eighty percent of the men proposed an extermination campaign against the five clans.
Izuna inwardly rolled his eyes. *What a bunch of hotheads. Can't they see the situation?*
Right now, there were fewer than two hundred combat-ready Uchiha in Stonecastle. The combined forces left in the five clans' territories numbered at least a thousand, and two thousand was probably a conservative estimate.
Two hundred versus two thousand? Were they insane?
Even if Madara sent reinforcements from the main clan, it would be a tough fight.
Fortunately, while there were plenty of hotheads, there were also many smart people.
Understanding Izuna's expression, Uchiha Kong stepped forward, leaning on his cane. "Everyone, be quiet!"
The heated discussion gradually died down. Uchiha Kong continued, "Listen to the Vice-Clan Head!"
All eyes focused on Izuna again, awaiting their supreme commander's decision.
Uchiha Kong nodded at Izuna, indicating for him to continue.
"Right now, we lack the strength to launch an all-out extermination campaign against all five clans. Therefore, we will focus our efforts on one clan for now."
Pausing for a moment, Izuna's tone grew colder, more filled with killing intent. "The Hagoromo, the main culprits who dared to incite the four clans to attack us. We must make them pay the price!"
The crowd cheered again, but then someone asked, unwilling to let it go, "But, Vice-Clan Head, are we just going to let the Fuma and the other four clans go?"
Hearing this, Izuna offered a faint smile. "As for them, someone else will deal with them."
Many Uchiha clansmen had grown accustomed to Izuna's way of speaking in half-truths.
In the past, they might have grumbled inwardly.
But after the great victory in the northwest, everyone was completely convinced of Izuna's abilities, and they no longer questioned his decisions.
Soon, the four northwestern clans—the Fuma, Watanabe, Saito, and Kikawa—received letters from Uchiha envoys.
The letters stated that the war was over and their clan heads had been executed, but the Uchiha still held a large number of prisoners from each clan.
If they wanted to save their clansmen's lives, they would have to pay a hefty ransom.
With their clan heads dead, the highest decision-makers left in the four clans were the elders.
Upon meeting the Uchiha envoys and reading the letters, these elders were all aghast.
A year ago, they could never have imagined that this war would end in failure.
Although the Senju's inaction for the past year had surprised them, the Five-Clan Alliance's strength was still several times that of the Uchiha!
How could they have lost?
And they had lost five clan heads in the process!
As the envoy, Uchiha Ise faced the Watanabe elder, a man nearly twice his age, but his tone was utterly uncompromising. "Elder Watanabe, please make a decision quickly. Is it going to be your money, or the lives of your clansmen?"
The Watanabe elder's beard trembled with anger. There was basically no choice.
Money lost could be earned back, but losing people meant it would take years, even decades, to train new successors.
"But... this amount is really... Could you perhaps be a little merciful and lower it..."
Before the Watanabe elder could finish, Uchiha Ise cut him off mercilessly, "When your clan answered Hagoromo Masanari's call to attack our Uchiha clan, did you ever think of showing mercy?"
His words left the Watanabe elder speechless. More importantly, the disparity in their clans' power left him with no room to argue.
In the end, he could only sign the compensation agreement.
For nearly a month afterward, a stream of horse-drawn carts loaded with goods could be seen entering the Uchiha's Stonecastle.
Inside, they were filled with copper and silver coins.
This was all ransom money, signed and sealed by the four clans in exchange for their prisoners.
In the Warring States period, paper money had not yet been invented. The common currency was copper or silver coins. Gold coins existed but were too rare and valuable for practical use.
As the chests of ransom money were transported into Stonecastle, Uchiha Kong released the prisoners from the four clans in the order their payments were received.
As they left, the ninja from the four clans couldn't help but look back at the city. It would probably become a lifelong nightmare for them.
After the Watanabe, Kikawa, and Saito, the ransom from the Fuma, the last of the four clans, also arrived, and their people were released by Uchiha Kong.
At this point, the Hagoromo ninja, the only ones still imprisoned, began to panic.
Could it be that the clan elders were unwilling to pay to save them?
Were they just going to let them die at the hands of the Uchiha?
A Hagoromo chunin gripped the iron bars of his cell and shouted at Uchiha Kong outside, "Hey! Hasn't our clan's money arrived yet? That's impossible!"
Uchiha Kong, still leaning on a cane and wrapped in bandages from his severe injuries in the previous battle, heard this and a cold smile appeared on his face. "No. We never sent an envoy to your clan's lands."
The hundred or so Hagoromo ninja in the cells were all stunned. "What... what does that mean?"
"You don't need to know."
Uchiha Kong raised his free left hand and waved. The dozen or so Uchiha guards turned in unison, their hand seals already complete.
"You... you... what are you trying to do!?"
Ninja of the Warring States period should have been numb to death.
But when death truly came for them, no one could face it without a trace of panic.
"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
However, the only answer they received, the only thing that ushered them toward their demise, was an endless torrent of flames and, on the other side of the bars, the merciless Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
***
In addition to the ransom money, the two hundred reinforcements Izuna had requested from Uchiha Madara had also arrived.
With nearly a year having passed and the Senju clan still making no move, Madara and the others in the main clan had relaxed slightly.
They allocated two hundred men to Izuna as reinforcements to attack the Hagoromo clan's lands and completely annihilate them.
With this, victory was even more certain.
But this battle had to be won quickly.
The five great nations had not yet been formed. The various cities and lands were controlled by ninja clans or feudal lords.
The Hagoromo clan's territory was located in the western part of what would become the Land of Fire, near the future Land of Rivers.
After concluding the conflict with the Five-Clan Alliance, Izuna personally led a force of four hundred Uchiha ninja to attack the Hagoromo lands.
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