Very quickly, Uchiha Kimu and his group, along with a handful of surviving Konoha ninja who had not yet managed to escape, found themselves surrounded by the Sand Village army under Yuji's command.
Originally, if those remaining Konoha ninja had been fortunate, they might have been able to slip away and wait for the main army's reinforcements to arrive. There had been a genuine glimmer of survival available to them.
But the sudden appearance of the Uchiha clan members, who immediately launched a counterattack against the Sand Village forces, had caused the other Konoha ninja to fight passively in place, mistakenly believing that the main reinforcement army had arrived.
After a short while, they realized it was only a small Uchiha squad. The misunderstanding had completely destroyed their window for escape.
A stalemate settled over the battlefield.
Yuji's subordinates did not press the engagement further, having received temporary orders to hold. Clearing a path through the formation, Yuji walked forward until he came into Uchiha Kimu's line of sight.
"Is that Blood Doctor Yuji?"
Uchiha Kimu's eyes blazed with killing intent as he looked the approaching youth over from head to toe.
Disheveled hair. A slender frame that nonetheless carried a sense of underlying robustness. His posture and presence did not resemble a teenager at all.
His face had sharp, well-defined features with a few freckles across his cheeks, and there was a slight smile at the corners of his lips. His eyes gave off a warm and approachable first impression.
There was absolutely none of the oppressive or domineering fierce character energy that the rumors circulating through the Konoha army had described.
The person who had supposedly infiltrated their ranks single-handedly during the first border battle, killing countless people while shedding blood across the formation, and then escaping safely, simply did not look the part.
"Uchiha?"
Yuji noted the people standing nearby with a slight smile.
There were seven Uchiha clan members visible in total. The oldest appeared to be around twenty. The youngest was not much different from Yuji himself in apparent age.
And all of them had activated their Sharingan. One single tomoe, four double tomoe, two triple tomoe.
"You are quite courageous," Kimu said with a cold laugh.
"What do you mean?" Kimu's eyebrows raised slightly, mildly surprised.
"I thought that when you Sand Village people heard the Uchiha clan had arrived on the battlefield, a so-called genius like you would simply hide like a turtle in its shell."
Yuji heard this and suddenly inhaled sharply.
Then he took a slow, deep breath.
He looked at this Uchiha as though he had just discovered an entirely new continent.
The aura was simply overwhelming in a way he had not anticipated. Looking at these seven Uchiha clan members, he was suddenly reminded of certain familiar figures, certain immovable pillars of a household.
The weather had cleared and the rain had stopped, yet somehow the sense of personal achievement radiating from this group suggested they had already accomplished everything worth accomplishing.
That cold, ruthless bearing, combined with a subtle air of arrogance that required no specific situation or context to manifest itself. Pure, unfiltered disregard for everyone else in the vicinity.
This kind of confidence, whatever its origin, made everyone around it feel instinctively smaller.
One had to remember that the scene unfolding before them involved Yuji leading hundreds of Sand Village soldiers surrounding the remaining Leaf Village troops, including these seven Uchiha.
Even if one were going to be arrogant, there had to be a reasonable limit to it.
And yet.
Even in this situation, this particular Uchiha and his clansmen were clearly and unapologetically displaying the full authentic character of their clan. An outside observer might have concluded it was the Sand Village that was in danger.
To be honest, in his previous life Yuji had carried relatively little prejudice against the Uchiha clan. He had felt genuine regret for Shisui's fate.
He had understood the tremendous weight of what Itachi had carried and the immense upheaval he had experienced. Even if he had not particularly liked certain aspects of how events had unfolded, he could intellectually understand them.
But now, facing it in person for the first time, this peculiar feeling suddenly made him understand viscerally why the Uchiha clan was disliked within Konoha, why they had been ostracized by the village's senior officials. It was not simply a matter of historical circumstance or political maneuvering.
There were real reasons that left real traces. The way this person spoke made it feel as though the entire ninja world belonged to the Uchiha clan as a matter of settled fact.
Even granting that the Uchiha name had resonated throughout the ninja world since the Warring States period, and that Uchiha Madara had single-handedly achieved things no one else had managed, after two Great Ninja Wars with equally astonishing achievements on the clan's record, was there truly a need for this level of arrogance?
He opened his mouth to respond.
After one word, he stopped.
He suddenly realized he genuinely did not know what to say. He, who was usually quite comfortable and even skilled in social interaction, found himself surprisingly speechless when confronted with these Uchiha.
"I heard your bloodline is very powerful. And you also have a doujutsu, is that right?"
Uchiha Kimu swung his sword casually, his eyes brimming with killing intent as he stared at Yuji.
"Well? Facing our Uchiha clan's Sharingan, you cannot even bring yourself to open your eyes?"
Yuji stared at him.
A thought surfaced in his mind. Given this level of intelligence and this pattern of behavior, the fact that the Uchiha clan had not been completely wiped out was not solely due to the Sharingan's inherent power and superhuman combat capability.
It was also because they had joined Konoha and received a degree of battlefield protection that came with membership in one of the Five Great Villages.
If the Uchiha clan had ventured out on their own and established an independent force, they would almost certainly have been devoured by the ninja world long ago. No matter how many geniuses emerged from within the clan, with this kind of behavior pattern, they would eventually be consumed.
Unless, of course, a figure on the level of Uchiha Madara appeared again to use overwhelming force as a shield. In short, the Uchiha clan's current prestige still benefited substantially from the shadow left by that earlier era.
There were certainly intelligent people within the Uchiha clan. People whose thinking and personality were relatively grounded. But the ones standing in front of him right now were clearly not among them.
"Before I answer your challenge, may I ask you something first?"
Yuji extended one hand and spoke with complete gentleness.
Uchiha Kimu said nothing in response. Yuji waited a moment, then continued.
"You did notify the army before coming here, did you not? You did not simply run straight to this battlefield without informing anyone?"
"Do not worry. Dealing with you, we can easily hold out until the others arrive," Uchiha Kimu said coldly.
Yuji paused.
Thankfully, at least his intelligence was not at a completely pathetic level.
He still understood the basic concept of buying time. Yuji had genuinely considered the possibility that this Uchiha would open his mouth and declare his intention to wipe out hundreds of people single-handedly, including Yuji himself.
"My. So within the Uchiha clan, there truly are people like you. I have certainly learned something today. Truly, the world is vast and there is no shortage of remarkable things."
He could not help but bring his hands together in a single slow clap, his expression carrying something between amusement and genuine wonder.
"However, it is a pity. With just a few of you, even if you intend to stall for time, it is a bit like a fool lost in a pleasant dream."
He let the lightness drop from his voice.
"This is a battlefield. Not Konoha."
"Foolish behavior like yours ultimately comes at a heavy price."
"Even as enemies, I will not hold back."
He lowered his hand slightly as he finished speaking, his voice soft.
Before the last word had fully faded, Uchiha Kimu's pupils contracted instantly. He raised his sword and slashed in a single explosive motion, the blade leaving a blur of movement.
Despite his reaction speed, he missed the target entirely.
Behind him, the heads of two clansmen separated from their bodies and flew through the air, splattering blood across Kimu and the others standing beside him.
"You wanted to see my eyes?"
"Allow me to oblige."
The head movement came first. Then, in an instant, Yuji crossed past Uchiha Kimu, his feet barely touching the ground. He stood with his back to Kimu, fingertips manipulating floating threads in the air between them. A quiet chuckle escaped him.
In that single instant of movement, the arrogant Uchiha clansmen who had been standing with complete confidence a moment before had their expressions shattered entirely. The air itself seemed to freeze around them.
"True strength has never, at any point in history, been a matter of empty words."
He stood completely steady, tilting his head slightly to one side, revealing half of his face.
His crimson eyes shimmered with a faint golden light as he glanced at the several rigid figures around him and spoke with complete calm.
The hot blood continued to pour out around them.