Chapter 191
2-in-1-chapter
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Their ferocity, however, was meaningless before absolute power.
"Leave no one alive. Kill them all."
Shisui's order was passed down quickly. His compassion and mercy were not limitless. In the past, he had wavered between the village and his clan, unable to decide which to protect, because in his eyes, the two were like the palm and back of one hand. But the shinobi of Kumogakure were an external enemy, through and through—on this point, Shisui had never been confused.
He had slaughtered Mist-nin on the battlefield until their very name inspired fear, and when faced now with these invaders from the Cloud, there was no pity left in his heart.
Uchiha-ryū: Gale Sword.
A mastery of Body Flicker combined with the consummate swordsmanship of the Uchiha school—at first contact, Shisui decapitated a Kumogakure squad leader. The head rolled far across the ground, and the blood gushing from the severed neck did not even touch the hem of Shisui's cloak.
He moved like a raging wind through the enemy ranks, blades breaking, heads tumbling, blood falling in cascades.
The Kusanagi Sword: Blade of the Sky gleamed in his hands with an unprecedented brilliance. He did not display its ability to fly freely through the air; he simply unleashed its unmatched sharpness to the fullest, and that alone was enough to sweep aside all who stood before him.
Since obtaining the Blade of the Sky, Shisui had devoted himself to refining his Wind Release, perfecting the element's cutting edge. Combined with the sword's natural sharpness, it proved the phrase "slicing iron as if it were mud." The shattered weapons of the Kumogakure shinobi, and the severed heads strewn across the field, were proof enough.
At that moment, Shisui saw flames rising in the sky.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Uchiha Fugaku's hand seals were too fast to follow. When he exhaled, a massive fireball erupted from his mouth, so large that the airborne Kumogakure shinobi could not evade it. His timing was perfect; no one could have done better.
With a brief chorus of screams, the three Kumogakure shinobi who had been attempting to surround Fugaku were reduced to charred corpses.
With a single technique, three enemies were annihilated. Fugaku's expression did not change as he drew the katana at his waist. His scarlet eyes fixed on the remaining enemy shinobi as though looking upon walking corpses. Deep within the former clan head's heart, a sense of exhilaration and freedom welled up—a feeling he had not known for years.
Whether his nature was indecisive or accommodating, Uchiha Fugaku was, at his core, a true Uchiha.
He had been confined within the clan for so long that he had been unable to stretch his limbs properly. Though he could restrain the frustration in his chest, now that he finally had the chance to fight freely, excitement surged through him uncontrollably. No longer did he need to worry about the clan's future, to act as an example for others, or to concern himself with politics and reputation.
All he needed to do now was fight. When he cleaved through another Kumogakure shinobi, feeling his blade cut through flesh and bone, his heart leapt with savage joy.
Indeed, the Uchiha were born for the battlefield.
"Yashiro, stop stealing my prey!" Fugaku shouted irritably when he saw Uchiha Yashiro cut down the opponent he had been targeting, forgetting entirely that Yashiro had once been one of his staunchest supporters as clan head.
But as the saying went, when a man leaves, the tea grows cold.
Once Fugaku had stepped down from his position, many clansmen who had once rallied around him scattered. When Rēn later unleashed his dazzling series of maneuvers that overthrew Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō's regime, the Uchiha had completely cast their former leader aside.
"Haha! Elder Fugaku, don't rush, there's plenty of prey to go around!"
Uchiha Yashiro's grin was wild and carefree, stripped of the usual restraint he carried.
As a senior member of the Uchiha clan, he, like Fugaku, had long carried the heavy burden of anxiety for the clan's future. The village's constant pressure had been an invisible weight upon his chest, making even breathing feel difficult. But those days were gone.
The younger generation had grown strong. Their current clan head was a genius beyond ordinary measure, far beyond their capacity to judge. Even just the outstanding performances of Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Ranzan, and the others had already eased Yashiro's long-held worries. He could finally release his tension and let himself fight freely for once.
Exhilarating—utterly exhilarating.
That was what Yashiro, Uchiha Kōhei, Uchiha Meirai, Uchiha Meishin, Uchiha Suo, Uchiha Inoka, and Uchiha Tekka all felt. Such unrestrained, bloody combat filled them with a sense of fierce vitality and liberation.
"Hahaha! Exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!"
Uchiha Meirai could not contain his laughter.
He was one of the clan's top fighters, one of only three division commanders in the Police Force, a man of both strength and shrewdness. Yet day after day, year after year, he had been left to handle petty thefts and minor brawls in the village—trivial matters unworthy of his skill. He had often found himself nostalgic for the days of the Third Great Ninja War, when he could fight freely on the battlefield.
And now, once again, he felt that indescribable thrill.
Uchiha Inoka was drenched in blood, wielding twin blades with two more tucked beneath his arms. His clan practiced a four-sword style, and at this moment he had become a walking instrument of slaughter. Any Kumogakure shinobi who crossed his path was caught in genjutsu the instant he met Inoka's gaze, and in the next moment, all four blades struck at once, shredding the victim into pieces.
His brutality was such that even other Uchiha kept their distance, except for his younger brother, Uchiha Tekka, who charged alongside him. The two brothers cut through the battlefield as an unstoppable force.
"So strong…"
Watching the Uchiha's overwhelming offensive, Kimimaro, holding the corpse of a fallen Kumogakure shinobi impaled on a bone spear, was momentarily stunned. He had seen the battle between Shisui and Orochimaru and was not easily impressed by individual prowess. What shook him now was the clan's collective ferocity and their sheer will to fight.
For an instant, it felt as though he were witnessing the annihilation of the Kaguya clan all over again—except the Uchiha were far stronger, far more terrifying than those reckless fools had ever been.
The Kumogakure force was crushed almost immediately, wiped out within minutes. The Uchiha clan executed Shisui's order perfectly—no survivors remained.
Konoha's losses, by contrast, were minimal. Not a single Uchiha was killed; only two young Chūnin suffered minor injuries. Among the non-Uchiha shinobi, not one was seriously hurt. Their speed simply could not match the ferocity of the Uchiha. By the time they caught up, the battle was already over and only the cleanup remained.
Only Might Guy had been fast enough to rush ahead, cutting down seven or eight Kumogakure shinobi and snatching kills from the Uchiha.
Even that earned him the clan's grudging respect—they acknowledged his strength.
And of course, there was Kimimaro. As expected of the last scion of the Kaguya clan, the fighting spirit in his blood was undeniable. Though astonished by the Uchiha's fury and power, his movements were swift and precise, the bone weapons in his hands reaping the lives of Cloud-nin one after another. Fighting alongside Uchiha Itachi, he tore through the Kumogakure ranks as though no one could stand before them.
"Shisui, the Cloud-nin have lit their signal fires. What should we do next?" Uchiha Fugaku stepped forward, his boots splashing through the blood that covered the ground.
"Keep moving."
Shisui released the Cloud-nin whose life he had just ended and once again confirmed, through the memories he had read, the exact location of the enemy's main encampment in the Kusatsu Highlands. The information matched perfectly with their previous intelligence. That meant there was no need to worry about going to the wrong place—they would head straight there and wipe them out.
He had not even used Susanoo. Throughout the entire fight, he had relied only on his extreme mastery of the Body Flicker Technique and the unpredictable precision of the Uchiha-style kenjutsu, overwhelming the Cloud-nin without much effort. His chakra expenditure was minimal, and from the looks of it, his clansmen had also taken little damage or fatigue. There was no need to halt for rest.
"We strike in one breath. Crush every Cloud-nin in the Kusatsu Highlands and let them learn the meaning of pain."
"Then we continue."
This time, Fugaku offered not a single word of cautious restraint. Blood still dripped from the blade of his katana, and the muscles he had just loosened through battle were still eager for motion. His adrenaline surged; it would be a long time before it cooled.
Shisui's orders spread swiftly down the line.
They did not take time to fully clear the battlefield. After briefly checking for important remains, they gathered the bodies of the Cloud Jōnin and a single Chūnin who possessed the Magnet Release bloodline, then left the rest where they had fallen.
Under Shisui's command, the group advanced toward the Cloud-nin's main base in the Kusatsu Highlands.
The killing intent that surged skyward scattered the birds in flight and drove the beasts from their dens.
At that same moment, Darui, who was in charge of defending the Kusatsu Highlands, received the report that Konoha's forces were on the move. Without hesitation, he sent messengers to inform the Raikage at the rear lines while simultaneously rallying his men. Gathering his troops, he charged out of the camp and advanced toward the direction where the smoke signal had risen.
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