Chapter 196
2-in-1-chapter
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C clenched his fists, his pulse quickening.
He thought back to the battle earlier, when Uchiha Shisui's crimson eyes had locked onto him and Darui. Even now, the memory of that terrifying speed and illusion left him shaken. He drew a sharp breath and said, "Darui was entangled by that Uchiha Shisui. He tried several times but couldn't break free."
C paused, the words catching in his throat. Gritting his teeth, he continued, "It was I who abandoned Darui and escaped. Lord Raikage, when we counterattack later, please let me serve as the vanguard!"
Vanguard duty—simply put, it meant leading the charge.
The one who went first into battle usually died first as well.
Volunteering for that role was no different from seeking death.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Before the Raikage could speak, Dodai cut in sharply.
"If we lost, then we lost. What's there to mope about? Victory and defeat are both part of the battlefield. What, one loss and you start cowering?"
"…"
C's face turned pale, drained of all color. His mouth opened, but his thoughts were too tangled to form words.
"All right, enough with this pointless talk. Let's focus. You said Konoha's commander has changed? How certain are you? No—wait, you're right. There's no way Hyūga Hiashi would send more than two hundred Uchiha into the field at once. If anything went wrong, the Hyūga and Uchiha would become mortal enemies."
"Lord Raikage, I am certain Konoha's commanding officer has changed. To commit over two hundred Uchiha clan Jōnin and Chūnin to battle—it has to mean that the Flame Demon, Uchiha Rēn, has arrived. Otherwise, not even the Hokage could command the Uchiha to such an extent."
Dodai's recent work had been devoted entirely to gathering intelligence on the Uchiha clan.
The drastic change in Nii Yugito's behavior had been deeply concerning, so they could not afford to lower their guard. Over the past weeks, Dodai had mobilized every available source to investigate the Uchiha. He had collected plenty of information: the clan's more prominent shinobi, their specialties, and, in particular, detailed files on two key figures—the Flame Demon Uchiha Rēn and Body Flicker Uchiha Shisui.
Based on that intelligence, he inferred that Rēn had entered the battlefield.
"Darui…"
The Raikage's expression darkened. He had placed high hopes on that young man, but now—what a waste. He drew in a deep breath, suppressing his thoughts, then issued his orders in a low, grave voice.
"Transmit my command. All units are to remain ready for combat at any moment. Tell everyone this—never engage an Uchiha alone. Move in pairs at minimum, and stay alert for genjutsu from the Sharingan."
"Lord Raikage, shall we test their strength ourselves?" Dodai asked quietly.
Darui's unit had been wiped out, and Darui himself was almost certainly dead. Reinforcements would serve no purpose now; there were no comrades left to save. Still, even without a rescue mission, they could make another attempt—an opportunity to gauge the enemy.
"We'll have to face them sooner or later. If not today, then tomorrow—or the day after that. Since it's inevitable, we might as well confront them now. You heard C's report—Konoha's force numbers around three hundred, and over two hundred of them are Uchiha. If fortune smiles on us, we might even bring back a few Sharingan."
In the depths of the Raikage's eyes flickered a faint, burning light—the gleam of greed.
The Byakugan had long been coveted for its versatility, but the Sharingan was just as desirable, perhaps even more so. The only drawback was that an ordinary shinobi could not withstand it; there were records of people drained to death by the massive chakra demands of using a transplanted Sharingan.
Even so, ever since Uchiha Rēn and Uchiha Shisui had risen to prominence and displayed overwhelming powers such as Susanoo, those who coveted the Sharingan had multiplied once again. The Cloud shinobi, infamous for their plundering nature, were no exception.
"You're right—it's bound to happen sooner or later," Dodai said with a sigh.
Their southern campaign would not be called off over a mere setback.
Whether they reclaimed the Kusatsu Highlands was no longer the key issue. What mattered was that this provided an opportunity to measure the true power of the Uchiha—and to discover what other hidden cards Konoha still held.
............
......
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The moment C encountered the Fourth Raikage and the others, Uchiha Itachi and Kaguya Kimimaro were already racing across the terrain at full speed, bringing news of victory to Rēn. As soon as the report reached him, the Konoha forces—long prepared for departure—moved out at once under his command, pushing forward through wind and snow toward the Kusatsu Highlands.
The blizzard had come without warning.
No one had expected snow to fall in the usually warm Land of Hot Springs, but fortunately, the flurries were light and did not hinder the army's advance.
And so—
One from the south, one from the north, the Cloud forces moved south, and Konoha's army advanced northward.
Two great armies converged upon the Kusatsu Highlands, a battlefield that had already been ravaged time and time again.
The Cloud reinforcements arrived slightly ahead. Though they could no longer rely on the earlier units for support, when the Fourth Raikage and his men reached the battlefield, what greeted them were the corpses of fallen Cloud-nin scattered across the ground—and facing them, a small formation of Konoha shinobi, their numbers few but their stance unshaken, ready for battle without a trace of fear.
The two armies stood opposed, one to the north and one to the south. The Konoha side had fewer than three hundred shinobi, their earlier losses having reduced their strength below that number.
The Cloud forces, by contrast, numbered more than six thousand.
The difference in manpower was twentyfold.
However, even under such conditions, it was not the Cloud-nin who struck first, but Konoha.
A massive, emerald-green Susanoo rose from the ground. This time it manifested directly in its fourth form—fully armored, complete with its lower body and legs. Compared with its earlier stages, the fourth-stage Susanoo was both more complete in form and vastly larger in scale.
Shisui stood within its head, from where he could look down from on high and see the endless formation of Cloud shinobi stretching to the horizon.
Then came the technique:
Yasaka Magatama.
Six jade-like magatama appeared in the Susanoo's left hand, glowing green, and were hurled with tremendous force toward the densest part of the Cloud formation.
How should they face the Cloud's counterattack?
Shisui had considered that question carefully. Their force of barely over two hundred would find it nearly impossible to withstand the inevitable retaliation of the numerous and highly skilled Cloud-nin. Even among the Uchiha, not every fighter could take on ten opponents at once—and even if they could, that would account for only two thousand enemies at most.
But the Cloud army numbered far more than that.
After much thought, Shisui looked at Samehada—the sword Rēn had specifically entrusted to him—and made his decision.
And thus came the opening move that shook the entire battlefield.
The moment A regained his footing and saw what had happened, his vision reddened. The rage that welled up in his chest felt hot enough to burn through his skull. Those chakra masses, compressed to a density rivaling a Tailed Beast Bomb—if they struck the Cloud formation directly, the resulting casualties would be unbearable to imagine.
Fortunately, his younger brother, Killer B, reacted in time. Transforming fully into the Eight-Tails, the immense creature flattened a swath of forest with its bulk. The eight tentacle-like tails whipped forward and wove together into a colossal shield, blocking all six magatama in midair.
As a consequence, two of Gyūki's tails were severed. Yet since a tailed beast's body was made entirely of chakra, such an injury was almost meaningless. The two shortened tails extended downward, touching the severed segments on the ground, and the two halves instantly fused together. In the blink of an eye, the tails were restored, gleaming anew.
"Everyone, scatter!"
A roared the order.
His command was relayed rapidly through the ranks. The formation, which had already been spread out into small-unit clusters, became even more scattered. There was no other choice. The battle between Shisui and Killer B—Susanoo against the Eight-Tails—left little space for anyone else to move. A single strike or step from either could cause devastating destruction to everything nearby.
Anyone approaching now would only be courting death.
What made it worse was that if their forces gathered too closely, Susanoo could easily target them with precision attacks.
Compared to Konoha's force of less than three hundred, the six thousand strong of Kumogakure made a far larger and more visible target. A was so furious he would have destroyed another table if he were back home.
Shisui's surprise assault had completely caught the Cloud shinobi off guard. Even A himself had not expected that a mere two hundred men would dare to take the initiative and strike first at such a time. The Uchiha truly were audacious.
Even Dodai's expression had turned grim.
He was filled with anger and self-reproach for his own carelessness and pride, and at the same time deeply shaken by the divine power that Susanoo displayed. He had believed himself cautious enough toward the Uchiha, but witnessing the true might of the Sharingan with his own eyes made him realize that even his vigilance had been far from sufficient.
By now, the two colossal beings had already locked into an intense struggle.
The emerald Susanoo's spiral blade tore through the curtain of wind and snow, slicing off two of Gyūki's tails in a single stroke. At the same moment, Gyūki's massive fist struck Susanoo's raised left arm with tremendous force, the impact driving the giant back two steps.
Blood streamed from Shisui's eyes.