Soon, Uchiha Kokuya left the Daimyo's mansion and headed to the front lines where the Daimyo's army was clashing with the Konoha combat unit. When the lords of the Daimyo's army learned of this, they were overjoyed and immediately informed the Konoha combat unit of the news.
The Konoha combat unit asked the lords to confirm Uchiha Kokuya's arrival time, as the Daimyo's army had a large number of chakra samurai, and some towns were not completely under the lords' control. Even if they secretly surrendered the town and set up an ambush, a detailed battle plan would still be needed.
While confirming the date of Uchiha Kokuya's arrival, the lords discussed with the Konoha combat unit. Once Uchiha Kokuya's arrival time was confirmed, the lords and the Konoha combat unit finalized their battle plan: to lure Uchiha Kokuya into a town that the lords could control, which would have already been taken over by the Konoha combat unit to ambush Uchiha Kokuya.
However, what the lords didn't expect was that Uchiha Kokuya arrived at the front lines even before the agreed time. The moment they saw Uchiha Kokuya, the lords secretly groaned in their hearts, as the towns hadn't been fully taken over yet.
The immediate priority was to keep Uchiha Kokuya stable. If he sensed anything amiss and left, the lords wouldn't be able to offer their pledge of allegiance. So, as soon as Uchiha Kokuya arrived at the front lines, he was met with enthusiastic hospitality from the lords, who prepared a banquet for him, showered him with praise, and expressed that with Uchiha Kokuya personally present, they would surely deliver a heavy blow to the Konoha combat unit.
Uchiha Kokuya was still wearing a mask and a thick black robe, completely concealing any abnormalities on his body. He looked at the lords, and a laugh escaped from beneath his mask: "Heh heh, I didn't expect you all to trust me so much."
"That is natural, Lord Tobi is a trusted confidant of His Highness the Daimyo, with outstanding strength. Although the Konoha combat unit has some peculiar methods, I believe Lord Tobi must have a way, right?" one lord said with a chuckle.
Since they had decided to sell Tobi to the Konoha Hidden Village, the lords naturally had to put on a good show to ensure their survival and accumulate some capital after the civil war. They wanted to find out what methods Tobi had to deal with the Konoha combat unit, so they could secretly inform the Konoha combat unit later.
They didn't believe Tobi was a fool. Given the clearly unfavorable war situation, he dared to come to the front lines personally, he must have some reliance. It was possible that the Konoha combat unit would suffer some losses—at most, just losses. No matter how optimistic they were, they wouldn't believe Tobi had the ability to defeat the entire Konoha combat unit. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha back then might have been able to, but even they might not have been able to win the entire civil war.
"The current situation is indeed not good. I brought the most elite chakra samurai from the Daimyo's mansion this time. The Daimyo's defense is therefore worrying, and other guardian ninja had to be left there."
Uchiha Kokuya sighed softly, "But even so, dealing with the Konoha combat unit is still a very difficult task. To be honest, I truly underestimated the Konoha combat unit's methods, especially that aerial combat unit. I was too careless."
The lords nodded repeatedly, sharing his thoughts. The Konoha combat unit's aerial combat force was a surprise weapon in this civil war. With the advantage of high-altitude strikes, ground forces could advance faster, while the Daimyo's army had no way to counterattack.
"So I understand now, it's impossible to defeat the Konoha combat unit on the front lines. This civil war is a loss," Uchiha Kokuya said.
The others stared blankly at Uchiha Kokuya, wondering why he would say such a thing. If he thought the war was already lost, why would he personally come to the front lines? To say that Uchiha Kokuya intended to bear the responsibility alone didn't seem like him, judging by his past actions.
Uchiha Kokuya looked at the lords' expressions, smiled, and said, "Are you feeling a bit disappointed?"
"Ah, yes, if even Lord Tobi has no solution, then what are we to do?" the lords quickly said, regaining their composure, looking distressed.
"What do you have to be afraid of?" Uchiha Kokuya said nonchalantly, "You should have already made an agreement with the Konoha Hidden Village, right?"
Uchiha Kokuya's words struck like thunder, and the lords immediately froze, then repeatedly denied it, saying how could they possibly collude with the Konoha Hidden Village?
No matter how much the lords expressed their loyalty, Uchiha Kokuya remained unmoved. In his heart, whether the local lords had colluded with the Konoha Hidden Village or not was actually not very important. The main point was that the defeat on the front lines was irreversible, and he had no good solution.
Even with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Kokuya fighting the Konoha Hidden Village alone would be extremely dangerous. His Mangekyo Sharingan had just been reborn and was far from the proficiency Madara Uchiha once displayed with his Sharingan.
Uchiha Kokuya thought and thought, the safest way for him to capture Yūki Fujimura was either to find an opportunity during the peaceful days after the war—but then he would likely become a wanted criminal of the Konoha Hidden Village, constantly facing pursuit, which would be unstable. Moreover, he was impatient and couldn't wait that long, so there was only one option.
From the chakra samurai who served as his puppets, Uchiha Kokuya learned that Yūki Fujimura and Ken Uchiha were both participating in this war. Now, he only needed to divide the Konoha combat unit as much as possible. Even if there were others near Yūki Fujimura, Uchiha Kokuya felt he could handle it.
However, the Konoha combat unit's coordination on the front lines was tight, and their scale was large and orderly, making it by no means easy to divide them. Nevertheless, Uchiha Kokuya still had his own method, and in this method, these lords in front of him were obstacles that had to be eliminated.
It didn't matter to Uchiha Kokuya whether the lords had colluded with the Konoha combat unit or not, because no matter what, these people were definitely going to die.
Uchiha Kokuya's eyes turned red, and dark purple chakra rapidly surged from his body and condensed, like a real, tangible substance. A several-meter-tall humanoid chakra skeleton appeared before everyone. The narrow room could not contain the increasingly tall body, which shattered with a loud crash.
Feeling the heavy pressure emanating from Uchiha Kokuya, the chakra practitioners responsible for protecting the lords immediately sensed danger and quickly stood in front of the lords. Chakra practitioners were not ninja; they were somewhat like the ninja monks who practiced chakra in the Fire Temple, or other professions that practiced chakra—chakra was never exclusive to ninja, it was just that ninja inherited a large legacy in its transmission—their strength was also excellent, and with tacit cooperation, even elite Jonin could be caught off guard and injured, which is why they were revered as retainers by the lords.
However, the power Uchiha Kokuya used exceeded everyone's imagination. The lords trembled in fear. As ordinary people, they might not clearly sense chakra, but the psychological pressure brought by the enormous humanoid chakra puppet was enough to make them afraid.
Although Susanoo's size was enormous, its attack speed was not slow at all. If the chakra practitioners had chosen to flee, they might have been able to avoid it, but their first priority was to protect the lords. At such close range, they couldn't block Susanoo's powerful techniques.
Boom—
The samurai stationed in the town only heard a loud bang and looked in the direction of the sound with surprise. For a moment, they couldn't make anything out, but soon they saw a dark purple chakra giant appear in everyone's sight.
While everyone was dumbfounded, the nearby chakra samurai emerged. As if receiving some command, they silently drew their katana and rushed towards the nearby samurai without hesitation. By the time the samurai noticed the chakra samurai charging, it was already too late.
At the same time, a sensory ninja in the Konoha combat unit, responsible for monitoring the town, suddenly shouted, "There's a sudden anomaly in the town! A giant chakra entity has appeared!"
"Go report to the adults!" Hearing the sensory ninja's shout, a ninja quickly said, and then someone ran to inform Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others were focused on taking over the town and setting up ambushes. Hearing about the giant chakra entity appearing in the town, they exchanged glances, immediately felt a bad premonition, and rushed out to see what was happening. When they arrived outside, they didn't need the sensory ninja to report; they personally saw the increasingly massive chakra entity above the town.
"That's… Susanoo. It's Uchiha Kokuya. He's already here," Uchiha Kagami recognized the giant chakra entity at a glance.
"Susanoo, it's been a long time since I've seen that jutsu." Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was solemn. He had only indirectly sensed the immense aura of Susanoo in the past, when Madara Uchiha attacked Konoha Hidden Village. The spectacle then was grand and astonishing. Although the Susanoo in the town was not like Madara Uchiha's, it still evoked memories in everyone's hearts.
The news of Uchiha Kokuya's early arrival was already surprising, but his act of summoning Susanoo within the town was even more perplexing, leaving everyone wondering what he intended to do.
At this moment, everyone saw the dark purple Susanoo begin to move. The gigantic figure in their sight slowly approached. It seemed to disregard any obstacles, simply moving forward, smashing everything in its path, including the city wall, which Susanoo broke through. Immediately after, the colossal figure fully appeared in everyone's view.
Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered everyone to be on alert and standby. Then, he, Danzo Shimura, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi went together. If Uchiha Kokuya intended to attack, high-ranking ninja were essential. Although new ninja tools like explosive cannons had powerful destructive capabilities, they had limitations against Susanoo.
"Long time no see, Lord Kagami." Uchiha Kokuya's voice, when he said "Lord," carried a hint of sarcasm that anyone could detect. He looked at the other three, "Oh, the others from the Second Hokage's disciples, long time no see as well."
"Uchiha Kokuya, you traitor to the village!" Danzo Shimura shouted, "If you had been honest, you could have lived peacefully in the village. But you harbored ill intentions, ambushing Kagami with Uchiha Setsuna, and now you're colluding with the Daimyo to scheme against the village. You're truly a persistent evil!"
"Heh heh, what's the point of digging up old grudges? But as long as I live, I will never let Konoha Hidden Village off the hook," Uchiha Kokuya laughed heartily.
"Since that's the case, we'll take care of you right here!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said coldly.
"Hmph, if you're capable, come and try," Uchiha Kokuya looked extremely arrogant. Susanoo's large hand swung, and a string of magatama appeared in its hand, then was tightly clenched by Susanoo's large hand, causing countless cracks to appear on its surface.
"Oh no!" Uchiha Kagami exclaimed, quickly summoning his Susanoo. The snow-silver Susanoo immediately covered the position behind him. At this moment, Uchiha Kokuya's Susanoo threw the cracked chakra magatama forward.
It was like the scene when all the explosive cannons roared simultaneously, except the projectiles flying out were not explosive tags, but countless fragments of chakra magatama! The solidified chakra magatama would become unstable after breaking, but before Susanoo's astonishing power, the chakra fragments could barely maintain a semi-solid, semi-energy state.
Uchiha Kagami's Susanoo could only protect Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, as well as a portion of the position behind them. As for other areas, he couldn't protect them. The range of these chakra fragments was too wide, and Susanoo's range was limited by chakra, making it impossible to protect everything.
The Konoha combat unit on standby urgently used explosive cannons to snipe, but before the explosive tags detonated, they were blown away by the hurricane stirred up by the chakra fragments. Although they immediately exploded, with the explosive power not concentrated, they couldn't completely block the impact of the chakra fragments.
Seeing that blocking was ineffective, the Konoha ninja quickly used various ninjutsu to protect everyone. Even so, in the dense formation, considerable casualties were still inflicted, and a large number of chakra fragments fell to the ground, causing numerous explosions.
Seeing this, Torifu Akimichi let out a loud roar, and his body suddenly expanded. In an instant, he transformed into a giant the same size as Susanoo. This was the Akimichi clan's secret technique—the Super Expansion Jutsu.
Not only that, behind Torifu Akimichi, chakra-condensed wings spread out, like butterfly wings. This was the advanced stage of the Akimichi clan's secret technique. Ordinary Akimichi clan members had to take their advanced secret medicine to enter this state, converting all their body fat into chakra. Because it was uncontrollable, it often posed a risk to their lives. However, by cultivating the secret technique to an extremely high stage, one could enter this state by their own power, releasing the chakra from their entire body's fat in a relatively stable and safer manner.
Torifu Akimichi's body crashed heavily into Susanoo, accompanied by a roar like a tiger.