Miyako's squad fought as a coordinated unit.
She stood at the center with her Sharingan active and called out positions. "Two left, forty degrees! One above, branch level! Three converging from the supply crates!"
Her squad moved like extensions of her will. They'd trained together for years. Each member knew their role.
A Senju shinobi dropped from above and aimed for Miyako. She didn't look up. One of her squad—a broad-shouldered man named Takeo—intercepted midair. Their kunai clashed. Takeo's knee came up and caught the Senju in the stomach. As the man doubled over, Takeo's tanto opened his back.
"Miyako-sama!" Another squad member—a lithe woman named Hana—pointed toward incoming fire.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Multiple fireballs converged on their position. Miyako's hands blurred. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Her larger fireball met the smaller ones and engulfed and consumed them. The techniques canceled out in a burst of heat and light.
Through the flames, three Senju charged.
Miyako's Sharingan spun. She saw their movements before they completed them. She saw the first one reaching for shuriken. She saw the second forming seals for Earth Style. She saw the third drawing wire from his pouch.
"Change formation!"
Her squad shifted instantly. Takeo and another member—a thin man named Isamu—moved to the flanks. Hana took point.
The first Senju threw his shuriken. Hana's hands moved faster. Her own shuriken intercepted three of the four. The fourth grazed her arm and drew blood, but she didn't slow. Her body blurred as she used Body Flicker. She was inside the Senju's guard. Her kunai found his ribs.
The second Senju completed his jutsu. "Earth Style: Earth Spikes!"
Stone spears erupted from the ground beneath Takeo. He twisted mid-dodge, but one spike caught his calf and tore through muscle. He hit the ground hard.
"Takeo!" Isamu moved to cover him.
The third Senju's wire shot forward and wrapped around Isamu's wrist. The Senju yanked. Isamu stumbled forward—directly into the path of a kunai thrown by another Senju Miyako hadn't spotted.
The kunai punched through Isamu's chest.
He dropped.
"Isamu!" Hana's voice cracked.
"Focus!" Miyako's tone was ice. She couldn't afford emotion now. "Takeo, fall back! Hana, with me!"
The Senju with the wire was already moving and trying to capitalize. Miyako's Sharingan tracked his path. She threw an explosive tag kunai at his feet.
The explosion sent him flying backward. He landed hard. Smoke rose from his clothes.
Miyako didn't give him time to recover. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Fire roared from her mouth in the shape of a serpentine dragon. The Senju barely managed to raise an Earth Wall before the flames consumed his position. The wall cracked and shattered under the intense heat.
When the fire cleared, the Senju was down.
But now Miyako's squad was broken. Isamu was dead. Takeo was injured. Only three effective members remained.
The Senju weren't finished.
---
Kenozo's squad hit the south side like a sledgehammer.
The old man fought aggressively.
A Senju woman charged him with a katana. Kenozo sidestepped and caught her wrist. He twisted. The blade fell from her grip. His kunai opened her throat before she could react.
Another Senju formed seals. "Water Style—"
Kenozo threw an explosive tag kunai. It struck the Senju's chest. The man's eyes widened. The explosion tore him apart.
"Push through!" Kenozo didn't slow. He charged deeper into the camp, toward the supply crates and remaining Senju.
"He's going to get us killed!" One of his squad—a man named Daisuke—grabbed another member's arm. "We need to pull back!"
"We follow orders," a young woman named Akari said, though her voice wavered.
They followed Kenozo deeper into the chaos.
A Senju veteran stepped into Kenozo's path. This one was younger, maybe thirty, with a nasty scar across his jaw. His hands were already formed in seals. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Stone projectiles shot toward Kenozo. The old man's Sharingan tracked their trajectories. He wove between the first three and deflected the fourth with his kunai. He took the fifth in his side.
He grunted but didn't stop.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
His flames forced the Senju veteran to dodge. Kenozo closed the distance with his blade flashing. The veteran blocked with a kunai and countered with a kick that caught Kenozo in the chest. The old man stumbled back. He was slower than he used to be.
The veteran pressed the advantage. His fists and blade came in rapid succession—a storm of attacks that drove Kenozo backward. Each block sent jolts of pain through the old man's arms.
"Kenozo-san!" Akari tried to intervene.
"Stay back!" Kenozo's eyes blazed. His Sharingan locked onto the veteran's. "Look at me."
The veteran's eyes met his—a mistake. For just a moment, the Senju's movements froze as genjutsu took hold.
Kenozo's blade punched through his chest.
The veteran gasped. Blood bubbled from his lips. "My... son..."
"Mine too," Kenozo said quietly, then twisted the blade.
The veteran collapsed.
Kenozo stood over the body and breathed hard. Blood seeped from his side where the earth bullet had struck. His shoulder ached from the earlier cut. His chest hurt from the kick.
"Regroup!" he shouted to his squad. "Find the others! We finish this!"
But even as he said it, more Senju were converging on their position.
This wasn't over.
---
Muzan moved through the chaos with cold efficiency.
A Senju man lunged at him with a tanto. Muzan sidestepped and caught the man's wrist. He drove his kunai up under the ribs. The Senju's eyes widened. Muzan yanked the blade free and shoved the body away.
Sayuri stayed close behind him. Her single tomoe Sharingan struggled to track the rapid movements. She threw shuriken at a Senju woman charging their position. Only one hit and grazed the woman's arm.
The Senju woman's hands formed seals. "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
The compressed water shot toward Sayuri. She froze with her eyes wide.
Muzan moved. He used Body Flicker. His form blurred and he appeared in front of Sayuri with his kunai raised. The water bullet struck his blade and deflected upward. It splashed harmlessly against the trees.
"Move!" he snapped.
Sayuri jerked into motion and threw more shuriken. The Senju woman dodged, then charged with a kunai. Sayuri tried to block but her form was sloppy. The Senju's blade slipped past her guard and aimed for her throat.
Muzan's hand shot out. He caught the Senju's wrist and stopped the kunai an inch from Sayuri's neck. The Senju woman's eyes widened.
Muzan's strength was inhuman. Even holding back, even pretending to struggle, his grip was like iron. The Senju couldn't pull free.
His other hand came up with a kunai and opened the woman's throat.
She gurgled and collapsed.
Sayuri stared at him and breathed hard. "I—thank you—"
"Pay attention," Muzan said, already scanning for the next threat.
Two Senju converged on their position from opposite sides. They were coordinated and smart.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" The first Senju's flames came from the left.
"Earth Style: Earth Spikes!" The second Senju attacked from the right. Stone spears erupted from the ground.
Muzan grabbed Sayuri and pulled her back. The flames and earth spikes collided where they'd been standing. The techniques destroyed each other in a burst of steam and shattered stone.
"Can you use Fire Style?" Muzan asked.
Sayuri nodded. "Only Great Fireball—"
"Use it. On my mark."
The two Senju emerged from the smoke with their weapons ready. Muzan's Sharingan—fake though it was—tracked their movements. He threw a kunai at each of them. Both deflected.
"Now!" Muzan's hands blurred through seals.
He and Sayuri released their techniques simultaneously. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Two massive fireballs merged into one enormous sphere of flame. The Senju's eyes widened. They tried to dodge, but the fireball was too large and too fast.
It engulfed them both. Their screams lasted three seconds.
When the flames cleared, only charred corpses remained.
Sayuri stared at the bodies with her face pale. "I... I killed them..."
"Yes," Muzan said. "You did. Get used to it."
She looked like she might vomit.
Muzan scanned the battlefield. Through the smoke and chaos, he could see Amanai's squad engaging three Senju near the supply crates. Miyako's squad was pinned down by two Senju using coordinated Earth Style techniques. Kenozo's squad was scattered. The old man himself was fighting alone against two opponents.
The Senju had recovered from the initial ambush. Now they were organizing and using teamwork to counterattack.
A kunai whizzed past Muzan's head. He spun. A Senju man with a scarred face was charging with his tanto raised.
Muzan's hand moved. He threw shuriken—three of them in rapid succession. The Senju deflected two and dodged the third. He closed the distance.
Their blades met. Once. Twice. The Senju was fast and skilled. His strikes were precise with each aimed at vital points.
Muzan blocked, parried, and deflected.
The Senju's blade swept low. Muzan jumped and threw a kunai mid-air. The Senju blocked it, then formed seals with one hand while maintaining his defensive stance. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Small fireballs shot toward Muzan. He twisted in midair and dodged most. One grazed his arm and burned through his sleeve. But it healed within seconds. He landed and immediately counterattacked. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The massive fireball forced the Senju to dive aside. Muzan used the opening. He used Body Flicker. His form blurred and he appeared beside the Senju with his kunai already in motion.
The blade punched through the Senju's back and out his chest.
The man gasped and looked down at the kunai protruding from his torso. He collapsed.
Muzan pulled his kunai free and turned back to Sayuri. She was still standing where he'd left her and stared at the charred corpses they'd created.
"Sayuri!" Toshiro appeared beside them with blood splattered across his face. "Stay sharp! They're—" He stopped and looked at the bodies. "Nice work."
"Where's Amanai?" Muzan asked.
"Engaging with three Senju near the—" Toshiro's eyes widened. "Down!"
Muzan dropped instantly. A wave of fire swept overhead. The heat was intense.
From the smoke, three more Senju emerged. All formed seals simultaneously.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
Three torrents of water converged on their position.
There was no time to dodge.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Muzan and Toshiro released their techniques together.
The collision of fire and water created an explosion of steam. The battlefield disappeared into white fog.
Muzan's fake Sharingan couldn't penetrate the steam the way a real one could. He strained his hearing instead. Footsteps sounded around them—multiple footsteps converging from different directions.
"Back to back!" he ordered.
Toshiro and Sayuri pressed against him and formed a defensive circle.
Shapes moved in the steam. Muzan threw kunai toward the nearest. A grunt of pain followed. He had hit something.
More shapes appeared. Wire whistled through the air. Muzan ducked. The wire passed overhead and wrapped around a tree behind him.
The Senju were trying to trap them.
"Toshiro, suppress the left!" Muzan commanded.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Toshiro's flames shot in a wide arc. Small fireballs spread through the mist. The steam hissed and cleared slightly.
Through the gaps, Muzan spotted two Senju. He threw explosive tag kunai at both.
The explosions lit up the battlefield. One Senju was caught directly and torn apart. The other dove clear but rolled into Toshiro's position.
Toshiro's tanto opened his throat.
The steam was clearing now. Muzan could see the full battlefield again.
It was worse than he'd thought.
Bodies were everywhere—Uchiha and Senju both. Blood soaked into the dirt. Trees burned. The ground was cratered from Earth Style techniques and scorched from Fire Style.
Thirteen Senju corpses lay scattered. Four Uchiha corpses were among them. Only seven Senju were still active and eleven Uchiha remained.
"Regroup!" Amanai's voice cut through the chaos. "All squads, fall back!"
Muzan grabbed Sayuri's arm. "Move. Now."
They ran toward Amanai's position. Toshiro covered their retreat and threw shuriken to discourage pursuit.
The remaining Senju weren't giving up. They pursued and coordinated their attack. Two stopped to form seals.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
A barrier of stone rose between the Uchiha and their escape route.
"Damn it!" Toshiro skidded to a halt.
They were cut off.
From behind, the other five Senju were closing in.
Muzan's mind raced. Seven Senju faced them. Three of them were here. Sayuri was useless in extended combat. Toshiro was good but not exceptional. That left him.
A voice cut through his thoughts.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Naroi's fireball slammed into the Earth Wall from the other side. The stone cracked. A second fireball—Amanai's—finished the job. The wall shattered.
"Through!" Amanai ordered.
Muzan, Toshiro, and Sayuri dove through the gap. The pursuing Senju tried to follow, but Naroi and another Uchiha—the broad-shouldered Takeo from Miyako's squad—held them back with a barrage of shuriken and fire techniques.
They regrouped on the western edge. Amanai's squad assembled with what remained of Miyako's squad and two survivors from Kenozo's squad.
Eleven Uchiha faced seven Senju.
But the Senju had the advantage of position now. They controlled the center of camp. The Uchiha were backed against the forest.
"Where's Kenozo?" Miyako demanded. Blood dripped from a cut on her forehead, but her Sharingan was sharp.
"Still in there!" Akari, one of Kenozo's squad, pointed toward the center of camp. "He went after their commander!"
"Idiot," Miyako hissed. "He's going to—"
An explosion rocked the camp. Fire and debris shot skyward from the supply crates.
Then Kenozo emerged from the smoke and dragged a Senju by the hair. The Senju was older and had a massive burn across his chest.
"Their commander," Kenozo said. He threw the man down at their feet.
The Senju commander coughed blood. His eyes were defiant and swept across the assembled Uchiha. "You'll... pay for this..."
"You won't ever know," Kenozo said quietly. His kunai opened the man's throat.
The six remaining Senju watched their commander die. For a moment, the battlefield went silent.
Then, as one, they charged.