Facing the assault of more than a dozen Uchiha ninja, Manase showed not the slightest trace of panic.
Instead, he raised a hand and made a rude gesture toward them before turning around and fleeing outright.
For a brief moment, the battlefield fell silent.
He had looked completely resolute just seconds earlier, as if prepared to fight alone against many.
And yet, he ran.
So even someone like him understood the art of fighting while retreating.
Seeing this, even the tense Uchiha Fugaku let out a cold laugh and immediately urged his clan members forward.
They chased for several hundred meters before Manase suddenly glanced back. In the same motion, he intercepted the fists and kicks of two jonin closing in from behind, sweeping one aside with a powerful roundhouse kick.
The instant an opening appeared, he burst forward directly toward Fugaku.
Kunai filled the air like a dense iron net.
"Wind Release: Great Weasel Sickle!"
A violent gale surged forth, blades of wind colliding with the incoming weapons. The first wave of kunai shattered, but more followed relentlessly. As the wind blades weakened, the remaining kunai continued their descent with unabated force.
With no other choice, Manase vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Let's see how long you can keep this up," Fugaku snorted.
Manase did not respond.
He bit his thumb and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The smoke dispersed, revealing a massive iron war fan standing upright before him.
The shinobi world was home to many legendary weapons, the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist and the Third Hokage's adamantine staff among them.
Manase's reputation was built upon this fan.
The moment his hand closed around its handle, his presence surged violently. He lunged forward, his figure blurring as he appeared above an Uchiha ninja. The fan came crashing down like an iron ruler.
A sharp crack echoed.
The Uchiha raised a kunai to block, but it snapped instantly. The fan struck cleanly, sending the ninja flying. Whether he lived or died was impossible to tell.
In the very next moment, Manase snapped the fan open behind him, intercepting a Great Fireball hurtling toward his back.
Without pausing, he leapt skyward just as four earthen pillars erupted from the ground beneath him like spears.
Twisting midair, Manase avoided the lower spikes and swept his fan horizontally. The pillars were severed cleanly, collapsing into rubble.
Even if he had underestimated them earlier, he now had to admit it.
These Uchiha fought with frightening coordination, moving as if they had drilled together countless times.
Still, Manase had no intention of defeating them head-on.
His goal was simple.
Delay them.
"That's it," he muttered, retreating steadily. "Follow me. Straight toward the Land of Rivers."
As he fought and withdrew, he gradually pulled the Uchiha farther from the border.
Fugaku never noticed.
Though several clan members had fallen, he was convinced Manase was nearing his limit. Just a little more pressure, and he would break.
Very well.
"Listen," Fugaku called out sharply. "Whoever captures this Sunagakure commander will be rewarded by me once we return to the clan."
His voice hardened.
"I will personally petition the current clan head to grant you one reading of the Uchiha Secret Scroll."
The battlefield froze.
The Uchiha Secret Scroll.
Every clansman knew of it, yet only the clan head's direct bloodline was permitted to read it.
Legends claimed it recorded the deepest mysteries of the Sharingan, along with powerful jutsu and even forbidden techniques.
"The pride of the Uchiha must not be stained."
The ninja exchanged glances. In each other's eyes burned the same fierce desire.
No matter how powerful Manase was, he was already past sixty, far beyond a shinobi's prime.
How long could an old man like that hold out?
For those who had remained behind during the war, earning merit was already difficult. Access to the clan's secret scroll was a temptation no one could resist.
In an instant, the Uchiha surged forward once more.
They never noticed the Sand ninja squad sweeping in from far to their flank.
"Young clan head," the Sensor ninja shouted in panic, "behind us. Massive chakra signatures!"
"What?" Fugaku snapped. "From the Land of Fire?"
"Yes, and closing fast!"
"Leaf reinforcements?" Fugaku muttered in confusion.
But the answer became clear almost immediately.
The leading figures wore Sunagakure uniforms.
The Sand forces had split the moment orders were issued. One unit had deliberately looped wide, avoiding sensor range, to cut off the Uchiha from behind.
As Fugaku took in the advancing Sand ninja, despair washed over him.
Was this the end?
He clenched his fists.
____
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