Izuna signed the document with a brush, closed the book, and added, "Calculating the time now, he should be almost here."
Less than five minutes after he finished speaking, Uchiha Shin rushed in, breathing rapidly, and cupped his hands. "Vice-Clan Head! Senju Yuma is leading a large-scale force to attack!"
Hearing Uchiha Shin's report, Uchiha Akichi's eyes immediately widened as he looked at Izuna.
He had long heard that this Vice-Clan Head predicted things like a god, and it was indeed true to the name!
Izuna put down the document and put on the red armor hanging on the rack beside him.
"Vice-Clan Head," Uchiha Akichi stepped forward.
"All forces, move out! The clansmen under us should be impatient by now, too."
Izuna tied the cords of his armor.
"Yes!!!"
Over two hundred Uchiha clansmen formed into squads, standing in the rather rugged mountain terrain.
Soon, they saw dense clusters of small dots rushing rapidly toward them from the opposite side.
In less than two minutes, they used their Sharingan to see the true faces of those dots—Senju ninja wearing blood-red armor just like them!
Fighting in this kind of mountainous area, it was difficult for large-scale group brawls to occur; it was all squad-based team battles.
In this way, teamwork became particularly important.
Therefore, Kakashi's strategy emphasizing cooperation was not without reason.
"For Senju Yuma to command the flank battlefield despite being the Clan Head is truly unexpected," Uchiha Akichi, positioned to Izuna's rear right, said with a frown.
If he had witnessed Senju Hashirama's prowess, he would understand why this was the case.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Senju Yuma."
Izuna spoke first, sneering. "As the Clan Head, you yield the frontal battlefield to Vice-Clan Head Senju Hashirama. It seems you want to abdicate and make way for the worthy ahead of time. But actually, you don't need to go through all that trouble. I can beat you into abdicating right now."
Senju Yuma's face turned dark.
Senju Hashirama's strength was above his own. Although Senju Yuma had certain selfish motives and wanted to continue sitting in the Clan Head's seat.
Ultimately, the growth of Senju Hashirama's strength was not something his selfishness could obstruct; abdicating to the worthy was only a matter of time.
But coming from the mouth of an outsider like Izuna, that was a different matter entirely.
"Hmph! It's good for young people to have confidence, just be careful not to let that confidence get you killed," Senju Yuma retorted sarcastically.
Izuna gave a cold smile, raised his hand high, and then swung it down sharply.
Instantly, countless Uchiha ninja standing on the higher ground formed seals and spat out countless fireballs to bombard the enemy.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
For a moment, countless fireballs descended upon the world, carrying the power of heavenly fire burning a city, intent on incinerating all the Senju ninja below.
"Hmph!"
Senju Yuma gave a disdainful snort, while the Senju ninja behind him had already completed their seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Countless Senju ninja used the Water Formation Wall, creating a massive tsunami wall within the mountains that blocked all the fireballs.
In an instant, violent steam boiled the entire valley.
"Let me show you this."
Black patterns, more complete than the tadpole patterns from before, emerged at the corners of Izuna's eyes, looking even more ferocious than the future Senju Hashirama.
"Sage Art: Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
With Mito's assistance, Izuna had honed his Sage Mode to near perfection. While he couldn't match the exaggerated scale of Senju Hashirama's Summit Enlightenment that would appear in later years, he was certainly on par with Sage Mode Naruto fighting the Six Paths of Pain.
A wall of flame—even more intense than the Majestic Destroyer Flame—surged forward, crushing the Great Fireball ahead of it before finally smashing through the tsunami-like Water Formation Wall of the Senju clan.
"Damn it, what kind of Fire Release is this!?"
Senju Yuma was shocked. He bit his thumb and slammed his hand onto the ground. "Double Rashomon!"
The earth rumbled. Two massive walls, a hundred meters high and bearing demonic faces, erupted from the soil with a deafening boom, blocking Izuna's flames.
"Rashomon, huh? In that case..."
Izuna smirked. He pulled a kunai from his rear pouch, kicked off the ground, and soared into the air. Flipping mid-flight, he hurled the weapon.
As it glided past the side of the Rashomon gates, the kunai suddenly burst into white smoke, multiplying into hundreds of duplicates that rained down on Senju Yuma and his men like a torrential storm.
It was the Uchiha Shuriken Manipulation Jutsu combined with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Senju warriors drew their weapons, deflecting the kunai arriving from tricky angles. The shadow clone kunai vanished into puffs of white smoke the moment they were struck.
"Charge!" Izuna shouted a single command.
The entire Uchiha force roared. Surging over and around the Rashomon gates, they drew the katanas at their waists and weapons from their pouches, rushing toward the Senju army.
"Senju Unkan is one of their high-ranking officers. Akichi, let me handle him. You aren't his match yet."
Uchiha Shin rushed to Uchiha Akichi's side, his gaze locked on Senju Unkan across the field. Akichi nodded and shifted his target to other Senju ninja.
Although Shin's current rank was lower, his experience and strength were superior. On the battlefield, even a fool knew who to listen to.
Fighting in this rugged terrain often devolved into individual duels—strong against strong, weak against weak. The uneven geography prevented the kind of one-vs-ten-thousand destruction seen later when Madara was reanimated, using Susanoo and Wood Release to dominate open plains. Of course, if one had a Perfect Susanoo or map-wiping Wood Release attacks that could reshape the landscape, that was a different story. But for now, that didn't apply.
Within minutes of the battle's start, the two combatants had locked onto each other.
Uchiha Shin targeted Senju Unkan, a peak Jonin who held significant sway within the Senju clan's decision-making council. Shin's motivation was simple: redemption. Killing a high-ranking Senju might not fully atone for his past mistakes, but it would at least count as a major merit, stacking up his chances to return to the clan's upper echelons.
Senju Unkan, naturally, had no intention of offering his head on a platter. Seeing Shin charge, he rushed forward to meet him, drawing the double-edged sword from his back.
Bang!
Sparks flew as katana and double-edged rapier collided. The intense impact forced both men—matched in strength—to slide back about ten meters.
Uchiha Shin formed hand seals with one hand. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Flame Song!"
Determined to claim Unkan's head, he opened with a high-level Uchiha Fire Release jutsu only Jonin were qualified to learn.
Unkan wasn't like Yuma, who mastered various elemental jutsu. He swung his blade horizontally, the metal hissing. Facing the incoming fire dragons, he slashed twice, cutting through them with brute force, before forming hand seals mid-air.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
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