The battlefield is always full of uncertainties.
Uchiha En and his team had already encountered three waves of Kirigakure Ninja in a short time.
Fortunately, they were all Sensing Ninja and could detect enemies in advance, thus minimizing combat.
However, for every encounter that could be avoided, there was one that couldn't.
Uchiha En and his team encountered a Kirigakure Ninja squad just before dawn.
This squad clearly also had Sensing Ninja, who discovered Uchiha En's whereabouts. Both sides knew there was no avoiding it, and a battle erupted.
This Kirigakure Ninja squad consisted of six people, two more than Uchiha En's team, with four Chunin and two Genin.
Uchiha En and Asana, with the assistance of Yamanaka Kagetsu, each dealt with a Chunin, while Aburame Shibi was responsible for the remaining enemies.
Uchiha En faced a Ninjutsu-type Ninja who specialized in Water Release.
As soon as they met, Uchiha En wasted no time. He immediately formed hand signs and unleashed an amplified Great Fireball Technique at the Kirigakure Ninja.
This Kirigakure Ninja evidently had experience fighting the Uchiha Clan and was very familiar with the Uchiha Clan's way of greeting.
As Uchiha En formed hand signs, he also formed his own. The moment Uchiha En's Great Fireball Technique blasted out, a Water Prison Wall rose accordingly.
Great Fireball Technique versus Water Prison Wall—these two techniques had clashed countless times.
"Sizzle~" Accompanied by a loud bang, steam billowed up, obscuring the surrounding vision.
The Kirigakure Ninja then used Hidden Mist Technique, adding his Chakra to the steam, intending to completely block Uchiha En's Sharingan vision.
Uchiha En hadn't expected the Kirigakure Ninja to have this move, but it was actually useless against him because Uchiha En possessed Minds Eye.
With Minds Eye activated, Uchiha En instantly locked onto the Kirigakure Ninja hiding in the steam, intending to launch a sneak attack.
Uchiha En activated his Sharingan and used a Body Flicker Technique to jump to the Kirigakure Ninja's location.
The Kirigakure Ninja's face changed drastically upon seeing Uchiha En appear. Logically, Uchiha En shouldn't have been able to pinpoint his location within the Hidden Mist Technique.
Moreover, even if Uchiha En used Body Flicker Technique to advance, he should have seen fluctuations in the steam due to the rapid movement of the Body Flicker Technique.
The Kirigakure Ninja disregarded everything else and immediately used Body Flicker Technique to try and create distance from Uchiha En.
But Uchiha En's Body Flicker Technique was much faster than his. Uchiha En used Body Flicker Technique again, appearing in front of the Kirigakure Ninja a step ahead, even before the Kirigakure Ninja's Body Flicker Technique had landed.
In all martial arts, speed reigns supreme. How did Minato Namikaze dominate the Third Great Ninja War? Wasn't it precisely because of his speed?
This time, Uchiha En didn't give the Kirigakure Ninja another chance, directly releasing the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique empowered by his Sharingan.
The Kirigakure Ninja's body instantly stiffened, and his eyes became vacant.
Uchiha En mercilessly swung his Kunai, slitting the Kirigakure Ninja's throat.
With the Kirigakure Ninja's death, Uchiha En found that his attribute points had indeed increased by one again.
"It seems that killing indeed grants attribute points! Then this war is an excellent opportunity for me to increase my strength!
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this Ninja World War will last another four to five years. If I can seize these few years, my strength will most likely reach Kage-level, and by then, I should also have the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Such strength will be enough to contend with Uchiha Fugaku for the position of Uchiha Clan head," Uchiha En thought to himself.
After much deliberation during this period, Uchiha En decided on two things.
First, he must ensure the Uchiha Clan is not annihilated, no matter what. Second, he must help Asana remove the Caged Bird Seal.
To achieve these two things, strength and power are both indispensable.
First, let's address the first matter: preventing the Uchiha Clan's annihilation.
In Uchiha En's view, there were three fundamental reasons for the Uchiha Clan's downfall.
The first and most core reason was that the Uchiha Clan itself was deeply divided and lacked unity.
This division did not mean that members of the Uchiha Clan hated each other, but rather stemmed from class antagonism.
Not all members of the Uchiha Clan were Ninja; there were also those who couldn't become Ninja. These two groups had inherent class conflicts.
Of course, the Ninja members would not deliberately oppress them; on the contrary, Uchiha Clan Ninja would take good care of these civilians. It was just that these two groups naturally had a class disparity.
The
Among the Uchiha Clan members who became Ninja, there was also class conflict between those who could activate the Sharingan and those who could not.
This can be seen from Obito's situation within the Uchiha Clan before he awakened his Sharingan.
Furthermore, the Uchiha Clan as a whole was divided into two major factions: the hawkish faction, which advocated for war, and the dove faction, which advocated for peace.
These two factions were constantly feuding, doing almost everything short of outright fighting. Moreover, every member of the entire clan was forced to take a side.
Because of these conflicts, the Uchiha Clan found it difficult to truly unite and work together. How could they possibly contend with Konoha?
Second, there was the Uchiha Clan's Police Force, whose reputation in Konoha was truly infamous.
Although after the Third Great Ninja War, due to a shortage of personnel, most Uchiha Clan members were concentrated in the First Division, and the other divisions recruited a large number of Ninja from other clans and civilians, it was still the Uchiha Clan that controlled the other divisions.
How the divisions operated and who they arrested was still decided by the Uchiha Clan.
The Police Force held immense power; even the Konoha Prison was under its jurisdiction, meaning there was virtually no one who could restrict the Police Force's enforcement authority.
This led to the Police Force acting without scruples, even creating many wrongful cases. Those who were wronged had no recourse and blamed all their anger on the Uchiha Clan.
Consequently, the reputation of the Police Force and the Uchiha Clan in the Village grew increasingly worse.
Third, there was the public opinion offensive from Konoha's higher-ups. The Uchiha Clan had already offended many people due to the work of the Police Force, and those who controlled public opinion in the Village were the Konoha higher-ups. Under their deliberate guidance, the Uchiha Clan naturally became an entity reviled by everyone in the Village.
Under such internal and external pressures, the Uchiha Clan was certainly under immense stress.
More and more Uchiha Clan members became restless. They wanted to seek change but didn't know how, ultimately choosing a coup d'état.
The Uchiha Clan alone could absolutely not contend with Konoha, let alone when the Uchiha Clan's leader at the time was Uchiha Fugaku.
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