Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals.
On the march, Jiraiya and Orochimaru assigned opponents for this war.
Currently, Konoha's high-end combat forces include Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Minato Namikaze, Uchiha Fugaku, and Uchiha En.
The first three are undisputed Kage-level experts. Uchiha Fugaku, as the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, has the strength to fight a Kage even without exposing his Mangekyo Sharingan.
As for Uchiha En, he was strongly recommended by Minato Namikaze.
As fellow users of Space-Time Ninjutsu, Minato Namikaze believed Uchiha En could definitely hold off a Kage-level expert, and might even defeat them.
Uchiha En also needed some solid battle achievements to raise his status within the Uchiha Clan, so he immediately accepted Minato Namikaze's recommendation.
The Sand Ninja plus the Stone Ninja publicly had a total of six Kage-level experts.
Ōnoki was to be handled by Minato Namikaze. Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who can both summon large Summoned Beasts, would each deal with one Jinchuriki. The Uchiha Clan experts, led by Uchiha Chizan, would face Chiyo and Ebizo. Rasa was assigned to Uchiha Fugaku, and the remaining Kitsuchi naturally fell to Uchiha En.
As soon as the war began, everyone sought out their respective opponents.
Kitsuchi, Ōnoki's son, did not appear often in the original work, but he left a very deep impression.
Unlike Ōnoki, Kitsuchi did not possess any Bloodline Limit, let alone Kekkei Tōta.
Kitsuchi's strength was fully demonstrated by his superb Earth Release, which could even temporarily restrain the Ten-Tails.
As soon as Uchiha En and Kitsuchi engaged in battle, Uchiha En knew that this person would be difficult to deal with.
A Speed-type Ninja like Uchiha En aims for an instant kill against an enemy, but Kitsuchi's Earth Release was too powerful, and since Kitsuchi was also a Sensing Ninja, he was completely immune to this kind of attack method.
Although Kitsuchi couldn't see Uchiha En's Teleportation, he could sense it. The moment Uchiha En closed in, Kitsuchi's Earth Release could always block the fatal blow.
This was the first time Uchiha En's Teleportation had been countered in this manner, which surprised him.
Kitsuchi's defensive tactics were eye-opening for Uchiha En. At the same time, he realized something: to deal with a Speed-type Ninja, you don't necessarily have to be faster than them; you just need to nullify their attacks.
Of course, nullifying a Speed-type Ninja's attacks is extremely difficult to achieve.
Kitsuchi could achieve this because his mastery of Earth Release was flawless, and he was also a Sensing Ninja. It would be absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to accomplish this.
Kitsuchi's "Absolute Defense" made Uchiha En abandon the idea of winning through speed. Since speed couldn't give him the advantage, he decided to rely on power to win.
A nodachi appeared out of thin air in Uchiha En's hand, and at the same time, Lightning Release Chakra burst forth from his body.
Kitsuchi frowned upon seeing this. The Lightning Release Chakra emanating from Uchiha En felt familiar to Kitsuchi—how was it so similar to the Third and Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode?
Kitsuchi maintained his confident demeanor on the surface, but secretly, he had raised his guard.
Lightning Release restrains Earth Release. If Uchiha En truly possessed a Jutsu similar to Lightning Release Chakra, it would not be good news for him.
Kitsuchi hesitated for a moment, then decided to strike first. He formed hand signs and launched several large-scale Earth Release Ninjutsu toward Uchiha En.
Kitsuchi's Earth Release Ninjutsu covered too vast an area; it was certainly impossible to avoid using Body Flicker Technique.
Uchiha En immediately used Teleportation, traversing the Earth Release Ninjutsu one by one via Space Leap, reaching Kitsuchi in the blink of an eye.
The nodachi, flickering with lightning, slashed directly toward Kitsuchi. Seeing this, Kitsuchi calmly raised an Earth-Style Wall.
"Crack~" The nodachi struck the Earth-Style Wall, and the wall instantly disintegrated.
Kitsuchi frowned at the sight. The instant the Earth-Style Wall vanished, he used Earth Body Flicker Technique to move to a pile of rocks nearby.
Kitsuchi shook his hands, which had been paralyzed by the Lightning Release after less than a second of contact, feeling lingering fear.
The commotion from Uchiha En and Kitsuchi's battle was significant, and naturally, others noticed it too.
Kitsuchi was the commander on the Stone Ninja side during battles against the Sand Ninja.
The two sides had fought many times, and Rasa, Chiyo, and Ebizo were very familiar with Kitsuchi's strength.
Except for Rasa, neither Chiyo nor Ebizo had much of a way to deal with Kitsuchi; his mastery of Earth Release was truly exceptional.
But what surprised them was that Uchiha En and Kitsuchi had only been fighting for a short while, and Kitsuchi already seemed to have been forced back.
Seeing this, Ebizo manipulated his Puppet to repel Uchiha Chizan, then turned to Chiyo and said, "Sister, Kitsuchi seems to be losing ground to that brat from the Uchiha Clan."
"When did another genius appear in the Uchiha Clan?" Chiyo asked with a serious expression.
"Konoha truly has good fortune! First the Sannin, then Minato Namikaze, and now Uchiha En has emerged. It seems unlikely that we Sand Ninja will ever get ahead," Ebizo sighed.
"No, this might not be good fortune. Don't forget that brat is from the Uchiha Clan. Konoha and the Uchiha Clan have never been of one mind. Who knows, maybe someday—"
"What nonsense are you spouting, old hag!" Uchiha Chizan interrupted Chiyo with a Fire Release attack.
Chiyo let out a cold snort and manipulated her Puppet to charge toward Uchiha Fugaku.
Seeing this, Ebizo also engaged the other experts of the Uchiha Clan.
Returning our attention to Uchiha En and Kitsuchi, although Kitsuchi's hands were paralyzed by the Lightning Release, it did not last for long.
Uchiha En originally intended to press his advantage and defeat Kitsuchi, but when he teleported in front of Kitsuchi, a massive Stone Giant erupted from the ground, with Kitsuchi positioned right on top of its head.
The sudden appearance of the Stone Giant startled Uchiha En. "Holy crap, have this guy's hands recovered already?" Uchiha En immediately prepared to use Lightning Body Flicker Technique to escape quickly.
However, the next second, Uchiha En realized that the ground had been turned into a swamp by Kitsuchi's Ninjutsu.
Uchiha En's expression changed slightly: "Swamp of the Underworld? When did he form the hand signs?"
It is true that Lightning Release restrains Earth Release, but Uchiha En's Lightning Release Chakra was nowhere near as powerful as the Third Raikage's.
Kitsuchi's hands recovered quickly after being paralyzed. He had deliberately pretended that his hands hadn't healed yet, intending to lure Uchiha En into a trap and then kill him instantly!
"Brat, you were too careless. Your time to die has come." With that, Kitsuchi commanded the Stone Giant to swing its massive fist down.
"Boom!!!" The Stone Giant's punch was immensely powerful, smashing directly through the swamp and shattering the ground beneath it.
Kitsuchi sensed the surroundings. Finding no trace of Uchiha En's Chakra signature, he burst into laughter, thinking, "That should have taken care of that brat, right?"
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