Victims, Grayish-White Sharingan

Within the Land of Fire, inside an elegant, classically styled building, twelve Uchiha clansmen formed four ninja squads and stood on either side of the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire.

Feudal Lord Ashitaka sat atop the steps before them, looking at the Uchiha guards beside him with great satisfaction.

"Oh ho ho~ My dear friends, what do you think of the guards I invited from Konoha? These are all elite ninja of the Uchiha clan. After learning that Konoha's Police Force had been reformed and now had marching formations within the village, I spent a fortune to hire these ninja and give you all something to see!"

Ashitaka looked proudly and smugly at the other nobles below, raising his paper fan to cover his mouth as he laughed.

These twelve Uchiha ninja were elite squads led by jonin and composed of chunin. To invite these twelve people to the palace, he had spent 8 million ryo to issue a major commission to Konoha, personally entrusting Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi with handling it.

Because of this, Kazuma of the Twelve Guardian Ninja had even contradicted him, angering him tremendously. That man had actually claimed that Konoha, a village with a Hokage, was undermining the peace and stability of the Land of Fire!

What a joke. This was the one nation, one village system founded by Hashirama, the God of Shinobi. All Five Great Nations had adopted it, and he was extremely satisfied with Konoha's performance. It had never lost a single ninja war.

Besides, Tsunade was his granddaughter. He was Tsunade's grandfather, so his relationship with Konoha was even closer than family. The only person in Konoha he did not particularly like was that fellow with bandages around his head and a cane in his hand. He looked gloomy and sinister, not like a good person.

The nobles below also began discussing among themselves.

"I think I heard about this. A few days ago, I heard quite a few merchants from Konoha boasting that they had seen that marching formation."

"Uchiha ninja may be powerful, but their temperaments are terrible. How good could they be? I've seen them before, so I wouldn't dare jump to conclusions."

It seemed that this noble had once hired Uchiha ninja, but their service attitude had left him dissatisfied.

"Lord Ashitaka, why not have them march now?"

"Uchiha Chizakura, please lead them in from the entrance and give these nobles a look."

"Yes!"

Uchiha Chizakura expressionlessly led the other eleven outside.

Though they looked unfriendly, they were all laughing inwardly. He had never carried out such an easy A-rank major mission in his life. At first, he had thought the daimyo was planning to travel and sightsee, which was why he had hired so many guards.

But after receiving the mission requirements and arriving at the Land of Fire Daimyo's Palace, they had spent a week here doing nothing more than marching formations through the palace every day.

And it was nowhere near as dull as he had imagined. The nobles and the daimyo had plenty of juicy gossip in their conversations! Things like a certain family's young master contracting an illness from being too promiscuous, a family's eldest princess cheating after marriage with her husband's father, or two families entering a marriage alliance only for one family's young master to fall for his fiancée's older brother!

But none of that mattered. What mattered was the money! The mission would end tonight, and as squad leader, he could return to the village to collect the reward. It would probably be at least 1 million ryo, considering that he was in charge of this mission.

So Chizakura arranged the formation outside and began the march!

The sound of synchronized footsteps came from outside the palace.

When the formation entered the palace, the nobles on both sides were immediately stunned by the sight before them.

The daimyo once again covered his mouth with his paper fan as he laughed. He had watched this scene more than a dozen times over the past week, yet he never tired of it. He loved seeing the stunned expressions on these nobles' faces. It gave him an immense sense of satisfaction and superiority.

After the formation ended, night fell. Uchiha Chizakura led the clansmen behind him to bid the daimyo farewell before setting off toward the village.

Dark clouds obscured the full moon high in the sky. With the moonlight blocked out, the forest grew even dimmer. Uchiha Chizakura raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.

"Uchiha Tetsuame, Uchiha Eiki, and Uchiha Ri, have your three squads rest first. I'll lead the night watch."

And so, the members of the other three squads leaned against tree trunks and closed their eyes to sleep.

However, two kilometers behind them, more than thirty Root ninja were following close behind. Ryoma Aburame led them, with twelve jonin in total! Even the weakest among the rest were chunin.

"The target of this mission is to assassinate these twelve Uchiha Rogue Ninja. Remember, do not damage their eyes. Those are what Lord Danzo wants. Understood?"

"Yes, understood!"

"Move out!"

Every Root ninja was skilled in assassination and concealment. Even chunin-level ninja had successfully assassinated jonin before. After all, ninja were a profession with high offense and low defense.

Danger and killing intent slowly closed in on Uchiha Chizakura and the others.

The surroundings were utterly silent, almost unnaturally so. Chizakura sensed that something was wrong, unease rising in his heart. He decisively activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and prepared to investigate.

!!!

His deep experience told Chizakura that danger was present, but he had never expected dozens of ninja to be sneaking toward them.

He immediately reached behind him, preparing to draw his ninja tools.

However, Ryoma Aburame saw all of it and immediately ordered the attack.

Countless shuriken, kunai, and iron needles flew straight at them.

"Enemy attack! Get the fuck up, all of you!"

Though Chizakura had woken them as quickly as he could, five Uchiha chunin were still struck directly in vital spots and killed. Even Uchiha Tetsuame's arm was pierced by a kunai.

The Root ninja's encirclement had already formed, and every squad leader was simultaneously facing the attacks of three Root jonin.

Crescent Moon Dance!

Three dark figures flashed with silver light in their hands, killing Uchiha Ri.

Only after seeing their swordsmanship did Chizakura understand. They were Konoha ninja—it had to be Root. There was no way they would survive today. He had to find a way to send the intelligence back!

Chizakura used the Body Flicker Technique to pull back.

Summoning Jutsu!

"Meow~ Summon... meow!!!!"

The summoned ninja cat's tail was caught in a Fire Release ninjutsu, and it let out an ugly stream of curses!

"Root has made its move! Go back and tell the clan head for me!"

With that, he immediately dispelled the summoning.

"What a desperate man. I never expected him to use his body to take Ri's attack in order to pass on the intelligence and protect the ninja cat."

At that moment, the surface of Chizakura's right arm had been burned black and carbonized by Fire Release. His entire arm had gone numb and hung limply at his side, while the numbness spread upward from it.

Chizakura gritted his teeth, raised his blade with his left hand, and severed his right arm.

"You Root bastards, even if I die today, I'll drag a few of you down with me!"

Chizakura's expression turned savage. The moment he saw them, he knew there was no escape. Fortunately, the intelligence had been sent back. Now, he could fight without worry. It was just a pity... I'm sorry, my young son and my wife...

A moment later, the ground was covered in blood and severed limbs. The Uchiha ninja had been completely wiped out. Ryoma stepped on Chizakura's corpse and reached out to gouge out his eyes, but his fingers suddenly passed through the body.

Ryoma frowned and immediately leaped back.

Suddenly!

The supposedly dead Chizakura appeared behind Ryoma completely unharmed, except that the pupil in his left eye had turned grayish-white and murky.

He raised his ninja blade and slashed down in an instant!

Uchiha Sword Style - Sword Leap Flame!

The ninja blade, wrapped in blood-red flames, slashed out from behind Ryoma Aburame.

The momentum of his backward retreat left Ryoma, despite sensing the danger, unable to change direction in time. He could only twist his body to the right with all his strength!

Bang!

As his arm hit the ground, Ryoma could no longer endure the searing pain from his severed limb and began roaring.

"You damned Uchiha! What right do you have to resist? You're nothing but Konoha's cancer!"

Dozens of ninja tools flew toward Chizakura in an instant. After using Izanami once, he had little stamina and Chakra left. The Sword Leap Flame had drained him completely, leaving him unable to dodge.

Pssh!

Ninja tools pierced through Chizakura's body, while others lodged directly in his flesh.

Though Chizakura had failed to kill his opponent, he had at least crippled a considerable portion of his strength, avenging his severed arm and easing the hatred in his heart.

His body fell backward, leaving only one thought in his mind: Vice Clan Head Senya, you must avenge us. And please, take good care of my wife and child...