"He'd just awakened his Sharingan. Kill him."
Though the three Cloud Ninja had neglected their training over the years while serving as spies, they were thoroughly familiar with intelligence concerning the Uchiha Clan and knew just how vast the difference in an Uchiha's combat strength was before and after awakening the Sharingan.
But this was precisely when they could not retreat. Their opponent was not the only one unaccustomed to his suddenly soaring strength; he himself could not possibly have mastered all that power perfectly in an instant. If they fought with everything they had, they still had a good chance of killing him.
So they could not retreat. They could only advance.
The three of them understood this at once and immediately lunged forward at full force, their longswords striking toward Otoha's vital points.
Yet they had still underestimated Otoha.
Or rather, they had underestimated the changes brought by an Uchiha awakening the Sharingan—especially the two tomoe spinning in his right eye, which allowed him to see through the flaws in their movements.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of steel ringing against steel echoed without end. Blood sprayed from Otoha's shoulder and waist, but his katana pierced one man's lower abdomen, brutally slicing open his belly. His intestines spilled onto the ground with a wet slap, and he stopped breathing in an instant, utterly dead.
"Damn it!"
One of the Cloud Ninja cried out in grief. Spies lurking deep within enemy territory lived precarious, lonely lives, and so their bonds with one another ran especially deep. Watching friend after friend die, he could no longer suppress the desolation in his heart.
"You little bastard, why won't you just die already?!"
"You want me dead? Hahaha! How could I die before barbarians like you are wiped out?"
Otoha laughed and roared.