Conspiracy, Killing Intent Closing in on the Clan Grounds

On the third day after the duel ended, news suddenly arrived from the front lines: the Senju Clan was massing its main forces in large numbers.

According to intelligence reports, someone suspected to be Senju Butsuma had appeared on the primary battlefield.

After verifying the information, Uchiha Tajma immediately made the decision to risk going to the battlefield himself.

Of course, he would not be going alone.

Sensing that the decisive battle was imminent, Tajma directly mobilized most of the clan's remaining forces.

During the Warring States Period, the prosperity of the major clans was nowhere near comparable to that of the village era.

Take the current Uchiha Clan, for example. It had four major legions under its command, each responsible for enemies in a different direction.

The number of permanently stationed ninja within the clan alone exceeded eight hundred, while each major legion had over a thousand ninja.

After making a rough calculation, Kyosuke estimated that the entire clan had at least five thousand ninja.

It could not compare to the terrifying scale of the major Ninja Villages in later generations, which could deploy tens of thousands of ninja to war at a moment's notice, but wiping out an ordinary small country would not be a problem.

However, the problem did not lie solely with the Senju Clan.

News came from the Southern Legion that the Nara, Yamanaka Clan, and Akimichi clans had begun frantically gathering their forces, clearly prepared to fight the Uchiha Clan to the death.

Legion Commander Uchiha Rei sent a letter requesting reinforcements from the clan, only for Tajma to ignore it entirely.

"No men. Even if you can't hold them back, use your lives to drag the enemy down with you."

It was said that on the day he received the reply, Uchiha Rei tore the letter apart in front of everyone and cursed Uchiha Tajma as an idiot with a pig's brain.

These matters were highly confidential. Kyosuke had only learned of them through casual conversations with Izuna.

Looking at the deserted streets, he could not help but sigh.

After three days of effort, Kyosuke had basically mastered the Body Flicker Technique. The price was soreness throughout his body and extensive bruising appearing in certain areas.

During that time, Uchiha Madara had sternly warned him that forcibly using the Body Flicker Technique before his Body Strength reached the required level was no different from chronic suicide.

What he meant was that Kyosuke should give up studying it.

Yet Kyosuke shut him down with a single sentence. "Once you're on the battlefield, it's kill or be killed. If I can't use it when it matters, I'm afraid I won't live to see the day chronic suicide kills me."

Faced with little Kyosuke's sharp tongue, the usually inarticulate Uchiha Madara had no way to respond.

In a fit of anger, he had not shown his face in front of Kyosuke for the past three days.

"Like a child," Kyosuke commented.

Tajma was unwilling to concern himself with the southern battlefield, but who was Uchiha Rei? He was once a ruthless man who had competed with Tajma for the position of clan head.

Not long after the second letter arrived, news came that the legion stationed there had mobilized on its own.

Upon learning of the situation, Tajma cursed furiously in front of everyone.

The problem was that Uchiha Rei could do little to Tajma, while Tajma likewise had no way of dealing with that gray-haired old man.

With the legions joining the war on such a large scale, the clan's defensive forces grew increasingly thin.

"If an enemy attacks now, Ninja World history might end up being rewritten."

It had originally been nothing more than a joke, but the more he thought about it, the more uneasy Kyosuke felt.

A year ago, the squad had successfully infiltrated enemy territory and intercepted the Three Clans' children while they were being relocated.

It could be said that it had been an extremely successful operation to wipe out their bloodlines.

No one would believe the enemy did not hate them for it.

Besides, it was far too early for the Uchiha and Senju to be engaging in a decisive battle.

Uchiha Madara would soon turn eleven. The day he met Senju Hashirama was not far off.

At that time, Madara should have been on the battlefield, and the war did not appear to have reached an irreconcilable stage.

In other words, the two clans should not have been engaging in large-scale slaughter at this point.

"If the Senju are only putting on a show, then their objective..." Looking at the deserted streets, Kyosuke seemed to understand.

The Senju did not intend to fight a decisive battle. They wanted to use this to lure Uchiha Tajma onto the battlefield.

The Southern Legion and the Three Clans had launched their attacks at almost the same time. Though he had no concrete evidence, his intuition told him there had to be a connection between the two.

"Senju scheme."

"Three Clans gathering."

"Senju... Nara assassination attempt..."

This was bad!

Kyosuke rose with a grave expression and rushed toward the clan residence.

Whether it was true or not, they had to make preparations.

If his fears came true, it would be too late to react then.

"I hope I'm worrying over nothing."

Uchiha Clan grounds, southern entrance.

Cargo wagons were parked along the roadside, undergoing inspection by the guard unit.

"Thanks for your hard work." The head of the convoy was an old acquaintance who had delivered goods for decades, so the guards did not give him a hard time and chose to let him pass.

"Wait!" The captain of the guards suddenly stopped the convoy.

"Orders from above. Tighten the inspections." As he spoke, the captain looked somewhat helpless.

For some reason, the Young Clan Head had claimed that enemies might infiltrate the grounds.

Infiltrate the Uchiha Clan grounds?

No one had ever accomplished such a feat in all the centuries since the clan's founding.

In his view, it was probably just a child trying to show off his authority. Unfortunately, it was always lowly people like them who suffered for it.

Just as the captain was about to say something else, an intense sense of dread suddenly rose from deep within his heart.

Before he could react, he discovered that he had lost control of his body.

"Well, they're all old acquaintances. If there were a problem with them, wouldn't we starve to death?" The captain smiled and waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to let them through.

"No, there's something wrong with them!!!" Watching his body act against his will, he nearly felt the urge to end his own life.

Unfortunately, he now seemed like a mere observer, completely unable to control his own body.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the suspicious convoy slowly entered the clan grounds.

"This feeling... that's right. It's a secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan!"

"What are they trying to do?!"

The pitiful guard captain personally escorted the convoy all the way west. Judging by its direction, it was heading toward a residential area where many clan members lived.

Most of the ninja had gone to the battlefield, leaving only old people, women, and children in the residential area. No matter how foolish he was, he could understand the invaders' objective.

"Damn it, move, body!" The guard captain screamed with all his might, but before the Yamanaka Clan's secret technique, his resistance was as childish and laughable as that of an infant.

Soon, the convoy penetrated deep into the heart of the clan grounds.

Watching the lively children playing along both sides of the street, his heart seemed to bleed.

"We're almost there." A murderous murmur suddenly came from behind him.

Not far ahead stood the Uchiha Academy, passed down through generations.

If they wanted to eradicate their targets completely, that was the best place to begin.

"Damn Uchiha, today you'll pay the price."

Listening to the children's laughter beside them, the invaders cast aside their disguises and charged into the antique Uchiha Academy.

But what appeared before them was not their targets, but a group of lifelike clones—and Explosive Tags covering the entire academy, already burning fiercely.

Boom!