A Bag of Millet

Scorching hot flames surged rapidly through the atmosphere, the waves of fire intensely rubbing against the air, emitting a dull, long, peculiar sound, like the mournful cry of some unknown giant creature.

What Uchiha Nanami expelled when casting her technique was merely a delicate thread of fire, but by the time it crossed an extremely long distance and struck the village's outer wall, it had already transformed into a surging sea of flames.

One person, one ninjutsu, yet it created the visual impression of an army pressing in.

Countless Tsugawa Ninja stared in disbelief, witnessing this scene of "crashing waves against the shore."

BOOM!

Accompanied by a massive explosion, under the impact of the immense flames, the village's outer defensive fortifications, which had looked quite decent, were like a decaying wooden pier ravaged by a tsunami, destroyed with a single blow.

Half the sky ignited, like the lingering glow of the apocalypse.

"Going all out, huh..."

Yuzhen, who was walking on the main road through the center of the village, couldn't help but turn his head to look after hearing the commotion not far away, and was startled.

He had indeed told Uchiha Nanami to make a big scene, with the sole purpose of "boosting morale" so that the already panicked and startled birds would scatter and flee. But he hadn't expected her to make such a massive scene.

Yuzhen certainly couldn't judge what kind of ninjutsu Uchiha Nanami had used, but the other party had clearly exceeded expectations.

To be honest, even with the same Fire Style jutsu, the effect would differ depending on who used it. Uchiha Nanami's Great Fire Annihilation was indeed impressive, but the "imitation version" was far inferior in power to the original.

Without considering the natural enhancement it brought to Genjutsu, most of the time Uchiha Nanami's Mangekyo Sharingan could only be considered decorative. As long as one was careful of her Genjutsu, Nanami's combat strength with the Mangekyo Sharingan was not much different from Nanami with the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Since his teammate had performed beyond expectations, Yuzhen couldn't stand idly by. He slowly formed hand seals:

Fire Style: Garuda!

A fierce, orange-red pillar of fire surged towards the distance. Although its scale couldn't compare to Uchiha Nanami's Fire Style, this technique could be considered a standard Fire Style jutsu with maximum range and power.

The power of Fire Style was built up with Chakra.

What was the point of arranging dominoes? To push them over at the last moment. What was the point of Yuzhen accumulating so much Chakra? It was for him to squander it all now... not even to use it, but to pour it out.

"Garuda" was a Fire Style ninjutsu that Yuzhen had "innovated" by using Fire Style Chakra, borrowing the Chakra circulation method of Water Dragon Bullet. Its effect was similar to Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, a Fire Style ninjutsu capable of causing widespread destruction.

In a densely populated residential area, this was a jutsu that had to be guarded against.

Water Style: Water Wall!

Several Tsugawa Ninja rushed out. They formed hand seals together, creating and summoning a large amount of water, raising a thick water barrier directly in front of the fire dragon, blocking Yuzhen's Fire Style.

With a sizzling sound, the flames vanished like a mud ox entering the sea, extinguished in the water.

"Good defense..." Yuzhen muttered.

But, have you ever heard of a palm strike from the heavens... no, have you ever heard of "Dragon Star Cluster"?

He formed hand seals again, beginning to release his second ninjutsu:

Fire Style: Kubera!

A fire dragon soared into the sky. Apart from its attack direction changing from horizontal to upward-slanted, this Fire Style looked no different from the previous one.

It made one wonder if Yuzhen had missed his target.

However, when it reached mid-air, its forward momentum suddenly stopped. Then, it suddenly exploded like fireworks. The fire dragon instantly transformed into streaks of fire rushing in all directions, like a meteor shower with long fiery tails, smashing down from above, engulfing the village with an extremely wide attack range.

The flames began to spread uncontrollably throughout the village.

Many Tsugawa Ninja who had originally attempted to surround and annihilate Yuzhen were forced to change direction and join the rescue and firefighting efforts.

Although Yuzhen and his companions' series of actions had already greatly shaken the morale of these ninja, even causing their command center to fall into semi-paralysis, due to inertia, these Tsugawa Ninja could not yet be considered headless chickens.

But Yuzhen knew that they were now only one step away from defeating them.

The collapse of a ninja clan, the disintegration of a community's morale, always required a symbolic event.

Before the infiltration operation began, Yuzhen had hesitated repeatedly, unsure whether he should assassinate their Clan Leader first. But after careful consideration, he decided to leave the Clan Leader for last.

And it would be best to deal with him in a normal battle, rather than assassinating him...

Now, while dealing with a large number of Tsugawa Ninja, he was causing wanton destruction, waiting for the Clan Leader to arrive.

He wouldn't not show up.

However, before the Clan Leader appeared, the remaining Elder arrived at a faster pace.

But as he was rushing forward, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound, and then his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a high-speed shadow attacking from the rear flank.

The Elder had no choice but to stop and twist his body to dodge.

With a "dong" sound, like a drumstick hitting a drum surface.

A large Fuma Shuriken grazed the Elder's body and embedded itself in the wall to the left of the road.

He instinctively turned towards the direction of the attacker, but before he could clearly see the enemy's appearance, another figure darted between them with lightning speed, and a pair of Sharingan with peculiar patterns entered the Elder's vision.

In an instant, the vigilance on the Elder's face disappeared.

Perhaps Yuzhen's "Genjutsu immunity" trait had made Uchiha Nanami a little less confident. When preparing to control this important figure, she had been overly cautious, leading to an excessive use of force, directly choosing to use Genjutsu amplified by the Mangekyo.

How should I put it? Since Uchiha Nanami had used power of this level, there was no reason for this Elder not to be controlled by Genjutsu.

After the Genjutsu took effect, the Elder clearly forgot his original mission. He turned and walked away, beginning to turn his blade against his own clansmen.

After Uchiha Nanami and Fūma Kotarō infiltrated the village, their first objective was not to inflict casualties on the enemy, but to alleviate Yuzhen's pressure.

A few minutes later, that familiar figure finally appeared in Yuzhen's sight.

Although a little slow, Clan Leader Tsugawa Taishi had finally found Yuzhen.

He appeared to have a stern expression, but in reality, he could barely contain his anger. He stared intently at Yuzhen and asked:

"Who are you people, who hired you, and why are you attacking us?"

"This question... is a bit childish. Does a Ninja attacking another group of Ninjas require any special reason?" Yuzhen retorted.

Of course, a reason was needed, but he chose not to say it.