The Clone and the Original Each Had Their Own Battlefield

He melted into his own shadow, like a fish slipping beneath the water. In the darkness, the shadows were the water, and he was the fish.

The reason ninjutsu was also called "escape techniques" was that its simplest and most fundamental principle was concealment and movement.

Just as Water Release shinobi hid in water, dissolved into it, and used it as a medium for substitutes, hiding, ambushes, and clones.

Just as Earth Release shinobi used Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage, Fish in the Earth, Heart Decapitation, and other techniques, all of which followed the same principle.

Fire, Wind, and Lightning Release, however, were too diffuse in nature to make such applications easy. A straightforward release was simpler. After Nara Tama had accidentally fallen into a trap and died, Uchiha Kin had used his nerves to parasitize Tama's corpse.

His organs and cells had remained active. Once Uchiha Kin's nerves took control of them, the body came back to life.

Only Nara Tama as a person had died. The body parasitized by Uchiha Kin's nerves was still alive.

At the same time, he had acquired Nara Tama's memories—and the Nara Clan's secret art:

Shadow Secret Technique.

As his nerves clung to and grew along Nara Tama's cerebral nerves, Tama's memories seemed completely unguarded, becoming part of Uchiha Kin. It was Uchiha Kin's unusual way of thinking that had made this technique possible.

The Nara Clan's secret arts were generally focused on restraining opponents and emphasized working with the Ino–Shika–Chō. They had never considered developing them for solo use.

There was no denying it: at night, no secret art was more convenient, effective, or subtle than the Shadow Secret Technique!

When he was as close as three or five meters from the Rock Ninja, he would hold his breath in tension, but they never sensed a thing. Gradually, he grew bolder, acting with impunity around Kannagi Bridge.

The Rock Ninja had set up three likely points for an attack on the bridge. Beneath the southernmost one, Nara Tama had found a cavern containing many chakra figures. One of them was clearly at death's door, yet its chakra was astonishingly sharp. Two others had similarly impressive amounts of chakra.

Those two chakra signatures had fused together in a bizarre way, forming a strange person split vertically down the middle.

One on the left, one on the right—their chakra was completely different.

The cavern where Uchiha Madara is? Those are White Zetsu? And Black Zetsu... The one who's nearly out of life, but whose chakra feels incredibly sharp—is that Uchiha Madara? Nara Tama's heart stirred.

He could have focused his Byakugan more intently and gotten a clearer look inside. But he didn't dare, afraid Uchiha Madara might notice.

As the saying went, "Secrecy is the key to success." If he ruined everything by arousing suspicion over a little curiosity now, it would be disastrous—

The next operation concerned his future, and he couldn't afford to be careless.

In theory, having found this place meant he could be sure Obito would run into trouble at the southernmost point, so he could simply wait there. But Nara Tama never gambled. He went to the other two spots as well. His shadow followed the patrolling Rock Ninja, then returned to their temporary tents once their patrol ended.

The tents were brightly lit by mineral lamps. Hidden in the shadows outside, Nara Tama pursed his lips. It's a war. Why make it so bright? Aren't they afraid someone will spot them? Fine nerves, like spider silk, crept inside.

They easily spread throughout a Rock Ninja's body, encircling him completely before suddenly striking.

Pierce!

Once inside the body, the nerves began to consume it from the tips inward. It took nearly an hour to complete the parasitism.

Normally, this kind of "parasitism" could be done quickly. But this was the Rock Ninja camp, and he couldn't reveal himself, so he had to proceed cautiously, slowly consuming and parasitizing his target.

After completing the process, Nara Tama moved to another camp and parasitized another Rock Ninja. Using the Nerve Secret Technique twice had taken a full two hours. Nara Tama's body was no match for Uchiha Kin's. Two hours of high-intensity technique use had drained his chakra.

He took out a Soldier Pill and swallowed it, then drew a deep breath. This Nara Tama body is nowhere near as strong as an Uchiha's.

If Uchiha Kin's chakra was ten, then Nara Tama's body had only three—less than half.

Once he had recovered, Nara Tama went to wait above the cavern where Uchiha Madara was staying. He would guard this place himself.

He was determined to obtain Obito's Mangekyo! Once he had the Kamui dimension, and then acquired the Three-Tails according to plan, he would truly be invincible. No matter how deadly the blade that wiped out his clan was, it couldn't cross dimensions to kill him in another space.

And under his Nerve Secret Technique, even if his body were hacked to pieces, it would be like trying to draw a blade through water—he simply couldn't be killed.

Kamui!

Nara Tama chose a hiding place and cautiously performed the technique in a cramped space. Only his eyes showed, while the exposed parts of his body were as black as a shadow—as black as Black Zetsu.

Dai, Yakushi Nonō, and Qingshan Yisan reached their designated positions one after another, silent as the night.

They were positioned behind the flanks of the Rock Ninja vanguard. Two units had moved to either side of its rear, while another had taken up a position from which it could cut through and divide the Rock Ninja at any moment.

That night, Minato came by every half hour. Each time, all was calm. Then, as dawn began to break and the Rock Ninja forces finished preparing to move out, they were caught completely off guard by the devastating blow Uchiha Kin had painstakingly planned.

More than a hundred shinobi charged forward, spread out with over ten meters between each of them. The Hidden Leaf shinobi formed a neat three-by-three pattern, with the rows staggered. The Rock Ninja had never seen such a formation before, and couldn't help but stare in confusion.

"What's the meaning of this?" The Rock Ninja commander was puzzled as he watched the Hidden Leaf shinobi make hand seals while running, their movements slow and clumsy. They took nearly a hundred meters to complete five seals.

The Rock Ninja, commander included, were speechless. With hand seals that slow, they think they can fight us? They looked down on them.

"Charge!"

Closer, closer still. One Rock Ninja slapped the ground, splitting it open in a huge fissure. Another struck the ground, raising a massive wall of rock that slammed down toward the Hidden Leaf shinobi.

The Hidden Leaf forces kept charging and repositioning as Phoenix Sage Fire Technique spread across the battlefield. From afar, the flames looked like a blazing barrier separating the Hidden Leaf shinobi from the Rock Ninja. Unlike the Rock Ninja's attacks, which quickly petered out, the fire kept surging forward in waves. Once the Rock Ninja finished one round of techniques, all they could do was retreat.

Ahead, basin-sized balls of fire flew everywhere, leaving nowhere to charge through. And the flames just kept coming.

This is the power of an organization! Uchiha Kin watched the advancing battlefield and smiled, pressing his lips together.

At that very moment, a flash of yellow suddenly appeared on the battlefield!

One flash, then another...