A Battle They Were Destined to Lose

The northwestern plains battlefield.

"Everyone, wasn't I right?"

Standing at the forefront of the Five Allied Clans Army's two thousand men, Masashige Hagoromo curled his lips into a smug smile and lifted his chin toward the opposing Uchiha shinobi.

"Clan Leader Hagoromo's intelligence network is indeed impressive. We're sure to win this battle."

No Watanabe, the Watanabe Clan Leader, gazed into the distance.

The Uchiha were in terrible shape. Anyone with eyes could see it on their faces.

Clan Leader Saito added, "Of course. They've been out of food for days, and their fighting strength has fallen considerably. This battle could bring an end to the war that's dragged on for more than half a year."

The Five Allied Clans Army was brimming with fighting spirit and high morale, the polar opposite of the dispirited Uchiha across the field.

As the war drums thundered, the sounds of battle rose once again—the umpteenth clash in the past six months.

Izuna's eyes shifted into their Mangekyō Sharingan state. The Future Prediction ability of his left eye let him clearly see what techniques the shinobi charging toward him would use.

He leaped up, dodging the arms that burst out of the ground beneath his feet.

Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu?

Izuna narrowed his eyes. He pulled two kunai from the pouch at his lower back, coated their blades with Wind Release Chakra, then tossed them down.

"Gah!"

A cry of pain came from beneath the earth. The two Wind Release-infused kunai pinned both his hands to the ground.

"Raaah!"

A Fūma shinobi charged at Izuna with an oversized weapon, swinging it in wide arcs like the Fuma Shuriken Sasuke Uchiha would later use against Zabuza.

Clang!

Izuna abruptly looked up. The eerie, "man"-shaped tomoe of his Mangekyō Sharingan stared out from his eyes like a ghostly eye in the night, gazing straight into the Fūma shinobi's back. One glance was enough to leave the elite Chunin frozen in place.

When he focused his eyes and looked ahead again, the battlefield before him had become a void. Giant golden nails pinned his body in place.

The Sharingan's genjutsu!

Whoosh!

The moment he realized what had happened, a blade stabbed him through the heart from behind. His vision went black, and he fell, never to rise again.

"How terrifying... The Uchiha Vice Clan Leader..."

Watching Izuna move freely through the teeming ranks, Masashige Hagoromo let out a heartfelt sigh from the cliffside.

A tiger was still a tiger even after its teeth had been pulled. Ordinary people still wouldn't have the courage to face one.

The Uchiha's morale was indeed low, and their starvation had clearly left them in poor condition overall.

But even so, the Uchiha wouldn't be easy to take down.

"Fūma Clan Leader, Saito Clan Leader, come with me to deal with Izuna Uchiha. Onikawa Clan Leader and Watanabe Clan Leader, go after Sora Uchiha."

Masashige Hagoromo quickly assigned targets to the five clan leaders.

The other four had no objections. As soon as he finished speaking, each became a blur and charged toward their target.

"Uchiha Style: Sword Dance Flame!"

Izuna summoned a katana from a scroll. He raised the index and middle fingers of the hand gripping it, and in the next instant, flames enveloped the blade.

Boom! Whoosh!

He swung the sword rapidly. The flames formed a crescent around the blade, swallowing up the surrounding enemies in a furious torrent.

"Izuna Uchiha, prepare to die!"

Izuna turned, and his blade clashed with Clan Leader Saito's.

The impact sent sparks flying from their blades. Clan Leader Saito staggered back ten paces, astonished. "What's going on? You blocked my attack without even looking!"

"Those eyes are an ill omen."

The Fūma Clan Leader and Masashige Hagoromo appeared on either side of Clan Leader Saito.

Masashige Hagoromo shouted, "Everyone, advance! Today, we take Uchiha Stone City!"

The three clan leaders would work together to hold back the most troublesome Uchiha on the battlefield, Izuna, while the main force advanced. Today, they would break through Uchiha Stone City.

"You two, attack!"

The instant Masashige Hagoromo finished speaking, he became a blur and charged at Izuna first.

"Hagoromo Style: Three Instant Flash!"

"You dare engage in close combat in front of the Sharingan? Where did you get the nerve?"

Izuna sneered. His left Mangekyō Sharingan activated its ability: Future Prediction!

—The A-rank sword technique Masashige Hagoromo was using involved forming hand seals with one hand in an instant, then creating two clones just before striking to mislead his opponent. It appeared to be three slashes aimed at three different parts of the enemy's body.

In reality, it was designed to deliver a single, fatal thrust to the throat.

Not bad, but in front of the Mangekyō Sharingan—especially the observation-focused eyes Izuna possessed—it was nothing more than child's play.

Izuna tilted his head to dodge the fatal thrust. Blood tears streamed from his right eye.

"Amaterasu!!!"

But at the same moment, a massive stone wall suddenly rose from the ground, separating Izuna and Masashige Hagoromo and blocking the Amaterasu flames as well.

In the distance, Clan Leader Saito had both hands pressed to the ground. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Countless kunai, sickles, and shuriken rained down from the sky like a torrential shower.

At the top of it all, the Fūma Clan Leader was unleashing weapons from two scrolls without pause.

"Is Tenten actually a member of the Fūma Clan?"

The sight reminded Izuna of the bun-haired weapons girl who served under Might Guy.

It looked like a pretty ferocious technique, but it was far too childish!

His pupils contracted. Chakra took tangible form, and silvery-white flames ignited around Izuna's body, ultimately forming a silver-white rib cage.

Susanoo's Shield!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Fūma Clan Leader's kunai were all blocked by Susanoo.

"What is that thing?!"

Masashige Hagoromo and the others were startled. Then they saw a giant Skeleton Arm grow from the left side of the rib cage protecting Izuna.

A white tomoe shaped like a Sharingan spun wildly in the skeleton's palm before shooting out, tracing an arc through the air as it sped straight toward the Fūma Clan Leader.

"Clan Leader Hagoromo, save him!" Clan Leader Saito shouted urgently, rapidly forming hand seals. "Wind Style: Feather Arrow!"

Masashige Hagoromo furrowed his brow. He would have been perfectly happy to let these Four Clans "turncoats" die alongside the Uchiha.

But they were still fighting the Uchiha, and he needed to make use of their strength.

"Water Style: Exploding Water Wave!"

Wind Release was arguably the best nature for combining with other techniques. Apart from Earth Release, it could be combined with almost any other nature.

The arrows formed by Wind Release combined with the Water Release, which spun into a cylindrical shape like a tornado, and surged toward the tomoe in midair.

Could this technique... change the trajectory of the attack?

Boom!!!

About ten meters from the Fūma Clan Leader, Masashige Hagoromo and Clan Leader Saito's techniques collided with the tomoe.

The exploding spray briefly blocked everyone's view.

A second later, the battered tomoe shot out through the spray!