A Feast of Betrayal

Masashige Hagoromo was certainly quick. In just two hours, he'd transformed the huge mansion where Izuna had once lived—previously furnished with nothing but a bed and a table and chairs—into a place that looked quite presentable.

Tonight, the five clans planned to hold a victory feast here to celebrate their capture of Uchiha Stone City.

But this was a victory feast steeped in murderous intent.

After finishing his arrangements with Masashige Hagoromo, Izuna's Shadow Clone dispelled itself. At the temporary base fifty miles away, the real Izuna immediately received all of the clone's memories.

"Captain Sora."

Izuna called out.

Nearby, Sora Uchiha had been leaning against a large tree with his eyes closed, ready to take a short nap. He sprang up and hurried over, asking anxiously, "Vice Clan Leader, what are your orders?"

"Notify everyone in the clan. Get your weapons ready—we're launching a counterattack and taking back the city!"

Sora's heart skipped a beat. He quickly passed the order along.

Nearly twelve hours had passed since they arrived at the temporary base. Apart from those who were seriously injured, everyone had eaten their fill and was ready for battle.

Before long, nearly three hundred Uchiha fighters had gathered, with only the seriously wounded left behind at the temporary base.

"Listen up. We'll hide three miles outside Stone City and wait for a signal from inside. Then we'll charge in all at once and bring this war to a complete end."

A signal?

The more than two hundred Uchiha shinobi exchanged bewildered looks. One Uchiha Chunin raised his hand. "Vice Clan Leader, who's going to signal us?"

"Masashige Hagoromo," Izuna replied calmly.

That answer left everyone completely stunned all over again.

Masashige Hagoromo?

Wasn't he their greatest enemy?

Why would he send them a signal to attack him?

It made no sense!

"Move out!"

Izuna's eyes had already activated their Three Tomoe. He turned and leaped into a tree. Though the other clan members were full of questions, they quickly followed him.

Inside the mansion where Izuna had once lived in Uchiha Stone City,

Masashige Hagoromo had arranged the spacious main hall quite tastefully.

He was now seated in the central seat of honor.

Below him, two clan leaders sat on each side: Saito and Watanabe on the left, Fūma and Onikawa on the right.

The tables before the five men were laden with food and fine wine. Two guards stood behind each of them.

"Today, we managed to tear a piece of flesh from the Uchiha. Looking back through the entire history of the Sengoku era, only the Senju Clan—and now our five clans—have managed that, right?" Masashige Hagoromo laughed heartily, raising his cup. "Allow me to toast the four of you."

The four clan leaders, Watanabe and Saito among them, raised their cups. After replying, "You're too kind, Hagoromo Clan Leader," they drained their wine.

Masashige Hagoromo wiped his mouth, then abruptly changed the subject. With a long sigh, he said, "It's just a shame that there's one thing spoiling the whole pot, like a rat dropping in the soup. It's put me in a foul mood."

"Oh?"

The one-armed Fūma Clan Leader glanced sideways at him and asked in confusion, "What could have spoiled your mood, Hagoromo Clan Leader?"

Masashige Hagoromo gave a strange smile. "Actually, there should be four such things. I, Masashige Hagoromo, believed I'd dealt with you sincerely, but I never expected to be betrayed. Still, if we fish out the rat droppings quickly, perhaps the soup will still be drinkable."

The leaders of the Watanabe, Saito, Fūma, and Onikawa Clans exchanged glances, a silent understanding flashing in their eyes.

"What do you say, clan leaders?"

The moment Masashige Hagoromo finished speaking, he hurled his cup to the ground.

Crash!

The ceramic cup shattered into pieces. In the instant that followed—

Thud!

The wall behind Masashige Hagoromo burst open. At least twenty Hagoromo shinobi in armor, each gripping a Ninja Blade, glared at the four clan leaders with murderous intent.

"Just as Kite said!"

The four men thought the same thing.

The Watanabe Clan Leader sneered. "So the Hagoromo Clan Leader planned to kill the donkey once it had finished grinding the grain. Too bad we're not so easy to deal with."

As he spoke, the Watanabe Clan Leader slammed both hands down on the table in front of him. The force of his chakra-enhanced palms smashed the wooden table to pieces, scattering the food across the floor.

Footsteps thundered outside, growing louder by the moment. A Hagoromo Jonin appeared beside Masashige Hagoromo with the Body Flicker Technique and reported in a low voice, "Clan Leader, the four clans have surrounded the mansion."

"Hmph. Just as Kite said," Masashige Hagoromo thought. A cold smile spread across his lips as he ordered his subordinates, "Send the signal. Call in reinforcements."

"Yes!"

The Hagoromo Jonin vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

"Half a year ago, I invited you to cooperate with me in good faith. Is this how you repay me?" Masashige Hagoromo turned his gaze toward the four clan leaders.

You allied with the Sarutobi and Shimura Clans, planning to kill us after dealing with the Uchiha. And you still have the nerve to talk about good faith?

The four clan leaders, Watanabe among them, couldn't help sneering. The Fūma Clan Leader answered with a single Kunai, but Masashige Hagoromo dodged it with ease.

"Clan leaders, attack!" The Saito Clan Leader joined his hands. "Wind Style: Suppression!"

A cylindrical blast of rapidly spinning wind pressure swept toward them like an invisible dragon.

The Watanabe Clan Leader immediately followed up. "Fire Style: Headhunter!"

Wind Release and Fire Release were the two Chakra natures most easily combined. After the Uchiha Clan had perfected the combination, other shinobi clans had continued to study and imitate it.

Two B-rank techniques, unleashed by two shinobi at the peak of Jonin rank, combined into a single attack with power surpassing an A-rank technique.

"The four of you are no threat to me."

Masashige Hagoromo's hands blurred as he rapidly formed Hand Seals. "Hagoromo Secret Technique: Yang Release: Five-Cornered Sealing Gale!"

A golden light flashed, outlining a shield that blocked the combined wind-and-fire attack.

But the force of the impact was redirected toward the rest of the main hall. In an instant, an explosion ripped through the mansion where Izuna had once lived. With a thunderous boom, flames engulfed nearly half of it.

"Attack! Kill them!" Masashige Hagoromo shouted, waving his hand. The Hagoromo shinobi who had been lying in wait behind him surged forward.

"Kill every Hagoromo in sight!"

The four clans were just as unyielding. Both sides were fighting "traitors," and their hatred for one another was even more extreme than it had been when they faced the Uchiha.

Shouts and the clash of battle rang through Uchiha City.

Whoosh—Bang!

At that moment, a streak of colored light shot into the sky above Stone City, then blossomed into a five-colored firework that exploded over the city.

Izuna had been lying in wait in the woods outside the eastern gate. When he saw it, his handsome face lit up with joy. "Attack!"

There really was a signal!

The other Uchiha were both shocked and delighted. Izuna charged straight toward the city gate, and the rest eagerly snatched up their weapons and rushed toward the city they had lost less than twenty-four hours ago.

Just before the attack, Izuna used the Summoning Technique to call a Ninja Hawk used by the Uchiha Clan for communication and sent a message back to Madara Uchiha at the clan's home base.