45 Everyone Was Completely Convinced

After Ise Uchiha saw through the principle behind it, the others more or less caught on as well.

The move itself was not complicated, but devising such a strategy in the instant of battle and putting it into action was by no means easy.

Of course, there was an important prerequisite for Izuna being able to kill Masashige Hagoromo so quickly.

Before the Uchiha Clan arrived, he had already expended a great deal of Chakra fighting the leaders of the Four Clans.

Rather than coming for a decisive battle, Izuna had come to reap the benefits.

Izuna's scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan swept over them, sending chills down the spines of the Four Clans' members fighting the other Uchiha.

The next day, the setting sun gradually rose, illuminating the most important city in Uchiha's northwest—a city already stained red.

As more and more ninja from the five clans raised their hands in surrender, the Northwest War, which had lasted for more than half a year, was finally declared over.

However, the leaders of the Four Clans could not be allowed to live. The fewer people who knew of Kite's existence, the better.

Under Sora Uchiha's orders, the Uchiha escorted all surrendered ninja of the five clans into the dungeons of Uchiha Stone City for confinement.

The Uchiha ninja either collapsed to the ground in utter exhaustion or raised their hands in excited cheers.

No matter which it was, their faces were filled with satisfied smiles.

They had won. They had survived!

Within the estate that had long since been burned into charcoal, Izuna sat on a scorched stone and listened to Ise Uchiha's report. His wounds had been simply wrapped in bandages.

"Vice Clan Leader, according to preliminary calculations, around 110 of our men died in this battle. Around 30 were so severely wounded that they can no longer fight... The number of lightly wounded is still being counted."

Together, that was nearly half of those who had taken part in the battle. Such a result was hardly surprising.

After all, the disparity in numbers was right there. Moreover, Uchiha had only gone through a major battle yesterday morning. In barely more than half a day, even if they recovered, how much could they possibly recover?

But Izuna had no choice. The operation he had meticulously prepared for more than half a year had earned him only this single opportunity.

If he missed it, all their previous efforts would have gone to waste.

At that moment, Sora Uchiha arrived with a limp, leaning on a cane, and reported, "Vice Clan Leader, I've finished counting on my end. A total of 948 ninja from the five clans surrendered to us. That's practically more than our entire combat force in the northwest."

"Mm... Looking across our clan's entire history, this is truly a great victory that would have been difficult to achieve."

Izuna replied with his eyes closed.

Sora Uchiha and Ise Uchiha exchanged glances. After silently nodding, Sora spoke up. "But how did the Clan Leader know that the five clans would turn on each other last night? I just interrogated some of their ninja. They only received orders from above last night, and even they themselves didn't know much."

How could Izuna, an enemy, know such top-secret information when even most of their own side did not?

Sora Uchiha racked his brains but could not figure out the reason.

Izuna, who had been resting with his head lowered, suddenly revealed a mysterious smile. "Is that so? Do you really want to know?"

Sora Uchiha's heart tightened, and he hastily replied, "No, no, it's not that I particularly want to know. I was just curious, purely curious, haha..."

As an old fox of the same generation as Tajima Uchiha, Sora Uchiha was already quite politically seasoned.

The moment he heard Izuna's counterquestioning tone, he knew Izuna did not wish to answer, so he quickly avoided the subject.

Ise Uchiha added, "We were foolish and never understood the Vice Clan Leader's painstaking intentions. Looking back now, the Vice Clan Leader truly commanded everything with perfect composure."

"Yes, yes."

"Before this, none of us understood the Vice Clan Leader's strategy at all."

"Vice Clan Leader, please don't take any of the things we said before to heart."

Hearing this, the Uchiha clan members resting on the ground nearby quickly came over as well, voicing their agreement with Ise Uchiha.

The series of strategies Izuna had issued earlier had seemed incomprehensible to them, and the people below had indeed harbored many grievances.

But now, Izuna had led Uchiha to victory in a battle that had seemed almost impossible to win. At this moment, the entire northwest was truly and completely convinced by Izuna.

Izuna took it calmly. Only after he raised a hand to signal everyone to stop did the atmosphere quiet down again.

"Rest for half a day. At noon, everyone except those guarding the prisoners will gather at the west gate."

"Yes!"

After fighting through the entire night, a battle of three hundred against two thousand—even though it had been a three-sided melee—had still dealt Uchiha grievous losses. One-third of the clan members had died.

The surviving clansmen either had medical ninja treat them or simply fell asleep where they were.

Izuna's estate had been completely destroyed, so he simply took an empty civilian house as temporary lodging.

Although Sora Uchiha had offered to give up his own residence, Izuna had no particular demands regarding accommodations and was not that fussy.

More importantly, there was no need for him to remain in Northwest Stone City any longer.

Izuna checked his Skill Points.

His Skill Points had jumped from "78" to "155."

It was even higher than the time Senju signed the Truce Agreement.

However, compared together, the points from defeating Tobirama Senju and signing the Truce Agreement still added up to more than this time.

Was the Senju clan really worth more?

Izuna quickly exited the skill tree, afraid that if he looked at those skills any longer, he would not be able to resist exchanging for S-rank or higher ninjutsu.

He sank into sleep on the hastily spread bedsheet. Who knew how long had passed before a knock at the door finally woke the sleeping Izuna.

"Vice Clan Leader, Vice Clan Leader, all clan members have assembled at the west city gate. We're just waiting for you."

It was Ise Uchiha's voice.

Izuna opened his eyes and swiftly got up. "Got it. Go wait for me first."

"Yes."

After a quick wash, Izuna hurried to the west city gate.

"Vice Clan Leader!"

The assembled clan members shouted sharply and powerfully when they saw Izuna arrive.

His gaze swept over the clan members below one by one.

A year ago, there had been five hundred people on the northwestern battlefield. Now, fewer than two hundred remained.

With such a grievous price paid, it was no wonder Madara and Hashirama Senju both wished to end this era.

He shook his head, driving the thought from his mind. It was still far too early to think about such things.

After clearing his throat, Izuna stepped forward and called out, "Everyone is injured, but the next operation is extremely important. That is why I had no choice but to call you all out. Forgive me."

"Not hard at all!"

The crowd below shouted in unison once more.

"Good."

Izuna nodded and continued, "What we need to deal with next is how to handle those five clans."