Flame Demon

The attackers lurking in the darkness were unquestionably the elite of the elite. What was more, they used such highly recognizable secret techniques without the slightest hesitation. They had probably launched this attack with the resolve to succeed or die trying.

This battle was far from over!

Sōken understood that all too well.

Sure enough—

"Secret Technique: Shadow Imitation."

Another clan ninja wielding a secret technique made his move. Under the moonlight, a pitch-black shadow shot forth like a serpent and connected to Sōken's shadow cast from the treetop onto the ground. In an instant, an invisible, intangible restraint fell upon him. Like a puppet in a puppet show, his limbs were bound by unseen strings.

Still holding Naruto under one arm and raising his longsword to chop with the other, Sōken stood frozen atop the tree.

The instant he was immobilized—

Two more figures crackling with Lightning Flash sprang out from the Forest behind him. Like the blade-wielding expert from before, these two were clearly taijutsu specialists, and they moved with astonishing speed. Having learned from their fallen comrade's mistake, they abandoned the safer option of slashing and instead sought to bypass the door-sized weapon on Sōken's back, thrusting upward beneath his ribs at his kidneys.

"Two idiots. Who do you think you're underestimating?"

His body might have been restrained, but speaking was no issue.

The two attackers saw Sōken's mocking smile. As for how they saw his smile while standing behind him—

The answer was reflection. The flames that had burned on his raised blade had already faded away, and the formerly vertical edge had turned parallel to the ground. Under the bright moonlight, the clear blade, like a pool of pristine water, could have served as a mirror.

Sōken's smile was reflected on the blade, and naturally, so were his scarlet eyes.

"Illusionary Arts: Binding Chain Technique."

The moment they saw that deeply mocking smile, the attackers naturally saw the scarlet Sharingan as well... In an instant, their consciousness was dragged by Sōken into the hell of Genjutsu. Thick metal stakes were driven deep into their bodies, completely robbing them of the ability to move.

Though they knew full well that they had fallen under Genjutsu, these two formidable attackers were utterly unable to break free from the illusion.

They had clearly disrupted the flow of their Chakra, yet it was still useless.

The Sharingan—

Was simply that powerful.

"Next... Uchiha Style: Firefly Light." Blazing flames ignited once more on Sōken's raised blade. Unlike the terrifying heat from before, these flames released a brilliant radiance. The dazzling firelight drove away the shadows on the ground.

Sōken's shadow consequently twisted violently.

Coupled with the fact that he had been resisting with all his strength against the Nara Clan member concealed in the darkness—

The Shadow Imitation, already near its limit, was broken.

"Uchiha Style: Sword Leap Flame."

The instant he regained his freedom, Sōken spun and swung his blade. The searing edge swept across the necks of the two men standing stiffly as wood on a branch not far behind him. Their charred wounds shrank shut, with no excess blood spurting out, and their headless bodies fell to the ground with a thud.

The treetops were still trembling.

But Sōken had already vanished.

The next second—

A Blade Light wreathed in flames lit up the darkness some distance away. The Nara Clan attacker, a man with a pineapple-shaped ponytail, had his neck severed. The wound was similarly charred black, not a single drop of blood spilling out. The death toll had now risen to five.

And yet—

The remaining attackers did not retreat.

It was as though they did not fear death at all. Their comrades' sacrifices stirred nothing within them; they simply continued fighting.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique."

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."

Their comrades' sacrifices seemed not to have affected those still alive, but they had clearly left behind sufficient experience and lessons. Close-quarters combat made it difficult to gain any advantage against Sōken. More precisely, after paying the price of five dead comrades and one mentally injured, they had failed to inflict any visible harm upon him.

Perhaps—

They had only depleted a portion of his Chakra?

Standing atop their comrades' corpses, they finally understood that the [Flame Demon], renowned alongside [Shunshin] Shisui within the Uchiha Clan, had not earned that name undeservedly. Even though they had estimated Uchiha Sōken's strength as highly as possible before taking action, the facts proved they had still underestimated him.

Thus—

They no longer worried about injuring the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. More accurately, they no longer had the luxury of considering such matters.

They abandoned their plan of fighting Uchiha Sōken at close range and switched to their backup plan.

The so-called backup plan—

Was to crush Uchiha Sōken with long-range, numerous, sustained ninjutsu attacks. Relying on their advantage in numbers, they could drain all of Uchiha Sōken's Chakra through sheer attrition. Once his Chakra was exhausted, even the most skilled housewife could not cook without rice.

The first two to attack chose a combined Wind Release and Fire Style assault.

Their comrades' sacrifices might not have stirred the survivors, but they had clearly provided enough experience and warning. This did not qualify as a combined ninjutsu technique; it was merely Wind Release enhancing the Fire Style attack, granting a C-rank Fire Style Jutsu the destructive power of a B-rank Fire Style Jutsu. Flames surged skyward and advanced in a straight line, crushing toward the location detected by the Sensor Ninja.

"Fire Style?"

The instant the Dragon Fire Technique was unleashed, Sōken blinked as though he had seen a ghost.

Well, well.

Where had these reckless greenhorns come from? Playing with Fire Style Jutsu before an Uchiha was enough to make Sōken laugh his teeth out. These idiots had probably never seen how the Uchiha Clan used Fire Style Jutsu to suppress the Mist Ninja's Water Style Jutsu in battle.

What's more, Among the current Uchiha Clan, when it came to Sōken's Fire Style Jutsu, if he called himself second, absolutely no one dared claim the throne of first.

"Clang~~!"

The long blade stabbed into the ground.

Sōken formed the Boar hand sign with one hand.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!!!"

A massive amount of Chakra condensed in his throat. Sōken opened his mouth and spewed forth a roaring sea of flames like a tsunami. The tiny linear flame rushing toward him was swallowed by the inferno without even causing the slightest ripple. The surrounding trees, grassland... everything was devoured by the sea of fire.

That included the two men using Wind Style and Fire Style, who tried to flee with the Body Flicker Technique and Substitution Technique.

However, both techniques had limits on their movement range. More unfortunately, even their maximum distance was not enough to escape the inferno's range.

Their figures vanished into the blazing, brilliant sea of fire. The others had been far enough away; sensing danger, they immediately fled in panic and narrowly avoided this terrifying Fire Style Jutsu.

If one had not seen it with their own eyes, it was simply impossible to imagine that this was a Fire Style Jutsu cast by a single person. People would have believed it had been unleashed by seventeen or eighteen people working together.

"Is this the Flame Demon?"

Someone murmured.

The others remained silent, but realization dawned on them. So that was it—such a terrifying Fire Style Jutsu truly deserved the title of "Flame Demon"!!!