Brutal, Uchiha's Final Frenzy, and the Beginning of Peace Talks

The crushing defeat at the Blood-Weeping Plain was like a basin of ice water, extinguishing the last shred of unrealistic fanaticism within the Uchiha Clan. What was brought back was not the glory of victory, but an ever-lengthening list of the fallen, the rise and fall of mournful wails, and a cold that seeped into the very marrow of their bones. The clan's strength had plummeted to rock bottom; nearly half of their elite forces were lost, the smaller clans that had once clung to them were wavering, and even those crazed remnants of the Kaguya, having witnessed the cold ruthlessness of Madara and the tenacity of the Allied Forces, grew restless and volatile, ready to turn on their masters at any moment.

Inside Naka Shrine, the aura of Uchiha Madara became increasingly dangerous and unpredictable. The shame of failure, the wailing of his clansmen, and that moment on the battlefield when he was forced back by the combined efforts of Tobirama and Hashirama gnawed at his heart like a viper. The darkness within his Eternal Mangekyou seemed ready to overflow. He could not accept such an outcome; the pride of the Uchiha would not allow him to admit defeat in such a humiliating fashion.

"It is not over yet..." he whispered to the empty shrine, his voice hoarse and twisted. "How could the flames of the Uchiha be extinguished so easily! Even if we are to die, I will make the entire world be buried with us!"

Extreme rage and paranoia drove him to make an even more insane decision. Since they could not win a conventional war, they would continue to bite back in the most extreme, cost-no-object manner! They would fight until one side bled their very last drop!

The following weeks became the darkest period for the border regions of the Land of Fire.

The Uchiha abandoned their previous tactics; no longer seeking head-on confrontations, they broke into small units and launched a continuous, suicidal campaign of terror.

First suicide attack: Burning the Grain with Blood and Fire.

The target was not the ninja themselves, but a vital grain transport line in the rear of the Senju Alliance. A squad composed of Uchiha death-seekers completely abandoned stealth, charging directly at the transport convoy at maximum speed and along the most direct route. They did not entangle themselves with the guarding ninja; instead, they slammed their bodies directly into the grain carts and, at the final moment, detonated every Explosive Tag on their persons!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out one after another, and raging fires consumed the precious food supplies. Although the guarding ninja killed all the suicide attackers, they could only watch helplessly as the grain turned to ash. This "mutual destruction" tactic posed a serious threat to the logistics of the Allied Forces and caused immense psychological trauma.

Second suicide attack: The Illusionary Prison Self-Detonation.

Several Uchiha Jonin proficient in genjutsu infiltrated an outpost jointly guarded by the Sarutobi and Shimura clans. They did not attack directly, but instead simultaneously unleashed their strongest area-of-effect genjutsu—Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes! Although the ninja within the outpost fought back desperately, a portion of them still fell victim to the technique, trapped in illusions and slaughtering one another.

Just as the effect of the genjutsu reached its peak, these Uchiha Jonin simultaneously reversed their own Chakra meridians!

"For the Uchiha!!!"

Accompanied by frantic screams, their bodies swelled as if inflated, then violently burst apart! It was not merely a physical explosion, but one mixed with a powerful, distorted shockwave of illusionary Chakra!

The outpost was instantly razed to the ground. Even those who were not killed by the blast suffered permanent mental trauma, descending into madness. Such a terrifying method of using oneself as an illusion-based bomb was unheard of!

Third suicide attack: Hell of Bone Spikes.

This time, they even utilized the surviving Kaguya madmen. Several Kaguya tribesmen, driven completely out of their minds by the Uchiha's last stocks of forbidden drugs and genjutsu, were intentionally lured to the location of a Uzumaki Clan sealing research team.

These Kaguya had long since become like beasts, attacking anything living they saw. They were fearless of death, pushing the power of their Shikotsumyaku to the limit, even capable of erupting a forest of countless bone spikes from their bodies in a short time, covering a vast area.

Although the Uzumaki sealers were powerful and skilled in control, they had never encountered such suicidal enemies with such bizarre attack patterns. While they eventually sealed or killed them all, a young and highly talented Uzumaki sealer was unfortunately pierced by a final, dying burst of bone spikes, left in critical condition. The loss to the Uzumaki Clan made Tobirama Senju's face so dark it seemed as if it could drip water.

These suicide attacks did indeed cause considerable trouble and casualties for the Senju Alliance, greatly exacerbating the atmosphere of panic. Everyone in the border regions lived in fear, as if a Uchiha madman clutching Explosive Tags might rush out of the shadows at any moment.

However, that was all they achieved.

In terms of the overall war, these attacks were like the final howls of a dying beast—though shrill and terrifying, they could not change the fact that it was heading toward extinction.

The scale and resilience of the Senju Alliance were far beyond imagination. Hashirama and Tobirama quickly adjusted their strategies, strengthening the protection of their logistics lines and adopting more flexible reconnaissance and anti-infiltration measures, while developing corresponding defensive tactics and sealing barriers against the Uchiha's genjutsu and suicide attacks. The unity within the Alliance only grew tighter as they faced this insane threat together.

More importantly, the Uchiha Clan was bleeding out its last drop of blood at an alarming rate through these self-destructive attacks.

Every suicide attack meant the permanent loss of several, or even a dozen, well-trained Uchiha ninja. Many of them were core members who had awakened the Sharingan. The clan's population had already plummeted after the battle at the Blood-Weeping Plain, and now, it was a disaster upon a disaster. Within the clan grounds, white mourning banners hung from nearly every household, and the sound of weeping never ceased, day or night.

Resources were completely exhausted. Food, medicine, ninja tools... everything had reached its limit. The clansmen were sallow and gaunt; the wounded could not receive effective treatment and could only wail in agony while waiting for death. Even in Naka Shrine, the resources available to Madara were dwindling, no longer enough to support large-scale operations.

Despair was no longer just an emotion; it was a substance that permeated the air, something one could actually breathe in.

The last bit of fighting spirit was ground away by the cruel reality. Even the most radical Uchiha Hi-kaku, looking at the withered and miserable scene within the clan, could no longer speak of continuing the fight. He knelt before Madara, his forehead pressed against the cold floor, his voice hoarse and desperate:

"Clan Leader... stop... please... we truly cannot continue... the Uchiha... are going to be wiped out!!"

His weeping was like a heavy hammer, striking against the deathly silence of the shrine.

Several surviving elders also knelt tremblingly on the ground, their faces streaked with old tears.

"Clan Leader, leave a seed for the Uchiha..." "If we keep fighting, Izuna-sama will not be able to rest in peace in the underworld..." "Sue for peace... even if the terms are the most humiliating... as long as it allows the clansmen to live..."

Uchiha Madara stood before them, his body rigid. He listened to the wailing of the elders below and the faint, distant cries echoing from the clan grounds. The madness within his Eternal Mangekyou slowly faded, replaced by a deeper, near-lifeless exhaustion and emptiness.

He walked slowly to the shrine entrance and pushed open the heavy doors. Outside, there were no longer clansmen full of fighting spirit, but a scene of gloom and misery, of the disabled visible everywhere, and of children with hungry, vacant eyes.

He tried to gather his Chakra; that vast, world-destroying power still surged within him. If he wished, he could still drive his Susanoo to launch one final, devastating charge.

But then what?

Kill every enemy he could see before him? And then what? What would be left of the Uchiha? Besides his name being passed down as a demon of destruction, what else would remain?

Izuna had entrusted his eyes to him in the hope that he would lead the clan toward prosperity, not toward a total, traceless extinction.

An unprecedented sense of powerlessness, mixed with immense pain and confusion, finally overwhelmed him.

He slowly closed his eyes, and after a long while, he spoke to the elders kneeling in a sea behind him with a voice that was incredibly dry:

"...Send someone... to tell Hashirama Senju..."

"The Uchiha... agree to negotiate."

This time, it was no longer a strategy, no longer a probe, but a forced, humiliating plea for peace in the truest sense.

The madness of the Uchiha finally subsided in the hopelessness of despair, leaving behind nothing but the sound of exhausted, ragged breathing.