"Senju Tobirama!"
The name crashed through the hearts of every Uchiha like a clap of thunder. Their deep-seated hatred instantly overwhelmed the exhaustion of battle. Their eyes turned bloodshot, and their killing intent spread through the air like a tangible force. Even the flames burning in the valley seemed to falter.
Uchiha Cang's heart clenched, nearly leaping out of his chest. He stared at the silver figure racing toward them, his mind gone blank. Only one absurd, terrifying thought kept echoing through his head: Was this really because of me?!
Izuna reacted the fastest—and with the greatest fury. His usually cold expression twisted with rage, and the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spun wildly, almost merging into a single blur.
"Defensive formation! The second and third squads, intercept them! Everyone else, finish off the remaining enemies and prepare for battle!" Izuna's voice was sharp as ice, cutting through the brief confusion at once and revealing his exceptional command under fire.
The Uchiha Clan's elite training showed in full. Despite the sudden turn of events, the clan members swiftly carried out their orders. The squad guarding the flank immediately turned around, unleashing ninjutsu and Shuriken like a torrential downpour at the incoming Senju squad in an attempt to slow their charge. The rest dealt with the remaining Hagoromo ninjas beside them even faster and more ruthlessly, then hurried toward the central position where Izuna stood.
But the Senju forces Tobirama had brought were elite as well!
Faced with the Uchiha's interception, Tobirama didn't even slow down. His hands flashed through Hand Seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Rumble! A massive wall of water appeared out of thin air, blocking most of the ranged attacks. Water collided with flames with a loud hiss, producing a thick cloud of white steam that instantly obscured their vision.
"Spread out!" Tobirama barked.
The Senju ninjas behind him scattered at once. Like precision scalpels, they cut into the Uchiha formation, whose vision was blocked by the steam!
The battle escalated in an instant, growing even more brutal and chaotic. Water and fire intertwined, while flashes of steel and blood flew through the air. Screams and roars came even faster than before.
Uchiha Cang was caught up in a melee. A Senju ninja swung a heavy baton at him with tremendous force. Cang used the Sharingan's insight to narrowly avoid a direct hit, but the blow left his arm numb. He immediately counterattacked with stray fireballs from Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, forcing his opponent back, then kept moving, not daring to stay in one place for even a moment.
His Sharingan spun wildly, catching every detail around him: clan members fought the Senju ninjas one-on-one; Uncle Izuna was rushing toward Tobirama, trying to stop the greatest threat. And Senju Tobirama...
Cang's pupils contracted sharply.
Senju Tobirama had a very clear target! He ignored the interceptions along his route, his figure flickering across the battlefield like a phantom. Using the high-speed movement technique known as the Body Flicker Technique, he deftly avoided the main clashes and charged straight toward one place—the Hagoromo Clan prisoners the Uchiha had captured and planned to take back for interrogation!
He meant to silence them! Or stop them from leaking information!
"Stop him!" An Uchiha ninja saw through his intention and roared as he charged forward.
But Tobirama was too fast! His figure seemed to teleport, easily weaving around the interception. Somehow, a special Kunai gleaming with a cold light had appeared in his hand.
"Watch out!" Uchiha Cang shouted, but his voice was swallowed by the noise of battle.
The two Uchiha Chunin guarding the prisoners braced themselves, their Sharingan fixed on Tobirama.
But in the next instant, Tobirama's figure suddenly blurred and wavered like a reflection in water.
"Is it an illusion? No!" Cang's Sharingan caught an extremely faint fluctuation of Chakra. It wasn't an ordinary illusion, but a visual deception created by high-speed movement and Water Clones!
The real Tobirama had already appeared from another, extremely tricky angle!
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
A hair-thin jet of high-pressure water shot from his mouth at astonishing speed, like a beam from the god of death, and swept across them in an instant!
Sshk! Sshk!
The two Uchiha Chunin froze. Before they could even change their defensive stance, the high-pressure water jet had sliced through their necks or chests and abdomens. Blood gushed out as they fell slowly, disbelief in their eyes.
Clean and decisive—a single, fatal strike!
Senju Tobirama's fighting style was efficient, cold, and precisely calculated, utterly different from the Uchiha's fierce, explosive approach.
After taking out the guards, Tobirama didn't hesitate. He threw his Kunai straight at the two bound Hagoromo prisoners, whose faces were stricken with terror.
Thud! Thud!
The Kunai struck their hearts with pinpoint accuracy, cutting off the last source of information.
Once it was done, Tobirama didn't even spare the bodies a glance. His cold gaze swept across the battlefield and immediately locked onto Uchiha Izuna, who was charging toward him in a frenzy.
"Senju Tobirama!" Izuna roared, his voice brimming with boundless hatred. Fire Release Chakra blazed around the Ninja Blade in his hand, and he brought it down like a furious firebird!
"Uchiha Izuna." Tobirama's voice was just as cold, without a trace of emotion. He swiftly drew the short sword on his back and blocked the strike, forming Hand Seals with his other hand.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A massive water dragon surged into the sky and crashed into Izuna's Fire Style!
Boom!!!
A tremendous explosion rang out in the center of the valley. The shockwave from the collision of water and fire sent several nearby ninjas who had been fighting flying through the air!
The blast nearly knocked Uchiha Cang off his feet, but he managed to steady himself. He watched in shock as two of the Warring States era's greatest fighters clashed. The collision of powers far beyond his current level left his mind reeling.
At the same time, an even deeper chill rose from within him.
Senju Tobirama had arrived at far too convenient a time, with far too clear a purpose. He hadn't come to rescue the Hagoromo Outpost. It seemed more like he had come to... ensure certain things happened. For example, to make sure the evidence of the Hagoromo Clan's collusion with the Senju—the surviving witnesses—was completely erased. Or perhaps... to inflame the conflict?
If his own thoughtless act had really, by some twist of fate, "brought about" this encounter... then what role did he play in this vast vortex of Causality?
He had only wanted to throw a Shuriken, protect himself, and... perhaps, deep down, try to change Uncle Izuna's fate just a little?
But now, watching Izuna fight Tobirama with murderous fury, and watching Uchiha and Senju clan members fall all around him, he felt for the first time with such clarity the crushing weight of fate and the cruel absurdity of war.
His tiny butterfly seemed to have truly stirred up an unexpected storm. The thought of where that storm might lead filled him with fear and confusion.
The battle continued, growing ever more intense. Izuna and Tobirama clashed and separated amid explosions, water, and fire. Each exchange teetered on the brink of disaster.
Uchiha Cang forced himself to calm down, his Sharingan fixed on the battle, especially Tobirama's movements. He knew his strength was negligible right now, but even if he could catch the slightest opening, perhaps he could...
Just then, after clashing head-on with Izuna and springing backward, Tobirama's gaze seemed to sweep, almost casually, in Cang's direction.
That gaze was cold and sharp, as if it could see through everything.
A chill shot up Uchiha Cang's spine. It felt as though some ancient, deadly beast had fixed its gaze on him.
In the next instant, Tobirama disappeared again.
He wasn't charging at Izuna. Instead, he became a streaking blur, hurtling toward Uchiha Cang from an impossible angle!
He was moving far faster than before!
"Cang! Watch out!" Izuna's shout came from nearby, edged with a shock and fury unlike anything Cang had heard from him before.
The shadow of death engulfed Uchiha Cang in an instant!
In the midst of his fierce battle with Uchiha Izuna, Senju Tobirama had actually chosen to target him first—the "insignificant" one?!
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