Betting the Nation's Fate Leads to a Bad End

Fortunately, with Uchiha Fucheng, the clan head, holding the line, these young jonin and elite chunin were able to remain much more composed.

Uchiha Kaen took the lead, splitting off two men to eliminate the enemy's chunin and genin.

Once the Rain ninja's fodder had been pruned away, they would deal with the more troublesome Salamander Doshin together.

The remaining Uchiha also performed quite commendably.

Although they lacked the experience of a veteran jonin like Salamander Doshin, young people were quick-witted.

They directly utilized the vast pools of water left behind by the earlier Water Release techniques, leveraging the terrain to cast their own ninjutsu.

By making use of the battlefield environment, they unleashed wide-area "containment-type" Earth Release ninjutsu.

(Cast by 3 people) Earth Release: Earth Flow River.

(Cast by 3 people) Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld.

These two special Earth Release techniques consumed a great deal of chakra.

But when turned into a combined ninjutsu and split among several ninja, the cost became negligible.

The murky water surface transformed into a muddy swamp, churning incessantly beneath the feet of the Rain ninja.

Several rivers of mud, resembling earthen dragons, repeatedly surged toward the cliff where the Rain ninja were positioned.

The Earth Release mud clinging to the Rain ninja became an adhesive as potent as glue.

Most of the Rain ninja fell directly into the Swamp of the Underworld.

"Use Earth Release to raise the ground! Raise the ground, quickly!" Salamander Doshin shouted.

He once again summoned a smaller-sized salamander mount.

During this wave of attacks, a purple-haired Rain ninja failed to dodge in time and was instantly bound by the mud.

Uchiha Kaen was swift and decisive, firing a kunai that struck the purple-haired ninja right in the forehead.

A rare, one-hit kill with a thrown weapon!

The corpse of the purple-haired Rain ninja fell straight into the pitch-black, viscous Swamp of the Underworld.

[Fate trajectory of Ajisai altered.]

This notification caught Fucheng completely by surprise.

After this purple-haired ninja died, a system reward prompt had actually appeared.

"Ajisai?"

The name felt slightly unfamiliar.

"Could it be the Animal Path from the Six Paths of Pain, the one capable of summoning creatures?"

Fucheng felt a surge of pleasant surprise.

"I didn't expect to hit the jackpot while just weeding the garden!"

He marveled at the wonders of fate.

This dead purple-haired ninja was likely a direct relative of the future Ajisai.

When a person dies, the light goes out; better to die early and be reincarnated, Fucheng thought to himself.

In any case, Ajisai's fate was quite tragic; not only did she die a miserable death early on, but her corpse was eventually repurposed into the Animal Path of Pain.

[Reward: Ajisai's Fate Dice.]

Now that he had plenty of Recognition Points, Fucheng decided to be generous and invested fifty points at once.

[Obtained a small amount of space-time ninjutsu talent; obtained Summoning: Giant Panda.]

Seeing this reward, Fucheng perked up.

He had a clear impression of this peculiar panda summon from the Naruto series.

The first time the panda appeared, it was used to counter giant ants.

Later, this panda also appeared as a summon in the Naruto mobile game.

However, it seemed that after Ajisai became the Animal Path of Pain, this Giant Panda also transformed into a stone panda embedded with black receivers.

It was a bizarre, zombie-like form with super armor.

Fucheng didn't really care about the panda's combat prowess.

As a Chinese person, he had an inherent fondness for the appearance of such a national treasure.

He didn't need this panda to be a great fighter; even if it just served as a mount, it would make Fucheng incredibly happy.

The panda, after all, was the legendary mount of Chiyou from ancient mythology.

He, Uchiha Fucheng, may be untalented, but he still wanted to experience the comfort of an ancient war god's mount.

Uchiha Fucheng happily fiddled with his new summon, the panda.

On the battlefield, the ninjas of the Land of Rain launched an even more ferocious counterattack.

First came the rain of poison-tipped senbon.

Following the countless needles were explosive tags bound by transparent threads.

Fucheng knew that the few men under his command were not proficient in Wind Style ninjutsu.

He decided to take the initiative, weaving hand signs; the moment the flying senbon reached mid-air, they were blown back by Fucheng's Wind Style: Wind Sweeping the Clouds.

Explosions erupted one after another.

Under this Wind Style assault, at least seven or eight Rain ninjas were killed or wounded.

Smoke, mud, blood, and severed limbs...

Uchiha Fucheng stood high atop an earthen wall, looking down.

He scanned the enemy with a wild, arrogant gaze, his eyes cast downward at a 45-degree angle.

Crossing his arms, Fucheng urged them to surrender, "Salamander Doshin, I know your reputation. Give up the resistance and surrender immediately; don't suffer needless casualties."

As soon as these words were spoken, Salamander Doshin on the opposite side nearly coughed up blood in anger.

"The Land of Rain will never submit!"

Salamander Doshin roared.

"You people from the great nations will never understand us."

Fucheng sneered, "Don't spout nonsense about the dreams of a small nation, and don't feed me that garbage about 'you wanting true peace.'

You gamble the fate of your nation at every turn, pinning all your hopes on invading other countries—don't you find that ridiculous yourself?"

The Rain ninja wanted to retort, but looking at the miserable state of his own men, he swallowed his words.

Fucheng looked at the Rain ninjas in the mud with disdain, commenting in a particularly flat tone.

"Every day you pin your hopes on 'an old man named Hanzo who knows a bit of poison.'

Every day you shout, 'The rise or fall of the empire rests on this one move.'

Every day you think, 'We must invade other countries.'

You guys, neither strong nor humble, want to become a great power in the ninja world?

A small nation like yours doesn't even have the most basic self-awareness.

Now that you've lost, just surrender obediently. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to let you die obediently."

Deciding to stop slacking off, Uchiha Fucheng's eyes shifted from the Three-Tomoe to the Mangekyo form.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and the pinwheel-patterned Mangekyo Sharingan was reflected directly into the depths of Salamander Doshin's eyes.

"Me?"

Salamander Doshin wanted to shout again, but the world before him seemed to invert and spin.

He tried to struggle with all his might, but the strength in his body grew weaker and weaker.

The chill of the raindrops, the earthy stench of the mud, the rushing sound of the river.

All of these made Salamander Doshin feel as if his soul were leaving his body, bit by bit, as he felt himself being pulled away from this world.

Crack!

A peal of thunder rang out.

Salamander Doshin felt reality once more.

The world was still the same world.

His companions were still the same companions.

Yet, the expressions on the faces of the Rain ninjas were filled with the terror of having "seen a ghost."

"What are you doing?"

Salamander Doshin said weakly, his body feeling increasingly hollow.

He looked down and saw his own hands gripping a kunai, which was plunged deep into his own heart.

"I killed myself?"

Salamander Doshin collapsed powerlessly to his knees, standing still like a tombstone.

He watched helplessly as blood gushed from his chest.

The final image Salamander Doshin saw was forever frozen on the high wall in the distance: the terrifying, cold eyes of Uchiha Fucheng.

"He killed Salamander Doshin with just a single glare?!"

Beside Fucheng, Uchiha Zanghu's mouth hung open in such shock that a fist could have been stuffed inside.

His broad, square face, paired with his small eyes, made him look quite foolish.

Even with this bewildered expression, he still looked like a silly, adorable Tibetan fox.

The Uchiha ninja were ecstatic!

The scene erupted in excited cheers, "Lord Fucheng is too amazing!"

Black Zetsu, lurking deep underground, had not seen Fucheng's movements, only hearing the conversation between the others.

Yet, this instant slaughter felt remarkably like Madara bullying weaklings with his Mangekyo.

Black Zetsu was astonished; he felt he had seemingly underestimated Uchiha Fucheng, and had also underestimated the power of Fucheng's Mangekyo.