Tactical Insertion?

There were three main routes from the Land of Fire to the Land of Earth: crossing the Land of Grass and entering the Land of Earth via Kannabi Bridge, traveling through the Land of Waterfalls into the Land of Earth, or crossing the Land of Rain.

The Land of Grass was much smaller than the Land of Waterfalls, and its territory was long and narrow.

It was the closest route between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire.

And compared with the other small countries,

Amegakure stood out among the smaller villages thanks to the presence of a certain demigod. Since they were already heading for the Land of Earth, there was no need to waste time dealing with Hanzo.

The Land of Waterfalls, with its own ninja village, could at least put up a little resistance during wartime. The Land of Grass, on the other hand, was like a little girl who could only be bullied.

No matter who picked on her, she had no way to fight back.

For that very reason, Iwagakure had stationed far more ninja in the Land of Grass than anywhere else.

After breaking through the natural barrier of Kannabi Bridge, Uchiha Yuji had thought they would reach their next destination in no time. But before they had traveled very far, they ran into the Iwagakure ninja again.

Or rather, they had stumbled straight into the Iwagakure front line's main base: a defensive wall built of earth and stone.

It was a support fortress for the front line, ready to provide immediate aid if anything happened at Kannabi Bridge.

It also served as a military camp for storing supplies.

The commotion at Kannabi Bridge had naturally caught the attention of the ninja inside the fortress. A group of Iwagakure ninja had just left to provide support.

Since the disturbance had been quelled so quickly, the ones they sent were nothing but cannon fodder.

By sheer bad luck, that group of expendable ninja had run into Uchiha Yuji and his team as soon as they entered the forest.

A bloodstained flash of white hair and the hazy gleam of the White Fang filled their eyes. Terror burst from their hearts and flooded their bodies!

"Enemy attack! The enemy—"

Before he could finish, the world spun around him. The last thing he saw was his own familiar body, now headless.

Blood sprayed from it like a fountain.

"The enemy's the White Fang! And the Uchiha!"

The Iwagakure ninja were seasoned fighters, experts at staying alive. They knew perfectly well that a bunch of nobodies like them had no chance against Hatake Sakumo and the Uchiha.

The smart ones turned and ran, but fleeing only made them easier targets.

A tactical retreat was clearly out of the question.

Kunai and Shuriken flashed with cold light, crossing the distance in an instant and piercing their bodies.

The Iwagakure ninja still standing were either trapped in genjutsu or the sort who had nerves of steel.

The Uchiha advanced without a word. A single sweep of their Three-Tomoe Sharingan froze their opponents in place, while their hands kept moving without the slightest hesitation.

Their blades fell, mercilessly cutting down the Iwagakure ninja.

The group was nothing but cannon fodder—mid- and low-ranking ninja sent as reinforcements. They couldn't pose a threat or inflict any injuries on this elite squad. The only trouble was that their cries before dying had alerted the fortress in the distance.

Hatake Sakumo flicked his short blade with his right hand, and the blood on the White Fang left a streak across the ground.

His keen eyes pierced the rows of trees and fixed on the fortress, now on full alert in the distance.

The defensive fortress, built entirely with Earth Release techniques, hadn't appeared in the intelligence reports.

Had the intelligence been wrong? Or had the Iwagakure ninja taken advantage of the timing?

Uchiha Yuji was clearly not as naive as Hatake Sakumo. The moment he saw the fortress, he knew they'd been set up.

Damn Sarutobi Hiruzen. He'd even fed us false information about the battlefield!

I'll remember this grudge.

That damn idiot. Once I'm back, I'll strip him of his position!

But as a well-mannered anti-Uchiha, Uchiha Yuji didn't say any of that aloud.

"If we use tactical insertion to get past this fortress, our retreat could easily be cut off. And the fortress will pass the news on to nearby outposts. Destroying it, on the other hand, would waste too much time and Chatonra, completely undermining the blitz plan we started with."

Hatake Sakumo's stern face grew even more somber.

Just then, Uchiha Yuji quietly stepped forward.

"I'll handle this. Sakumo, you and the others go around the fortress and head to the next planned location."

"My body's gotten a little stiff, anyway. I'll catch up as soon as I'm done warming up."

Uchiha Yuji rolled his neck. His bones ground together with a chilling series of cracks.

"Can your Chatonra hold out?" Hatake Sakumo asked.

"Yeah. I've got more than enough." Uchiha Yuji started walking slowly toward the edge of the forest.

"Will you be all right on your own?"

"Don't worry. I'm—"

Unlike the Uchiha, who had conserved their Chatonra along the way by using only genjutsu, Uchiha Yuji had no idea how his supply could possibly run dry.

The Chatonra inside him surged with every slow step.

"—the strongest."

The trees blocked the Iwagakure ninja's view, but they couldn't hide the approaching figure from their sensor ninja.

Powerful Fire Release Chatonra was slowly drawing near from within the forest. The sheer volume was so overwhelming that the sensor couldn't believe it. It felt as though what he saw wasn't a person, but a Tailed Beast.

A Tailed Beast even stronger than Lord Han in their village!

His hands slowly formed Hand Seals. The Chatonra in his body surged like boiling water, gathering in his throat.

The egg-shaped Zetton began to glow a bright yellow, too.

"He's coming! Watch out!" the sensor ninja shouted.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Like a dragon's breath, flames poured from his mouth.

It was as if a sun were rising from the earth. Its blinding light plunged the world into a moment of darkness, not a darkness of sight but one that welled up from the heart.

The flames roared with heat enough to annihilate everything. The ground cracked beneath the scorching temperature, and the forest behind the fortress spontaneously ignited under the extreme heat.

All they could see was a terrifying blaze bright enough to blind them, its light more dazzling than the sun in the sky.

Flames engulfed the entire fortress.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Almost at the same moment, the ninja who could use Earth-Style Wall roared. It was as if they hoped to drive the fear from their hearts with their cries.

Their desperate desire to live drove their bodies to draw more and more Chatonra, pouring it into the technique.

The thick stone walls that rose from the earth shattered before their hopeful eyes. Waves of lava-colored flame surged and gathered into pillars of fire, which crashed into the fortress in an instant.

The ninja who had used the Hardening Technique were vaporized in the raging flames. The Iwagakure ninja using Subterranean Voyage fainted and died in the scorching heat. No grave needed digging for them.

The blazing waves struck with tremendous force, expanding until they had destroyed the entire fortress. Only then did they stop.

The air shimmered so violently that the surroundings were impossible to make out. The once-solid rocky ground had turned into a land of molten lava.

Uchiha Yuji was certain that no one could have survived.

"The intelligence hasn't leaked. The blitz is still on."