War was nothing new to the Uchiha or Hatake Sakumo. It was all about squad assaults and clashing with powerful opponents.
But they had never witnessed a war that involved directly clashing with an army of tens of thousands.
This was a style of warfare completely different from that of the Sand Shinobi and Mist Shinobi. The Iwa Shinobi favored army-wide operations and placed greater emphasis on fighting as a group.
Without Ōnoki having to give any orders, tens of thousands of soldiers had already begun spreading out to both sides. Their movements were orderly and coordinated, as if they were one person, and they advanced at a considerable speed—a reflex honed through years of training.
The figure of thirty thousand, spoken of in passing, hadn't meant much to them.
Only when tens of thousands stood before them in person could they understand just how staggering a number it was.
Enemies surrounded them in every direction, packed so tightly that they stretched beyond sight. If they had to describe it in a single sentence...
With this many people, their arms would go numb from all the chopping!
Hatake Sakumo and the others quickly formed a circle, standing back to back. Far from dampening their fighting spirit, the Iwa Shinobi's overwhelming numbers only stoked it higher.
The Uchiha wore bloodthirsty smiles, their swords gleaming coldly in their hands as their Three-Tomoe Sharingan swept over the crowd without restraint. Under their gaze, the outnumbering Iwa Shinobi lowered their heads slightly, avoiding eye contact with the Uchiha.
Though there were only a few dozen of them, they had the Iwa Shinobi outmatched in sheer presence.
Uchiha Yuji didn't join Hatake Sakumo and the others in their back-to-back defense. Instead, he stood alone out in front, arms folded across his chest and chin slightly raised.
Memories of Uchiha Madara's contempt surfaced in Ōnoki's mind. His own son had been humiliated by the Uchiha, and now the Uchiha were dominating even his army.
"Uchiha!" The pent-up frustration in his heart burst forth with a single shout.
Hovering above the army, Ōnoki slowly spread his arms. "You entered the Land of Earth to fight alone. I acknowledge your courage."
"But courage alone won't let you defeat us Iwa Shinobi!"
"Twenty-five thousand! There are a full twenty-five thousand Iwa Shinobi here. We've surrounded you on all sides! You have no chance of winning!"
"Surrender, Uchiha!"
I'm the one leading this team.
Hatake Sakumo said nothing. His feet seemed rooted to the ground, but his grip on the White Fang suddenly tightened.
"Uchiha this, Uchiha that. Who knows who you're even talking to, Third Tsuchikage—Ōnoki?"
"My name is Uchiha Yuji, clan head of the Uchiha Clan." Uchiha Yuji didn't change his stance, keeping his arms folded across his chest.
His jet-black hair, the Uchiha Clan crest, his arms-folded pose, those Mangekyō Sharingan, and that look of utter contempt.
He was exactly like Uchiha Madara!
"Uchiha Yuji, surrender! We've surrounded you. There's nowhere to run, and you have no chance of winning!" Ōnoki furrowed his brow as he looked at the man before him. A strange feeling suddenly welled up inside him.
Though he tried hard to keep his voice steady, Uchiha Yuji could clearly sense his panic.
"Surrounded with nowhere to run? When did you get the impression that I was surrounded?"
Uchiha Yuji slowly lowered his arms, his smile growing ever more wild and uninhibited. "You're the ones I've surrounded, Ōnoki."
Ōnoki felt his heart begin to race. Has the Uchiha Clan head become such an idiot that he can't even read the situation?
"You're the one who can't read the situation."
The words had barely left his mouth when his figure turned into a blur and shot straight toward the Iwa Shinobi headquarters.
So fast!
The thought had only just occurred to them when the blur plunged into the ranks of the Iwa Shinobi.
The Iwa Shinobi in the front line had all mastered the Hardening Technique. Among them were elite shinobi who had learned the Earth Style: Rock Fist Technique.
The moment Uchiha Yuji charged, the quickest among them had already formed rock fists and swung them fiercely along his path.
Solid, heavy rock. Tremendous strength. These were the Iwa Shinobi's greatest advantages.
But the instant the Rock Fist made contact, the clash between the massive stone fist and that small bare fist unleashed an unstoppable force.
The solid rock shattered in an instant. The violent force surged up his arm and into his shoulder, twisting and snapping the bones in its path. The impact lifted him off his feet and sent him flying through the air.
His body spun rapidly as it flew. An Iwa Shinobi tried to leap up and catch him, but the moment his hand touched him, he too was sent flying, crashing straight through a whole formation.
The first man flew from the very front of the ranks all the way to the rear, then slammed into the ground, crumpling into a heap.
There was usually no saving someone in that condition.
After clearing the people blocking his way, Uchiha Yuji didn't slow down. He lightly tapped his right foot against the ground, and the rocky earth caved in with a roar.
A violent gust swept up as a thunderous iron fist split the air.
The shinobi of Iwagakure were hardheaded. Even after seeing what had happened to the man in front of them, those behind him remained confident—or perhaps they simply believed they were even tougher.
He planned to take the blow head-on and counterattack, but the moment the heavy punch landed, his upper body exploded.
The blood spraying outward was like bullets, tearing through swathes of Iwa Shinobi nearby.
The teammate who had vanished in an instant made the Iwa Shinobi behind him open their eyes wide. Terror flooded their minds, bringing their thoughts to a halt. Then the iron fist smashed them apart too.
Those stone-headed shinobi, hardened by the Hardening Technique, could even dent steel plates with their skulls. But against those bare fists, they couldn't resist at all.
Like fireworks bursting into bloom, flowers of blood exploded beneath a dark silhouette that flashed with a deep, inky gleam.
He was fast and agile. His calm expression and casual movements made him seem less like he was on a battlefield and more like he was at a masquerade ball, making everyone dance wildly to his tune.
The Earth Spears thrusting from the ground were casually smashed apart. Earth Release walls were easily broken through. And in close combat, they were no match for him at all!
The Iwa Shinobi threw the kunai they weren't used to handling. Their formations still held, but they could no longer afford to worry about that.
The black iron kunai flew so slowly in the Mangekyō Sharingan's field of vision. As one passed by his side, Uchiha Yuji suddenly reached out with his right hand, hooked his index finger through the hole at the end of the kunai, and spun it around.
He gripped the kunai tightly and whipped his right hand. Amplified by his tremendous strength, it became a streak of black light, piercing through countless bodies in the blink of an eye.
The Death God was spreading an aura of death.
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