Duel with a Hyuga Ninja

Before the sun set, Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Shin gathered everyone of their generation in the main hall, along with the one special jonin and three chunin currently remaining in the clan compound.

At the same time, Uchiha Madara ordered all women in the compound to lock their doors and stay inside, forbidding them from showing their faces tonight no matter what they heard. Finally, he dispatched two genin, one to chase after the Third Elder and the other to the battlefield to inform the rest of the clan of the situation.

"Young Clan Leader, is the information you received accurate?" Uchiha Hayate, the only special jonin left in the clan, asked with a lingering trace of hope.

Uchiha Madara nodded solemnly: "The news was brought back by Shin; it is absolutely correct. Prepare yourselves to fight for your lives."

Uchiha Hayate dispelled the last shred of hope in his heart, gripped the sword on his back, and stood silently to the side, waiting for the night to fall. He had already anticipated that tonight would be a bloody battle.

There were eighty-seven children of Madara's generation in the hall, all genin between the ages of five and ten, with only Uchiha Izuna having reached the level of a chunin.

Of course, the new generation of the Uchiha clan was far larger than this, but Madara had simply told the children who hadn't even reached genin level to hide; they would only be in the way if they came.

The group of genin children gathered together, chattering incessantly. There wasn't much worry on their faces; instead, there was a faint excitement. As the elites of the new generation, they had long yearned to kill enemies after coming of age, to make a name for themselves among the clans, and to display their own might.

Most of them had never seen blood and did not understand the cruelty of this world. In their minds, the enemies they would face tonight were no different from their usual training targets; they had no concept of the difference.

"A bunch of idiots, sigh!"

Shin was not in the hall but sitting on the eaves, gazing at the deepening night, his expression growing heavy.

Unlike the children who had been protected within the clan, he possessed the mind of an adult and understood the cruelty of the Naruto world. He clearly remembered a line from the original work describing the Warring States period: "The average human lifespan in this era is less than thirty years."

It was a very plain statement, yet it was filled with bloodshed.

Not to mention anything further, take the chunin Shin had dealt with today; his strength was truly not weak. The reason he had lost so thoroughly was largely because every step he took had been within Shin's calculations, coupled with the power of the Sharingan's genjutsu, which allowed for a quick takedown. If it were purely a matter of raw strength, while Shin could still have won, it likely wouldn't have been so easy.

Listening to the noisy sounds in the hall, a mocking smirk hung on the corner of Shin's mouth. Uchiha Madara was ultimately too young; he had only considered the raw strength of these children without accounting for their age. He was certain that if these children faced ten chunin who had come from the battlefield, the mere killing intent of those veterans would be enough to make these children wet themselves, let alone their endless array of lethal tactics.

"This battle won't be easy; there will be many casualties." Shin simply lay down on the roof and sighed.

However, this didn't have much to do with him. His feelings for the Uchiha were not yet that deep. A large part of the reason he chose to stay and fight was that even if they lost in the end, with his current strength, he could still retreat safely.

"Speaking of which, could there have been such an ambush in the original story? Perhaps the part where Madara said all his brothers except Izuna died happened on this very night."

Shin suddenly thought of this, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Uchiha Madara was eight years old this year. According to the plot, he would encounter Senju Hashirama by next year at the latest, yet until now, his brothers, including himself, were still alive and kicking. This didn't fit the plot.

Thinking about these things idly, Shin didn't care too much. With his current strength, even if he couldn't beat a jonin, he could still walk away gracefully. As long as he didn't seek death by choosing a head-on collision, it was hard for accidents to happen.

As the night breeze blew, Shin felt a sense of comfort and closed his eyes to doze off. He wasn't too worried about being ambushed by Hyuga ninjas right now. The ninja profession actually had very specific rules; it was only just nightfall, and people were in their best mental state. Unless they were fools, no one would choose to launch a surprise attack now.

Shinerally speaking, ninja assassinations were chosen for around two in the morning, the time when people were at their most exhausted, which was very favorable for an assassination.

As time passed, it was unknowingly around one o'clock in the morning. Uchiha Shin on the roof opened his eyes right on time. Having been conserving his energy until now, his mind had reached its peak state.

The new generation of Uchiha gathered in the hall did not have his level of focus. Because of their chatter earlier in the night, they were now drowsy. It would be more accurate to call them children with the strength of genin rather than actual genin.

Uchiha Izuna rubbed his sleepy eyes, walked up to Madara, and whispered: "Big Brother, it's already one o'clock in the morning, and there's still no movement. Could the information Shin received be wrong?"

Uchiha Madara was full of energy. He looked at him with affection and said: "Don't be careless. From now on is the most dangerous time. Remember, when the fighting starts, I won't be able to look after you. You must protect yourself well."

Just as the two were speaking, Shin walked in from the doorway, came before Uchiha Madara, and said two simple words: "They're here!"

Uchiha Madara's eyes lit up instantly, his entire body ignited with fighting spirit. He gripped the katana placed to his side, stood up, and said: "The enemy is here. All Uchiha clansmen, come with me to meet the enemy."

The group of children, who had been dazed and confused, suddenly regained their spirit and swarmed toward the hall entrance. Madara, Shin, and Izuna, however, fell to the back.

"Shin, this battle depends on the two of us. We must bring out our full strength." Uchiha Madara's hand holding the sword couldn't help but tremble slightly, not from fear, but from excitement.

"Don't worry, don't worry. I will definitely end the battle within ten minutes," Shin replied very seriously, quietly glancing at his excited right hand and taking a step away from him.

Come to think of it, this guy Uchiha Madara actually had the attributes of a battle maniac. How had he not noticed before? It was better to stay away from him; when someone with this attribute went crazy, it was highly likely to cause collateral damage.

Within a few steps, everyone had exited the hall. The three of them reached the very front of the group. Looking up, they saw thirteen figures leaping rapidly across the rooftops under the silver moonlight. The fastest one was nothing more than a black shadow.

Uchiha Madara's eyes narrowed, and his entire aura changed abruptly, becoming heavy and solemn. His thumb flicked his katana, reflecting a chilling light in the moonlight.

Uchiha Shin remained calm on the surface, but he was shocked inside: With this kind of aura, Madara has definitely killed people before. When did that happen?