Life Struggles

"Ah...!"

Uchiha Shin looked up at the tent that had just been set up before him and sighed softly.

If only he knew Wood Release. Even if he couldn't use Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands to summon a giant Thousand-Armed Buddha, knowing Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique would be great.

Looking at the tent before him, which wasn't exactly sturdy, Uchiha Shin found himself missing Yamato's knockoff Wood Release techniques.

As for this mission, although Uchiha Tajima had already told him the plan, Uchiha Shin still felt a little uneasy.

"Forget it. I'd better go see Dad!"

Uchiha Shin gave in to his own instincts.

"Hana, come here."

"Hehe, Lord Shin, what is it?"

With a short sword strapped to her back, Uchiha Hana ran over to Uchiha Shin and asked with a goofy grin.

"I'm going out for a bit. Stay alert."

"Don't go wandering off, understand?"

"I'll be back soon."

Uchiha Shin gave Uchiha Hana stern instructions, so she wouldn't go roaming all over the camp while he was away.

"Hehe, you got it!"

Uchiha Hana grinned and gave Uchiha Shin a thumbs-up to show that she definitely wouldn't wander off.

"Mm."

Satisfied with Uchiha Hana's promise, Uchiha Shin nodded and headed straight for Uchiha Tajima's tent.

"Father..."

When he reached Uchiha Tajima's tent, Uchiha Shin lifted the flap and peered inside. Seeing that Uchiha Tajima was there, he went straight in.

"Shin?"

Seeing Uchiha Shin show up, Uchiha Tajima looked a little puzzled.

"I'm a little worried about Akira."

Uchiha Shin got straight to the point.

"What is there to worry about?"

"A scheme is a scheme because it can't stand the light of day."

"Now that we've figured out what's going on ahead of time, there's really nothing to worry about."

"Besides, if the enemy were truly powerful, they would have already brought their troops and attacked us."

"The fact that they've held back until now—you still don't understand what that means?"

Uchiha Tajima had weathered many storms, and his analysis of the situation with Akira was exceptionally thorough.

"As for the Senju Clan, heh, they're not that stupid."

"Before leaving home, I gave orders and had everyone in the clan's forces prepare for battle."

"If we confirm that the Senju Clan has sent a large part of its forces away from their base, then all the forces we've left behind will seize the chance to attack their base and deal them a heavy blow."

"The reverse is true as well."

"So there's no need to worry."

Uchiha Tajima confidently went over his plan in detail once more.

"I understand, Father."

"Then I'll head back."

Once he understood, Uchiha Shin waved goodbye to Uchiha Tajima and headed back to his tent in high spirits.

Early the next morning, the convoy began packing up, preparing to set off after breakfast.

The ambushers Uchiha Tajima had positioned around the convoy the previous night hadn't been attacked at all.

After receiving Uchiha Goichi's report, Uchiha Tajima thought it over. So the enemy intended to stake everything on one battle and wipe us out in this canyon?

Heh.

A hint of disdain flashed in Uchiha Tajima's eyes.

After breakfast, the convoy set off again.

Before entering the valley, however, Uchiha Tajima rearranged the order of the convoy.

The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka Clan shinobi remained at the front as the vanguard.

Next came the convoy of standard weapons and equipment, made up of ordinary soldiers from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's forces, following closely behind the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka shinobi.

The Hagoromo Clan shinobi marched in the middle.

Bringing up the rear were the Uchiha Clan shinobi, led by Uchiha Tajima.

Uchiha Tajima explained the arrangement to the leaders of the Hagoromo, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka Clans as follows...

The Uchiha Clan was the strongest, so they would guard the rear. If there were an ambush up ahead, the Uchiha shinobi could protect everyone's way out.

It was a compelling reason, and they were in no position to argue, so the leaders of the Hagoromo, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka Clans readily accepted it.

"Hana, stay right behind me."

"If we run into the enemy, you're responsible for watching my back."

"Understood?"

As soon as Uchiha Shin entered the canyon, he expanded his sensory range to its limit.

"Mm, understood."

Uchiha Hana naturally understood the situation. She stayed one step behind Uchiha Shin, ready to block any attacks from behind.

Although Uchiha Sarina wasn't very capable, she was fairly clever.

When she saw Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Hana enter the canyon and immediately take up a formation with one in front and the other behind, protecting each other...

She understood at once.

Her alarm bells ringing, she quickened her pace and gradually drew closer to Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Hana.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Uchiha Shin's sensory ability, which had spread out around him, detected a large number of concentrated chakra signatures on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon.

On alert, Uchiha Shin quickly nudged Uchiha Hana behind him with his elbow. He turned to give her a look, then lifted his chin toward the cliffs on either side of the canyon.

Uchiha Hana understood immediately. She drew her short sword, lowered her center of gravity, and began gathering chakra in her feet.

She was ready to deal with an attack from either side of the canyon at any moment.

Just then, Uchiha Tajima, at the front, suddenly stopped. He raised a hand and pointed toward the cliffs on both sides of the canyon, then made the signal to attack.

A large cave had been dug into the sheer cliff halfway up one side of the canyon.

The shinobi from the Senju Clan who were preparing to ambush them were all hiding inside it.

"Are we attacking now?"

Senju Gen, a jonin lying at the cave entrance and watching the escort convoy pass through the canyon below, noticed that the rear of the convoy had suddenly stopped.

He turned to look at Senju Butsuma, the Senju Clan leader, who was lying beside him on the left, and asked quietly.

"Wait a little longer. The convoy below hasn't reached the ideal ambush point yet."

As befitted a clan leader, Senju Butsuma would rather wait a little longer than risk missing the chance to maximize their gains.

But there was nothing worse than having a fool for an ally.

That saying couldn't have been more true.

No sooner had Senju Butsuma finished speaking than the monks from the Fire Temple hiding in a cave halfway up the opposite cliff lost their patience.

When Master Yamashita saw the rear half of the convoy passing through the canyon below come to a stop, he thought they had been discovered and launched an attack first.

"Fools!"

Seeing the monks in the cave across from him launch their combined technique, Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction, under Master Yamashita's command, Senju Butsuma's expression changed at once.

The Fire Temple monks had attacked too early. Now the odds of their ambush succeeding had become uncertain.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

When the Fire Temple monks unleashed their combined Earth Release technique, the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka shinobi at the very front of the escort convoy, serving as its vanguard, immediately found themselves in trouble.

Huge boulders on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon crumbled and rained down into the valley below.

Once the first move had been made, there was no point in the Senju Clan shinobi staying hidden now that the Fire Temple monks had attacked.

What Senju Butsuma didn't know was that Uchiha Tajima had rearranged the order of the shinobi long before they entered the canyon.

What's more, the escort convoy hadn't even reached the ideal ambush point.

As a result, the only ones within the Senju Clan's attack range were most of the Hagoromo Clan shinobi.

The rest of the Hagoromo Clan shinobi, along with the Uchiha Clan shinobi at the rear of the convoy, were already beyond the Senju Clan's attack range.

So the Senju Clan shinobi halfway up the cliff could only glare helplessly at the Uchiha Clan shinobi at the rear of the convoy.