Night Raid (3)

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan was an important strategic resource. Uchiha who possessed these eyes were few and far between, and powerful, but they could still die.

After the eyes of fallen clan members were recovered, they could be exchanged for "battle merits."

When one eye lost its sight, Uchiha Niji didn't hesitate. He gouged it out and took another eye from a scroll, then put it in its place. Medical ninja were rare during the Warring States period, but over their long history, the Uchiha had developed a healing technique specifically for eye transplants. It took about a week to adapt fully.

"I can't believe I'm jealous of someone else's eyes..."

Niji's feelings were complicated. As a ninja of the Uchiha Clan, he was obsessed with the eyes of a Senju.

That strange dōjutsu, those intricate patterns—he could even vaguely sense the tremendous power within them.

Amazing. Just amazing. This boy had no idea how to use this power. It should be mine! Mine!

His desire for power won out, but he didn't rush back. That unfamiliar yet familiar ocular power was dangerous, no matter how he looked at it. He needed to prepare first.

Hiugo panted. As Uchiha Niji withdrew, he had tried using the dōjutsu in his left eye. Unlike his right eye, which had blurred his vision after a single use, his left eye's ability was gentler.

But in this situation, that gentleness was a bad thing. The power in his blood had stopped depleting, and instead his chakra began to evaporate.

His left eye's ability was similar to analysis. When he used it, it enhanced his brain, allowing him to see a target's condition and weaknesses, the precise composition of their jutsu, and even calculate their next moves.

By analyzing Uchiha Niji with his left eye, he had also gotten a general idea of his right eye's ability. It could completely transform the "attributes" of things in front of him. Just now, it had transformed part of his opponent into flames and dust. The elements it could convert weren't limited to the five elemental releases; there were also undeveloped attributes such as light, metal, and space.

This kind of transformation depended on how familiar he was with the element and the target's surroundings. The Uchiha generally had a Fire Release affinity, so transforming something into flames was easy. And with earth all around, converting something into soil was easy too.

There was another requirement for this transformation: he had to sense the element before he could convert something into it. That was why his two eyes had to work together.

From what he could tell, his right eye consumed significantly more chakra than his left. After just one use, the eye with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan had become too blurry to see through.

Hiugo wiped the blood from his face, feeling weak and mentally exhausted.

Once the danger had passed, the Nine-Pointed Star Array had reverted to a black veil over his eyes. He closed his blurred right eye and used his left, now back to its black color, to watch his surroundings.

"There's an injured Senju here!"

"Hurry, he's mine!"

"Get lost! His head belongs to me!"

The Fujiwara squad, made up of three jōnin and four Special Jōnin, had found the boy alone. He looked so weak that he clearly had little chakra left.

"Heh..."

Hiugo felt a little like a tiger fallen into a dog's den. The chakra he had left formed a black branch in his hand, and a crimson light swirled in his left eye.

This was the first time he'd been cornered because he didn't have enough chakra. No wonder Taijutsu had been the mainstay during the Warring States period. No matter how vast your chakra reserves were, they could still run out. Except for Senju Hashirama, who was a chakra tank.

Seven against one. Their only advantage was that they wanted his head, so they wouldn't use ninjutsu to "kite" him.

"I've only got one head. Are you seven going to split it into pieces?"

Hiugo spoke calmly, as if discussing a watermelon rather than his own head.

"We can talk about that after your head's on the ground."

The Fujiwara jōnin knew that any delay could lead to trouble, so he attacked immediately.

Taijutsu: Flowing Slash

Faint blue arcs of electricity coiled around the blade, making it a third faster.

"I should be glad you don't have a Chakra Metal weapon. In my current condition, I'd definitely get hurt."

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned beneath the black veil. Hiugo dodged the slash, then thrust the branch in his hand into the man's abdomen. It suddenly burst apart, and the black branches absorbed the chakra inside him, rapidly drawing it into Hiugo's body.

"He still has strength left..."

The remaining Fujiwara ninja immediately unleashed jutsu at Hiugo: Fire Release, Lightning Release, and Wind Release attacks rained down one after another.

The Senju's unreasonable vitality and chakra had left them deeply shaken, so they didn't even bother checking whether their clansmen might still be alive.

After a series of explosions, the six looked toward where Hiugo had been. There was nothing but a mangled corpse and a hole in the ground.

"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

A Special Jōnin shouted as he was dragged underground, leaving only his head above the ground.

"He's underground! Earth Release: Fissure Shift!"

After forming hand seals, a Fujiwara ninja slammed both hands onto the ground.

The earth cracked open in an instant, forcing Hiugo out. The hapless man who had just been dragged underground was caught in it too.

Hiugo coughed a couple of times. He had meant to use the familiar Wood Substitution to evade the attack, but discovered that absorbing someone else's chakra didn't let him use his own Wood Style. That was why he had been injured.

It was strange. Tsunade and Sakura had both transferred chakra to others during the ninja war, so it shouldn't have been a problem. Could it be that his transmigrated soul and the body whose bloodline was continually reverting to its ancestral state had produced a special kind of chakra?

"Five against one. Don't call us despicable—you're a Senju ninja."

One of the Fujiwara ninja spoke up. After their brief fight, they could no longer see him as easy prey.

"Those words sound familiar. If you survive today, I bet you'll end up in the Land of Water someday."

Hiugo spoke casually as he hurried to recover his chakra. His left eye scanned their surroundings and caught sight of someone. A faint smile suddenly tugged at his lips.

The five Fujiwara ninja looked puzzled. A flash of white streaked past their necks, and five heads fell to the ground.

Dark Seven appeared beside Hiugo, covered in blood.

"How are you?"

"It hurts a little. Otherwise, I'm fine."

Hiugo frowned. He could tell Dark Seven's vitality was rapidly fading.

"How's the battlefield?"

"Dark One lost an arm. Elder Akema was injured, but he's stabilized the battlefield. The Uchiha have started retreating..."

"And you?"

Dark Seven fell silent for a moment, then replied calmly, "I'm dying. I was badly injured protecting Dark One during the ambush. I took the 'medicine,' so I can hold on a little longer."

Hiugo fell silent. The "medicine" given to the Dark Ninja wasn't a healing drug, but a kind of "poison." It pushed their bodies to their limits and drained their vitality in exchange for the "strength" of their prime. They were certain to die once its effects wore off.

There were always casualties on the battlefield. It was just that, until now, the ones who had died were people he didn't know very well.

"Until Elder Akema arrives, I'll protect you. If I can, I want to make my final moments count."

Dark Seven spoke in a low voice.

Hiugo said no more. After recovering some chakra, he continued toward the battlefield with Dark Seven.

Senju Xiangyang was struggling against the Fujiwara Clan Head and had suffered serious injuries. But with Dark Seven's sudden arrival, he went straight from defense to offense. Dark Seven was already on borrowed time, so he traded injuries for injuries to end the fight quickly.

After the Fujino Clan Head was killed, Senju Xiangyang and Dark Seven followed Hiugo to other areas to finish up.

Not long after, Senju Meima arrived and put an end to the Uchiha night raid. They began taking stock of the casualties, starting with the main losses among the five major mid-sized clans:

The Mizukumo Clan Head had died in battle, and the First Elder was gravely wounded.

The Hayate Clan Head was lightly wounded, the First Elder had died in battle, and the heir had been killed.

The Tekka Clan Head and First Elder were both dead.

The Xiongli Clan Head and First Elder were wounded, and the heir had been killed.

The Fujino Clan had been wiped out.

The ten smaller clans had all suffered casualties. Cries of grief filled the area.

Senju Meima buried the bodies of his clansmen, then began putting the Eastern Alliance, which had suffered a devastating blow, back in order.