Target Locked - Tsuchigumo Clan

"To be honest, I didn't even see the enemy make a move!"

Uchiha Raimon pondered for a long time, his mind swirling with confusion. He still couldn't fathom who exactly he had been up against.

"What? You didn't see them move? With your strength, Elder Raimon, how is it possible that you were wounded to this extent without even catching a glimpse of your enemy?"

Uchiha Tenshu's eyes widened, his heart instantly unsettled. Since when did such an unknown powerhouse exist in the shinobi world?

One had to realize that Uchiha Raimon was currently one of the absolute pinnacles of the entire Uchiha Clan.

As an elder who had risen to power since the end of the Warring States period, he stood at the very apex of the clan; otherwise, he never could have attained such a position.

After all, under the leadership of Madara Uchiha back then, the Uchiha Clan operated strictly on the principle that the strong reigned supreme.

According to the power scaling of the original Hokage narrative, even if he wasn't a true, well-rounded Kage-level powerhouse, he certainly possessed several attributes that reached that tier.

He was a warrior who stood above the Elite Jonin; for an ordinary Elite Jonin, facing him was essentially a death sentence.

Only by coordinating in teams could multiple shinobi hope to contend with such a powerhouse.

That was, of course, before the Beyond Kage Level experts made their move.

Even if an ordinary Kage-level shinobi had come to surround and kill him, Uchiha Raimon would have been able to retreat at any time.

But now.

Elder Uchiha Raimon was claiming that this time, he had been struck down and severely wounded without even seeing the enemy's shadow.

It was truly inconceivable.

Furthermore, if the enemy was capable of wounding Elder Raimon so severely, why didn't they just finish him off instead of letting him escape?

"To tell you the truth, I don't know what kind of ninjutsu caused that attack, but without a doubt, it was a terrifying forbidden technique."

Uchiha Raimon said to Uchiha Tenshu with certainty.

"Actually, after I dealt with those Water Release elite shinobi who were at the Jonin level, I realized it was a well-laid ambush and began to accelerate my return. However, as I approached Feiyu City, a flash of white light instantly engulfed several kilometers around me. I didn't even have time to react before I was struck by that horrific attack."

"If the impact hadn't hit my body and given me a moment of realization, I might not have even known what happened!"

"But even after realizing I was under attack, there was no way to dodge. Although I used a special method to nullify the attack, I lost my ability to fight. If there hadn't been no more enemies after that forbidden technique was unleashed, even a mere Genin could have taken my life!"

Uchiha Raimon said with secret frustration, feeling a lingering sense of fear regarding this excursion.

Beside him, Uchiha Tenshu felt a growing sense of familiarity as he listened to Uchiha Raimon's account, as if he had seen this type of attack in the original plot.

White light?

A range of several kilometers?

Why did it feel increasingly familiar?

Deidara's explosion?

A super Shinra Tensei?

Or perhaps, the Tsuchigumo Clan's...

"Wait, Tsuchigumo?"

"That's it! If it's the Tsuchigumo, then it all makes sense! According to Elder Raimon, there were no pursuers after that forbidden technique; otherwise, he likely wouldn't have made it back. Looking at the forbidden techniques of the Tsuchigumo Clan, that Dohatsu-ten must have been the forbidden technique used in this ambush."

"According to the information from my past life, this forbidden technique, Dohatsu-ten, differs from conventional Five Elements ninjutsu. It uses a special formation hidden within a person's body as an anchor for the ninjutsu, constantly absorbing natural energy from the world, storing it, and then releasing it in a single, massive burst. Although the prelude requires a significant amount of time to accumulate—unlike the instant casting of standard ninjutsu—it possesses a hundred times the destructive power."

"This clan relied on this immensely powerful forbidden technique to become an ally of Konoha Shinobi Village, even surviving until after the Third Shinobi World War!"

"You have to understand, being an ally of Konoha—even powerful clans like the Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki suffered heavy losses through constant sacrifice. The Senju and Uchiha who joined Konoha were mostly wiped out on the battlefield, with the Uchiha eventually being driven to rebellion. Not to mention the Uzumaki Clan, which was completely annihilated. Yet, a clan like the Tsuchigumo, which remained on the fringes of Konoha, managed to survive until after the Third Shinobi World War. If not for internal strife tearing the clan apart, they might have still been thriving even after the Fourth Shinobi World War!"

"This shows just how terrifying the forbidden technique passed down by this clan is—so much so that even Konoha dared not touch them. Otherwise, how could greedy Konoha higher-ups like Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō have resisted striking down an ally? It could only be because the power of their forbidden technique was truly capable of destroying Konoha."

Uchiha Tenshu sighed inwardly, having pinpointed the origin of the person who launched the final strike in this ambush.

After all, according to the description of this forbidden technique in the previous plot, once activated, all life within hundreds of kilometers would be destroyed. Even if that were an exaggeration, if it possessed even one-tenth of that power, it could stand outside Konoha and utterly annihilate the village. It was no wonder the higher-ups led by Hiruzen Sarutobi left them alone and allowed them to live in seclusion in Katsuragi City.

The so-called alliance was likely just Konoha's way of courting them, fearing they might join another shinobi village.

"However, judging by the capabilities of this forbidden technique..."

"In the lore, if more natural energy is gathered and the activation time is extended, it can completely destroy an area with a radius of millions of square kilometers. Even if the animation reduced the effect significantly, even one-tenth of its power would be enough to completely devastate an area of several dozen kilometers. And yet, this time it only destroyed a range of a few kilometers? Could it have been intentional? Was there a reason for it?"

Uchiha Tenshu couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He didn't doubt that the Tsuchigumo Clan's forbidden technique was capable of such feats.

After all, as one of the few clans in the shinobi world capable of using natural chakra—a power similar to Senjutsu—it was entirely consistent with the world-building of the shinobi world that they could achieve such effects after accumulating energy for half an hour or even several hours.

Not to mention, even magical feats like the Sage of Six Paths easily creating the moon existed.

Therefore, achieving an attack range comparable to a nuclear bomb was not something hard to imagine.

Furthermore, this ninjutsu required the sacrifice of a shinobi's life every time it was activated. If the Eight Inner Gates, which also relied on sacrificing a shinobi's life to gain power, could allow one to fight against Six Paths-level powerhouses, then the Tsuchigumo Clan's Dohatsu-ten causing such destruction was perfectly normal!

"So, the Tsuchigumo being an ally of Konoha must have started around this time? But the current Konoha Shinobi Village hasn't announced this, which means the Tsuchigumo Clan might only be allies of the Senju right now!"

"But in the past, I never heard the elders of the clan mention that this family was an ally of the Senju."

"Therefore, this ambush was a 'letter of introduction' (a show of loyalty), and the forbidden technique they unleashed was either incomplete—not yet developed to its full potential—or it was already perfected, but they intentionally lowered its power out of caution toward a cunning man like Tobirama Senju, just to be safe!"

Uchiha Tenshu analyzed silently.

He made up his mind to settle this score with the Tsuchigumo Clan in the future.