He spotted a short child in the crowd, who looked only four or five years old. The little figure stood behind Uchiha Fugaku, partly hidden from view.
"Uchiha Fugaku, why have you brought such a young child along? Who is he?"
"He's my son, Uchiha Itachi. He's quite capable, and he'll grow up to be an excellent ninja."
After confirming who the child was, Li Yu took a closer look at Uchiha Itachi. He's a handsome little boy. He's already so serious at such a young age. He does look a little like the future 'Dattebayo,' though.
"I heard the Uchiha Clan has another genius ninja, Shisui Uchiha. Where is he?"
"I left Shisui Uchiha behind in Konoha. He isn't participating in this operation in the Land of Lightning."
"Oh, well. Everyone's here, so let's move out."
Shisui Uchiha hadn't come? Li Yu had wanted to see what made him Body Flicker Shisui. It was surprising that Uchiha Itachi had been brought to the battlefield at such a young age. He was only four, wasn't he?
Li Yu led the elite ninja of the Senju Clan away. Behind him, Uchiha Fugaku watched Li Yu's departing figure, puzzled. He couldn't understand why the Senju Clan's leader was so interested in Uchiha Itachi and Shisui Uchiha.
Beside him, Uchiha Itachi tugged at Uchiha Fugaku's sleeve.
"Father, it's time to go."
Uchiha Fugaku came back to his senses and immediately called for his clan members to follow.
One day later.
There was a commotion ahead. Explosions rang out one after another, and smoke billowed into the air.
"Something's wrong. The Konoha defense force is already fighting Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. Hurry—we need to go support them!"
The closer they got, the louder the sounds became. They could even hear the clanging of metal.
"Clang! Clang!"
At the edge of the battlefield, they saw that Kumogakure's numerical advantage and larger number of jonin had driven the Konoha ninja back again and again. More than fifty Konoha ninja were now surrounded, desperately holding their ground.
At least two hundred Cloud Ninja still remained, surrounding the Konoha ninja on all sides and showing no intention of letting a single one escape.
"Captain, are we really not going to make it?"
"I don't want to die!"
"There's nowhere left to retreat. We can only fight to the death!"
"That's right. Konoha's ninja will avenge us!"
Dozens of Specialized Kunai flew into the Cloud Ninja ranks. Li Yu struck first, activating Flying Raijin and joining the battle in an instant.
Three Kumogakure jonin fell in the blink of an eye. He swiftly dispatched the nearby chūnin and genin, mowing down rows of enemies like stalks of wheat.
"Clan Leader, was that the Second Hokage, Lord Tobirama's Flying Raijin? It's so fast!"
"We haven't even reached the enemy, and the clan leader's already slaughtering them!"
Still running, Uchiha Fugaku watched with a grave expression.
"Flying Raijin Jutsu. It truly lives up to its reputation as a forbidden technique."
But the Uchiha Clan was too proud to give up so easily. They glared fiercely, many of them activating their Sharingan—some with two Tomoe, others with three—as their hands formed seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
A wave of Fire Release cleared the way from the flank, surging into the Cloud Ninja ranks with a series of explosions. The flames, accompanied by Shuriken, struck a large group of Cloud Ninja.
The Uchiha Clan excelled at Fire Release and throwing Shuriken. Their angles were unpredictable, and even their Shuriken could curve in midair, leaving the Cloud Ninja nowhere to dodge.
"Move! Take out these Konoha ninja!"
"There are plenty of Konoha ninja here! Kill them! Kill them!"
The Senju Clan didn't hold back either. They formed Hand Seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The wind amplified the force of their attacks. Huge water and earth projectiles flew like shells, each one blasting several Kumogakure ninja into the air.
The Senju Clan followed up with another wave of ninjutsu, for three volleys in all.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A member of the Uchiha Clan beside them exclaimed in admiration.
"The Senju Clan has so much chakra! They're making a few C-rank jutsu look like B-rank ones with that enormous area of effect!"
The Cloud Ninja had no such luck. Many of them were struck by the barrage before they could even use their own jutsu.
"Scatter!"
"Use defensive jutsu!"
A ninja skilled in Earth Release quickly began forming seals to raise an Earth Style Wall. Before he could finish, Li Yu charged into the Cloud Ninja ranks and precisely killed several who were forming seals.
He gave the enemy no chance to use ninjutsu. He killed and moved on, leaving the remaining Cloud Ninja exposed to attacks from Konoha's ninjutsu and Shuriken.
The Kumogakure ninja used Lightning Release to stimulate their cells and specialized in close-quarters Taijutsu. But they suffered heavy casualties before they could even reach the support team, and some were killed by surprise attacks while attempting to use jutsu.
Li Yu used Flying Raijin to cut down Kumogakure's elite ninja. None could stand against him. He didn't even need the Rasengan. He fought with the ninja blades he'd taken from his enemies, but they soon grew so dull that he had to keep taking new ones.
The pressure on the Konoha ninja at the center of the battlefield eased considerably. Kumogakure ninja fell in droves. Even the formidable jonin and chūnin barely had a chance to strike before they fell, heading straight for the afterlife.
Before long, the Cloud Ninja realized things were going badly and immediately retreated, leaving behind more than a hundred corpses as they fled without looking back.
The surviving members of Konoha's defense force hugged one another and cheered.
"I'm alive!"
"I survived! I didn't die!"
"That's wonderful!"
After looking over the Konoha ninja who had been lucky enough to survive, Li Yu ordered his team to clear the battlefield, finish off any Kumogakure ninja who were still alive, and treat the Konoha ninja who had been wounded.
Standing alone on the battlefield, Li Yu carefully sensed his surroundings and detected quite a few White Zetsu hiding in nearby trees and underground. Uchiha Madara's influence has spread everywhere in the Shinobi World. We found plenty in the Land of Wind last time, and there are even more here.
At that moment, Senju Rika and Uchiha Fugaku came over and reported on the battle.
"Of the fifty ninja we brought as support, five were seriously injured, twelve suffered minor injuries, and none were killed."
"Of the one hundred and fifty ninja in Konoha's defense force, one hundred and fifteen were killed, twenty-two were seriously injured, and thirteen suffered minor injuries."
"Kumogakure left behind two hundred and thirty-two bodies. About sixty or seventy Cloud Ninja escaped."
Despite all his efforts to kill the enemy jonin and chūnin, their losses were still considerable.
"Ask the medical ninja from the Senju Clan to do their best to stabilize the seriously wounded. Thanks for all your hard work."
"Gather all the bodies together and burn them with Fire Release."
"Move the team back ten li and wait for the main force to arrive."
"Yes!"
Li Yu hadn't encountered any worthy opponents in this battle. The strongest had only been jonin, which was why he'd been able to move through the battlefield so freely with barely a scratch.
He wondered when the Third Raikage's Son and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, would arrive. Li Yu could hardly wait to spar with the brothers.
In the original story, Namikaze Minato was sent to support the battlefield in the Land of Lightning, where he used Flying Thunder God to fight the AB Brothers. There was no exact timeline, so all Li Yu could do was wait.