Chapter 8

The internal strife within such a prosperous nation was incredibly intense. Nowadays, the Uchiha clan engaged in group ninja battles of over ten people on average every day. While deaths were not frequent, the number of injuries was countless, to the point where the Uchiha ninjas were almost entirely worn down by the constant, prolonged fighting. In truth, very few had actually died in these life-or-death struggles.

"Very well, then!"

Seeing this, Shimizu knew there was little he could say. After all, the ninja clan known as the Takigawa was not a major power; if Tajima were to go along personally, it would truly be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

On a pitch-black night, with the bright moon hanging in the sky, a series of figures passed silently through trees over ten meters tall before coming to a halt outside the woods of a brightly lit village.

"Lianhuo, take three men and break in from the left side of the village entrance. Gu, you take three men and break in from the right. The rest follow me to charge the village. Tonight, our goal is to leave no one alive!"

As Shimizu's voice emerged from beneath the mask of one of the black-clad figures, the six ninjas beside him vanished using the Body Flicker Technique. While waiting for the six to reach their designated positions, Shimizu looked at the three children behind him and whispered a reminder.

"You three do not need to go to the front lines, nor do you need to draw your blades. You only need to watch how we conduct this battle. Remember, you must watch carefully! What you lack right now is combat experience!"

"Yes!"

As Madara, Izuna, and Mingye nodded in unison, Lianhuo and Gu signaled that they had reached their positions. Shimizu used a Body Flicker to appear outside the woods and charged toward the village, taking the lead.

"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"

A blast of flame erupted from Shimizu's mouth, surging toward the village. While destroying the houses, it formed a wall of fire in the center, slicing through the village like a sharp, long blade.

"Who are you?!... Ah!"

The startled Takigawa ninjas rushed out of their homes in a panic. Before they could even speak, they were run through the heart by the long blades of Uchiha ninjas who had closed in on them. Square shuriken the size of half a meter rained down from the sky like hail, striking the wooden structures in the village, and the raging fire quickly ignited the entire settlement.

With almost no resistance, the Uchiha ninjas were like wolves among sheep, wantonly slaughtering the Takigawa ninjas, whether they were defenseless women and children or those attempting to fight back.

"Something isn't right!" Standing in the woods, Izuna watched the battle in the village nearby with a deeply puzzled expression.

Madara curiously followed Izuna's gaze but failed to spot anything amiss. He nudged Izuna with his shoulder and asked, "What did you find? What isn't right?"

"Big Brother, I remember the Takigawa clan has Chunin, and I recall there being a Jonin as well. But I haven't found that Jonin!" Izuna stared intently at a spot in the village he could see clearly, looking utterly confused.

The Takigawa clan was merely a family skilled in using ninja tools; they had no notable contributions in genjutsu or ninjutsu and were a clan that valued the spirit of bushido. Under such circumstances, the whereabouts of the Takigawa clan head, who had yet to appear, became a mystery. "Isn't it better that the Jonin isn't here? You know, if they had one, we might suffer unpredictable losses due to their resistance!"

"Mingye, have you ever seen a clan head who doesn't sleep or handle affairs at night, and yet the whole clan is left here while he is nowhere to be found?" Madara shook his head. A clan head was the spirit and the pillar of his family. At such a critical time, the man was not at home. Furthermore, even if the lower-level ninjas weren't resisting, they shouldn't be slaughtered by the Uchiha like this! Something felt wrong, but Madara couldn't put his finger on it.

"And I don't feel like there are forty ninjas here at all! Why is that?" Izuna shook his head again. He silently calculated the number of Takigawa ninjas who had been killed resisting, and suddenly realized that there was no shortage of people on Joseph's side—there was no shortage of anyone!

Just as the three brothers were chatting, Shimizu flew out of the village rapidly and arrived before them, shouting, "It's a trap! The Takigawa and Hagoromo clans intend to launch a joint surprise attack on our clan's base. Return quickly!"

"You're joking!" Madara, Izuna, and Mingye, who had just been chatting, were shaken to their cores by Shimizu's words. The three quickly followed in Shimizu's footsteps, moving rapidly toward home.

"Third Uncle isn't kidding, is he?"

Mingye forced himself to remain calm as he spoke.

"I found it in that clan head's study. Damn it, nothing must happen!"

Shimizu sighed. If he could, he would wish this were all a dream, but regardless, the Uchiha clan had been played. The Takigawa clan never had any intention of joining the Uchiha; their submissiveness was purely to lure the Uchiha into revealing their hidden base.

After thirty minutes of rapid travel, the four arrived at the Uchiha clan's hidden base. Smoke billowed into the sky, and the sound of cicadas was drowned out by the chaos within the clan. Seeing this, Shimizu flew into a rage, drawing the long blade at his waist and instantly forgetting that he had Tajima's three sons behind him.

"Ah!"

The sound of a familiar child's cry drew the eyes of Madara and the others. The three spoke in unison, and Madara was the first to kick off a tree branch, charging into the base like a cannonball, with Mingye and Izuna close behind.

Xiao Si lay on the ground, his body twitching uncontrollably. A kunai was embedded in his chest, and blood began to slowly spill from his neck. In his fury, Madara quickly formed hand seals, summoning three identical "Shadow Clones" to attack the Takigawa ninja standing over Xiao Si from four directions.

Mingye slid to his knees beside Xiao Si. Looking at that terrified, youthful face, Mingye's heart jumped into his throat. He choked back a sob and forced a smile.

"Don't be afraid! Third Brother is here!"

"Arterial laceration, four-year-old child, blood circulation is not as efficient as an adult's. If the emergency window for an adult to stop bleeding is one minute and thirty seconds, then for a four-year-old..." The memories of the so-called doctor were instantly unlocked from his sealed mind. Kneeling on the ground, Mingye tried to use his unskilled Yin Release chakra to stop his brother's bleeding, but it had no effect. The blood continued to flow through his fingers, filling him with self-loathing.

"Refining Yin Release chakra is too difficult for me! Why didn't I study chakra refinement properly? That is my brother! Is he going to die under my hands just like this? No! I won't allow it!"

His heart was willing, but his strength was lacking. After all, he was only an eleven or twelve-year-old child, and his understanding of Yin Release chakra was superficial. No one in the Uchiha clan was skilled in this, so Mingye had to explore it on his own, and the cost was that even after months of practice, refinement remained difficult.

"Move!"

The Uchiha ninjas who had retreated with Shimizu also returned quickly. Their speed in slaughtering the commoners was immense, arriving only ten seconds after Shimizu and the three brothers. Lianhuo, the only one in the Uchiha clan who understood medical ninjutsu, pulled Mingye aside, narrowly avoiding a kunai attack. He then pressed his hands, glowing with pale blue Yin Release chakra, onto the wound on Xiao Si's neck. The blood finally stopped flowing, but it was only a temporary fix. Because of the protection of the chakra, Mingye quickly thought of what he could do, turned around, and shouted as he headed toward the burning house.

"Thread! I need to stitch his wound, hurry!"

"Young Master Mingye! That's enough! He won't feel pain anymore! Let the Fourth Young Master sleep for a while; it will be fine soon. It's too chaotic here, let him rest!"

Lianhuo's voice was low, but it struck Mingye's ears like a thunderclap, and the tone was beyond questioning. Mingye turned stiffly to look at his brother's four-year-old body. Xiao Si was smiling, breathing with difficulty as he looked at him.

"Da... Daddy... Mom... Mommy... Mmm... I... I'll... sleep for a bit... Third Brother... Third Brother, take me... to play!"

"Ah...!"