Kaguya Qin

The moment the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was unleashed, explosive bursts erupted everywhere. More than a hundred Uzumaki Clan members instantly multiplied into tens of thousands, creating a terrifying sea of people at first glance. Compared to them, the hundred-plus Kaguya Clan members were as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.

Any other ninja clan would have been stunned by this sight, but the Kaguya Clan had long grown accustomed to the Uzumaki Clan's tactics and remained unflustered. Activating their Dead Bone Pulse bloodline limit, they charged fearlessly into the crowd.

"Puff, puff, puff."

Although the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique could create an overwhelming numerical advantage, each Shadow Clone was very weak, roughly somewhere between an ordinary person and a genin. The Kaguya Clan members became humanoid killing machines, bones bursting through the skin of their elbows, palms, knees, shoulders, buttocks, and other areas. They slaughtered their way through the Uzumaki Clan, destroying swathes of Shadow Clones with every movement.

"This jutsu is disgusting!"

The Kaguya Clan's Second Elder cursed angrily. He pulled out his spinal bone and hurled it with all his might, blasting apart over a dozen Shadow Clones of the Uzumaki Clan's Second Elder. Yet the next second, dozens more Shadow Clones rushed at him, leaving him unable to cope.

The Kaguya Clan's Dead Bone Pulse was extraordinarily powerful and gave them an innate advantage in battle. Every Kaguya Clan member was therefore a natural fighting machine, which was how they established their status as a great clan of the Fire Country.

By contrast, although the Uzumaki Clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains were powerful as well, they were extremely difficult to awaken—perhaps even harder to awaken than the Sharingan. Throughout the entire clan, only a handful had awakened the Adamantine Sealing Chains.

In the past, the Uzumaki Clan had suffered terribly at the hands of the Kaguya Clan on the battlefield. They lost nearly every battle and had come close to annihilation several times, only holding on thanks to aid from the Senju clan.

This situation did not change until several years ago, when Ashina happened to "pick up" several jutsu scrolls.

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was practically tailor-made for the Uzumaki Clan! This jutsu consumed an enormous amount of chakra. If an ordinary ninja used it, they would be drained to death on the spot. But Uzumaki Clan members were born with vast reserves of chakra and could master it perfectly.

With this technique, the Uzumaki Clan made a stunning comeback. Not only could they now fight the Kaguya Clan on equal footing, they even began suppressing them instead. The reason the Uzumaki Clan had seized the iron mine from the Kaguya Clan in the last war was precisely this.

Kaguya Izui utterly hated the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. After losing the last war, he reflected bitterly and specifically gathered a group of clansmen to reverse-engineer the technique. They did manage to develop it in the end, but it was useless. They lacked the Uzumaki Clan's physique, and their meager chakra reserves simply could not sustain the jutsu's consumption. Using it meant death.

After several clansmen paid with their lives, the Kaguya Clan could only give up reluctantly. They classified the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique they had developed as a forbidden technique and sealed it away within their clan grounds.

"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"

A Kaguya Clan member raised his hand and aimed at Ashina. Ten finger bones shot forth like bullets.

Ashina swung his kunai, knocking aside all ten finger bones with a series of clangs, then darted toward the Kaguya Clan member.

"Courting death."

The Kaguya Clan member snorted. Relying on the innate advantage of the Dead Bone Pulse, he feared no close-quarters battle. A massive bone spike erupted wildly from his palm, ready to impale Ashina.

Ashina clenched the kunai's handle between his teeth and rapidly rubbed his left hand against his right. A blue sphere of chakra condensed into shape.

"Die!"

The Kaguya Clan member roared as he swung the bone spike.

Ashina met him head-on with the Rasengan.

"Boom!"

Under the Kaguya Clan member's disbelieving gaze, his bone spike was crushed and destroyed by the Rasengan. The Rasengan then struck squarely into his chest, sending him flying backward as he sprayed blood.

Ashina knew the Rasengan's power well. Having taken the blow head-on, his opponent was undoubtedly dead. Rather than pursuing him to finish the job, Ashina searched for his next Kaguya Clan target.

He saw himself as an assassin. Whichever Kaguya Clan member was the fiercest, he would assassinate that one, retreating immediately after each strike to conserve chakra as much as possible.

Before long, he found another target. The opponent was a Kaguya Clan member around twenty years old, wielding a bone blade and slaughtering Shadow Clones left and right. He had found the real body of an Uzumaki Clan member and severely wounded him with a single slash.

"So what if you have more people? It still doesn't change the fact that you're weak. What good are numbers?"

The Kaguya Clan member grinned viciously and swung his blade at the heavily wounded Uzumaki Clan member, intending to finish him off completely.

"Spare him!"

A loud shout suddenly came from above. The Kaguya Clan member looked up and saw a red-haired kid gripping a sphere of chakra as he came crashing down upon him.

Caught off guard, the Kaguya Clan member hurriedly raised his blade to block. But his bone blade was not hard enough and was effortlessly crushed by the Rasengan.

The Rasengan ultimately smashed into his forehead. His entire head burst like a rotten watermelon, and his corpse fell stiffly to the ground.

"Thank you for saving my life, Young Master Ashina!"

The severely wounded Uzumaki Clan member was deeply grateful.

"No need to thank me. Your injuries are too serious, so retreat for now," Ashina said. He casually wiped the blood splattered across his face, then turned and threw himself back into the slaughter.

Though only thirteen years old, he carried himself like a battle-hardened general.

Watching this from underground, Shusen felt deeply moved. In his mind, Ashina had always been an immature little brother, foolish and easy to fool.

Yet in truth, Ashina had already become a real man. He showed no mercy when killing enemies on the battlefield. In a few more years, he would even be able to marry and start a family, truly standing on his own.

The war continued. The Uzumaki Clan used vast numbers of Shadow Clones to wear down the Kaguya Clan's stamina, and casualties occurred every second.

After Ashina assassinated another Kaguya Clan member, he suddenly sensed danger as though inspired by instinct and swiftly shifted sideways.

"Whoosh, whoosh."

Ten finger bones pierced through the air, grazing past Ashina and turning a large tree behind him into a honeycomb.

"As expected of the Uzumaki Clan's child of fortune. Your reaction is quite quick."

A seductive-looking Kaguya girl mocked him as she approached from afar. She appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen.

The Kaguya Clan had exceptionally good genes. Their men were handsome, their women beautiful, and all of them had silver-white hair. There was not an ugly one among them.

"Who are you?"

Ashina stared at her intently. Her earlier sneak attack had already revealed considerable strength.

"My name is Kaguya Qin. You should have heard of me," the girl replied.

The vigilance on Ashina's face immediately deepened. He had indeed heard of Kaguya Qin.

Kaguya Izui had two children: his eldest son, Kaguya Wuzhan, and his second daughter, Kaguya Qin.

"Soldiers fight soldiers, generals fight generals. Since we are both children of clan leaders, let's settle this in battle," Kaguya Qin said. "I've waited a long time for this day."

Kaguya Qin was deeply hostile toward Ashina and had long placed him on her kill list.

In her view, if Ashina had not luckily picked up those strange jutsu, which Ryū then spread throughout the clan, the Uzumaki Clan would never have been a match for the Kaguya Clan. They would have been beaten into some remote mountain ravine long ago.