Kaguya Clan's Rout [Please Bookmark and Vote!]

"Uzumaki Ashina, I'll tear you to pieces!"

In the Kaguya Clan's temporary camp, Kaguya Izui flew into a thunderous rage upon learning of his daughter's death. His silver hair practically stood on end with fury.

The Kaguya Clan's Second and Third Elders, who had led Kaguya Qin's squad, trembled with fear and did not dare say much.

"I knew from the start that this boy was extraordinary. I thought his young age meant he was no threat, but I never expected him to become formidable so quickly. Given time, he will surely become another Mito," said the Kaguya Clan's First Elder.

"A genius who has not yet grown is nothing."

"We must kill Uzumaki Ashina as soon as possible. We absolutely cannot allow him to keep growing. This is also to avenge Lady Qin!"

The elders all voiced their proposals.

Kaguya Izui slammed the table, his eyes nearly splitting with rage. "Well said! Uzumaki Ryū, my daughter will not have died in vain. I will kill one of your sons to repay this blood debt!"

"Pass down the order: whoever brings back Uzumaki Ashina's head will be rewarded thirty million ryo and directly promoted to a clan elder!"

"We can give up the iron mine, but Uzumaki Ashina must die!"

"Yes."

Deep underground, Shusen used sealing techniques to conceal his presence and overheard Kaguya Izui and the others' entire conversation.

Overall, the Kaguya Clan had expressed only one thing tonight: they could lose the group battle, but Ashina had to die.

Shusen was not surprised by this outcome. Given Kaguya Izui's personality, if he could let his daughter's death go so easily, he would not be Kaguya Izui.

This may not be a bad thing for Ashina, Shusen pondered.

The elders had already regarded Ashina as the next clan head. Once they learned that he had become a thorn in the Kaguya Clan's side, Uzumaki Ryū and the elders would definitely do everything possible to protect him.

By Shusen's estimate, once the battle for the iron mine ended, Ashina would be kept in Whirlpool Village by his clansmen and carefully nurtured. He would not be allowed out again until he reached elite jōnin level.

And by then, the Uzumaki Clan would more or less possess the strength to found a nation. The gap between them and the Kaguya Clan would only grow wider.

Before dawn the next day, the Kaguya Clan could no longer wait to launch an offensive against the iron mine.

This was a decisive battle. Nearly all the main forces of both clans had gathered here. Though their numbers were not large, every participant was a ninja, and the fighting was earth-shaking and spectacular!

The Kaguya Clan's upper ranks all regarded killing Ashina as their duty. Unfortunately, Ashina was well protected by his clansmen. Let alone killing him, they could not even catch sight of him.

The decisive battle lasted from morning until night, and both sides suffered massive casualties. Because the Uzumaki Clan held favorable terrain, their casualty ratio looked somewhat better.

The Kaguya Clan did not retreat. They continued besieging the iron mine on the second day, while the Uzumaki Clan still met them head-on with strength.

The war continued for five straight days. The dense forests around the iron mine were razed by the aftershocks of battle, while the center of the battlefield was riddled with holes, as if it had been scrubbed with explosive tags.

Unable to take the position after prolonged attacks, with morale wavering and supplies running low, the Kaguya Clan finally retreated on the sixth day.

The moment they withdrew, Uzumaki Ryū decisively sent troops after them.

His timing was excellent. The Kaguya clansmen's morale was already low, and when they were suddenly met by the enemy's full-force pursuit, they collapsed before they could even hold out for half a day.

Kaguya Izui had no way to turn the tide. He could only lead his clansmen in fighting as they fled. The casualties in just one day exceeded those of the previous five days of decisive battle.

"Clan Head, let me cover the rear!"

At this critical moment, the Second Elder of the Kaguya Clan made his request.

Kaguya Izui looked deeply at him, then nodded. "I will look after your descendants."

The Second Elder gritted his teeth. Everything was understood without words.

He had no choice. Kaguya Qin had died under his command, and Kaguya Izui would never spare him. He had been occupied with the war during this time, but once they returned to the Kaguya Clan Territory, Kaguya Izui would definitely settle accounts with him. His family might even be implicated.

Rather than that, he might as well sacrifice himself to preserve his descendants. At least he could die with honor.

The Second Elder turned and charged toward the Uzumaki Clan's pursuing army, his entire body radiating a tragic resolve to press forward even against ten thousand foes.

"Dead Bone Pulse, Dance of the Seedling Fern!"

The Second Elder roared, unleashing all his chakra. Countless sharp bone spikes tore through the ground and grew wildly in dense clusters.

"Arghhh!"

A string of agonized cries rang out.

Centered on the Second Elder, a forest of white bones covered everything within a hundred meters. More than ten Uzumaki clansmen were impaled by bone spikes. Some suffered fatal wounds and died instantly, while others hung blood-soaked from the spikes, screaming miserably.

"Fall back!"

With a grave expression, Uzumaki Ryū ordered his clansmen to retreat, yet bone spikes continued to burst wildly from the ground.

Dance of the Seedling Fern was the Kaguya Clan's ultimate forbidden technique, a large-scale indiscriminate attack that drained the caster's life force. Even after fighting the Kaguya Clan for so many years, Uzumaki Ryū had only seen this ninjutsu a handful of times.

"Uzumaki Ryū, one day, your Uzumaki Clan will be exterminated by us! Hahaha!"

The Second Elder stood atop the thickest bone spike and laughed wildly.

Dance of the Seedling Fern had exhausted his life force. His body turned into bone dust and scattered in the wind, and no more bone spikes emerged from the earth.

Uzumaki Ryū was not angered by his words. He calmly ordered the rescue of the clansmen pierced by the bone spikes. Delayed by the Second Elder, they could no longer continue pursuing the Kaguya clansmen.

"Damn, the Kaguya Clan's forbidden technique is seriously monstrous. It's utterly unreasonable—trading one life for another!"

Hiding in the distance, Shusen observed the bone forest created at the cost of a life through his Demon Eye, lingering fear in his heart.

He had originally planned to intercept the Kaguya clansmen while wearing Black Zetsu's disguise, so that they would suffer even greater casualties. Now it seemed fortunate that he had not done so. If he had taken Dance of the Seedling Fern head-on, even if it did not kill him, it would have stripped him of a layer of skin. He would not even have had time to use Five-Elements Cowardly Escape to flee.

The Second Elder's Dance of the Seedling Fern had a greater range and stronger killing power than Kimimaro's in the original work. In the future, he would need to guard against Kaguya clansmen using this move as a desperate last resort.

After rescuing several clansmen who were barely clinging to life, Mito immediately used medical ninjutsu to heal their injuries and bandage their wounds.

"Clan Head, since we have chased them this far anyway, why don't we press our victory and launch a forceful assault on the Kaguya Clan Territory?" the Fourth Elder suddenly suggested.

Uzumaki Ryū shook his head. "No. Times are different now. We need not risk our lives against the Kaguya Clan."

Dance of the Seedling Fern had frightened him as well. If they forcefully attacked the Kaguya Clan Territory, the Kaguya Clan would certainly fight desperately without regard for their lives. Both sides might well end up destroying each other.

Before Whirlpool Village was established, he would have gladly risked mutual destruction to crush the Kaguya Clan completely. But now that the Uzumaki Clan had grown large and prosperous, with no worries over survival, there was no reason to fight others to the death.

At the current rate of development, within a few years, the Kaguya Clan might not even be worthy of being the Uzumaki Clan's opponent. Uzumaki Ryū had that confidence.

"Return to the iron mine first. We will make long-term plans for what comes next."

Uzumaki Ryū gave the order, and everyone carried the wounded back the way they had come.

PS:

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