A Black Pot Falling from the Sky

The following noon.

The Kaguya Clan's main force finally joined the Uchiha's main force at Madara's camp.

"Clan Head Tajima, how is the Ninjasteel Mine? Has the Senju clan transferred it away?" The moment they met, Kaguya Izui asked Uchiha Tajima.

Uchiha Tajima had only arrived shortly before him and did not know the situation, so he could not answer. He looked to his son instead.

Madara said, "That Ninjasteel Mine is enormous. Only one night has passed; the Senju clan could not have moved it so easily."

"That's good." Kaguya Izui was relieved. "The Ninjasteel Mine is of great importance. It absolutely must not fall into the hands of the Senju Clan and Uzumaki Clan. Otherwise, neither of our clans will have an easy time in the future."

He cared deeply about the Ninjasteel Mine because the Kaguya Clan could no longer defeat the Uzumaki Clan on the battlefield. If the Uzumaki Clan obtained the Ninjasteel Mine as well, they would likely be suppressed completely.

"By the way, did Wuzhan come here last night?" Kaguya Izui suddenly asked.

While rushing to reinforce yesterday, Kaguya Izui had encountered Ryū in the wilderness. The two clan heads had fought a fierce battle, but halfway through, Kaguya Wuzhan had suddenly disobeyed orders and left the unit, leaving Kaguya Izui both furious and helpless.

He knew his son wanted to kill Ashina before the decisive battle. After leaving yesterday, he must have come to the Ninjasteel Mine to look for an opportunity.

"He came," Madara answered.

"He wanted to kill Ashina and asked me to join him in a night raid on the Ninjasteel Mine. I refused, so he left on his own."

"He left alone?"

Kaguya Izui was startled, seized by an ominous premonition. "He never came back after leaving?"

"No."

Although Kaguya Izui had great faith in his son's strength, he could not help growing anxious. After his daughter's death, this was his only remaining son. Nothing could happen to him!

In his urgency, he demanded of Madara, "You knew he went alone to cause trouble for Ashina. Why didn't you stop him?!"

"You couldn't stop him. How could I?" Madara asked coolly, not treating Kaguya Izui with any particular respect.

"You..."

Uchiha Tajima smoothed things over. "Wuzhan is immensely strong. Even if Hashirama, Tobirama, and the others joined forces, they could not keep him. Clan Head Izui need not worry too much."

Kaguya Izui's face alternated between green and red, but he could not lash out. He knew Madara was not at fault; he simply could not stand the boy's arrogant attitude. You're just a junior. I'm an elder on equal standing with your father!

"Launch the full assault on the Ninjasteel Mine now!"

He was eager to find Ashina and question him about his son's whereabouts.

"Fine." Uchiha Tajima understood how he felt.

Thus, the two clans did not rest. They immediately mobilized their forces and advanced mightily toward the Ninjasteel Mine.

Before the troops arrived, Ryū and Butsuma Senju had already received word. The two great clans stood in full battle formation outside the valley.

"Ashina, get the hell out here!"

The moment Kaguya Izui reached the foot of the mountain, he shouted furiously, possessing the same explosive temper as Kaguya Wuzhan.

Ryū laughed the moment he heard him. This old bastard truly never stopped dwelling on the vengeance for his daughter's death. Fortunately, he had arranged for Ashina to escort the wounded back to the village. Otherwise, it really would not have been safe.

"Kaguya Izui, you are the head of a clan, yet you openly challenge my son. Are you determined to bully the young with your seniority?" Ryū mocked.

"Cut the nonsense!" Kaguya Izui ignored Ryū and demanded of Hashirama and Tobirama beside him, "My son came to duel Ashina last night. Did you intercept and detain him?"

He knew Ryū and Butsuma Senju had only arrived today. Last night, only these two could have posed a threat to Kaguya Wuzhan.

Madara frowned at this, thinking Kaguya Izui incredibly foolish.

Kaguya Wuzhan was one of their major fighting forces. With his fate still unknown, if he had not been detained, was Kaguya Izui not directly telling the enemy that one of their main forces had gone missing?

Before the battle even began, he had already weakened their own morale and bolstered the enemy's.

Just as Madara had expected, Tobirama was a clever man and immediately caught the key information in Kaguya Izui's words.

"Kaguya Wuzhan last night..."

Hashirama was a little slow-witted and was just about to honestly say that they had not detained Kaguya Wuzhan when Tobirama cut him off. "That's right. Kaguya Wuzhan did come last night, but we did not detain him."

Kaguya Izui immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Madara, however, was surprised. Tobirama was so sly, yet he was giving up such a good chance to strike at their morale?

Tobirama paused, then continued, "We killed Kaguya Wuzhan outright."

"What?!"

The entire scene erupted.

Every member of the Kaguya Clan found it hard to believe.

"The young clan head was killed?!"

"How is that possible?!"

"The young clan head was so strong. Even if he fell into an ambush, he could have escaped easily."

"..."

Madara's expression darkened. He had indeed misjudged Tobirama. Tobirama was even more cunning than he had thought.

He did not believe Kaguya Wuzhan had died. He felt Tobirama had said it deliberately, merely to shake the Kaguya Clan's morale.

"Utter nonsense!" Kaguya Izui shouted angrily.

If Tobirama had said that he had detained Kaguya Wuzhan, Kaguya Izui might have believed him. But to say they had killed Kaguya Wuzhan? He absolutely refused to believe it.

"What, you think I'm lying to you?"

Tobirama's words were contemptuous, but inwardly he was delighted. His purpose in lying was naturally to strike at the Kaguya Clan's morale, but there was also a touch of malicious amusement in it.

Just thinking about playing Kaguya Izui like a fiddle gave him an immense sense of accomplishment.

"I won't hide it from you. Kaguya Wuzhan came last night to challenge and provoke us, and my brother and I killed him together."

As he spoke, he inconspicuously jabbed Hashirama in the elbow.

Hashirama was merely slow-witted, not stupid. He instantly understood his brother's meaning and nodded seriously. "That's right!"

The commotion among the Kaguya clansmen became even more intense.

"Bullshit! You two bastards think you could kill Wuzhan?!" Kaguya Izui flew into a rage.

Tobirama sneered. "Heh. Think about it—if we did not kill Kaguya Wuzhan, how could such a living, breathing man disappear for no reason?"

Kaguya Izui froze. He had actually been somewhat bluffed, his expression uncertain.

He turned and looked around. Sure enough, he saw traces of a fierce battle nearby, and his heart began pounding wildly.

Tobirama pressed the advantage. "If you still don't believe me, then I suppose I'll have to bring out Kaguya Wuzhan's head before you'll finally give up..."

Before he could finish, a dark, round object was suddenly thrown from behind, landing right in front of Kaguya Izui.

The scene instantly fell silent. Everyone looked at the round object at once.

"WUZHAN!!!"

The next second, Kaguya Izui let out a heart-rending scream.

That round object was Kaguya Wuzhan's head.

"What?! The young clan head is really dead!"

"My God!"

The Kaguya clansmen exploded into uproar.

Madara froze. Once he came to his senses, he stared at Tobirama and Hashirama in disbelief.

Good grief! You two brothers really killed Kaguya Wuzhan!

Madara had no idea that Tobirama and Hashirama's minds were buzzing at that moment. They were completely dumbfounded.