The Capital, a War of Numbers

The Capital, a War of Numbers

"Lady Qian Rou, the enemy's main force has entered the Land of Lightning. There are fifty-one ninjas in all, eleven from the Uchiha Clan. They're led by Uchiha Madara's younger brother, Izuna Uchiha."

"Of the remaining forty, fifteen belong to the Hagoromo Clan. The rest are wandering ninjas who won't put up much of a fight."

"With the forces we have now, one attack should be enough to wipe them out."

They had learned the Uchiha ninjas' route in advance. Why wait until the enemy entered the Land of Lightning before considering an attack?

The others couldn't understand it.

Only the Chinoike Clan ninjas knew that the Ketsuryūgan's true power was not its illusions. It could control a person's body and forcibly turn them into a living bomb.

That meant they needed a great many people to bring the Ketsuryūgan's power fully to bear.

Qian Rou said, "Wait until they get close to Cloud Gorge. Then blow them all sky-high."

"Understood."

Cloud Gorge.

Enemies came in wave after wave. Every one of them had been touched by the Ketsuryūgan and turned into a living bomb. They exploded the instant they drew near, with more force than even the finest Explosive Tags.

When the first wave approached, the Uchiha force failed to sense the danger and lost several people immediately.

Fortunately, the dead were all wandering ninjas who had pledged themselves to the Uchiha Clan. For a bite to eat, they had surrendered their dignity. Like dogs, they would risk their lives to test the way ahead at a single order from an Uchiha ninja.

Uchiha Jobu said, "It's the Ketsuryūgan! Only the Ketsuryūgan can turn human bodies into bombs. With enough living people, that ocular technique could wear us all down right here."

Izuna Uchiha opened his blood-red Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The chill radiating from him seemed almost tangible. Those standing beside him felt as if they had been plunged into a frozen wasteland.

"They don't even value their own clansmen's lives. A clan like that has no right to exist."

Did the Chinoike Clan ninjas care about their clansmen's lives?

Clearly, they did not.

It wasn't just that the Chinoike ninjas possessed the Ketsuryūgan. The brutal struggle for survival in the Warring States Era left no room for mercy or compassion. Even against their own clansmen, they could raise the butcher's blade without hesitation.

But to the Uchiha Clan, nothing was more precious than family. Every Uchiha treasured their fellow clansmen.

Life in the Warring States Era was cruel. There were cold-blooded people like the Chinoike Clan, ruthless to enemies and their own alike. And there were people like the Uchiha Clan, who would entrust their lives to one another on the battlefield.

The two ninjas under Uchiha Jobu's command had no duties beyond guarding him. They were too weak for much else and barely qualified as bodyguards.

Now Izuna Uchiha had arrived with a force of his own. Uchiha ninjas made up only a small part of it. Most were from the Hagoromo Clan or ordinary ninjas who had pledged themselves to the Uchiha Clan to survive.

On Qian Rou's side, they were ready for a fight to the death.

They had attacked nobles and even set their sights on the daimyo. If word got out, no place in the Warring States Era would shelter a Chinoike ninja.

But there was more to it.

When they had drawn up the plan,

they had decided that the best way to shed their identity as ninjas was to become nobles. Yet ninjas held such low status that they had no chance of joining high society. The only contact they ever had with nobles came through missions.

So they had devised an enormous plan, setting their sights on the daimyo of the Land of Lightning.

The Land of Lightning.

The capital.

It was the most prosperous city in the country and home to its powerful nobles.

Today, it was about to become a battlefield. The Chinoike Clan planned to confront the Uchiha attack here, where they could use the vast number of ordinary citizens. They could also take prisoners locked away for offending the nobles and turn them into living bombs under their control.

"They're coming. The Uchiha Clan ninjas."

"Finally! Everyone in the Warring States Era says the Uchiha have the strongest ocular technique of any clan. Bullshit! My Ketsuryūgan is powerful. It can cast illusions, see through falsehoods, and make living bombs whenever I want. What makes the Uchiha the strongest?"

"It's time to prove the power of the Chinoike Clan's Ketsuryūgan!"

"Lady Qian Rou! We're ready. Give the order to attack!"

A terrifying will to kill flashed in Qian Rou's eyes. The killing intent pouring from her swept outward like a midwinter wind, chilling everyone to the bone.

"Good! Attack!"

At her command,

the Chinoike Clan ninjas roared.

At last, they could strike!

This was not just for their clan's future. They would prove to every ninja clan in the Warring States Era that the Ketsuryūgan was no weaker than the Uchiha Clan's ocular technique—perhaps even stronger!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Living bombs shambled into view before Uchiha Jobu. Explosion after explosion followed, their shock waves as powerful as a ninja's C-rank Wind Release technique—enough to blow a slight person off their feet.

"Have these people gone mad?! They're fighting in the capital and using innocent civilians as sacrifices for their ocular technique!"

"Lord Izuna! Let the Hagoromo Clan take them on!"

"Lord Uchiha Jobu! Lord Izuna Uchiha! We won't lose to monsters like them! Let us fight!"

"For the glory of the Uchiha Clan! Charge!"

Uchiha Jobu could hardly believe the Chinoike Clan ninjas had gone this far. They had chosen the capital, of all places, as their battlefield, without the slightest concern that other ninja clans might see the fighting.

It was as though the Chinoike Clan ninjas had already decided to stake everything on this battle.