Iwagakure's ambush

Although taking his four-year-old child onto the battlefield had been Uchiha Fugaku's idea, he grew genuinely nervous once they entered an area where fighting might actually break out.

As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku was a veteran who had braved countless dangers. He had killed at least eight hundred people, if not a thousand. Yet looking at the little Madara Uchiha walking beside him, he could not keep his heart from racing. Fugaku could no longer remember how many years it had been since he had felt this nervous.

The smell of blood is awfully faint. Is it because the war has already ended, or are the so-called Shinobi World Wars of these younger generations nothing more than children playing house?

Unlike the deeply anxious Uchiha Fugaku, Madara Uchiha began surveying the battlefield with practiced ease the moment he stepped onto it. A single glance told him where an ambush could be laid, where a battle could be fought, and how large a clash had taken place here recently. All that battlefield intelligence was swiftly absorbed into his mind.

Uchiha Fugaku might have fought many battles and completed many missions, but Madara Uchiha had grown up in war, ended wars, and planned and launched wars himself.

Madara Uchiha had spent more time on cold, bloody battlefields than in the warmth and safety of home. Uchiha Fugaku's concern for him was rather unnecessary.

Fugaku led eight adult members of the Uchiha Clan and Madara Uchiha through the woods, holding their breath as they moved stealthily. The nine adults surrounded Madara Uchiha, keeping him protected. Before long, a cliff appeared before them. It was only seven or eight meters high, with a rocky wasteland below.

"Clan head."

At the front of Uchiha Fugaku's group, a man with long gray hair, a Konoha forehead protector hanging around his neck, and two fearsome scars running from his forehead down to his cheeks was the first to signal danger to Fugaku. At his gesture, Uchiha Fugaku and the others immediately stopped. Madara Uchiha halted with them without the slightest delay.

Just what I'd expect from the clan head's son.

Instant obedience to orders was a basic quality of a seasoned shinobi, but seeing a four-year-old child manage it was genuinely praiseworthy. Uchiha Aren had initially disapproved of Fugaku bringing Madara Uchiha onto the battlefield, but after noticing this small detail, he could not help silently praising the boy's performance.

"There's an Iwagakure ambush thirty meters ahead. From what I can sense, there should be about fifteen of them."

Since entering the battlefield, Aren had kept his Three-Tomoe Sharingan active, constantly scanning their surroundings. Although the Sharingan fell somewhat short of the Byakugan when it came to seeing through objects, it could still detect the flow of chakra. The Iwagakure shinobi had used Earth Release to conceal themselves. They might have fooled anyone outside the Uchiha Clan, but unfortunately for them, they had encountered Uchiha Fugaku.

"Itachi, stay hidden here. We're going into battle."

Although Minato Namikaze had already led a team that dealt Iwagakure a heavy blow, it seemed that making these people truly afraid would not be so simple.

After arranging a hiding place for Madara Uchiha, Uchiha Fugaku led his clansmen stealthily toward the enemy.

Is there any need to sneak up on them?

From atop the cliff, Madara Uchiha watched indifferently as Fugaku and the others cautiously approached their opponents. Sure enough, although Fugaku's group was careful enough, the enemy were no fools either.

The Iwagakure shinobi had chosen a barren stretch of ground as their hiding place. There were no trees around to conceal an approaching enemy, only rock and dirt underfoot. Even if their ambush was discovered, launching a surprise attack against them would not be easy. Once the Iwagakure shinobi came within the enemy's attack range, their Earth Release techniques would inevitably detect the enemy's movements as well.

With this ambush setup alone, Iwagakure had already placed itself in an unbeatable position in an ambush battle.

After all these years, Iwagakure was still using the same old tricks for its ambushes.

This wasteland probably had not appeared in the woods by chance, either. If Madara's assessment was correct, the Iwagakure shinobi had reshaped the terrain with ninjutsu. During the First Shinobi World War, whenever Madara Uchiha encountered an ambush like this, he would simply scour the ground with Fire Release, crushing everything across the entire wasteland. That left the concealed Iwagakure shinobi no time to react. Of course, doing so required extraordinary mastery of Fire Release, something only Madara Uchiha could accomplish. Hashirama, meanwhile, preferred launching surprise attacks with Wood Release.

Just as Madara expected, Fugaku's team was discovered as they approached, turning the battle into an open confrontation. Rather than spending time sneaking closer, charging straight in might have been more effective at catching the enemy off guard.

"Damn it, it's the Uchiha Clan! They've all activated their Sharingan!"

Even without someone as powerful as Madara Uchiha among them now, the Uchiha Clan was synonymous with strength. These were also elite Uchiha fighters led by their current clan head. When the Iwagakure shinobi saw nine Uchiha clansmen charging toward them with their Three-Tomoe Sharingan active, they chose to retreat without hesitation.

A shuriken flew from Fugaku's hand. The instant a short-haired Iwagakure woman emerged from their trench, it slit her throat.

Blood sprayed into the air. Although Madara Uchiha was far away, that splash of blood still stirred the hunger for battle within him. Unfortunately, his body was only four years old. Otherwise, he would have loved to join the fray himself and kill to his heart's content.

If these Iwagakure shinobi could not satisfy his thirst for battle, he could take the fight to Iwagakure itself, or destroy the Land of Earth. Since when had Konoha become something a child like Ōnoki of Both Scales could lay his hands on?

Madara Uchiha took a deep breath and finally suppressed the surging battle lust in his chest. Not yet. Neither his physical capabilities nor his understanding of this world was developed enough. Madara Uchiha had already suffered once from being deceived by others. In this life, he would be more careful. With his current strength, he could not even protect himself in Konoha. The bird that stuck its head out was the first to be shot; until he had enough strength, keeping some of his abilities hidden was necessary.

Meanwhile, although the Iwagakure shinobi assigned to the ambush had the advantage in numbers, they were utterly outmatched by Uchiha Fugaku's group in quality. There were even children around ten years old among them. The oldest was barely in his early thirties, and judging by his skills, he was no more than an ordinary jōnin.