Have You Ever Seen Fireworks?

Deep in the silent woods, the mosquitoes' buzzing sounded especially grating. Several dozen meters from Shinhiko Kōzuki and his men, a sea of insects on the ground slowly closed in, while flying insects hovered overhead like a black mist, eyeing them hungrily.

Under Sōsuke Aburame's direction, a perfect killing formation had taken shape.

Sōsuke Aburame had deliberately waited until the ninjas from Sunagakure and Root had nearly exhausted Madara Uchiha's chakra before making his move. By his estimate, Madara Uchiha now had enough chakra for only one ninjutsu. Even if Madara Uchiha specialized in Fire Release attacks that could strike whole groups, how many insects could he burn to death while surrounded by Sosuke's swarms?

"Hahaha, Itachi, I'm counting on you. This old man may be ready to die, but dying in the jaws of these bugs would leave me with regrets I could never shake."

With their situation seemingly hopeless, Shinhiko Kōzuki patted Madara Uchiha on the shoulder, then sat straight down on the ground as though he had given up trying.

"What are you staring at? Just sit close to this old man. Don't get in our young friend's way."

After fighting alongside Madara Uchiha, Shinhiko Kōzuki had become certain that he was a thoroughly dependable companion. Their situation might be urgent, but with Madara here, Shinhiko Kōzuki saw no reason to worry.

At his call, the samurai who had been facing the enemy with trembling hands gripping their Samurai Swords put away their weapons and sat tightly around Shinhiko Kōzuki.

Even at a moment like this, the samurai did not question Shinhiko Kōzuki's orders in the slightest, a testament to his standing among them. Madara Uchiha even suspected that if Shinhiko Kōzuki ordered these samurai to die, they would obey without hesitation. Of course, they might hesitate