The Cliff Outpost

Chapter 16: The Cliff Stronghold

Setsuna rushed a kilometer out from the retreating column before his impulsive rush of blood subsided, and he stopped in his tracks.

No, no.

He raised a hand and smacked his forehead.

Only then did he remember that letting the enemy know the Hagoromo Clan was weakened was part of the plan.

In a sense, this group's retreat only confirmed that the Hagoromo rear was undefended. Whether anyone remained in the Hagoromo Clan Territory or not, once the enemy circled around, they would come to seize that position.

So that wasn't the problem.

The problem was-why were Senju in the Hagoromo heartland?

The Fuma Clan's territory lay close to the Hagoromo Clan Territory. Circling around behind them was a normal strategy.

But the Senju were different.

The Senju's frontline positions were across the Naka River, fighting nose to nose with the Hagoromo main force. That was the farthest point from the Hagoromo Clan Territory in the entire war zone.

The Hagoromo had laid out three defensive lines at the front, with depth between each one. Even if the foremost position was smashed, the second line could immediately move up to fill the gap, while the third remained ready to provide mobile support.

This wasn't a defensive line that could be easily torn open.

There was only one way for the Senju to move openly through the Hagoromo heartland-ally with Fuma or Blood Horse and circle around through their territory.

But this was the final round of the autumn harvest.

Every ninja clan was frantically stockpiling grain for winter. Whichever clan's granaries ran dry first would have people going hungry. Negotiate an alliance at a time like this?

Then how had these Senju gotten here? They hadn't crossed Fuma territory or borrowed a route through Blood Horse's lands.

Setsuna put himself in Tobirama Senju's shoes and began to think.

If I were that white-haired bastard, with the Senju forces at my disposal, facing three Hagoromo defensive lines at the front and Fuma and Blood Horse eyeing my flanks-how would I fight this war?

Push straight through? No, too costly. An alliance? Nobody would ally with you during the autumn harvest. Every clan's granaries were nearly empty. Who had time to help someone else fight a war?

Then there was only one option: find a route no one else had thought of.

Setsuna suddenly remembered that when he had looked at the War Zone Map, the Senju Clan did have a patch of territory extremely close to the Hagoromo Clan Territory. But the Ten-Thousand-Fathom Cliff separated them, and the terrain was so treacherous that one man could hold off ten thousand. He remembered a fifteen-man stronghold marked at that location on the map.

Defending that terrain barely required any manpower. With enough ranged weapons stocked, no one could climb up, no matter how many came. Besides, a fathomless chasm lay between them, with no bridge. The Senju couldn't get across even if they sprouted wings.

Unless... the stronghold had already fallen.

The moment that thought surfaced, a chill shot up Setsuna's spine.

He stood, looked up to judge the sun's position, quickly ran through the map in his head, then changed direction and raced toward the Cliff Stronghold.

Whatever the case, I need to take a look first. Get reliable intelligence, then decide what to do.

As he ran, he gathered chakra in the soles of his feet. After nearly a kilometer without stopping, the trees ahead began to thin, and the ground rose steadily.

Just as he had suspected.

Roughly 130 meters ahead, six figures were moving through the woods in a dispersed formation-the same six Senju ninja who had raided the grain convoy earlier.

Carrying the sacks they had stolen from the Hagoromo grain carts, they had noticeably slowed and were no longer sprinting as though fleeing for their lives.

The leader checked their direction as he walked, while the two bringing up the rear occasionally glanced back. But their expressions were relaxed. Clearly, they didn't believe anyone would pursue them this far.

Setsuna made his breathing as shallow as possible and pressed himself into the shadows of the trees.

He was relieved that he had raised his focus by two levels earlier. With his old perception, by the time he got close enough to see these six, he would already have stepped into their detection range.

Forget following them-he would have become their spoils first.

Only after the six had moved some distance away did he slip silently out of the shadows, keeping at the absolute limit where his Sharingan could still pick out their figures.

Sure enough, they were heading toward the Cliff Stronghold.

Setsuna followed for nearly two kilometers as the terrain ahead grew steeper and steeper.

The group headed up the mountain path. The six figures vanished briefly around a bend, then reappeared on a higher ridge.

Setsuna didn't follow them up. The path was too narrow and offered no cover. If anyone looked back, he would have nowhere to hide.

He found the tallest tree and climbed it hand over hand. Looking out from the top of its canopy, he could see the entire Cliff Stronghold.

What he saw made his heart sink-

The entire stronghold looked as though a torrential downpour had struck it head-on.

The ground was soaked through, the soil a shade darker, with muddy water pooled in the hollows.

The watchtower's wooden posts had toppled in the same direction, jagged wood fibers jutting from their broken ends. Only bare mud remained where the camp had once stood.

Five or six bodies lay scattered throughout the stronghold.

Every corpse was covered in countless thin cuts, shallow and densely packed, with flesh curling back from the wounds. Fragments of shuriken were still embedded in some of them.

Setsuna's Sharingan slowly rotated as he rapidly dissected the tactic in his mind.

High-pressure water could shut down ranged weapon fire in an instant.

The Hagoromo Clan's ranged weapons simply couldn't stop a torrent of water already bearing down on them.

The enemy had also calculated the range limitations of the Hagoromo Clan's intangibility.

At least five Water Release Ninja had unleashed their techniques simultaneously from the Senju side of the cliff. The force of their combined torrents was enough to cross this natural barrier.

They had delivered their first barrage from beyond the reach of the Hagoromo's Intangibility Barrier.

This was a tactic the second Senju brother had designed specifically to counter the Hagoromo's intangibility.

The impact shattered their formation, while the shuriken mixed into the water crippled their ability to attack.

By the time the Water Release stopped, no one in the stronghold was still standing.

The second Senju brother was so insidious it made his scalp crawl.

Setsuna saw Senju ninja dragging the bodies of several Hagoromo ninja who hadn't awakened their eyes to the edge and throwing them off the cliff.

The Hagoromo ninja who had awakened their eyes had their hands bound behind their backs and were tied together like livestock.

A thick rope stretched over from the other side of the cliff, firmly secured to a huge boulder on this side.

The rope swayed slightly in the mountain wind. A Senju ninja was walking along it from the opposite side.

Setsuna's gaze passed over the cliff and settled beneath the trees across the gap.

At least seven or eight more Senju ninja crouched there, fully armed.

They had already taken the stronghold, but they hadn't all crossed over. Only a few had been sent to deal with the prisoners and supplies, while the main force remained on standby across the gap.

What did that mean?

The Senju had barely committed any troops to take this fifteen-man stronghold.

And once the rope was in place, the Senju main force could cross it at any moment.

Then this would no longer be an infiltration, but a fatal strike that cut the Hagoromo heartland in two.

Setsuna gritted his teeth. That underhanded second Senju brother lived up to his reputation. His methods really were vicious!

He quietly climbed down from the canopy and pressed his back against the trunk, his heart pounding.

This intelligence had to reach Izuna immediately. They had to retake this stronghold.

He had just turned to head back the way he had come when a hand reached out from behind and clapped hard onto his shoulder.