Uchiha Black Wolf felt that the little child before him had underestimated him again.
Having survived the brutal battlefield and awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Black Wolf was certainly not as dim-witted as he looked.
Most of the time, however, Black Wolf preferred to interact with Jing Xiu this way.
It helped ease the awkwardness between them. After all, Black Wolf had forcibly abducted Jing Xiu.
It also let Black Wolf test the child's intelligence and abilities. Although he had betrayed the Uchiha Clan, he had only betrayed the Uchiha led by Uchiha Tajima.
If Jing Xiu became the Uchiha Clan Head someday, Black Wolf would return to the clan without hesitation and become a blade in Jing Xiu's hand.
Unfortunately, he's only that bastard Tajima's second son, and his older brother, Madara Uchiha, has extraordinary talent as a ninja.
Defeating someone like that to become clan head would be far too difficult! But that would only make it more exciting, wouldn't it?
As these thoughts ran through his mind, Black Wolf's gaze grew even more fervent as he looked at Jing Xiu.
Jing Xiu had no idea what Black Wolf was thinking. If he could have heard his thoughts, he would certainly have told him, "The position of clan head? Can it grant immortality?"
"If I have the energy to manage a clan and scheme against a bunch of red-eyed lunatics, I'd rather spend it studying the Eight Extraordinary Skills or the shinobi world's senjutsu."
"With Madara out front gathering resources for me, it won't make any difference whether I'm clan head or not."
Late that moonless night, Jing Xiu and Black Wolf braved the biting gales of Gale Gorge and arrived several kilometers outside the Hyuga Camp.
A Hyuga Genin's Byakugan could cover more than a hundred meters in a rough scan, while an outstanding Chunin could scan a thousand meters. Someone like Neji Hyuga during the Fourth Shinobi World War could survey almost ten thousand meters around himself.
Fortunately, Hyuga Kiyomei was the only Jōnin in the entire Hyuga Camp, and among the spirits Jing Xiu had captured, there happened to be a Hyuga Chunin.
If the intrinsic strength of an ordinary person's soul in the shinobi world was one, then an average Chunin capable of holding his own would have a value of five, while an Uchiha Jōnin with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan could reach ten.
Kage-level powerhouses who stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world, such as Uchiha Tajima and Butsuma Senju, had an intrinsic soul strength of one hundred.
Although Jing Xiu was still young, his intrinsic soul strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Jōnin. It had not reached Uchiha Tajima's one hundred, but it was at least twenty or thirty.
As he grew older and cultivated Qi-State Origin-Flow, that value would not only exceed one hundred, but could even reach an unimaginable number.
With his superior soul strength and his deepening understanding of Spirit Summoning and Dispatching, Jing Xiu used the spirit of a Hyuga Chunin to lead Black Wolf close to the Hyuga convoy with ease.
Hyuga Kiyomei was cautious by nature, especially now that the mission was nearly complete.
Although he had not stood watch all night himself, he had ordered every cargo wagon fitted with iron armor.
Even if someone attacked the cargo, the thick armor would protect much of it, preventing the attackers from destroying everything in a single strike.
At the sight of the wagons, Black Wolf wanted to unleash Fire Release immediately, but Jing Xiu stopped him.
"Do you know Earth Release? The Sharingan should be able to copy techniques. You've spent so many years on the battlefield-don't tell me you haven't learned even one decent Earth Release technique!"
Jing Xiu's words cut Black Wolf deeply.
He had always been proud. Although he had encountered plenty of powerful Earth Release ninja, he had disdained copying or imitating them. To him, imitating an enemy's techniques was a sign of weakness.
A true Uchiha powerhouse should use his own eyes to see through every trick the enemy had, then kill them.
That was the greatest mercy he could grant his enemy, and the highest praise he could give himself.
Jing Xiu was surprised by Black Wolf's expression.
In his memories, both Kakashi, who would later possess a Sharingan, and Sasuke Uchiha had a habit of casually copying their opponents' ninjutsu.
Sasuke had even copied taijutsu movements. That alone showed how impoverished Sasuke had been back then, and how wealthy the Uchiha were now.
"Since you don't know Earth Release, just follow my instructions!"
Using the Byakugan, Jing Xiu located the weak points of each Armored Carriage, then worked with Black Wolf to plant Explosive Tags.
Jing Xiu also infused each Explosive Tag with a strand of "qi."
This strand of "qi," or what should perhaps be called "natural chakra" in the shinobi world, would not only detonate the Explosive Tag after a delay, but also increase its power during that time.
It was much like the difference between ordinary ninjutsu and senjutsu.
Although Explosive Tags infused with natural chakra still fell short of senjutsu, tags that had originally been equivalent to C-rank Fire Release would certainly possess power far beyond C-rank, even approaching B-rank Fire Release.
As time passed, the morning star shone like a lamp in the night, poised to pierce the enveloping darkness.
This was also the darkest moment of the day.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Flames shot into the sky as though the sun were rising from the ground.
Dozens of Explosive Tags infused with natural chakra detonated at once, bathing the entire Hyuga Camp in a sea of fire.
"Byakugan!"
Hyuga Kiyomei immediately activated his Byakugan and locked onto Black Wolf and Jing Xiu, who were already far away.
"Lord Kiyomei, the fire is getting worse! Our cargo..."
Before the Genin delivering the report could say anything more, an even more violent explosion erupted. A huge Armored Carriage flew into the sky and shattered, like the most brilliant fireworks of summer.
Hyuga Kiyomei's eyes nearly split with rage. "Uchiha Black Wolf!"
Fūma Sasaki's voice reached them before he came into view as he rushed over. "You brat, Kiyomei! What the hell are you doing? We Fuma poured a good part of our wealth into this shipment! Your Hyuga Clan..."
Before Fūma Sasaki could finish, Hyuga Kiyomei had already ordered the Hyuga clansmen in the camp, "Hyuga Clan, pursue the enemy with me! Samurai commander, organize the firefighting!"
He could not even be bothered to spare Fuma Sasaki another glance and charged straight after Black Wolf.
Catching sight of Hyuga Kiyomei's cold expression, Fūma Sasaki chose to shut his mouth. He left his three Genin disciples behind to help fight the fire, then followed the Hyuga Clan.
Damn you, Hyuga Kiyomei! Once we've dealt with the attackers, if I, Fūma Sasaki, don't take a hefty bite out of your Hyuga Clan, my name isn't Sasaki!
Despite these thoughts, he moved extremely fast.
Besides their distinctive ninja tools, the Fuma Clan was also renowned throughout the shinobi world for its mastery of Wind Release.
That was precisely why they had established their clan grounds near Gale Gorge.
As he ran, Hyuga Kiyomei ordered the two Hyuga Chunin behind him, "Narrow the range of your Byakugan! Make absolutely certain there are no enemy traps or ambushes within two hundred meters ahead of us!"
The two Chunin from the Hyuga Branch Family understood and focused all their attention on the three hundred meters ahead. Even an earthworm crawling underground would not escape their eyes.
Although Uchiha Black Wolf did not have the Byakugan, he could estimate their pursuers' approximate speed from the timing of the explosions and the strength of Hyuga Kiyomei and his men.
"At our current speed, there's no way we'll reach Gale Gorge before the Hyuga catch us. Kid, what exactly are you planning?"