(The reasoning behind the night raid is explained at the end of Chapter 29.)
Uchiha Takashi ignored Homura Uchiha's words and stared fixedly through his Sharingan at the Senju Clan's transport convoy moving ahead.
Once half the Senju Clan's convoy had entered, Uchiha Takashi sprang to his feet and shouted, "Move! Follow me!"
As he spoke, he drew the sword at his waist and charged, not forgetting to form hand seals as he went.
In an instant, hundreds of Uchiha charged out. Countless Fire Style and Lightning Release attacks flew from their ranks toward the Senju Clan in the blink of an eye.
Before either the Three-Clan Allied Forces' main camp or the Senju Clan's transport convoy could register what had happened, the Ninjutsu was already in their faces.
"Boom, boom..." As the Ninjutsu struck, violent explosions erupted, sending dust and smoke billowing everywhere. For a time, everyone on the grounds had their vision obstructed.
But this posed no obstacle whatsoever to the Uchiha Clan. Every member of this raiding party was an elite who had awakened the Sharingan!
With the Sharingan, a little dust and smoke could not block their sight at all.
"Ah..." Screams immediately rose one after another at the camp entrance. Only then did the Three-Clan Allied Forces frantically try to close the gate.
But the Senju Clan's transport convoy was still entering, with barely half of it inside. People were packed at the entrance at that very moment, making it impossible to close the gate!
Uchiha Takashi led the charge, reaching the main camp's entrance first. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly in his eyes, and anyone who faced him was cut down in a single exchange.
"Lament your tragic fate of having no Sharingan!" Uchiha Takashi flitted through the crowd like a ghost. All they could make out were flickers of scarlet before their lives were silently taken.
"Call for reinforcements!" Panicked voices rang out within the main camp, immediately followed by the sounds of chaotic footsteps.
By this time, however, the Uchiha had slaughtered the entire Senju transport convoy outside the walls, and large numbers of Uchiha had already fought their way into the main camp.
At the same time, a tremendous crash suddenly came from directly in front of the camp, followed by the sentries' piercing screams and the frantic cries of Senju clansmen.
"It's the Uchiha across from us! The Uchiha Clan has charged out of their camp and launched a counterattack! The gate is about to fall!"
Genichi Senju, the Senju Clan's commander of the Three-Clan Allied Forces, and his deputy commander, Tsuru Senju, noticed the chaos within the main camp and immediately strode out of their tents.
Tsuru Senju grabbed a clansman running frantically through the camp and asked, "What happened?"
The clansman adjusted his helmet. Seeing that it was Tsuru Senju, he immediately said, "Fourth Elder, the rear gate and the front gate are both under attack!
"It's the Uchiha at the front gate! They charged out of their camp and attacked our front gate! We still don't know who's attacking the rear gate."
Genichi Senju waved his hand and snorted. "Why are you panicking? We have over nine hundred men, while the Uchiha Clan has barely over six hundred!
"And we have more than three hundred men in roaming units outside. Even if we come under attack, nothing serious will happen to us!
"Send up the signal immediately! Call back all the roaming units nearby! Since the Uchiha Clan dares to ambush us, we'll make sure they never return!"
But the clansman they had stopped looked ready to cry. "That's not it, Head Elder! We've lost contact with all the clansmen roaming outside!
"We have no idea how many roaming units are still out there!"
Tsuru Senju and Genichi Senju exclaimed together, "What? We've lost contact with the roaming units outside? Impossible! Could it be the Uchiha? But how could the Uchiha silently dispose of so many people without drawing any attention?"
Although this was utterly baffling, the situation was chaotic, and Genichi Senju had little time to think.
Looking at the chaotic camp before him, he made an immediate decision. "Fourth Elder, take men to defend the rear gate. I'll handle the Uchiha at the front gate!"
With that, he turned and ran off, taking the clansmen from the surrounding tents with him toward the front gate.
Tsuru Senju said nothing more either. He gathered everyone he could and ran toward the rear gate.
At that moment, the rear gate was in utter chaos, and everyone was gripped by deep fear.
The bright moon overhead had been obscured by a cloud drifting in from somewhere. There were no torches lit within the camp either, leaving them unable to see anything in the darkness.
Yet whenever anyone tried to light a torch or released anything that gave off light, a scream would ring out from that direction the next moment, and the light would go out.
But without light to guide them, they could not see where their enemies were in the darkness! They were utterly powerless against the enemy's surprise attacks.
They could only listen to their clansmen's screams ringing in their ears, or wait for a blade reflecting faint glimmers of light to appear before their eyes.
Amid the panic, Tsuru Senju arrived with his clansmen. The allied troops gathered at the rear gate immediately seemed to have found their pillar of support and rushed toward him as he held up a torch.
"Who is it? Who dares ambush us?!" By the torchlight, Tsuru Senju saw the ground strewn with the bodies of his clansmen and allied troops. Enraged, he roared into the darkness beyond the rear gate.
As his roar rang out, pinpricks of red light gradually appeared in the darkness. Then the red lights grew densely packed and drew closer and closer, making the sight enough to send a chill across one's scalp.
"The Senju Clan's Fourth Elder?" Uchiha Takashi slowly stepped out of the darkness, looking the Senju Clan's Fourth Elder over.
Just as Tsuru Senju was about to examine the man who had emerged, battle cries rang out around him again, and he sharply looked around.
Countless red lights flickered. The clansmen who had followed him were already fighting the enemies in the darkness.
Tsuru Senju turned back toward the man before him, narrowing his eyes as he made out the Uchiha crest on Uchiha Takashi's chest by the torchlight.
"U-chi-ha!" he roared, as though trying to vent his anger through his shout.
Now that he had confirmed they were Uchiha, there was nothing left to say. Tsuru Senju immediately raised his sword and charged at Uchiha Takashi.
"Wind Release: Blade!" As Tsuru Senju charged, he formed hand seals and launched a probing attack at Uchiha Takashi.
Uchiha Takashi did not even move from his spot. A slight tilt of his head let him evade the wind blade as he watched Tsuru Senju, the three tomoe spinning in his eyes.
Not good! Tsuru Senju quickly lowered his head to avoid meeting Uchiha Takashi's gaze. Although he had a way to break free of Genjutsu, doing so would cause him to pause briefly.
In a real battle, that tiny moment of hesitation could very well cost him his life.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" Seeing that this fellow would not meet his gaze, Uchiha Takashi immediately formed hand seals and spat fierce flames from his mouth.
The roaring flames immediately swept toward Tsuru Senju, who merely curled his lips. "Nothing but a cheap trick. Water Release: Water Wave!"
Surging waves poured from his mouth. The water slammed into the flames with a sizzling hiss, then turned into mist and dissipated in the air.
But when the mist before Tsuru Senju cleared, he discovered that Uchiha Takashi had vanished from his spot, immediately setting alarm bells ringing in his mind.
He whipped his head around, only to see a kunai flying straight toward his face at tremendous speed, fierce flames blazing along it.
Feeling the intense heat, Tsuru Senju dared not be careless and immediately twisted aside to dodge. The searing heat swept past his ear, nearly setting his hair alight.