Ryō Uchiha had led the Uchiha Clan for over a decade, starting in his teens and continuing into his forties. He enjoyed great prestige within the clan, and the other elders rarely opposed him.
Since Clan Head Ryō Uchiha had spoken, the first and third elders naturally did not object. They immediately summoned an elite Uchiha and had him deliver headquarters' message to the front line.
After he left, Ryō Uchiha continued, "There's one more thing. According to the tally, do you know how much we lost this time?"
"Over sixty of the clan's younger generation died, and almost all of them were promising children from the various families. After this battle, our Uchiha Clan... has no one to bridge the gap between generations," the first elder said dejectedly.
Ryō Uchiha nodded. "You and I are already getting old, and now the younger generation has suffered this surprise attack. I'm afraid that in another decade or so, we'll sink into a complete slump."
The third elder frowned. "Clan head... what do you mean?"
Ryō Uchiha raised his hand. "Third elder, I know what you want to say. But what I want to say is that once we confirm which clan carried out this attack, I'll take our people to exact revenge. Then... we'll fight the Senju to the death!"
The third elder said, "But wouldn't that be a little too rash?"
Ryō Uchiha shook his head. "No. Do you know who died this time? Children between six and ten. In another decade or so, the elite fighters under our command will all be in their forties and fifties.
"And we're already nearing the ends of our lives. After we die, the generation after us might hold on, but what about the generation after them?
"If the Senju Clan launches a thunderous strike while our Uchiha Clan is at its lowest, our current base could very well fall completely!
"This is where our Uchiha Clan has developed for generations. We absolutely cannot abandon this upstream region near the river! Once we lose our water source, taking it back will come at an unimaginably heavy price!
"We have to cripple the Senju while we still have the strength to fight, forcing them to guarantee peace with us for a time. Only then might we last until the third generation after us grows up.
"Only that way can we survive this slump."
The first elder sighed. "I understand your situation, too, but if we do that... what if we fail?"
"We cannot fail. If we do, then we'll take it as our ancestor Indra having abandoned his protection of us!" Ryō Uchiha said firmly. "We'll win!"
The message soon reached the front line. When the frontline commander, Uchiha Satoshi, heard that even their home had been attacked, he nearly fainted with rage on the spot.
He immediately ordered an investigation into exactly which clan had approached their defensive line and slipped past their front last night.
The results soon came back: it was the Hagoromo Clan (there was indeed such a clan).
While Uchiha Ichinyo was confronting the Senju Clan last night, they had secretly infiltrated the Uchiha Clan's headquarters and launched a surprise attack.
They had planned it for a long time, specifically targeting promising children. As it happened, few Uchiha had remained at home last night, allowing them to succeed.
Uchiha Satoshi immediately sent the news back to headquarters. The moment Ryō Uchiha received it, he gathered a large number of clansmen.
He announced the news publicly and declared that they would avenge their dead clansmen. Almost the entire Uchiha Clan supported his decision.
Taking revenge was etched into the Uchiha Clan's DNA. If you were ambushed or had a grudge against someone and did not seek revenge, were you even a pureblood Uchiha?
Thus, Ryō Uchiha personally led a mighty force toward the Hagoromo Clan's compound. At the same time, to prevent a Senju surprise attack, he did not deploy any frontline troops.
Instead, he assembled the clan's elite squads-a full fifteen elite Jonin with Three-Tomoe Sharingan and thirty Jonin with Futatsudomoe-and charged toward the Hagoromo Clan at tremendous speed.
While the Hagoromo Clan in their compound was still celebrating their successful surprise attack, they had never expected the Uchiha Clan's retaliation to come so quickly.
Only when an Uchiha blade fell upon the first Hagoromo clansman did they finally react.
"Enemies! We're under attack!" Chaos instantly engulfed the compound. The forty-five Uchiha scattered, killing any Hagoromo they saw. With bloodred eyes, they were like gods of slaughter, their killing leaving everyone trembling with fear.
The Hagoromo Clan's head, Hagoromo Yukikaze, clashed fiercely with Ryō Uchiha. But before Ryō Uchiha's Sharingan, he had no room to resist.
As one of the foremost experts in the Shinobi World, Ryō Uchiha had reached clan head level long ago. Although he was now past his prime, his strength had only increased.
His mastery of Genjutsu through his Three-Tomoe Sharingan was extraordinary. Almost anyone who met his gaze would fall under it.
And Hagoromo Yukikaze, unfortunately, happened to look into Ryō Uchiha's Sharingan. With no resistance to Genjutsu, he fell under it on the spot. Although he recovered quickly, battles between experts were often decided in those few seconds.
By the time he came to, Ryō Uchiha had already slit his throat and returned his blade to its sheath. Not even a drop of blood could be seen.
Hagoromo Yukikaze clutched his throat tightly. He had considered Ryō Uchiha's formidable strength and the Uchiha Clan's retaliation, but he had underestimated that strength and misjudged their desire for revenge.
That was what ultimately brought such disaster upon them. After his death, the Hagoromo Clan's morale collapsed completely. Faced with pursuit by the Uchiha Clan's experts, the scene became an utterly one-sided slaughter.
The Uchiha Clan did not even encounter any meaningful resistance, easily wiping out every living person they could see within the compound.
Still, the Uchiha Clan had ultimately sent too few people this time. The forty-five of them had only dealt with the Hagoromo Clan's current combatants.
As for the women and children who surrendered, the Uchiha's stance was, "Killing these people is beneath us." Ryō Uchiha waved his hand and ordered them all taken back.
In fact, Ryō Uchiha understood very well that population was the most important strategic support. Thus, the battle's first objective was revenge, and the second was to carry off whatever population they could.
Boys would be brainwashed with Genjutsu and turned into frontline cannon fodder for the Uchiha Clan. Girls would be raised, then given to his clansmen.
During the Warring States period, such behavior was perfectly normal. Perhaps in later times, it would be considered immoral.
But during the Warring States period, when a family member died in battle, this was generally what happened to his wife and children. What good end could await someone captured and taken to an enemy's home?
Even ninja clans were like this, let alone civilians. Civilians, who had no means of resistance, became yet another resource for ninja clans. Population truly became nothing more than a number.
After crushing the Hagoromo Clan, Ryō Uchiha swiftly led his force back. Rather than returning to headquarters, he went straight to the front line, where his elites joined forces with the frontline troops.
After resting for just half a day, he led the army in an assault against the Senju forces confronting them.
The Senju Clan had not expected the Uchiha Clan to attack at this time either, and Ryō Uchiha caught them off guard.
Although the frontline commander quickly reacted and adjusted their defenses in time, Ryō Uchiha smashed straight through the first two defensive lines.
Lacking a high-end fighter who could match Ryō Uchiha, the Senju Clan's head had no choice but to take the field himself and fight him.
"Ryō Uchiha! I'll kill you!" Seeing his fallen clansmen, Senju Sun glared furiously, his eyes fixed on Ryō Uchiha.
Ryō Uchiha looked at Senju Sun with equal fury. "Then come at me if you have the guts!"
The two collided fiercely, Ninjutsu flying everywhere. With little difference in their combat strength, Senju Sun and Ryō Uchiha were locked in a deadlock for a time.
Of course, neither was fighting alone. Both the Uchiha and Senju clans had experts, and they gathered around their respective clan heads to fight the other side.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Lightning Shield: Lightning Fang!"
"Water Release: Who Built the Dam!"
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Destruction Arrow!"
Both sides traded Ninjutsu relentlessly. Together with the other clansmen fighting around them, the scene was utterly brutal.
However, the battle of such intensity ended with the fall of both clan heads. Ultimately, the gap between Ryō Uchiha and Senju Sun's strength was too small, and under these circumstances, they fought to a draw.
But Ryō Uchiha fought with his life on the line, so Senju Sun could only do the same. As a result, both suffered extremely serious injuries.
Senju Sun died of his wounds on the spot. Although Ryō Uchiha was brought back to the clan grounds in time, it was not long before he, too, was at death's door.
Today was a tragic day for the Uchiha Clan. Their most clearheaded clan head, Ryō Uchiha, had passed away.
Uchiha Takashi stood at the sides of the funeral procession. Looking up at the sorrowful faces of the first and third elders, he, too, felt a sincere trace of grief.
Ryō Uchiha had indeed been a great clan head. During his tenure, he had strictly forbidden children under eight from going onto the battlefield.
At the same time, he had proposed a training program specifically for orphans and promising children, so they could become a fighting force in the future.
Internally, his rewards and punishments were clear, fair, and impartial. He also knew how to put people's talents to use. Even if you were seriously injured, he could find you a good job within the clan.
Externally, he had expanded the territory occupied by the Uchiha Clan and dealt enormous damage to the Senju, Hagoromo, and Uzumaki clans, leaving all three unable to launch large-scale invasions.
In his final battle, he had even staked his old life to win ten years of peace for the Uchiha Clan. No matter how one looked at it, he deserved to be called great.
But... he had passed away today. Grief permeated the Uchiha Clan from top to bottom. Having lost their external brain, where would the Uchiha Clan go from here?