"I just wonder whether you've prepared enough explosives."
Uchiha Itachi's calm voice, brimming with powerful confidence, rang out across the silent wasteland, leaving both Kitsuchi and Akatsuchi frozen on the spot. They exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief and a sense of absurdity in the other's eyes.
Was this brat insane? Did he know what he was about to face? These were elites personally led by Kari, the first captain of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps! A walking natural disaster that had struck terror into countless enemies during the Third Shinobi World War! Once their explosive clay detonated, its power was enough to flatten a small mountain in an instant!
And now the Uchiha clan head was sending just three brats who looked barely old enough to grow hair into this death trap? And those three brats actually looked perfectly at ease, even a little eager?
"Lord Gen'yō, I must confirm this once more!"
Kitsuchi drew a deep breath. He felt he had a responsibility for these three children's lives. "Are you certain you want to send just the three of them? This is no game! Once our Iwagakure Explosion Corps strikes, they won't hold back!"
"I know."
Uchiha Gen'yō's reply remained just as casual. "Neither will I. I've already ordered them not to hold back, either."
He looked at Kitsuchi, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Mr. Kitsuchi, what do you think war is?"
"War?" Caught off guard by the sudden question, Kitsuchi answered instinctively, "War is cruel. It is the harvesting of lives..."
"No."
Uchiha Gen'yō shook his head. "War is art. And the highest art is achieving the greatest victory at the smallest cost. Your Iwagakure explosions pursue instantaneous, spectacular destruction. That is the lowest form of art. But we Uchiha..."
His gaze fell on Itachi, Izumi, and Hikaru. "We pursue victory without bloodshed, the manipulation of hearts, the complete destruction of our enemies in both mind and body when they least expect it. Today, let them teach your Iwagakure a proper lesson."
With that, he paid no further attention to the thoroughly stunned Kitsuchi and merely waved to Itachi and the other two.
"Go."
"Yes!"
Without further hesitation, Itachi, Izumi, and Hikaru flickered into motion and followed Kitsuchi and Akatsuchi, who no longer knew what to say, toward One-Line Sky Canyon.
Watching them leave, the Uchiha Clan's ninja all straightened their backs, their faces filled with pride.
"Hmph, just watch. Those country bumpkins are about to wet themselves at the sight of our Uchiha geniuses!"
"Exactly! Lord Gen'yō himself praised that boy Itachi!"
"And Hikaru! He awakened his mitsudomoe at six. That kind of talent is simply unheard of!"
"Izumi's no slouch either. Her talent for genjutsu is among the best of her age!"
The clansmen's remarks reached Uchiha Gen'yō's ears clearly. He smiled without speaking.
Naturally, he had his reasons for choosing these three. Itachi was calm and intelligent, with an understanding of the bigger picture beyond his years-a born commander; Izumi had outstanding talent for genjutsu and meticulous attention to detail, making her the ideal support; and Hikaru, the "Child of Destiny" rewarded by the system, possessed a bloodline purity and latent talent that surpassed even Indra's reincarnation! What he needed was precisely a real battle like this to fully awaken the power within him!
A team made up of these three was practically tailor-made to trounce the Explosion Corps!
Meanwhile, at One-Line Sky Canyon.
Dozens of Iwagakure ninja lay concealed in crevices atop the steep cliffs. Using special ninja tools, each had blended his chakra and presence into the surrounding rocks, leaving no openings whatsoever. Beside them lay explosives molded from explosive clay in all manner of shapes. There were spiders, birds, centipedes... These were the "works of art" they took such pride in.
"Captain, do you think those Uchiha guys will really dare to come?"
A young Iwagakure ninja asked quietly through the communicator at his throat.
"Hmph, they'd better dare!"
The voice that answered him was cold and filled with fanaticism. "I can't wait to see those arrogant Sharingan burst into fireworks of despair before my 'art'!"
The speaker was none other than the commander of this operation, Kari, the current captain of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps! He was a man with a pathological obsession with explosions, firmly convinced that explosions were the greatest art in the shinobi world. He had always scoffed at clans like the Uchiha that relied on kekkei genkai.
"Everyone, listen up!"
Kari's voice rang in every team member's ears. "Once they enter the center of the canyon, throw down all our 'treasures'! Remember, don't give them any chance to form hand seals! I'll show them that against absolute saturation bombing, any dōjutsu is bullshit!"
"Yes!"
Cruel smiles spread across every team member's face. Just then, the ninja on reconnaissance delivered the latest report.
"Reporting, Captain! The targets have appeared!"
"Oh?" A flash of excitement crossed Kari's eyes. "How many came?"
"Reporting... the targets... three people."
"What?!" Kari froze at the news. "Did you get a clear look? Three people?"
"Yes, Captain. A boy and two children who look even younger... They're following Lord Kitsuchi toward the canyon."
"Huh? Haha... hahahahaha!"
After a brief moment of bewilderment, Kari burst into unrestrained laughter!
"The Uchiha... are they trying to humiliate us?! Sending three brats to their deaths?!"
His laughter brimmed with anger at being belittled!
"Good! Very good! Since they're asking to die, they can't blame us for being ruthless!"
A cruel gleam shone in Kari's eyes. "Pass on my orders! Once they enter, use our fiercest firepower to wipe them off the map along with that stretch of canyon! I'll make that arrogant Uchiha Gen'yō understand that looking down on the 'art' of our Iwagakure Explosion Corps carries a price in blood!"
Soon, under Kari's murderous gaze, Uchiha Itachi, Izumi, and Hikaru walked unhurriedly into the center of the canyon. Kitsuchi and Akatsuchi stopped at its entrance, their faces filled with worry and distress.
"Will they really be all right?" Akatsuchi murmured, watching those three slight figures from behind.
Kitsuchi did not answer. He merely clenched his fists. He was already prepared to intervene and save them the moment anything went wrong! Even if it meant defying the Council of Elders' orders!
At the center of the canyon.
Uchiha Itachi stopped. He raised his head and glanced at the seemingly empty cliffs on either side, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"It seems our 'audience' is getting impatient."
"Itachi, how do we fight this?" Uchiha Izumi asked quietly beside him, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.
"End it quickly."
Uchiha Itachi's reply was simple and decisive. "Izumi, use genjutsu to interfere with their senses so they can't tell friend from foe. Hikaru, your job is the simplest. Rush up there as fast as you can and dismantle every one of those flying, hopping 'little toys.'"
"Understood!" Izumi and Hikaru nodded together.
"As for me..."
Three jet-black tomoe slowly appeared in Uchiha Itachi's eyes and began spinning rapidly. "I'll make sure their 'art' never gets a chance to take the stage."
The moment his words fell, Kari's roar thundered from atop the cliff, filled with fanaticism and brutality!
"Now! Feel despair, you Uchiha brats! Art is an explosion! Hah!"
At his command!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
They blotted out the sky, like a swarm of locusts! Hundreds of explosive clay spiders and birds poured down from the cliffs on both sides like waterfalls! Chittering strangely, they hurled themselves toward the three tiny figures in the center of the canyon, carrying terrifying energy sufficient to reduce everything to scorched earth!
"It's over."
A savage smile of triumph spread across Kari's face. He could almost see the miserable sight of those three brats being torn to pieces amid the flames of the explosions!
Yet the earth-shattering explosions he had imagined never came. Instead, the black-haired boy in the canyon delivered an utterly chilling verdict.
"Your art is too noisy. Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique."
Hum!
An invisible, irresistible surge of ocular power erupted from Uchiha Itachi! In that instant, every Iwagakure ninja atop the cliffs felt their vision abruptly go black! The entire world lost its light and color! They plunged into boundless, absolute darkness!
"What?! My eyes!"
"I can't see! I can't see anything!"
"It's genjutsu! We're caught in genjutsu!"
Panicked screams instantly spread through Iwagakure's ranks! And their nightmare had only just begun!
"Guess whose heads those explosions you're so proud of will land on in absolute darkness?"
Uchiha Itachi's voice, like a demon's whisper, rang out simultaneously in every Iwagakure ninja's mind!