"That's right. The day before yesterday, the supply shipment sent by Uchiha Madara was intercepted by Shimura clan ninja. All the food was burned. Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Kong, and the others in Stonecastle are all starving." Izuna clenched his fist. "The first thing you must do, Lord Hagoromo, is kill the envoys sent by the Sarutobi and Shimura clans to prevent them from contacting the other four and finalizing an agreement. Second, you must take advantage of the window while the Uchiha have no food and before a new shipment can arrive. Launch an all-out assault. If you do this, victory will be yours!"
Masanari's blood boiled with excitement, but he thought of one more crucial question. "And what, Mister Tobi... do you hope to gain from this?"
Izuna was silent for a long moment. Fearing he had overstepped, Masanari quickly added, "If you'd rather not say..."
"It's simple," Izuna said suddenly. "You will intercept and kill the envoys from the Shimura and Sarutobi. I need their heads."
Masanari fell silent, pondering for a moment before realization dawned.
"The time will be the day after tomorrow. As for the ambush point..." Izuna pointed to a spot on the red line marking the route. "There's a posthouse here. How about we make this the ambush point?"
"As you say, Mister Tobi. We have a deal!"
Izuna nodded, then vanished from the tent in an instant using the Flying Thunder God Technique: Second Step.
Hagoromo Naoyasu soon emerged from behind the screen. "He's definitely part of the anti-clan-leader faction within the Sarutobi and Shimura clans."
"So you think so too, Naoyasu." Hagoromo Masanari nodded in agreement. "The Sarutobi and Shimura are certain to send a large number of high-ranking elites as envoys. If these people meet an untimely end, it will undoubtedly destabilize Sarutobi Furukawa and Shimura Keizo's positions as clan heads. It seems this masked man wants to use us to achieve his own political coup."
"Well, we are all just using each other. And we've obtained extremely valuable intelligence, haven't we?" With that, Naoyasu's expression turned serious. "Then, Lord, I will take command of this operation."
"No," Masanari said, his eyes narrowing. "This mission must be flawless. I'll have a clansman use the Transformation Technique to impersonate me and stay here at the main camp. The day after tomorrow, you and I will secretly lead fifty of our clan's elite ninja. We must make it clean and decisive."
"Yes, sir!"
With the decision made, Masanari stepped out of the main tent and gazed at the nearby camps of the Fuma and the other three clans, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Once I've dealt with the Sarutobi and Shimura and taken the Uchiha's castle," he muttered to himself, "you four will be next!"
***
On a road cutting through a dense forest.
A contingent formed by the Sarutobi and Shimura clans was slowly advancing toward Liang Town, driving ten horse-drawn carts laden with goods. The team was composed of ten ninja from the Sarutobi clan and ten from the Shimura clan.
Each clan had one leader. One was Shimura Ri, the second strongest in the Shimura clan, who had joined Izuna in the attack on The Despair Corps just the other day. The other, a man around thirty-five, was a high-ranking member of the Sarutobi clan named Sarutobi Domoto, who possessed power at the peak Jonin level.
Unlike the Uchiha, who had previously disguised their entire force as a merchant caravan, they wore armor emblazoned with their clan crests. They had two of their clan's servants dress as merchants and ride in the carts. At a glance, it looked as if two merchants had hired them for an escort mission—a common sight in the Warring States period that wouldn't arouse any suspicion.
***
Several li away, a group of elite Hagoromo clan ninja, clad in gray armor and led by Hagoromo Masanari and Hagoromo Naoyasu, had gathered.
Naoyasu, whose sensory abilities were on par with Senju Tobirama's, knelt on one knee, pressing the index and middle fingers of his right hand to the ground. He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment. "Seven o'clock direction, at a distance of three li. Twenty-two people in total. Aside from two civilians, the rest are all Jonin."
"Hmph! What a grand display," Masanari snorted, his anger flaring. "Damn those four northwestern clans, daring to betray me by siding with the Sarutobi and Shimura. I'll make sure they die without a burial place!"
The Hagoromo were not intimidated by the twenty enemy Jonin. They too had deployed nearly all the Jonin in their clan, and their Kage-level clan head was present as well.
"Are we ready to make our move?" Izuna asked, standing at the very edge of the Hagoromo ninja group.
"Will you be fighting personally, Mister Tobi?" Masanari asked.
"...I can act, provided I can confirm they are all dead. But if there's any chance one of them might escape, then I can't."
Masanari and Naoyasu nodded silently to themselves. *Tobi must be afraid that the Shimura and Sarutobi will recognize his techniques,* they thought. In their minds, "Tobi" was a member of one of those two clans and absolutely could not expose himself in front of them.
"Everyone, get into position. Prepare to move!"
Izuna squatted quietly in the shade of a large tree at the rear, watching the Hagoromo set their ambush for the Sarutobi and Shimura. The scene was eerily familiar, a strong sense of déjà vu washing over him as he recalled hiding among the rocks with Shimura Ri to ambush The Despair Corps. Less than a week had passed, and Shimura Ri and his comrades had gone from being the ambushers to the ambushed.
*At least I can avenge you all,* Izuna thought. They say a gentleman's revenge can wait ten years, but for him, Izuna's revenge couldn't even wait three days.
"Lord Ri, there's a posthouse up ahead. Let's rest there," a Shimura Jonin leading a horse said, pointing to a small posthouse on the right side of the road. A small flag with the character for "post" fluttered from the eaves.
Shimura Ri looked up, nodded, and waved to the others. "Everyone, let's rest at the posthouse."
Soon, the twenty Jonin from both clans, along with the two servants disguised as merchants, were all seated inside.
Sarutobi Domoto called out, "Innkeeper, some water and something to eat."
In the Warring States period, things like Military Rations Pills, which were akin to compressed biscuits, had not yet been developed. Ninja on missions usually carried dry rations that didn't taste very good.
"Right away, right away. Just a moment," came an elderly voice from the back of the posthouse.
The back door opened, and a stooped, plainly dressed, gray-haired old man emerged. He carried a tray with plain tea and dango.
"Lord Ri, if we successfully take down the Uchiha and Hagoromo, how much territory will we get?" a Shimura Jonin asked excitedly as he popped a dango into his mouth.
Shimura Ri shot him a fierce glare. "You talk too much!" How could he discuss such matters in a public place?
The Jonin who had been glared at wanted to say, "Who's going to overhear us in the middle of nowhere?" but seeing Shimura Ri's harsh expression, he wisely shut his mouth.
However, none of them noticed that the old man, who had turned back to prepare more dango after hearing their conversation, had a flash of murderous red light in his eyes.
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