The combat prowess of the Uchiha clan was genuinely tenacious. At the very least, from what Xuan had seen and heard, it was exceedingly rare to find records of an Uchiha losing a one-on-one duel against someone of the same rank. Of course, battles against the Senju were a different matter entirely.
Scenarios like tonight's ambush were actually quite rare. Xuan had to admit, if he hadn't deliberately leaked the plan, Uchiha Tō's surprise attack would have had a very high chance of succeeding, thereby pacifying the entire northern border in a single, decisive stroke.
Unfortunately, while that outcome would have been highly beneficial to the Uchiha clan, it held absolutely zero benefits and countless detriments for Xuan. What he needed most was the continued existence of these rival clans. Only with a chaotic, destabilized north would he have the perfect excuse to remain stationed here. Only by staying far away from the main compound could he evade Uchiha Tajima's line of sight, allowing the Patriarch to gradually forget about him.
Trading space for time—that was Xuan's core strategy. He just needed a few more years to let himself grow to the Kage level. Once he reached that threshold, he would no longer fear a direct confrontation with Uchiha Tajima.
The battle below was apocalyptic. Uchiha Tō had flown into a state of absolute, berserk fury. His hands blurred through seals almost continuously, unleashing absolutely nothing below an A-rank Ninjutsu. Massive, hyper-destructive Fire Style jutsu were hurled wildly in every direction. Combining Taijutsu and Ninjutsu seamlessly, he fought like an incarnate god of war.
Akahane Akira and the Kimei Clan Head could only struggle desperately to resist him, trying to stall his advance. To fully pin him down, they had to call over four additional Elite Jōnin, and even then, they were barely holding the line.
The skirmishes occurring elsewhere in the courtyard were equally ferocious. The primary combatants were all Peak Jōnin, and even the ones supporting them were Elite Jōnin. It was no exaggeration to say that tonight's bloodbath represented the absolute zenith of Warring States combat. The only clashes higher in scale would involve the Patriarchs of the premier, first-rate clans fighting each other.
The Akahane clan's temporary compound was massive, but no matter how large the estate was, it couldn't withstand the frenzied, carpet-bombing destruction caused by so many high-level experts. At first, everyone had mostly relied on Taijutsu, which limited the collateral damage. But now, with various tyrannical Ninjutsu flying everywhere, the surrounding terrain was being severely ravaged.
Fire Style clashed against Water Style, Lightning Style against Earth Style, while various secret clan techniques wove through the chaos. The battlefield was an absolute, chaotic meat grinder. Standing high in the trees, Xuan could literally feel the earth trembling beneath his feet. In fact, the ground in the epicenter of the brawl had already begun to severely fracture and crack.
The Uchiha Shadow Guards and Peak Jōnin attempted to break out of the encirclement several times. However, even when they took deliberate injuries just to briefly tear open a gap in the mob, they were forcefully repelled by the overhead lightning barrier. Unable to break through quickly, they were instantly swarmed again by the coalition's Peak Jōnin.
"Bastards!"
Uchiha Tō roared furiously. A massive burst of chakra erupted from his body, violently forcing the two Clan Heads back. His Sharingan tracked a blur of movement behind him. An enemy Elite Jōnin had attempted a sneak attack, but the moment Tō locked eyes with him, the man's body suddenly went completely rigid.
Oh shit—the Elite Jōnin screamed internally.
Before the thought could even finish, a flash of cold light cleanly severed him in two. Warm blood sprayed everywhere, splattering across the surrounding combatants. Paired with the blood-red three tomoe spinning in his eyes, Uchiha Tō looked exactly like a demonic Asura crawling straight out of hell.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the Shadow Guards were beginning to crumble under the overwhelming pressure. Under Xuan's watchful gaze, one operative was relentlessly besieged by three Elite Jōnin. After managing to wound two of them, his arm was deeply slashed by the third. This wasn't his first injury; his entire arm was already dyed crimson.
Suddenly, a coalition Peak Jōnin lunged from a blind spot. With an explosive burst of chakra, he carved a terrifyingly deep gash into the Shadow Guard's back, exposing the bone. The operative violently coughed up a mouthful of blood as two more Elite Jōnin instantly closed in to finish him off.
Gritting his teeth, a look of absolute, fanatical resolve flashed in the operative's eyes. Completely abandoning all defense, he violently spun around, channeling every last drop of his chakra into a suicidal, full-power cleave.
BOOM!
A devastating wave of blade aura slammed into the earth, carving out a massive trench of unknown depth, as if he had tried to split the very earth in half.
Two katanas pierced cleanly through his torso, and his consciousness rapidly faded into the dark.
The coalition Peak Jōnin who had delivered the fatal back-slash remained frozen in his attacking posture. His entire left side had completely vanished. With a heavy thud, his mutilated corpse collapsed to the ground. His remaining right eye twitched faintly before the light finally left it.
Two Peak Jōnin had perished together in mutual destruction.
The deaths of the two Peak Jōnin pushed the night's battle into a white-hot frenzy. The twelve-clan coalition possessed a significant numerical advantage. To prevent another suicidal trade from occurring, they altered their tactics. Instead of rushing for quick kills, they constantly harassed and besieged the Uchiha operatives, intending to slowly grind them to death through attrition.
Facing this strategy, the Uchiha squad suffered immensely. Wounds steadily piled up on their bodies. They attempted to break out again, but were blocked by the barrier every single time.
About half an hour later, the coalition had paid the price of five Elite Jōnin to kill two more Shadow Guards. Currently, only Shinobi One, one other Shadow Guard, the two Uchiha Peak Jōnin, and Uchiha Tō remained standing.
This can't continue!
Uchiha Tō gritted his teeth, fully aware that if this dragged on, total annihilation was inevitable. Channeling every ounce of chakra in his body, he unleashed a devastating attack that temporarily forced the two Clan Heads back. Immediately, his hands blurred into a complex sequence of seals.
"Stop him!" Akahane Akira roared, charging forward recklessly.
A Kage-level powerhouse required time to weave a long sequence of seals. Whatever Jutsu Tō was preparing, he absolutely could not be allowed to finish it!
The three tomoe in Uchiha Tō's eyes scanned the battlefield in 360 degrees, allowing him to flawlessly dodge every incoming attack from the Elite Jōnin while simultaneously leaping to evade Akira's desperate slash.
The seals were completed.
"Fire Style: Sword of Kagutsuchi!"
Uchiha Tō unleashed an earth-shattering roar. The chakra surging around his body violently ignited, practically turning the very air into searing flames. A massive, divine sword forged entirely from pure, hyper-condensed fire materialized in the void above him. The terrifying, incandescent heat radiating from it was so intense that Xuan could feel it clearly from his distant perch.
The God of Fire was originally named Kagutsuchi, also known as the Radiant Flame God. The essence of this specific Fire Style Jutsu was to summon the divine sword of the Fire God—a power that supposedly did not belong to this mortal realm. It was the Uchiha clan's absolute strongest single-target Fire Style Jutsu, hailed as the theoretical maximum destructive limit a standard S-rank Fire Jutsu could ever achieve.
The condensed greatsword transformed into a blinding beam of divine light, slashing violently upward toward the lightning barrier.
With an apocalyptic, deafening boom, fire and lightning intertwined and detonated. The clash transformed into a boundless, blinding radiance that completely illuminated the night sky, turning it as bright as day.
The four Elite Jōnin maintaining the barrier in the corners of the compound violently collapsed to the ground, completely paralyzed. Their bodies were covered in severe burns and charred lightning scars. Not a single one of the four survived.
"Go! Now!"
Uchiha Tō bellowed, preparing to flee. Having fought frantically for so long, and then expending a massive portion of his chakra to cast that S-rank Jutsu, his combat power had plummeted drastically. In his current state, he probably couldn't even defeat a single, fresh Peak Jōnin.
"Did you really think you could escape?" a chilling voice hissed from his right side.
Tō subconsciously dodged to his left, but an agonizing, piercing pain immediately shot through his body. A split second later, he realized he had completely lost all sensation and control over his right arm. With a metallic clang, his katana dropped to the dirt.
My arm... it's been cut off...
The realization flashed through Uchiha Tō's mind, but he didn't hesitate for a microsecond. Condensing all his remaining strength into his left fist, he violently punched the attacker.
The sickening crunch of snapping ribs echoed through the air. Ignoring everything else, Tō forcefully launched himself into the distant forest and began a desperate retreat.
Akahane Akira struggled heavily to his feet, clutching his ribs. He had at least three broken ribs, but he completely ignored the pain, his face twisting into a mask of pure savagery.
"Pursue him! We must hunt him down and kill him! We absolutely cannot let him escape back to Uchiha territory!"
With that, he took the lead and charged into the woods. The Kimei Clan Head and several Elite Jōnin quickly followed.
As for the remaining Uchiha operatives: Shinobi One managed to break free and flee despite being heavily injured. The last Shadow Guard, however, was killed. The two Uchiha Peak Jōnin, both suffering from severe, life-threatening wounds, also managed to escape into the dense forest.
The powerhouses of the twelve-clan coalition immediately gave chase, absolutely determined to hunt them down to the very ends of the earth.
Standing silently on a tree branch, Xuan's eyes were a uniform, blood-red color, the three tomoe spinning sharply within. He stared dead at Shinobi One's retreating back.
A spatial ripple distorted the air around Xuan, forming a vortex that silently sucked him into the void.
Heh. I heard you received orders to assassinate me...
____
PLEASE SUPPORT ME ON PATREON:
Patreon.com/IndifferentVillain
Early Access and + 60 chapter ahead of webnovel monthly, ur support keeps me motivated...thanks and enjoy reading
Chapter 240 is out on patreon... please check it out and support the work
_____________