At the entrance of the Valley of Judgment.
Dense trees stood tall.
The terrain ahead dipped into a low basin.
The edge of the Xu mountain range sloped downward.
The two sides differed in numbers by a factor of a hundred. It was as if they stood in two different worlds, each occupying their side of the natural divide—clear and distinct.
The sky was gloomy.
Rain poured down in torrents.
Uchiha Yu remained calm, letting the bean-sized raindrops strike his black hood, flowing down in streams from his cloak.
The Uchiha clansmen swept their eyes over the vast sea of enemies, faces solemn. Three tomoe spun in their eyes as they gripped their tachi tightly.
The enemy was countless.
It was as if they had been transported into the Warring States Era of the Shinobi World—under black clouds and heavy rain, a vast enemy force loomed ahead, while their own group numbered only twelve.
The difference in numbers was overwhelming.
Crash—
The slanted rain relentlessly struck the round lenses of Nono's glasses, badly blurring her vision.
The cold seeped in.
She took off her glasses, now fogged and spattered with water, squinting toward the front—but her vision remained hazy. So, she opted to observe her comrades instead.
"Something's not right, is it?"
Nono's expression shifted slightly. On the faces of her Uchiha companions, she saw a grave and tragic look she had never seen before.
It didn't make her want to flee—she just wanted to understand what kind of situation they were facing, so that if she died, she could at least die knowing why. But she was nearsighted.
Even Kimimaro's face was heavy with tension—the enemy… was too many.
Even if the entire Sound Village gave everything they had…
Kimimaro still wasn't sure they could win this battle.
This had already escalated into a war.
Everyone turned to their captain, only to find Uchiha Yu, the one who had led them here, wearing a calm expression. His dark pupils hadn't activated the Mangekyō—deep and tranquil as an ancient well, just as always.
Seeing Yu's expression,
The Uchiha instinctively felt reassured.
Kimimaro, however, remained skeptical. He wasn't certain Yu could hold off such a massive force on the front lines long enough for Lord Orochimaru to make his move.
Huff—
Yu exhaled a cloud of mist, calmly watching the mass of ninjas slowly pressing up from the slopes below.
He had checked the green medicine in his spatial storage earlier that morning—at 6 a.m., he saw with his own eyes that the empty test tubes had auto-refilled. Now, he had two full vials stored.
Clearing his mind,
Yu opened his main quest list.
> [Main Quest]: Night of the Massacre
[Options]:
1. Kill the remaining Uchiha.
2. Successfully escape Konoha.
[Reward]: (Plunder) Steal another's Mangekyō and absorb their ocular power, gaining their Mangekyō ability.
Yu had chosen the second option. Now, he only had to break through Konoha's final encirclement and reach the Valley of Judgment.
Then, the pursuit would be truly over.
The task would be complete.
His brows gradually relaxed, and his expression grew composed, even looking forward to what the second main quest might be.
"Captain…"
Minami's voice was low and tense.
Down the slope, the massive group of shinobi had drawn within 700 meters.
Yu scanned the basin and the forest at the valley entrance. More ninjas continued to arrive. The sheer number made one's scalp tingle.
There were far more here than Konoha had ever stationed on the Land of Fire's borders.
The Uchihas looked at each other grimly, silently preparing themselves to die.
To have followed Uchiha Yu in slaying Danzo and fleeing this far was already a miracle amidst misfortune.
If they could take a few more Konoha shinobi with them before they died—they'd consider that enough.
"Wait."
Yu said calmly. With a flip of his right hand, space rippled. A black blade—Dark Moon—appeared in his palm, so pitch-dark it seemed to clash with the very space around it.
The constant rainfall hit the blade's tip, but every drop was inexplicably split in two and slid off.
The Uchihas took a deep breath. Their Sharingan scanned the incoming shadows from every direction.
"Big bro, Konoha's disgusting. They actually tricked this many cannon fodder into coming here to die. I'll memorize their forehead protectors and tell you later. If we don't make it out—don't let them off easy!"
Tamao's Sharingan glanced from side to side at the approaching ninjas with contempt.
"…Yeah."
Uchiha Yu scanned the Konoha formation calmly, searching for something, and replied with a composed tone.
The Uchiha clansmen gripped their sword hilts tightly, hearts sinking to the bottom of the valley, ready to fight to the death.
After all, even Tamao had stopped making his usual offhand remarks—things had truly reached a dead end.
In this battle, perhaps only their captain, Uchiha Yu, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, had a chance of entering the Valley of Judgment.
"Captain, I'll do my best to escort you into the valley…"
Minami said seriously.
He knew how ridiculous that must have sounded—but it was his most sincere thought.
"Count us in too!"
The Uchihas clenched their jaws and responded angrily.
They sensed enemies appearing from behind as well, and immediately formed a circle around Yu, blades pointed outward, ready to meet the oncoming enemies from all directions.
Yu shook his head.
His purpose in leading these Uchihas out of Konoha had never been to have them open a path for him at a critical moment. They simply weren't capable of doing that yet.
In that instant—
The blade-like Mangekyō pattern of the Yasakani emerged in Yu's eyes, glowing blood-red.
Immediately after,
The same Yasakani markings quietly appeared in the eyes of the Uchihas, including Nono and Kimimaro.
"When did I get hit by a genjutsu?"
Kimimaro's eyes trembled slightly, surprise flashing in his heart.
He sensed subtle shifts in his consciousness—it all felt incredibly unreal. Yu had clearly never used any eye techniques on him directly.
"Could it be… I was already trapped in the Lord's genjutsu before the eye technique even began…"
As Kimimaro realized this, a chill crept down his spine.
No wonder Lord Orochimaru had acknowledged this man. Even in a situation like this, if it were Orochimaru himself, he might have no choice but to summon Manda and retreat.
Yu, now with his Mangekyō active, turned his gaze away from the motley formation of Konoha shinobi, looking toward the cliff above the Valley of Judgment.
There, more ninja were concealed.
With a single glance,
Yu's lips curled into a faint smile. Across the vast distance, he spotted a familiar silhouette and could roughly guess who it was.
He hadn't expected that this would be the clan head from Konoha to personally step in.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had likely surrendered much of the Shimura clan's interests—after Danzo's death—and the Uchiha clan's share as well, in exchange for this man's cooperation.
Yu smiled.
All the scheming between him and Orochimaru had not been in vain. If he hadn't killed Asuma, Hiruzen probably wouldn't have gone so far.
---
Cliff above the Valley of Judgment
Several Hyuga branch family jōnin activated their Byakugan and noticed Yu's gaze. Even though they were far away, they lowered their heads and retreated cautiously.
At the cliff's edge,
Hiashi Hyuga stood with veins bulging at his temples, his Byakugan quietly activated. Calm and composed, he looked down at the Uchiha squad, surrounded in the storm by countless enemy ninjas.
Now middle-aged, Hiashi's face carried the weariness of time. His posture was straight and firm. He wore a gray rain cloak over the green Konoha jōnin flak jacket, and a black ninja hood.
This Hyuga unit had deliberately positioned themselves far from Yu, to prevent any chance of him using Mangekyō powers to remotely manipulate them.
°°°
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