If there was one thing that Uchiha Takeru had learned from this conflict, it was that trusting the Sandaime was as good as putting your hand into the mouth of a starving, rabid wolf and expecting it not to bite.
When Takeru first learned about the conflict, he, like many others, wished to join, how could they not? They were Uchiha, fighting was in their blood, it was their very being.
However, the Sandaime refused, claiming that things were not yet dire enough to send so many shinobi.
After a few months, Kirigakure also declared war upon the leaf, and the situation changed.
The Hokage changed his mind, and now the Uchiha were going to war against the Land of Water, whose forces were slowly making their way into the Land of Fire. He also claimed that the enemy numbers were so large that they would need to deploy almost the entire might of the Uchiha Clan, something that had not happened even during the First and Second Ninja Wars.
Takeru felt proud in that moment, and he was prepared for it, until he wasn't.
News, shocking news came, that only the Uchiha and a few other shinobi would fight on that front, 700 Uchiha elites against a few thousand Kirigakure shinobi, what were they thinking? Did the Hokage want them dead? He would later find his answer to that.
Yes, he did.
Upon finding out the odds they were against, many started to protest, it was 700 Uchiha and barely 300 other shinobi, most of them weak or inexperienced, against thousands.
When everything was ready to boil over, the Sandaime did what he did best.
He talked. And they fell for it, their pride was greater than their common sense, and when the old man claimed that no one else was fit for the job, not even the Hyugas, they fell for it and boy, they fell hard.
Right from the beginning it was hell unleashed, it did not matter the prowess of the Uchiha, the Sharingan of course mattered, but when you were one against five, it did not matter, especially when your affinity was fire and theirs was water. Water beats fire. And those from the mist made sure to remind the Uchiha of that.
Their losses started in dozens, then almost a hundred, then two hundred, they were losing clan members left and right, and they were losing them fast. He would never forget the screams and the cries of desperation, many of them had been his friends, some family, but for the village, for the Hokage…
They were nothing more than expendable.
Many more losses would have followed, he believed that until the end they might all have been wiped out, until their savior came.
Uchiha Benimaru, he was the grandson and last living relative of Uchiha Kaito, one of his clan elders. He was a prodigy, one many claimed to be even better than Kakashi Hatake, who became a Jonin at the age of thirteen, if he truly was, Takeru could not answer that, what he could answer was that the boy was talented and wise beyond his age. At the beginning of the conflict, when the deployment happened, the Great Elder had forbidden his grandson from coming, and Takeru, along with many others, understood that if the boy were to die, his bloodline would end, a bloodline connected to two other families, the family of the current clan head, Fugaku Uchiha, and the bloodline of Madara Uchiha.
However, he doubted that was truly the reason, the man was old and alone, he had lost three sons, four grandsons, and two granddaughters.
He did not wish to lose his last grandson.
However, looking at the situation now? He was fucking glad that the boy came, he would kowtow to Agni for all the years to come in his life. He still remembered the moment his life was about to end. A mist shinobi was above him, he had just fought three others, his vision was blurry, the overuse of the Sharingan had completely drained him of chakra, he thought he was a goner, until he wasn't, a gasp, then a piercing sound, when he looked at the shinobi, a palm full of light came out of his chest, his eyes fearful, then dull, and he collapsed to the ground.
Then an extended hand, which he gratefully took, he looked over at his savior, the boy could not be older than thirteen or fourteen. Not like it mattered, for some, their pride might have taken a blow, not his, he learned that the prideful ones fall first, it was a wonder that the Uchiha lasted this long.
"Are you all right?" asked the boy, and when he looked into his Sharingan he could see that it had three tomoe, he had heard that the boy unlocked his Sharingan at the age of five, the youngest known in the history of the clan.
"I am, thank you for saving me, you must be Benimaru, right?"
"Indeed, Uchiha Benimaru, a pleasure to make acquaintance, Takeru-dono," he offered a small bow, which Takeru responded to with a head nod.
"Where is your squad leader, Benimaru? I remember you were sent to retrieve an important scroll." Whatever information the scroll had, it was important, the order came right from the Anbu of the Hokage, the scroll needed to be returned, no matter the cost.
"Dead, together with most of my squad, we were ambushed, sixty something shinobi, a few of us managed to escape, and the scroll? Here." Showing him the scroll, he let out a sigh, more Uchiha lost, how many of them would be at the end of it all?
They tried to call for reinforcements, from what he heard not all of the clans were fully deployed yet, and some of the other fronts were not as bad as here, he believed that they could send a relief force, but there was no answer as of yet. If they did not get reinforcements in a few weeks… he did not want to even think.
He was lost in thought for a moment, only for a moment, and the boy was gone, the scroll with him, and yet that would not be the last day he heard of him, it would not be the last day he heard of Uchiha Benimaru, the Uchiha no Oni.
The following days, reports came from other surviving squads of an Uchiha, using the Body Flicker technique and the Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, at first he was shocked, the jutsu was not known to many in the clan, maybe only the elders and the Clan Head knew it, a jutsu created by Madara Uchiha to counter Hashirama's jutsus of Great Forest Emergence, they claimed that he fought like a man possessed, that no one his age should fight like that, many started to compare him to Madara, they claimed that the glory days of their clan were returning, him? He thought those words were dangerous, especially if heard by the wrong ears, his thoughts immediately went to the Village Elders.
Then he saw him. Takeru and his squad were pressed from all directions, it was most likely the largest attack upon them until now, and it might be the last if they did not succeed in pushing back.
They did, but not by their own strength. The boy appeared again, out of nowhere, he did not even feel his presence, and his Sharingan could barely follow him, the way he was moving and the way he was cutting down his enemies, he was using a Lightning Release technique, which he would later learn he named Chidori.
His clan members, Takeru included, joined him, they clashed against the mist, and for the first time, he felt that they were succeeding, not merely keeping them at bay, but pushing them back.
Explosive tags could be heard going off in the distance, mist shinobi's cries following soon after.
"So this is what Benimaru was doing before intervening."
The Fire Style of the Uchiha clashed with the Water Style of the mist in a battle of dominance, and while the water was stronger, the Uchiha were all elite, and while it was not enough to overwhelm the mist jutsu, it was enough to neutralize it.
A great mist rose.
Benimaru suddenly appeared near him, giving him a small heart attack in the process.
"Give the order to your men, when I tell you to retreat, you and the other squads are getting out of here as fast as possible, I already spoke with the other squad leaders, you will leave and reunite with the Clan Head and his forces."
Retreat? He wanted to deny the order, but then he thought better of it, despite his age, the boy had saved them more times than he could count, if he believed they needed to retreat, he would listen.
It wasn't long before the rain started to pour over the battlefield, thunder rumbling in the distance, and Takeru could not help but curse, the rain would boost the effectiveness of the mist jutsu.
And he was right, because they started to be pushed back once again. It was in that moment that Benimaru gave the retreat order, and while some of the Uchiha disliked it, they held a great deal of respect for the boy, and so, in silence, they began to retreat.
The mist shinobi, seeing the Uchiha retreat, grew cocky and gave chase.
But then something happened.
Takeru looked back and saw Benimaru in the distance, forming hand signs, and the thunder above grew louder, the lightning in the sky intensifying.
The next thing he saw would stay with him for the rest of his life.
A great dragon of lightning descended from the clouds, its roar echoing like thunder itself.
The mist shinobi saw it too.
But it was too late.
Whether by luck or by design, they had gathered too close together during the chase, and when the dragon struck, there were no screams, only a blinding flash and a deafening sound that swallowed everything.
When it ended, nothing remained.
Hundreds of shinobi, maybe more, gone.
The Uchiha stopped, turned, and for a moment, no one spoke, then they looked at Benimaru and began to cheer, the sound raw, almost desperate, their relief pouring out all at once.
However, when Takeru looked at Benimaru, his only thought was:
"What kind of demon are you?"
Because only a demon could do something like that.
And he would find his answer later.
Just like he would learn that if that demon asked it of him, he would follow him even into the deepest pits of hell.