After comforting Uchiha Suzu for a bit and sending her home, Xuan didn't head out to practice his Ninjutsu. Instead, he sat cross-legged in his house, quietly waiting for certain people to arrive.
Sure enough, a short while later, a dark shadow materialized in his room. Covered entirely in pitch-black clothing with only a pair of cold eyes exposed, the intruder wore the standard attire of an Uchiha Shadow Guard.
"The Patriarch has issued an order. The situation in the north is unstable. You are to deploy with us to provide support. Here are the mission details," the Shadow Guard said coldly, tossing a mission scroll toward Xuan.
Xuan reached out, caught it effortlessly, and immediately opened it. He read through it meticulously, refusing to miss a single word.
The mission details were extremely thorough. During the recent war, the Uchiha had abandoned their northern and southern defensive lines to recapture the Kazama River Valley. Consequently, the various clans in those regions had seized the opportunity to aggressively encroach upon Uchiha territory. In the north, the primary aggressors were twelve mid-tier clans.
After Uchiha Tō returned to the northern border, he had successfully managed to defeat a few of these clans individually. However, driving them entirely out of Uchiha territory was proving exceptionally difficult. Right now, under the immense pressure of Tō's counterattacks, the twelve mid-tier clans had formally banded together, determined to resist to the bitter end. If their alliance completely solidified, their combined military might would surpass the Uchiha forces currently stationed in the north.
Therefore, Uchiha Tō had urgently requested high-level reinforcements from the main compound.
Having finished reading the briefing, Xuan completely understood the situation. He sneered internally. Just as I suspected. A mission of certain death.
The target of this mission was a united coalition of twelve mid-tier clans. One had to remember that "mid-tier" was a broad classification. Among those twelve clans, several of their Clan Heads possessed Peak Jōnin strength. When fully united, they could suppress even a Kage-level powerhouse like Uchiha Tō. This was a brutal military campaign that required a team of multiple Peak Jōnin just to qualify for deployment.
Given the strength Xuan had displayed to the clan thus far, participating in a meat grinder like this was absolutely no different than committing suicide. Or rather, Uchiha Tajima specifically wanted him to die on this battlefield.
Xuan could easily deduce that Tajima had secretly issued an assassination order. If he somehow miraculously survived the mission itself, these Shadow Guards would have zero qualms about stabbing him in the back. When the time came, they would simply report that he had died an honorable death in the line of duty.
"Who else is participating in this mission?" Xuan asked calmly, folding the scroll and tucking it away.
"Aside from you, there are five Shadow Guards, including myself. We depart tomorrow to rendezvous with Lord Uchiha Tō," the operative replied emotionlessly.
"Understood. I will be there on time," Xuan agreed.
The Shadow Guard said no more, dissolving back into a dark shadow and vanishing.
"Master, do you have another mission?" The little maid stepped out from a nearby corner, asking timidly.
Seeing her, Xuan waved her over. Hotaru trotted forward and knelt obediently in front of him.
Xuan reached out and gently patted her head. "I'll probably be gone for a bit longer this time. Look after the house by yourself, and make sure you train hard. If I come back and see that your strength hasn't improved much, I won't let you off easily."
The little maid hugged his hand, looking slightly aggrieved but determined. "I will definitely train hard and become a true expert as soon as possible. Then, I'll be able to share Master's burdens!"
Xuan smiled silently, stood up, and headed into the courtyard.
The next day, Xuan packed his ninja tools. He opened his spatial storage to inspect his inventory of kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs. After thinking for a moment, he went back into his room and retrieved a pitch-black cloak—a voluminous garment that enveloped the entire body and completely concealed the wearer's identity.
Resting on top of the cloak was a spiral-patterned mask, though this particular mask had eyeholes for both eyes.
Tossing the cloak and mask into his spatial storage, he strapped the Amanokumo sword to his back and headed toward the northern exit of the compound.
Upon arriving at the designated rendezvous point, five silhouettes suddenly materialized. They were all uniformly dressed in tight black stealth gear, their faces masked with only their eyes exposed.
"Move!"
Seeing that Xuan had arrived, the leader gave a single, sharp command. The five black shadows immediately turned and leaped into the distance, weaving rapidly through the forest canopy.
This kid... he can actually keep up?!
The lead Shadow Guard cast a subtle glance over his shoulder, only to see Xuan effortlessly bounding between the trunks, barely lagging behind them at all. One had to know—all five of them were Peak Jōnin! Although they weren't pushing themselves to their absolute maximum speed to conserve stamina, their current pace was still far beyond the capabilities of a standard Jōnin. Yet, a six-year-old child was effortlessly keeping pace. The leader had originally planned to use this high-speed march to put the arrogant genius in his place.
This operative was codenamed Shinobi One. He was the captain of the Shadow Guards and the absolute strongest among them. The Uchiha clan's Shadow Guard unit consisted of only seven members in total. They were not Uchiha by blood; they were orphans selected from countless candidates who had survived the most brutal, life-and-death bloodbaths since childhood. They had been heavily indoctrinated with absolute, fanatical loyalty to the Uchiha Patriarch. They were the Uchiha's sharpest, most secretive blades, answering to no one but the Clan Head.
What a pity, Shinobi One thought.
Withdrawing his gaze, he couldn't help but recall the absolute kill order the Patriarch had issued last night. Under normal circumstances, he would never dream of assassinating a genius of the Uchiha clan. But if it was a direct mandate from the Patriarch himself, that was an entirely different story. At their core, they were simply Tajima's private death squad.
The five Shadow Guards and Xuan tore northward at blistering speeds. After traveling for a day and a night, they finally arrived at a dilapidated settlement on the second day.
This settlement was called Xin City. Originally, it wasn't the Uchiha's northernmost border city. However, because they had abandoned their defensive lines to attack the Senju, neighboring clans had taken advantage of the chaos to plunder the region, resulting in the loss of a quarter of the Uchiha's northern territory. Thus, Xin City was reduced to the new front line.
The six shinobi dropped into the city. It was highly run-down, with very few pedestrians walking the streets. During the Warring States Era, most civilian cities were like this; ironically, the most heavily fortified and prosperous settlements were the ancestral compounds of the major shinobi clans.
Under Uchiha Tō's command, this city had long since been repurposed into a military fortress. The exact microsecond the six of them landed, they were detected by hidden sentries. In a flash, roughly ten Uchiha shinobi materialized from the shadows, completely surrounding them.
"Reinforcements from the main compound. Where is Lord Tō?" Shinobi One stated clearly.
The Uchiha guards exchanged wary glances but did not lower their weapons to let them pass. A moment later, a booming, hearty voice echoed out, and the guards automatically parted ways. Uchiha Tō had arrived.
The six of them followed Tō to his temporary command center inside a massive manor. Inside the war room, aside from Tō himself, two other Uchiha clansmen were present. Their expressions were stern, and the dense chakra radiating from their bodies marked them both as Peak Jōnin.
Uchiha Tō was resolute and fiercely efficient. He immediately unrolled a tactical map onto the central table. Just as he was about to begin the briefing, his eyes landed on Xuan. He frowned deeply. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Uchiha Xuan," Shinobi One replied flatly. "The Patriarch personally ordered his participation in this campaign."
Xuan took this opportunity to carefully evaluate one of the Uchiha clan's three surviving Kage-level powerhouses. Tō was approaching forty, looking slightly younger than Uchiha Tajima. He wore the standard Uchiha high-collared robes, but they were strapped tightly to his body, projecting a highly capable, combat-hardened aura.
Uchiha Tō's frown deepened into a heavy scowl. Naturally, he knew of the two great, unprecedented geniuses of the Uchiha's next generation. However, this specific campaign was unbelievably dangerous; the absolute minimum requirement to participate was Peak Jōnin strength. For Uchiha Tajima to suddenly shove the clan's six-year-old prodigy into this meat grinder... the underlying implications were worth pondering deeply.
Taking a profound, lingering look at Xuan, Uchiha Tō didn't press the issue. Instead, he pointed to the map and began the tactical briefing.
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