"Now, does anyone else wish to issue a challenge?"
Inside the meeting hall, it was dead silent. Uchiha Shinji rested one hand on the desk, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
The six Elite Jōnin remained entirely silent. They looked at each other in a daze, still not fully recovered from the sheer shock of what they had just witnessed.
"Since no one is speaking, that means there are no objections. I hereby announce that Uchiha Xuan is officially the captain of the Elite Jōnin strike squad, possessing absolute tactical autonomy. Uchiha Sora was killed in the Life and Death Arena. Uchiha Gō, Uchiha Takeshi, Uchiha Ran—the three of you will follow Xuan and must absolutely complete this mission," Uchiha Shinji commanded.
The three men whose names were called shuddered violently. They hurriedly stood up, not daring to harbor the slightest complaint this time, and bowed respectfully. "Yes, sir!"
Xuan also stood up. Stepping in front of the three, he declared loudly, "I will not fail the mission!"
He then turned around, his gaze casually sweeping over his three new subordinates. Being swept by his stare, the three Elite Jōnin actually felt their scalps tingle. A sudden wave of profound dread and guilty conscience washed over them, and they subconsciously lowered their heads, utterly terrified in their hearts. The suffocating pressure... they had only ever felt this kind of aura from Uchiha Tō!
"Very good. You will remain on standby in the city for now. Await my command, and then follow me out of the city," Xuan ordered, his tone perfectly natural, as if he had been commanding them for years.
The three hesitated for a microsecond before bowing their heads in unison. "Yes, Captain!"
This was the brutal reality of the Warring States Era. As long as you demonstrated overwhelming strength, your age, your rank, and your seniority could all be completely ignored. The strong rule supreme—that was the absolute, unbreakable iron law of this world.
The war council concluded in this heavy atmosphere. Uchiha Sora had paid the ultimate price for his stupidity. Taught a bloody, unforgettable lesson, the proud Elite Jōnin lowered their arrogant heads. In a very real sense, Uchiha Xuan had officially become the number two authority in the northern territory.
However, to truly command subordinates—to make them submit willingly and support you from the bottom of their hearts—required the perfect balance of the stick and the carrot. Xuan understood this principle intimately. Decisively slaughtering Uchiha Sora today was the stick; establishing his terrifying dominance. Overwhelming power would force these Elite Jōnin to submit, but it wouldn't necessarily earn their loyalty. Only by delivering the carrot could he thoroughly win them over.
As for the carrot, Xuan had already figured it out. What could possibly be more intoxicating than the monumental achievement of completely pacifying the north? As long as he unified the northern territory, these Elite Jōnin would reap massive rewards right alongside him, instantly becoming heroes of the Uchiha clan. When that time came, did he have to worry about them not following him to the ends of the earth?
With his grand scheme already firmly set in his heart, Xuan remained perfectly patient, sitting steadily like a fisherman waiting for a bite. In his own words: As the ultimate Big Boss pulling the strings from behind the scenes, one absolutely must remain steady.
That night, calculating the time from his room, Xuan created a Shadow Clone to handle any unexpected emergencies. His true body then triggered his space-time Ninjutsu, vanishing entirely amidst a ripple of spatial distortion.
Within the Akahane clan's compound, the space inside Akahane Akira's room fluctuated. Wearing his signature pitch-black cloak, Xuan materialized exactly on time.
"According to our agreement, tonight is the night we strike," Xuan stated. "I have personally come to witness the moment the Akahane clan rises to absolute supremacy."
Akahane Akira had clearly been waiting for him. Seeing the mysterious figure appear on schedule, a massive weight lifted from his heart. He laughed heartily, "Having Mr. Owl come in person is truly like adding wings to a tiger! Tonight will definitively be the moment the Three-Clan Alliance is wiped from existence!"
Xuan let out a bizarre chuckle in agreement and said no more.
The two men stepped outside the room. A large throng of silhouettes had already gathered in the courtyard. Roughly twenty people in total, they were all dressed in pitch-black shinobi night gear, and every single one of them radiated the powerful aura of a Jōnin. Standing at the forefront of the twenty were four individuals whose imposing presence marked them unmistakably as Elite Jōnin.
Beside them stood Akahane Yui, also clad in tight-fitting black combat gear that perfectly accentuated her exquisite curves. Her face was as frosty as ever, resembling a proud plum blossom blooming in the freezing snow.
This strike force represented virtually the entirety of the Akahane clan's high-level military might. The Chūnin and Genin had not been mobilized; moving them would cause too much commotion and absolutely could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of the Three-Clan Alliance. Even gathering this elite squad had taken roughly six days of painstaking, secretive mobilization.
"Lord Patriarch!" one of the Elite Jōnin stepped forward, casting a confused and wary glance at the cloaked figure standing behind Akira. Xuan's movements had always been perfectly concealed; aside from Akira and Yui, the Akahane Elite Jōnin had absolutely no idea he even existed.
Akira raised a hand, explaining simply, "He is one of us." He offered no further details.
The Elite Jōnin didn't press the issue. Since the Patriarch didn't wish to elaborate, it wasn't their place as subordinates to ask questions.
"You are the absolute most elite forces of the Akahane clan! After tonight, your names will be immortalized in our ancestral hall! Your children will receive the finest treatment, and you will be granted unrestricted access to the clan's Ninjutsu vault for three days! Bring out every ounce of your strength! The rise of the Akahane clan happens tonight!"
Akahane Akira bellowed in a deep, commanding voice. His burning passion instantly infected every Jōnin present. Their fighting spirit ignited like wildfire.
"We will fight with everything we have! For the rise of the clan!" they roared quietly but fervently.
Akira's gaze hardened. "Good. Move out!"
Like a flock of black ravens, the squad transformed into shadows and bounded into the distance, exuding a chilling, murderous intent. Hidden beneath his cloak, Xuan effortlessly kept pace with them. Looking at the absolute cream of the crop of the Akahane clan's military strength, he sneered coldly in his heart. That's right. The Akahane clan will indeed rise tonight... just in a completely different way than you imagine.
The forces mobilized by Akahane Akira constituted almost all of their elites, but he wasn't foolish. He still left one Elite Jōnin and eight regular Jōnin behind to guard the compound. Additionally, the clan's Great Elder—a Peak Jōnin—remained stationed at the ancestral hall.
No matter how confident he was in tonight's plan, he refused to put all his eggs in one basket. In the ninja world, a clan always had to leave themselves an escape route.
At the designated rendezvous point halfway to the target, they met the forces of the Ghost Fire Alliance perfectly on time. The allied strike force was roughly identical to the Akahane's: eighteen Jōnin, three Elite Jōnin, and a Peak Jōnin commanding them—Kimei Takuya!
Noticing that the Ghost Fire Alliance had similarly left one of their Peak Jōnin behind to guard their own clan, Akira felt even more at ease. This was the normal, expected protocol.
The two Clan Heads exchanged a brief glance. Without a single spoken word, they merged their forces and led the combined army straight toward the territory of the Three-Clan Alliance.
Arriving a short distance away from the Three-Clan Alliance's compound, Akira raised his hand. The entire army halted instantly, using the dense canopy of the trees to conceal themselves as they observed the target.
The enemy compound was pitch black, making it impossible to discern any movement inside. But at this point, the arrow had already left the bowstring; there was no turning back.
Akahane Akira threw his hand forward and ordered sternly, "Go! Charge straight in and kill them all!"
With that, he drew the longsword from his back and lunged into the darkness, launching the assault.
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