Before long, Shimizu arrived at the front lines alongside the Konoha forces leading the assault.
"Senpai… were those things you said earlier intentional?" Satomi asked curiously.
She had been present during the conversation with Fugaku. Since Shimizu hadn't bothered to avoid her, Fugaku naturally hadn't held anything back either.
"You could tell?" Shimizu glanced at her.
"Mhm."
Shimizu let out a soft sigh.
"That old fox is always trying to drag me into his schemes. If I really ended up acting alongside Megumi and Shisui, then he'd probably try to accomplish something huge."
"You mean…?"
"For Konoha, this war is a crisis," Shimizu said calmly. "But for someone like Fugaku, who's obsessed with restoring the glory of the Uchiha clan, it's also an opportunity."
"Otherwise, why do you think he was the first to support the plan to attack Kirigakure?"
"And with me present, he'd definitely make more extreme and aggressive decisions in order to earn greater military achievements."
"Because Megumi and Shisui would never stand by and watch the Uchiha throw themselves into death… and once they're involved, I naturally get dragged in too."
"I see…" Satomi finally understood the real meaning behind Shimizu's earlier words.
Fugaku wanted to use Shimizu's presence to create greater accomplishments on the battlefield.
Rather than simple manipulation, it was more like a mutual need.
One side wanted to protect their companions.
The other wanted to achieve greater glory in war.
Fugaku believed he had thoroughly understood the kind of person Shimizu was.
He was overthinking things.
In Shimizu's eyes, fledgling hawks could never become true eagles without enduring storms.
If Megumi and Shisui could survive danger and overcome hardship themselves, that would be the ideal outcome.
"I talked a little more than necessary because I didn't want him getting too full of himself," Shimizu said lightly. "Consider it a warning."
"But… will Fugaku-senpai actually believe you?"
"He has no choice but to."
Shimizu's answer was absolute.
"Because he can't afford to lose."
Obito, Megumi, and Shisui were all geniuses of the Uchiha clan. Fugaku would never willingly accept losing any of them. Every ounce of strength mattered to the Uchiha now.
Once Shimizu made his position clear, Fugaku would inevitably have to reconsider the risks and benefits of his plans.
At that moment, thick mist suddenly began spreading across the road leading into Kirigakure, rapidly swallowing the entire area in a sea of white.
Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique.
This fog had appeared repeatedly during previous battles against Kirigakure. It was one of the Mist Village's signature tactics.
Usually, it meant silent assassination specialists had been deployed specifically to counter Konoha's two great dōjutsu bloodlines.
An extremely targeted strategy.
What surprised Shimizu, however, was the scale.
Although this wasn't the original thousand-man vanguard anymore—since a large portion of the troops had taken another route—there were still over four hundred Konoha shinobi here, including the entire Uchiha clan and a full military regiment.
A force of this size was far beyond what a single Mist battalion should have been able to stop.
Which meant…
There was probably a trap waiting ahead.
And yet Fugaku moved exactly as he had claimed earlier—without the slightest hesitation.
He raised his hand and gave the order immediately.
"Third squad, use Fire Release to clear the path! First and second squads, charge straight through!"
Only overwhelming force and rapid breakthrough could relieve the pressure on the Konoha shinobi who had already entered Kirigakure ahead of them.
In an instant, more than a hundred Uchiha shinobi rushed toward the enemies hidden within the mist.
Among them, thirty-six Uchiha formed hand seals simultaneously.
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique!
Thirty-six blazing dragons surged forward like ravenous serpents, devouring the chakra-infused mist with scorching heat.
The dense fog quickly began to thin.
Unexpectedly, this C-rank fire technique proved remarkably effective against the Hidden Mist Technique. Not only did it burn away the chakra within the mist, but the intense heat also forced the concealed Mist shinobi out of hiding.
"We can't fall behind either," the commander of Konoha's 22nd Regiment ordered at the same time.
"Squads One and Two, secure the left flank. Squads Three and Four, take the right. Squads Five and Six, support the Uchiha advance through the center."
"Squads Seven through Ten remain on standby."
Very quickly, more than two hundred shinobi mobilized and charged toward the Mist shinobi positions together.
"Satomi, can you see the enemy movements clearly?" Shimizu asked.
Her Byakugan flared as she tried to pierce through the fog, but even though the mist had already thinned considerably, it still interfered heavily with her vision.
"No… I can only observe within about fifty meters."
"Then we wait a little longer."
Even Shimizu's sensory perception had been suppressed. At the moment, he couldn't clearly sense anything beyond thirty meters around him.
Several hundred meters ahead, the sounds of brutal combat had already erupted across the battlefield, mixed with the explosions of Fire Release techniques.
Shisui and Megumi were fighting there as well.
Shimizu's gaze remained calm as still water.
"Commander Takano," Fugaku suddenly said, "if the enemy has a backup plan, what do you think is the most likely possibility?"
The middle-aged shinobi called Takano pondered briefly before answering.
"If I were the enemy commander, faced with such an overwhelming disadvantage in numbers, I'd do everything possible to block this road."
"The best option would be planting large quantities of explosive tags along both sides of the mountain."
"But we already confirmed earlier that there are no explosive tag traps in the surrounding terrain."
Fugaku calmly continued from there.
"Which means this road leading into Kirigakure must remain open."
"As long as the path forward isn't blocked… that's enough."
Not long afterward, an Uchiha shinobi returned with a report.
"The enemy has been completely wiped out."
"No one escaped?"
"No." The reporting shinobi paused before continuing. "But rather than saying they failed to escape… it's more accurate to say they never intended to retreat in the first place."
Fight to the death without retreating?
Was that kind of sacrifice really necessary?
Then suddenly—
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted from the distant battlefield.
That wasn't ninjutsu.
"Scatter!!!" a Konoha shinobi roared from within the mist.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
A relentless chain of explosions followed immediately after, one after another, shaking the entire valley.
Thirty-six explosions thundered through the mountains before the mist finally began to dissipate.
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Mud-covered earth, shattered trees, bloodstained cliffs, scattered remains—
The battlefield had become a grotesque ruin.
Everyone's expressions darkened.
Now they understood.
Every single Mist shinobi stationed here had strapped explosive tags to their own bodies beforehand. At a predetermined time, they had detonated themselves simultaneously.
From the very beginning, that Mist battalion had never intended to leave this place alive.
And the purpose of the thick fog had merely been to conceal the explosive tags hidden on their bodies.
The upper ranks of Kirigakure had actually used their own shinobi as disposable tools.
"…Only the 'Bloody Mist Village' could employ methods like this," Fugaku said quietly. After the brief shock passed, his expression had already returned to calm.
"Send word to Yoshimaru and warn them to be cautious."
"Count the casualties. Ten minutes to regroup."
"Then we enter Kirigakure."
Such relentless urgency.
The deeper they advanced, the more traps they would inevitably face.
And yet Fugaku truly seemed prepared to pave the way forward with lives if necessary.
He was carrying out his so-called "greater cause" with absolute conviction.
...
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