Over the past few days, Xuan had been extremely active. He appeared in front of the others almost every single day, participating in strategy meetings and occasionally offering suggestions to refine their plans, just as he usually did.
Uchiha Tō's plan was highly straightforward: since the enemy had fractured into three separate factions of roughly equal strength, it didn't matter which one they attacked. They would simply strike the closest faction. The goal was to launch a decisive, lethal ambush to completely cripple one of the three factions. Once one was broken, the remaining two wouldn't pose a significant threat.
The operation was conducted in absolute secrecy. Uchiha Tō, one Peak Jōnin, and eight Elite Jōnin assembled for the strike. This time, Xuan was not included in the roster.
At midnight, using the cover of darkness, they quietly slipped out of Xin City, heading straight for the Three-Clan Alliance, which was stationed closest to them.
Four hours later, back inside Xin City...
Bang!
Uchiha Tō violently smashed his remaining left fist into the wall. His face was contorted in savage fury as he roared, "Who can tell me what the hell is going on?! How did the enemy know about our secret operation?! Who leaked the plan?!"
With freezing, bloodshot eyes, Uchiha Tō scanned the Elite Jōnin present in the room. Ten men had departed, but only eight had returned. They had walked directly into a massive, combined ambush orchestrated by all three enemy factions. If he hadn't learned from the previous disaster and reacted fast enough to order an immediate retreat, the price they paid would have been infinitely steeper.
"There's a mole. There absolutely has to be an internal mole leaking our secrets," Uchiha Tō growled furiously. He completely refused to believe that enemy scouts had simply uncovered their plans. If the enemy's intelligence network was capable of infiltrating their most classified war councils, Xin City would have fallen a long time ago.
He swept his gaze across the room. Uchiha Shinji—the Peak Jōnin who had faithfully followed him for ten years—had narrowly escaped death during the first ambush and nearly died again tonight. It definitely wasn't him.
The seven surviving Elite Jōnin were all covered in wounds. It didn't look like any of them were the traitor either. Uchiha Tō frowned deeply. If it isn't them, who else could it be? Only the people in this room knew the exact details of the plan.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, bringing a specific silhouette into focus: Uchiha Xuan!
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. During the first ambush by the twelve-clan coalition, Tō had assumed they were sold out by the Kimura and the other two defecting clans, so he never suspected an internal mole. But looking back now, there were numerous glaring anomalies—chief among them being how a six-year-old child had somehow managed to survive that apocalyptic meat grinder completely unscathed. Paired with tonight's second ambush, if someone tried to claim there was no mole, not even a ghost would believe them.
Uchiha Tō's gaze gradually turned frigid. However, a sudden realization struck him, and he hesitated. Uchiha Xuan had practically never left his line of sight over the past few days. Furthermore, Xin City was heavily guarded by Uchiha Jōnin. If Xuan had slipped out of the city, Tō would definitely have known. He simply didn't have the time to leave and deliver intel. Besides, what possible benefit could he gain from sabotaging the Uchiha's military operations? He was an Uchiha himself, after all.
However, given his bizarre space-time Ninjutsu called the Flying Raijin, it can't be entirely ruled out.
After a moment's thought, Uchiha Tō ordered, "The rest of you are dismissed. Shinji, stay behind."
Once all the Elite Jōnin had left, Tō said, "Starting today, I want you to secretly monitor Uchiha Xuan. If you notice him doing anything unusual... Who goes there?!"
Uchiha Tō's eyes suddenly sharpened. Swinging his left fist, he condensed a massive amount of chakra and punched wildly toward the shadows. The terrifying chakra shockwave tore through the air with a deafening boom, completely collapsing a large section of the wall.
"Heh heh. As expected of Uchiha Tō. What sharp observational skills." A hoarse, raspy voice echoed from the shadows. It had clearly been heavily distorted by chakra. From the settling dust, a bizarre figure entirely shrouded in a black cloak stepped forward.
Uchiha Tō's pupils shrank slightly, and he drew a sharp breath. "Who are you?! How long have you been hiding there?"
"Heh heh. You may call me Owl. I am an avenger crawled up from the depths of hell. Your intelligence over these past few days has been quite excellent. You have my thanks," the cloaked figure replied in his grating, harsh voice.
Flash! A streak of cold light abruptly sliced through the cloaked figure's body... only to phase cleanly right through him. It was Uchiha Shinji, the Peak Jōnin.
"It went right through?!" Shinji gasped in shock, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning frantically. His Sharingan clearly confirmed that the target possessed a physical body!
"You're the one who leaked the intelligence?!" Uchiha Tō exclaimed, his shock instantly morphing into volcanic rage. He charged forward, violently smashing his fist into the ground. Having lost an arm, he had only just begun practicing one-handed hand seals and couldn't execute Ninjutsu quickly enough, forcing him to rely entirely on Taijutsu for now.
With an earth-shattering boom, the floorboards across the entire room shattered simultaneously. The ground beneath the mysterious figure fractured into pieces, yet the cloaked man himself remained completely unharmed.
"Farewell, Uchiha Tō. Your intelligence was excellent both times. I sincerely hope you have even better intel for me next time. Hahaha!" The cloaked figure threw out a mocking laugh before floating weightlessly out of the ruined hall and sprinting toward the outer walls.
"Guards! Enemy attack! Seize him!" Uchiha Tō roared, immediately giving chase.
Xin City was instantly thrown into chaos. The Elite Jōnin who had just left rushed back, and the patrolling Jōnin quickly joined the pursuit, chasing the black-cloaked figure all the way to the city walls.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A massive sphere of scorching flame blasted through the night sky. In the blinding illumination, Uchiha Tō caught a glimpse of the lower half of the figure's face, revealing a mask adorned with spiral patterns.
The massive fireball phased bizarrely through the cloaked figure's body, slamming into the city wall and detonating violently.
At that exact moment, a short figure leaped over from the distance, the three tomoe in his eyes clearly visible—Uchiha Xuan!
Seeing his Shadow Clone arrive, a faint smile formed beneath Xuan's mask. In his distorted voice, he called out, "Farewell!" With that, he leaped backward into the darkness below the wall, triggering his space-time Ninjutsu and vanishing instantly.
"Did you really think you could escape?!" Uchiha Tō bellowed. Unleashing a full-power strike into the earth, his chakra surged violently beneath the surface, exploding upward exactly where the cloaked figure had landed, violently shattering the ground.
Uchiha Shinji took the vanguard, arriving at the impact zone a second later. His expression darkened. "No one's here. He got away." The rest of the pursuing squad quickly surrounded the area.
"Uncle Tō, what's going on? Who was that?" Xuan's Shadow Clone asked, a look of perfect confusion on his face.
Uchiha Tō glanced at him and let out a long breath. His suspicions regarding Xuan were completely and permanently erased, replaced by a pang of guilt for having doubted a child of his own clan. He coughed dryly twice. "I don't know yet. But now that we know he exists, it's only a matter of time before we drag him out into the light."
Staring at the empty darkness where the cloaked figure had vanished, Tō murmured softly, "Such a bizarre method of movement... both physical attacks and Ninjutsu simply phase right through his body. I've never heard of anything like it. An avenger from hell, calling himself Owl... could he be a remnant of the Ghost Clan?"
Unable to make heads or tails of the situation after a moment of thought, he waved his hand. "Everyone, return to your posts. Do not spread word of what happened tonight."
Xuan's Shadow Clone nodded and turned to head back to his room. Closing the door behind him, the clone saw Xuan's true body already lying comfortably under the covers. With a soft poof, the Shadow Clone dissolved into white smoke.
Everything was utterly flawless.
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