Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Only the Weak Fear Traps
Inside the tent.
Fugaku Uchiha stood expressionless in front of the table, gazing at the map spread out before him, lost in thought.
Inabi Uchiha, visibly excited, spoke first: "Lord Fugaku, we've made tremendous progress recently."
"The Kiri ninja have kept their distance ever since we defeated them decisively."
"Fortunes have shifted—Lord Mirai truly delivered on every promise he made upon his arrival."
Yashiro Uchiha nodded and added, "Thanks to Lord Mirai, our Uchiha Clan has finally earned a formidable reputation across the ninja world."
Tetsuka Uchiha laughed, saying, "Not sure if you've noticed, but many ninja from other villages now look at us with admiration. Many have even come to me personally, eager to test themselves in a sparring match."
"It really feels like since Lord Mirai joined us as reinforcements, our Uchiha Clan has finally started to regain the strength and prestige of a top-tier ninja clan."
Seeing the excitement among them, Uchiha Nekobana coughed lightly and spoke calmly, "Lord Mirai certainly holds the greatest merit, but war cannot be won by one man alone. Our current success is the fruit of everyone's efforts."
"Just look at Lord Fugaku, who stays up late each night overseeing everything as commander-in-chief—we couldn't have held on under such harsh conditions without him."
After Uchiha Nekobana finished speaking, Fugaku's expression softened slightly.
Inabi Uchiha, Tetsuka Uchiha, and Yashiro Uchiha all remained silent, not daring to add anything further.
Sitting quietly off to the side, Mirai Uchiha cast a calm glance toward Uchiha Nekobana, then resumed his seated meditation.
After a while, a Konoha ninja entered the tent.
"Lord Fugaku, Lord Mirai—the enemy has been spotted on a small island near the coastline."
"Our investigation indicates it could be a major hidden base operated by Kiri."
Upon hearing the report, Fugaku waved his hand dismissively. "Understood. You may leave."
"Yes!"
Once the ninja exited, Fugaku frowned deeply and said, "Recently, Kiri's forces have completely withdrawn. Why would such a critical base suddenly expose itself now?"
"There are likely many Kiri ninja stationed there—it might be an ambush."
Having been ambushed by Kiri before, Fugaku had always been cautious and skeptical about such intelligence.
Before he could finish analyzing, however, Mirai Uchiha had already risen to his feet and started walking toward the exit.
"Lord Mirai, where are you going?"
Uchiha Nekobana asked.
"Didn't you just hear?" Mirai replied calmly. "If we've located a Kiri base, we should move quickly to deal with it."
"Feeling a faint yet indistinct pressure, Uchiha Nekobana forced himself to speak up: 'But Fugaku-sama just said it's very likely an enemy trap.'"
After hearing his words, Mirai Uchiha chuckled while rubbing his forehead: "Ambush? Hahahaha..."
"Only weaklings worry about traps."
With those words, Mirai Uchiha walked out of the tent without looking back.
Inabi Uchiha and others exchanged glances, clearly seeing excitement and eagerness reflected in each other's eyes.
Compared with Fugaku Uchiha, they much preferred following someone like Mirai Uchiha who was truly powerful.
"Fugaku-sama, we'll go protect Mirai-sama's safety."
Inabi Uchiha and the others quickly left the tent. After they were gone, Fugaku Uchiha closed his eyes tightly, barely suppressing his anger.
"Nekobana, pass my order - prepare our attack on Kirigakure's base!"
"At once!"
Uchiha Nekobana obeyed and departed.
Fugaku Uchiha opened his eyes, revealing a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan slowly rotating within.
Although Mirai Uchiha had shown him not even a shred of respect just now, he could do nothing but comply with Mirai's wishes.
Don't let his position as overall battlefield commander fool anyone—considering Mirai Uchiha's prestige in the hearts of all, if he allowed Mirai to attack Kirigakure's stronghold alone...
No matter what the final outcome might be, he would probably forever be viewed as the village's disgrace.
"Just keep reveling in your arrogance for now."
"No matter how much fame you win at present, having lost your ocular power, you will eventually sink into endless darkness."
Fugaku Uchiha took a deep breath, striving to calm himself down.
Time would prove that his choice represented the only path forward for the Uchiha clan.
———
An island.
Thousands of Kiri shinobi stood ready in full battle formation. Yagura Karatachi stood at the highest point, his cloak billowing wildly in the blood-cold sea wind.
Beside him stood Kurenai, a woman with flowing red-brown hair.
Having waited for quite some time, Kurenai couldn't help growing slightly impatient as she softly asked, "Mizukage-sama, standing here so openly, do you really think the Konoha shinobi will take the bait?"
Surrounded entirely by water on all sides, this island was their home ground.
Moreover, they had already made extensive preparations. The enemy would find reaching this island extremely difficult.
Under these circumstances, unless the Konoha shinobi were complete fools, they definitely wouldn't choose to confront them directly head-on, right?
"They will," Yagura Karatachi replied with a confident smile. "Given that guy's arrogance, he absolutely won't miss this opportunity."
During this time, he had gathered extensive information on Mirai Uchiha.
The opponent was of the "battle-crazed" personality type – once they spotted an enemy, they would always strike first without hesitation.
Even knowing it was a trap, Yagura Karatachi still believed that Mirai Uchiha would surely come!
Suddenly, a faint smile appeared on Yagura Karatachi's face. "Mei, look, here they come."
————
Mirai Uchiha sat cross-legged atop a pile of gold dust, slowly flying toward the island ahead.
Below him were approximately three thousand Konoha ninja, their fleet stretching endlessly, an awe-inspiring sight to behold.
Before long, both forces could already see each other across the sea.
Seeing the Kiri ninja waiting in full battle formation on the island, every Konoha ninja frowned.
They needed to land on the island to launch an attack against the Kiri ninja.
But judging from the situation ahead, if they forced a landing, it might very likely cause heavy casualties.
Fugaku Uchiha wanted to see how Mirai Uchiha would handle this kind of situation!
Feeling everyone's gaze on him, Mirai Uchiha raised his hand and summoned a kunai-sized bone spike into his palm.
After marking the Flying Thunder God Technique symbol on the bone spike, Mirai Uchiha suddenly threw it; the bone spike flew at incredible speed and impaled itself into the beach at the edge of the island.
In the next second, Mirai Uchiha, hovering in midair, vanished without a trace.
The crowd from the Kiri side also became chaotic.
[Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction!]
Boom!
Huge flames instantly engulfed the Kiri ninja ahead.
Immediately after, Mirai Uchiha clapped his hands together. [Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern!]
Radiating outward from where Mirai stood, centered around him, countless sharp bone spikes erupted within a radius of one hundred meters, forming a forest of bones in the blink of an eye.
In just an instant, the Kiri ninja's position had been torn open by a huge breach.
"Charge! Kill those Kiri ninja!"
Seeing Fugaku Uchiha standing still, Inabi Uchiha and others shouted.
In the next second, nearly three thousand Konoha ninja jumped off their ships and rushed toward the island, stepping across the ocean waves.
Seeing this scene, Fugaku Uchiha gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly.
"Shikotsumyaku, Flying Thunder God Technique..."
How many hidden trump cards does this guy have?!
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