Chapter Twenty-Five: A Sudden Clarity

The retching sounds coming from the investigators inside the valley left Nara Suzaku and the others outside utterly puzzled. Wasn’t it just a matter of checking the corpses of the Cloud shinobi? As ninjas, hadn’t they seen worse scenes before? Yet, only after stepping into the valley themselves did they realize why those sounds had erupted—none of them had ever witnessed such carnage.

Uchiha Li stood outside the valley, listening to the escalating chorus of vomiting, entirely unsurprised. After all, the divine wheel armed upon his Susanoo’s back was more than just a symbol of divine authority; it was, first and foremost, an exceptionally cruel weapon. Its method of attack was to grind and shred with its spinning gears, leaving anything caught in its path either reduced to dust or churned into a bloody pulp. Not even the hardest bones of the human body could withstand its onslaught. One could well imagine the indescribable horror of the valley at that moment, with blood-soaked sludge scattered everywhere.

Even he, the architect of this grisly scene, had barely managed to hold himself together just moments before. How could members of the assault team, caught wholly unprepared, possibly fare any better? For this, Uchiha Li could only offer his sincere understanding and apologies—there was little else he could do. After all, it wasn’t intentional; the divine wheel was simply too overwhelming. The fault lay not with him, but with the world itself!

Soon, the assault squad emerged from the valley, their faces ashen. When they looked at Uchiha Li now, their gazes brimmed with a trace of fear. Killing, for a shinobi, was nothing out of the ordinary, but the manner of these killings was something they could not accept.

Nara Suzaku shook his head, fell silent for a moment, and then asked, “Li, just how did you do that?”

“That’s right, it’s a bit much. Li, can you tell us something about it?” Akimichi Sito, standing nearby, forced himself to speak despite his lingering discomfort at what he had just witnessed.

Though the rest of the assault team kept silent—some still retching—all their attention was now focused on Uchiha Li. It was clear that, despite their fear, everyone was deeply interested in his prowess.

“Believe me, Captain Suzaku, you don’t want to know.” Uchiha Li paused before continuing, “Besides, everyone has their own secrets, don’t they?”

“Sorry, we got carried away. We shouldn’t have asked.” On hearing his reply, Nara Suzaku and Akimichi Sito both apologized at once, their faces filled with regret. The others quickly realized their own indiscretion and suppressed their curiosity.

Their interest, after all, had been rather impolite. For a ninja, it was unthinkable to reveal their trump cards to others except in one circumstance—when those others were close to death. Even then, in the ninja world, not even the dead could be trusted with secrets. Resurrection from death was difficult, but not impossible: techniques like Impure World Reincarnation, Samsara of Heavenly Life, Self-Reincarnation, or Dragon Life Reincarnation all existed. There were too many ways to bring someone back and extract information, so the safest course was to kill and leave no corpse behind. Still, there was no need to take such precautions with every enemy, for the cost of resurrection was not one everyone could pay. For most foes, it sufficed to kill them and destroy their heads.

“It’s fine,” Uchiha Li waved his hand and said, “If there’s nothing else, we might as well head back. I’m pretty spent.”

He had single-handedly dealt with dozens of Cloud shinobi, including elite jonin Troy—a feat more than sufficient. With such a record, he had no desire to linger on the battlefield. Until he advanced to the Eternal Mangekyō, Susanoo and the divine wheel could not be used recklessly; they must be saved for crucial moments.

“Of course, our mission is already complete,” Nara Suzaku replied with a smile. After a brief pause, he added, “Besides, the fact that the Hidden Cloud sent Troy to the front is hardly good news. We need to return and report this at once.”

“Indeed. I’d wager the Hidden Cloud intended to catch us off guard with their Magnet Release, but they never expected you, Li, to take care of them before they even began,” Akimichi Sito chimed in, both analyzing and praising.

With both team leaders agreeing to return to base, no one else objected. The group rested briefly, then set out straight away, leaving the area behind.

On the journey back, Uchiha Li walked while sinking into thought. The unexpected events of this mission had forced him to use Susanoo and the divine wheel to kill Troy and numerous Cloud shinobi. Although he had ensured his teammates left before acting, leaving no witnesses to his abilities, the results spoke for themselves and could not be erased. In other words, no matter how he tried to conceal it, his level of power would inevitably be revised upward.

This would cause some, especially the Third Hokage and Danzo among Konoha’s leaders, to view him with renewed wariness. Yet, this was not entirely a bad thing. In this world, strength commanded respect; the law of the jungle was commonplace. To show power at the right time inspired awe and increased one’s authority. In this regard, the Uchiha clan had always exemplified such behavior.

Why were there endless disputes and divisions within the Uchiha? It was because Fugaku Uchiha had never demonstrated absolute power. The three-tomoe Sharingan was impressive, but not rare within the clan. Without overwhelming strength, even as clan head, Fugaku could not dominate all, for he was not much stronger than the others.

But during the Nine-Tails’ rampage, when Uchiha Li exposed the Mangekyō Sharingan his clan leader had always concealed, everything changed. It did not, as Fugaku had feared, make the family’s situation worse or bring further oppression from the village. On the contrary, after Fugaku revealed the Mangekyō, the clan united as one. Now, when Fugaku insisted upon something, no one dared oppose him if he stood firm. Admittedly, given Fugaku’s temperament, he would likely never act so forcefully—hence the clan’s worsening predicament.

As for the village, ever since Orochimaru’s defection, the faint suppression directed at the Uchiha had lessened considerably. All of this stemmed from the power they possessed, not from compromise.

Having understood this, Uchiha Li suddenly felt a sense of clarity and newfound confidence regarding the path ahead. “Now that I’ve established the image of a formidable warrior through this mission, I should further solidify and enhance that image,” he thought. To Uchiha Li, if not supplanting completely, he should at least reach the same heights as Shisui, the clan’s true prodigy, and earn a title akin to “Shisui of the Body Flicker.” When that time came, he would hardly need to lift a finger—his goals would be accomplished as a matter of course.