Chapter 654: 615. Madara Shinden: Chaotic Situation in Shinobi World
A/N:- Hi folks, the last week wasn't particularly pleasant for me health-wise. this past week the local AQI (Air Quality Index) of my district was over 425+. Such a high AQI is considered severe and almost hazardous. I have several chronic allergies and a bit of asthma. The polluted air caused my allergies to turn severe, and I had to take meds to stabilize myself. It has been a week since then with no change in AQI. But I am feeling better now, so I will resume updates. However, if I have another relapse, I won't update on that day.
I hope everyone understand my situation.
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The shinobis of the Land of Earth surround the members of the Kawasaki clan. The expression of Kawasaki group leader changes.
After some verbal argument, a battle ensues among the group, but the Kawasaki group is heavily outnumbered.
"Madara-sama, shall we?" The Uchiha clan members turn to Madara.
However, Madara's eyes narrow and he mumbles.
"We are surrounded!"
"Surrounded?!" The Uchiha clan glances at their surroundings.
Sure enough, the group notices several small bees hovering around them in the cover of the night. The wings of the bees don't make any buzzing noise.
"Bees?!" The expression of the group changes.
"The Kamizuru clan of the Land of Earth?!" The Uchiha shinobis mumbles.
Madara and the group walk out of their hiding spot and confront the Land of the Earth group from a distance.
Whoosh…
A figure flies out of the Land of the Earth group and hovers in the air at the other end of the bridge on the Takachiho chasm.
A swarm of bees flies beside him, and he floats in the air.
Shiing…
Madara and the rest of the Uchiha clan members also activate their Sharingan and coldly stare at the group.
Meanwhile, several swarms of bees, wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets appear around the group.
The expression of the Uchiha group turns tense at the murderous sight of their stingers. They infuse chakra and make hand signs, ready for the activation of the Uchiha clan's signature Fire release techniques.
The tense situation lasts for a while before the leader of the Land of the Earth group opens his mouth.
"Uchiha clan of the Land of Fire?!" A middle-aged man with long dark grey hair with a few patches of grey opens his mouth. The man has a thick, bristling mustache with a long beard. There are creases around his eyes and nose and slight wrinkles on his cheeks.
He recognizes the infamous red-eye Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan.
Madara recognizes him as the current head of the Kamizuru clan, Ishikawa Kamizuru.
"Kamizuru clan of the Land of Earth!" Madara also mutters the latter's identity.
Kamizuru clan is also a very strong clan in the Land of Earth. They didn't have much conflict with the Uchiha clan since both of them had a different base of operation. However, the Kamizuru clan is an archenemy of the Aburame clan and stands toe-to-toe against them, much like the rivalry between the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan.
The Aburame clan is one of the most powerful clans in the Land of Fire, with a long history. Being able to compete and stand toe to toe against them speaks of their strength.
Swirl… whoosh…
A sudden burst of wind sweeps across the tranquil Tenichi bridge, carrying a chill along with it.
Suddenly, a gleam flashes across Ishikawa and Madara's eyes.
Swish…
Ishikawa waves his hand and sends a massive swarm of bees towards the Uchiha group.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan,"
The massive swarm of bees freezes in mid-air.
Plop… Plop… Plop…
After a few seconds, the entire bee swarm falls into the bottomless Takachiho chasm.
The expression of the middle-aged man turns ugly. His attitude changes and he confronts the small Uchiha group with a serious expression.
"A powerful genjutsu?!"
Ishikawa extends his hand forward. He infuses chakra on his fingertips and makes a strange summoning hand seal.
"Summoning Jutsu: Hive Queen Savannah,"
Poof…
Suddenly, a burst of white smoke covers the sky. A massive queen bee appears behind Ishikawa.
Swoosh… whoosh…
The queen bee opens the gaps between its wingspan and releases several small bees towards the group.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan,"
Madara casts another genjutsu on the swarm, but it does not affect the bees.
'Hmm… a specialized breed of blind bees that doesn't rely on visual feedback.' Madara quickly senses the abnormality.
Shiing… shiing…
The bees aim their stinger toward the group and fire several thousand small poisonous needles toward the group, covering their vision with the needles.
Shiing…
Madara activates the 'eye of insight' and notices the strange chakra within the stingers.
'Chakra poison?!'
He identifies the nature of the stingers with a glance.
"In that case…"
Swish… swish…
Madara makes a series of hand signs within a fraction of a second. He takes a deep breath and opens his mouth.
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flames,"
Madara spews out a massive fan-shaped burst of flames. The flames cover a wide range of areas and incinerate the stingers with the large swarm of bees.
Pop… pop… sizzle… sizzle…
The sizzling sound of bees being roasted alive and the turbid smell of their hard carapace waft in the air.
However, the massive swarm of bees offsets the wide area of Madara's flames.
"Honey Bomb,"
The bee queen secretes a special fluid that quickly extinguishes the fire.
The expression of both sides turns serious after the first encounter.
"So, you are Madara Uchiha- the leader of the Uchiha clan!" The middle-aged man finally opens his mouth.
"What are you doing in the territory of the Land of Grass?" He asks.
Madara's eyes narrow and the frown on his face eases up. After the previous encounter, his confidence to battle the opponent increases.
"I could ask the same question to you. What are the Kamizuru clan, Chikyu clan, Ishi clan, and Koishi clan of the Land of Earth doing in the territory of the Land of Grass?" Madara releases his overwhelming chakra.
A sense of oppression shrouds the enemy group as they stare at Madara.
The other shinobis of the Uchiha clan also deal with the remaining vespids and stand behind Madara.
"Ishikawa-sama, we heavily outnumber the enemy. Shall we attack them?" A member of the Kamizuru clan silently asks the leader.
Ishikawa narrows his eyes as he senses the sensory feedback from his vespids.
The queen bee's survival instincts are continuously warning him of an extremely strong enemy.
'What?! Just his chakra alone is so powerful?' Ishikawa secretly gasps in his heart.
He trusts the senses of his vespids since their senses and survival instincts are much superior to humans.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ishikawa finally decides to retreat.
"Let's fall back!"
He signals to his group.
"Our objective in this place is complete! There is no need for unnecessary conflict! Also, I can sense several chakra signatures rapidly approaching this place. They must be the shinobis from the Land of Grass."
After these words, the Land of Earth shinobis quickly regroups and retreat, while keeping an eye on Madara and his group.
The Uchiha group also maintains a tense expression. Looking at the retreating back of the enemy, the Uchiha clan members glance at Madara.
"We don't have a clash of interest with this group yet. Let's continue to head over to the Land of Flowers."
'After the establishment of Konohagakure, the Land of Fire has regained a moment of peace and solidarity. This news must have reached the people of the other nations, too.'
Madara casts a thoughtful glance at the Land of the Earth group while moving in another direction.
'Judging from the action and composition of this group, perhaps they have a similar idea and plan to adopt the same system as us,' Madara speculates.
'If this is the case, then another conflict of a bigger scale might spark in the future. Konoha has to strengthen its power and position to stand tall among the rest of the world and retain its peace.'
With such thoughts, the group quickly enters the territory of the Land of Grass.
Hmm…
Madara raises his head and glances at the rising sun in the sky. He opens the map and scrutinizes the territory of the Land of Grass.
Following the usual route, it will take 6-7 days for a shinobi group to travel from the Land of Fire to the Land of Flowers, but with the shortcut from the territory of the Land of Earth, the time is reduced to 3-4 days.
"There is a small village up ahead. Let's restock our supplies and rest for a while and gather some intel." Madara turns to the rest of his group.
"Yes, Madara-sama!" The group nods and quickly disperses to avoid leaking their identity.
Some Uchiha clan members change their appearance, while others disguise themselves. The group must do so to avoid meeting an ambush from the enemies in the foreign territory.
Madara also disguises himself. He ties his long, loose hairs in a ponytail and applies a brown dye to change their color. He removes his standard shinobi outfit and replaces it with a regular civilian getup.
After changing his appearance, Madara enters the small village in front of him. The village has an arc-shaped entrance with a few civilian guards to patrol the village border and alert the rest of the villagers in case of a wild animal attack.
There might be a few shinobis in the village, but their strength won't amount to much due to the small size of the village. Madara's objective is to restock fresh food supply and gather some intel on the current situation of Land of Grass and surrounding nations from the viewpoint of these people.
Don't underestimate the information one can gather in such small places. A small village like this is usually the resting spot for several traveling merchants and shinobi groups. So, a lot of information flies around in rumors. It's up to the judgment of a person to separate truth mixed within lies from the information.
'The best place to gather intel is a public place, like a tavern or an inn.'
Madara finds the nearby tavern and enters it. He sits on a table and orders some light food and sake.
While eating his food, he silently listens to the conversation of several merchants and what appears to be shinobi groups around him.
The shinobis talk in a hushed voice, but with Madara's sharp senses, he can perceive the content of their conversation.
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