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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Chapter 655: 616. Madara Shinden: The Legend of Kusanagi Blade
Madara eats his breakfast while silently listening to the discussion and rumor of the surrounding people. He pays close attention to the discussion of the shinobi groups.
After an hour, Madara departs the tavern after gathering enough information. He walks through the streets of the commercial district of the village, purchasing supplies and sorting out the information he just overheard.
'Looks like my speculation is correct. The shinobis of the Land of Earth are uniting under the banner of the Kamizuru clan. Their purpose is unclear to others, but this group is amassing a large number of weapons, armor, and other war supplies.' Madara wonders.
'What could be their purpose? Could it be?' Madara narrow his eyes.
'Then there is also the matter of civil war in the Land of Water. Various forces are entangled with each other, making the situation more chaotic than usual. So much so that even merchants and traders are being constantly attacked and plundered.'
Hmm…
Suddenly, Madara's eyes narrow. He feels a murderous intention locked onto him.
Madara keeps walking forward. He glances at a dark corner from the corner of his eyes. His lips curl slightly.
'A group of mischievous rats!'
Whoosh…
In the next instant, Madara disappears from their vision.
AH…
The group of shinobis hiding in the dark corner suddenly frowns.
"Where is the target?"
They look at each other and attempt to search Madara's trail.
"Are you looking for me?"
Suddenly, Madara's voice echoes in their ear above their head.
They raise their heads and notice Madara standing on the roof of a nearby house. Madara folds his hands and calmly glances at this group of ragtag bunches.
He senses their chakra signature and doesn't find any significantly powerful opponents.
"So, a group of wild thugs! But they seem to have lots of innocent blood on their hands."
Swish…
The next instant, Madara disappears from everyone's vision and reappears outside the alley with a kunai in his hand.
Swish…
He flicks the kunai to wipe the blood and continues to walk forward, silently disappearing into the crowd.
A few seconds later,
Another bunch of shinobis appear in the alley. They glance at the horrifying sight of blood and corpses straying around and gasp in shock.
Their group was the backup reinforcement of the previous group. But it hasn't been long since the other group left and now every member of this group is dead.
"A powerful shinobi has appeared!" This group looks at each other with fear in their eyes.
"Let's inform the members of the Sōgen clan of this matter." The shinobis glance at each other and nod.
While the group was discussing among themselves, a sudden silent figure appeared among them.
Madara glances at the second group of shinobis with a cold gaze. His presence startles the group and they prepare to flee at first sight.
Shiing…
"Genjutsu: Sharingan,"
Madara traps them all in his Sharingan's genjutsu.
"Hmm… Looks like these people are the affiliates of the Sōgen clan. If I kill them here, their death might alert the higher-ups of the Sōgen clan. Although I am not afraid of the Sōgen clan, I don't want any unnecessary conflict on this trip, leading to any further delay.
With his genjutsu, Madara transplants fake memories in the shinobi's mind and disappears quickly. While moving towards the rendezvous spot, Madara recalls information on the Sōgen clan.
'Sōgen clan is a middle-sized clan of the Land of Grass. They don't possess any powerful Kekkei Genkai or special skills, but their proficiency in Kenjutsu is quite top-notch."
Most shinobi clans are mercenary groups that are blades for hire. Several people, including the feudal lords, nobles, various aristocrats, and top merchants, hired these shinobi clans to do their dirty work for them.
The shinobis live a life of blood and battle. But that doesn't mean these shinobi clans are poor. On the contrary, most shinobis clans have a very rich heritage and legacy.
Almost every shinobi clan has a stronghold in a country. The stronghold of most shinobi clans is surrounded by small civilian villages. These small villages seek shelter under these powerful shinobis for protection and pay a fair amount of their revenue as protection fees to the shinobi clans. Thus, this is a mutually beneficial relationship. This way, every medium to large size shinobi clan has a territory that falls under its control.
This small village is in the territory of the Sōgen clan. Most shinobi clans want control over their subsidiary village and thus create small underground organizations to keep the villages in check. However, the Uchiha clan despises such tactics.
Madara recalls another rumor about the Sōgen clan.
According to the rumor, the Sōgen clan possesses a powerful sword called the 'Kusanagi blade'. This blade is also infamously known as the 'Grass-cutter blade' in the Land of Grass.
The legend comes from the tale of an unknown shinobi. The unknown shinobi wielded the blade to single-handedly cut down an entire foreign invading army.
Rivers of blood flowed from the massacre, and the surrounding land was painted red from the bloodbath. The infamous place where the battle took place is called the Kama Plain. The forest surrounding the plane is called the red forest because of the blood-red leaves of the surrounding tree.
After that legendary battle, the Kusanagi blade came into possession of the Sōgen clan and was passed down as an heirloom. Not much is known about the Kusanagi blade since it didn't appear after that battle. It's said that the Kusanagi blade can extend its reach endlessly to strike the enemy down, no matter the distance.
Madara reaches the rendezvous point and meets with the other members of his clans. He summarizes his encounters and listens to the rest of them. After a few minutes, the remaining members also arrive and the group sets off.
After traveling non-stop for an entire day, the group finally reaches the border of the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass.
Madara glances at the bottomless ravine, separating the prosperous land of grass from the rocky terrain of the Land of the Earth. The distant Ishiyama mountain range stands tall, separating the two countries from each other.
"Let's rest here for the night and we will cross the mountain range tomorrow!"
Madara glances at his slightly exhausted group and gives orders. The exhausted group relaxes slightly and takes out their rations and chakra pills to recover their stamina and strength.
As for food, some dry rations and beef jerky are enough nutrition, to recover lost energy. After filling their stomach, Madara signals Ekizo to scout the surrounding area again.
After half an hour, Ekizo returns with a few wild fruits and berries.
Madara hears his report while he distributes the fruits to other Uchiha clan members.
"Very well, take some rest while I keep a lookout!"
Whoosh…
The group quickly disperses and conceals themselves in the forest to hide and sleep. Madara also carves a hole in a hollow tree and conceals himself.
With such a small group, sleeping in the open is akin to inviting disaster and unknown enemies. Lighting a fire is equivalent to shining a beacon on this dark night.
The members of the group take turns to sleep and keep a lookout.
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Check out my pa treon and read advance chapters and my new works in advance:
www.pa treon.com/forgottenlife
My new book Naruto: Shinobi of Blood and Bonds is out. Go Check it out.
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