Because the news of the Land of Whirlpool's destruction had come so suddenly, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi dispatched many shinobi who were resting within the village to investigate further, partly also as a gesture toward Uzumaki Mito.
In this context, Shiyu Uchiha's team was sent out of Konoha again. Surprisingly though, Hiruzen's orders specifically involved only reconnaissance without mentioning rescue operations at all. Even the consequences for failure weren't all that harsh.
As a result, multiple squads including Shiyu Uchiha's were sent by Hiruzen to gather information in the Land of Whirlpool.
At the same time, Hiruzen assembled a military force and stationed them along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpool for defense rather than sending them into the Land of Fire to launch an offensive against Kiri.
However, mobilization of this military force was slow; when they finally began moving, Shiyu Uchiha and others had already arrived in the Land of Whirlpool.
By then, the Land of Whirlpool had already fallen. However, the Uzumaki clan had not yet been completely wiped out. When their village's defenses were breached, many children escaped through secret tunnels under protection from senior members of the Uzumaki clan.
These tunnels had been prepared since the founding of the Land of Whirlpool. The founder of the Land of Whirlpool clearly had strong foresight, but his successors failed to improve upon this escape system further—otherwise they wouldn't have been caught so off guard.
In truth, if not for a lack of prior intelligence which left them poorly prepared, getting struck unexpectedly, their own intelligence department mainly focused on Kiri itself while broader intel across the ninja world generally relied on information shared by Konoha.
More crucially, no one had anticipated that ever since the Second Ninja War, the Third Mizukage—who had always remained behind the front lines—would personally intervene despite being the oldest among the current generation of Kage and once having served as the First Mizukage's personal guard. He had once served as the personal guard to the First Mizukage and was of the same generation as the Second Raikage.
Had it not been for his direct involvement, which led to the rapid collapse of the Land of Whirlpool's defense system, over half the Uzumaki and Senju clans could've safely retreated to the Land of Fire under Konoha's protection.
Yet tragically, most adults stayed behind fighting desperately just to provide escape opportunities for younger generations protected by some elders fleeing Whirlpool's capital city. Well-prepared Kiri forces proceeded with systematic extermination of remaining Uzumaki survivors after eliminating most within the main village.
Right now, Kiri-nin forces were clearing out Uzumaki survivors. Whether it was good or bad fortune, shortly after entering the Land of Whirlpool, Shiyu Uchiha's squad encountered several Uzumaki refugees about to be slaughtered by Kiri-nin—their protector killed just moments earlier—and four remaining children clearly lacked any means of resistance.
Though Shiyu Uchiha wanted to pretend he didn't know them, those unmistakable red heads gave away their identities. Coupled with mission responsibilities and personal conscience, seeing them meant pretending ignorance wasn't an option anymore.
Thus, Shiyu Uchiha had to intervene and protect the others—those in danger were mere children, no older than ten, as far as he could tell, despite having just turned ten himself.
Shiyu quickly formed a strategy. He signaled Gekko Ryo and Izuno Hiroshi to rescue the children first and retreat. He would remain behind alone to eliminate the Kirigakure ninja. As for Saya, she would assist the two in navigating their escape.
First, Shiyu activated his Sharingan. His hands flashing through a series of hand seals, he unleashed a surprise Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique directly at the Kirigakure ninja. Aimed for swift resolution, Shiyu opened with his most powerful technique.
This was the classic Uchiha opener—using an attack to create an opening. When the enemy dodged, he would use the Sharingan's superior motion perception to track the enemy's trajectory and follow up with the Uchiha clan's signature shuriken-throwing technique. Unless the opponent was markedly stronger, evasion was nearly impossible; this made for a near-guaranteed decisive strike.
Such methods usually gave Uchiha ninjas a significant advantage. Hence, this approach had become a standard opening tactic among Uchiha warriors who had awakened their eyes.
Faced with Shiyu's surprise attack, the Kirigakure ninja narrowly avoided the fire jutsu before it reached him, relying on his elite skill. Yet, when dozens of shuriken followed closely behind, the mist ninja barely managed to evade, still suffering a minor wound. But as expected of an elite Tokubetsu Jonin raised under the brutal blood mist policy, this injury was far from debilitating.
Nonetheless, this gave Shiyu an opportunity. Taking advantage of the mist ninja's evasion, he activated the Shifting Body Technique, closing in swiftly and drawing his tanto. [Kan]—a downward slash aimed at an opening in the enemy's defense.
The mist ninja had just escaped the shuriken barrage but knew full well his opponent wouldn't waste such an opportunity. He scanned his surroundings—and indeed, spotted Shiyu charging forward with his blade drawn.
At this critical moment, years of training paid off. The mist ninja narrowly avoided certain death by using the Substitution Jutsu, then seized the chance to create a water clone and deceive the enemy into misjudging his position.
But what he hadn't considered was that his opponent was an Uchiha ninja—he underestimated the Sharingan's ability to pierce illusions and discern real forms. This miscalculation was partly because Shiyu often did not wear the Uchiha family attire while outside the village on missions.
Thanks to his Sharingan, Shiyu saw through the deception instantly. Instead, he used the moment the enemy performed the clone technique to slash the enemy's arm, robbing him of his only chance at victory. His injured arm had already impaired his ability to form precise hand seals.
Shiyu continued his relentless assault, determined to convert his advantage into a definitive win. Under this fierce onslaught, the Kirigakure ninja desperately attempted to maneuver. He formed seals with one hand, executed the Substitution Jutsu once more to dodge Shiyu's strike, then used the Shifting Body Technique to disengage, seeking an escape route. At this point, survival had become his sole objective.
Shiyu Uchiha sensed his opponent's intention and deliberately stepped back half a pace, giving the enemy an opportunity to use the Body Flicker Technique. He then predicted the opponent's retreat path, seized the chance to unleash the Great Dragon Fire Technique, heavily injuring the enemy before delivering a final slash to the throat that ended the fight.
After confirming his opponent hadn't used the Substitution Jutsu, Shiyu Uchiha exhaled briefly—this quick resolution had cost him greatly, leaving less than half of his chakra remaining.
He then looked toward the direction where his teammates had retreated and spotted a signal flare from Kirigakure ninjas. Muttering a quiet curse under his breath, he sprinted after his teammates, taking a Military Rations Pill to regain energy as he ran. While running, he also started refining his chakra.
Although the retreat path taken by Shiyu Uchiha's two teammates was the same route they'd just come through—previously confirmed safe—at that moment, three Kirigakure Genin just happened to be nearby. They spotted his two teammates along with the four Whirlpool children and immediately released a signal flare, intending to summon their Jonin leader for backup.
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