Gen dropped from the tree, scooping the shuriken he'd thrown back into his pouch in a single, practiced motion.
Kakashi and Rin had seen him do it before, but it still drew quiet amazement. A genius from a powerful clan wasn't supposed to be so… thrifty.
Gen had an answer ready for anyone who asked: "Uchiha shuriken and kunai techniques are special. Leaving them behind would be a waste of the soul."
And besides... mosquito might be small, but they're still meat.
"Let's move."
He sprang upward again, Kakashi and Rin falling into place behind him, their three-man formation tightening as they raced forward.
It didn't take long for two Kumogakure ninja to burst into view. The moment they spotted the Konoha team, they charged without hesitation.
Lightning Release: Thunder Snake!
Four serpents of crackling blue-white lightning hissed from their hands, twisting through the air.
Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Technique!
Gen's answer came just as fast; golden-orange fireballs arced from his mouth, colliding midair with the lightning. The forest rang with a string of sharp detonations; shockwaves tore through leaves and dirt alike.
Kakashi and Rin launched upward, kunai and shuriken flashing from above. But the Cloud-nin were wrapped in Lightning Release Armor, their movements a blur as they slipped past the rain of steel.
The technique wasn't rare in Kumogakure, many learned its basics, but to master it like the Third or Fourth Raikage required talent that bordered on the absurd. The Third had taken it to its peak, matching tailed beasts in battle, enduring a thousand enemy strikes without falling. The Fourth was faster still, though he lacked his predecessor's sheer durability.
Gen had always thought that if he'd been born with the Third Raikage's physique in his last life, he'd reach the pinnacle without lifting a finger... just living off his wife.
Now, watching these Cloud-nin come for him with murder in their eyes, he met their charge with a calm retreat, hands flashing through seals.
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!
A torrent of golden-orange flames roared from his mouth, consuming trees and twisting the very air with heat. The Cloud-nin veered toward the edge of the blaze, their armor shielding them from the worst of it, and closed in from opposite flanks.
For a heartbeat, flames cut Kakashi and Rin from view. Gen's eyes narrowed, then Shuryu leapt from his forearm. The tiny dragon's mouth opened, and a ribbon of fire flowed into the existing blaze.
The orange shifted to gold.
Heat spiked a hundred degrees in an instant, and the fire swept outward in a wall that spared no edge.
The Cloud-nin's lightning armor faltered under the sudden surge. Then screams ripped from their throats as the fire swallowed them whole.
When the blaze ebbed, only two charred shapes tumbled from the trees, steam curling from blackened skin.
Substitution wouldn't have saved them. In battles like this, the old academy trick of making your enemy think they'd hit you was child's play to see through.
Against mid- and high-level shinobi, clone techniques, especially advanced ones like shadow or wood clones, were far more useful.
From behind the wall of flame, Kakashi and Rin caught sight of Gen's handiwork. Even without saying a word, the difference was clear; this wasn't Obito's fire style. An ordinary jonin would struggle to block it without favorable terrain.
Gen's lips curved in satisfaction. Two special jonin down in one strike—respectable. If Konoha broke Kumogakure's offensive here, the great war might end, leaving only small skirmishes.
And before that happened, he intended to make it to jonin rank.
Not just for the title, but for a voice in the Uchiha clan, one strong enough to be heard by its leaders.
He'd been playing the support role in too many missions, letting Kakashi take the glory. That ended today.
"Kakashi, Rin... move!"
He circled the fire's edge, cutting toward the main battle.
Steel rang ahead.
CLANG!
Gen dropped in beside a struggling Konoha shinobi, his blade knocking aside the Cloud-nin's strike. A glance from his Sharingan was enough to freeze the man in place. One smooth turn of the wrist, and Gen's sword slid into his chest.
"Thanks," the Konoha-nin breathed, still shocked.
"We're all on the same side." Gen was already moving.
"Clear out!"
Konoha fighters stepped aside as he wove seals.
Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
A golden-orange dragon's head surged from his mouth, the air shimmering around it. The Cloud-nin dodged, but not far enough.
Guided by chakra and the Sharingan's perfect read of his movements, the fire curved after him like a predator on the hunt.
The scream was short, sharp, and final. When the flames died, only charcoal remained.
A nearby Konoha-nin muttered in awe, "One shot…"
Gen didn't linger. He was already moving to the next fight, illusions flaring from his eyes, fire following when it could. Genjutsu cost less chakra and killed just as surely... once you were caught, without an ally to break it, the end was inevitable.
By the time the battle ended, Gen had cut down ten Cloud-nin—six chunin, three special jonin, and one full jonin.
The fifty-strong assault team was shattered; only a few escaped, and even they had Konoha's pursuit on their heels.
Elsewhere, Minato Namikaze had faced the Ai-Bee combo themselves and driven them back.
With that, Kumogakure's ambitions in the war crumbled.