The ambush in the valley had ended. Although Uchiha Kagami and the others were caught off guard and put at a disadvantage, the enemy's plan also seemed to have gone out of control. None of the ambushers were strong enough to hold back Uchiha Kagami, which doomed the ambush to failure.
In a multi-person battlefield, the role of a strong individual might not be as decisive as in a one-on-one fight, but it still has a huge impact. The way to neutralize this influence is to bring in an enemy who can match or restrain them, allowing for more maneuverability in combat.
In other words, if there's no one to hold back a strong individual, then even with a tactical advantage, the strong individual might break the situation with their power, just like Uchiha Kagami now.
Despite this, the surprise attack unit still suffered considerable losses due to the enemy's ambush. Not to mention the fallen ninjas, many more were inadvertently exposed to a new gaseous poison, losing most of their strength.
Uchiha Kagami's years of combat intuition made him sense trouble immediately, and he instinctively put on a gas mask—this was originally meant to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, but unexpectedly came in handy at this moment. Not only the surprise attack unit's route, but even information about the Konoha Ninja Village's antidote's effective range had been leaked.
Although the antidote developed by Tsunade had some resistance to this new type of poison, it wasn't specifically designed for it, and everyone still felt unwell due to the poison. Fortunately, under Uchiha Kagami's leadership, all the enemies had been eliminated, so they didn't have to worry about casualties due to their physical discomfort.
Uchiha Kagami used his secret technique of scythe and chain to control the only surviving Sand Ninja and immediately used genjutsu to extract all the information he knew. This person was the strongest among the ambushers, which was why he survived until now, and he was also sure to know the most information.
With Uchiha Kagami's genjutsu abilities, he easily extracted the information. The opponent's mind also had no sealing jutsu to prevent the exposure of secrets. However, this person didn't know too many detailed things, only that the Sand Ninja Village had started receiving intelligence on Konoha ninja forces at some point, and the specific details were controlled by Chiyo and her close confidants.
Uchiha Kagami frowned slightly. He didn't expect that the intelligence on Konoha's ninja forces had been leaked so long ago. Who could it be? While thinking, he pulled the chain, snapping the Sand Ninja's neck, giving him a complete release. Although this person's status was not low, Uchiha Kagami had no time to think about prisoners right now; they themselves were too preoccupied.
Uchiha Kagami looked back at his subordinates. Most of them had been poisoned unexpectedly. Initially, due to the antidote's resistance, they could still fight, but now the poison was gradually taking effect, and their condition was very poor. Only a few, seeing Uchiha Kagami's actions, had promptly taken out gas masks and escaped the ordeal.
"Lord Kagami, what should we do?" one of the unpoisoned individuals asked. Although he asked, he was also certain that the surprise attack unit's objective clearly couldn't be continued. These people would just be going to their deaths.
Uchiha Kagami also felt that they couldn't continue the mission. Moreover, since so much information had already been leaked, he was very worried about the Konoha combat units guarding the town. They might also be in danger, as the leaked intelligence had put the Konoha ninja forces in a passive position.
"Those who are poisoned should rest here for now, and be careful to conceal yourselves. The antidote should alleviate some of the symptoms," Uchiha Kagami said. "Those who can still move will come with me to check the situation. Once the situation stabilizes, we'll come back for the others."
Since the ambushers were all eliminated, it was unlikely that any other enemies would enter here, so those staying here should be relatively safe. Besides, bringing along people in poor condition would only be a burden if they encountered danger. Everyone agreed with Uchiha Kagami's judgment.
Uchiha Kagami led the others who were still in good condition,
They carefully scouted ahead. This time, everyone had to be cautious. Although it seemed the enemy lacked some information, they couldn't completely rule out unexpected enemy actions. That's why he instructed those resting to also pay attention to concealing themselves, creating the illusion that everyone had left.
"Lord Kagami, who exactly leaked the information? Is there an internal spy among us?" one of his subordinates asked Uchiha Kagami hesitantly.
Uchiha Kagami paused slightly, looked back at his subordinate, then quickly shifted his gaze forward again, saying, "Don't jump to conclusions. Everything needs to be investigated before we can know."
Despite saying this, Uchiha Kagami inwardly leaned towards his subordinate's suspicion. However, the emergence of an internal spy was too significant an issue to be easily concluded. Such a level of intelligence leak, if it were under a harsh leader, would undoubtedly trigger a large-scale purge within the ranks.
This matter could not be concealed from Kazamori Masaki. Although, given Kazamori Masaki's character, Uchiha Kagami didn't think he was that ruthless, it could still cause other unrest. Unless there was concrete evidence, he wouldn't conclude that there was indeed an internal spy in the camp.
—But if there really was an internal spy, not just anyone could leak intelligence of this level. Who was it?
At that moment, Uchiha Kagami's ears seemed to echo Kazamori Masaki's past words, and a certain person's voice vaguely appeared before his eyes. His brow furrowed slightly, and he murmured, "No way."
"From now on, no matter who we encounter, be careful. Never let your guard down," Uchiha Kagami suddenly said.
His subordinates behind him were somewhat surprised by this. Did he mean they should even be wary of their own comrades? However, considering the possibility of the enemy knowing their intelligence, there might be enemies disguised as comrades. So, everyone nodded slightly, indicating they understood.
"I hope I'm just being overly worried," Uchiha Kagami asked himself inwardly, taking a deep breath and continuing forward with his Sharingan active.
They traversed mountains and valleys for a while, slowly emerging from the valley. As expected, there should have been a small team waiting to provide initial supplies for the surprise attack unit, followed by a surprise attack on the Sand Ninja forces from behind. However, upon entering the area, everyone immediately smelled something unsettling.
"This is… the smell of blood," someone said in shock.
Uchiha Kagami's expression was very solemn as he led the way forward. He then saw the bodies of the reception team that were supposed to be there, as well as some bodies dressed in Sand Ninja attire, and some Konoha ninjas covered in wounds.
Upon seeing Uchiha Kagami appear, those Konoha ninjas immediately stood up and hurried over. They were all members of the Uchiha clan, and this alone made Uchiha Kagami involuntarily stop and ask, "What happened?"
"We apologize, Lord Kagami," one of them replied. "We were waiting here for Lord Kagami to arrive with the surprise attack unit, but we were unexpectedly attacked by Sand Ninjas. We barely managed to survive."
Uchiha Kagami looked at the people in front of him. These Uchiha clan members were assigned to protect the reception team. Theoretically, their chances of survival were indeed the highest. However, for some reason, a doubt lingered in his mind—were they all Uchiha clan members?
Uchiha Kagami narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the bodies of the Konoha ninjas and Sand ninjas lying on the ground. He felt there was something wrong. Perhaps Uchiha Kagami's attitude influenced the others, as his subordinates behind him did not act rashly and continued to stand behind him.
Those Uchiha clan members also seemed to sense an unusual atmosphere. One Uchiha clan member standing in front showed a somewhat awkward smile: "Lord Kagami, are you…?"
Uchiha Kagami silently looked at the bodies on the ground. Suddenly, he understood what felt wrong. The Konoha ninja bodies on the ground had expressions of fear, disbelief mixed with a hint of hatred, subtly conveying a sense of betrayal—this was a subtle facial expression that only the Sharingan could observe. Using this, the Police Force had a method of judging based on expressions.
Uchiha Kagami stared for a while and said, "Speaking of which, the number of people here seems a bit off."
"Ah, some were completely annihilated by the Sand Ninjas, and others went to seek reinforcements," the Uchiha clan member in front said, a slight sweat beading on his face.
"You—" Uchiha Kagami was about to say something when he suddenly felt a chilling wind blowing towards him. He quickly dodged, blocking a thrusting sword with the Flame Fan on his back. In that instant, he clearly saw the attacker's face.
And the faces of these self-proclaimed surviving Uchiha clan members were filled with malice. Almost simultaneously, Sharingan genjutsu, shuriken, and swords, in exquisite coordination, surrounded Uchiha Kagami.
This sudden turn of events stunned his subordinates for a moment. Although they quickly recovered and rushed to support him, Uchiha Kagami had already endured a round of attacks.
In such a tightly sealed situation, Uchiha Kagami couldn't use the Body Replacement Jutsu or the Body Flicker to escape. Both techniques essentially involve high-speed body movement, meaning there must be an open path to move through; otherwise, he couldn't leave. Unless it was a space-time ninjutsu that could ignore spatial positions, he could only choose to block the enemy's attacks.
In fact, Uchiha Kagami only had this one option now. He first used his Sharingan to break the genjutsu released by the other Sharingan users. Every Sharingan possesses the power to break genjutsu; however, using genjutsu on a Sharingan is not meaningless. The speed of breaking it varies depending on individual ability, and a Sharingan cannot use other abilities while breaking genjutsu.
Senju Touka, a genjutsu master of the Senju clan, was immune to the Uchiha clan's genjutsu, but others might not be. Therefore, in team combat, she had a technique of using simple genjutsu to force Uchiha clan members to dispel genjutsu, thereby interfering with their use of genjutsu on their comrades.
And here, the goal of the others was to force Uchiha Kagami to dispel the genjutsu, preventing his Sharingan's other abilities from functioning, to buy an opportunity for their leader, Uchiha Setsuna.
Of course, they hadn't fully anticipated Uchiha Kagami's strength, and they overestimated their own genjutsu level. Uchiha Kagami took less than a second to break all the genjutsu these people had cast, while simultaneously wielding his scythe and chain.
The scythe blocked the sword thrusts, the chain deflected the thrown kunai, and the Flame Fan served as a shield, deflecting most of the enemy's attacks. Then, with a Body Flicker, he escaped the encirclement. Despite this, the strongest among them, Uchiha Setsuna, still left a deep sword wound on him.
Uchiha Kagami grunted in pain, glanced at the wound, and his Sharingan caught sight of Uchiha Setsuna's weapon. He thought, "That weapon's shape… is it poisoned?"
Uchiha Kagami squeezed his arm hard, forcing out a lot of poisoned blood. Then, he pulled out a steel wire, infused it with chakra, and wrapped it above his wound to prevent the poison from spreading further. He took out the antidote and drank it all without hesitation. He knew Uchiha Setsuna wouldn't use a poison that could be easily cured, but at least it offered some resistance, and even if it didn't, he had no other good options right now.
After quickly treating himself, Uchiha Kagami caught his breath. The other Uchiha clan members and his own subordinates stood up, leaving only Uchiha Setsuna to face him.
"I thought you could let go of the past," Uchiha Kagami said with some pain. He had truly considered Uchiha Setsuna a trustworthy person in the past, but he never expected the outcome—
"Hmph, how could such a thing happen?" Uchiha Setsuna burst into laughter upon seeing that he had wounded Uchiha Kagami. "I've waited a long time for this day, Uchiha Kagami, do you know? As far back as twenty years ago, I wished to see you like this, but I could never find the opportunity. Now, I finally have my wish."
Uchiha Kagami slowly shifted his gaze and said, "Since things have come to this, why bother with all this?"
"Is this current state a source of glory for the Uchiha clan?" Uchiha Setsuna snorted coldly. "We are a clan that can rival the Senju, and we should stand in the same position. Now that the Senju are gone, we should be the leaders of the village, not that lowly-born Kazamori Masaki!"
"Arrogance and power, these are inherent in our clan's bloodline. In the past, it was precisely because of this that multiple tragedies of kin-slaying occurred within the clan. I wanted to change this, but it seems you cannot agree," Uchiha Kagami said after a moment of silence.
"What does that matter? It is precisely because of this that the Uchiha clan has stood strong until now. Every time we faced annihilation, there would always be a strong individual leading the clan to rise again," Uchiha Setsuna said proudly. "Now, I am the one who will lead the clan to its peak, and you, a weakling content with the status quo, should just die early."