SWNOVELXO Chapter 66: The War Intensifies
PS: Regarding the activation speed of Kamui, some readers have commented that it is one of the fastest jutsus in Naruto. I don't deny this, but that refers to Kakashi's Kamui after he had mastered it. Here's some information from a wiki.
The time it takes to activate Kamui depends on both the user's skill level and the situation. In the anime, when Kakashi first opened his Mangekyo Sharingan during the battle to protect the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Deidara (Episode 249, where he is blown into a different dimension), activating the Mangekyo Sharingan required a lot of chakra and he wasn't familiar with controlling space. However, later in the battle against Pain, Kakashi was able to activate the technique quickly to warp away a high-speed missile. From this, we can see that Kakashi was able to use it in a very short time. Using both eyes doubles the speed (as seen in Manga Chapter 666, where both eyes were used).
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After returning from Uchiha Tajima's place, Gen's life settled into a routine. The next day, a ninja from the clan brought him his reward, a sum of 300,000 Ryo, which he handed over to the maid to manage, not paying much attention to it. Normally, there wouldn't be this much money, but thanks to the Uchiha bounty order, when an elite jounin's head was worth 500,000, Gen and Madara took down one, splitting the reward. Adding in the bounty for the Hyuga jounin, the total came to 300,000.
He spent his days teaching the next generation of ninjas, quietly building up his reputation, while also practicing his Flying Thunder God Technique and shuriken skills outside the clan. In his spare time, he experimented with the properties of the Rasengan, and also supervised the progress of his maid's training. To his surprise, the maid's chakra control had improved significantly, and at this rate, under his guidance, she would become a genin in about a year.
Madara, as usual, showed up to mooch off meals at Gen's place. Gen had grown used to this and would engage in casual conversation with him.
"By the way, I haven't seen Izuna for a while. Where's that kid gone off to?" Gen casually asked, remembering him.
Madara responded nonchalantly, "Oh, that kid? You and I must've triggered him. Last time, he said he'd catch up to us or something, then just ran off. I heard he's been training with the clan's secret ninja and doing some missions. Don't worry about it."
Gen didn't really care either. Who would bother about that kid's fate?
Life went on in a relaxed manner, but the front lines of the war grew fiercer.
The Hyuga clan sent out a group of ninjas to gather supplies, but they were all tracked by the Uchiha. One of their peak jounins was chased by an Uchiha peak jounin and an elite jounin, severely injured, and forced to retreat into the Senju territory, where he hid and didn't dare to show his face again. Three elite jounins had been sent after the Hyuga; Gen and Madara had killed one, and the other two were also tracked down, one dead and the other injured, fleeing into the Senju's territory.
The bounty on Hyuga jounins had also taken effect. The head of an elite jounin was worth 100,000 Ryo, and this was enough to make many ninja take risks. Despite being strong, a regular jounin wasn't as intimidating as an elite, and it wasn't impossible to defeat them. More and more ninja sought out the Hyuga jounins, and the Hyuga were caught between enemies on all sides. They could barely protect themselves, let alone focus on gathering supplies.
With the threats neutralized, the Uchiha clan began to funnel all their forces into the main battlefield. They sent three more peak jounins to reinforce the wind river defense to help stabilize the front line and delay the Senju forces.
Uchiha Tajima also went to the Hyuga battlefield in person. With two shadow-level warriors leading the charge, the Hyuga's pressure mounted. Hyuga Shinso, unable to recover fully, had to drag his wounded body into the battlefield. After a brutal back-and-forth, they managed to hold the line for now, preventing the Uchiha from breaking through.
The Uchiha were in no rush. They were the ones with the advantage. Although both sides had two shadow-level warriors, Tajima could outclass Hyuga Shinso in a one-on-one battle and had the upper hand against Hyuga Tennin as well. In terms of high-end combat power, the Uchiha were superior.
The Uchiha didn't plan on rushing into the Hyuga's defenses. Even if they had enough supplies, the Hyuga couldn't hold out for long, especially with their largest stockpile of food destroyed. The Uchiha could afford to wait.
Meanwhile, the Senju were calm, watching everything unfold from their comfortable position. Senju Rojo made his daily rounds at the Wind River, sometimes attacking the Uchiha's defenses, sometimes engaging in duels, and other times just insulting them from across the river. The situation was incredibly carefree for them.
The Senju knew that when they truly wanted to end the war, they could. While the Uchiha might slow them down, when both Senju Fugen and Senju Unzen showed up, how many could the Uchiha stop?
The only clan in a hurry was the Hyuga. Their food supply was dwindling day by day, and Hyuga Tennin was deeply troubled, his hair turning grayer with stress. The longer the war dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for them, but there was nothing they could do. They could only shout curses at the Uchiha, then curse the Senju. Every day, Hyuga Tennin's furious roars could be heard inside their defense.
It was like a return to the past, a two-year-long three-clan war was back, but this time, the battlefield was no longer between the Senju and the Uchiha, but between the Uchiha and the Hyuga.
Six months into the war, the Hyuga's food supplies were completely exhausted. Their morale hit rock bottom, and their ninja were starting to suffer from exhaustion. The Uchiha repeatedly broke through their defenses, but each time, they were pushed back at the cost of ninja lives. Anyone could tell that if this continued, the Hyuga would soon collapse.
After six months of dormancy, the Senju seemed to have suddenly woken up. Another shadow-level expert, Senju Unzen, arrived at the battlefield and began launching a furious assault on the Uchiha defenses across the Wind River. They needed a weakened Hyuga, a compliant Hyuga, but not a defeated one. Now was the time to rescue them.
But they had underestimated the Uchiha. Their defenses held strong, even with the combined assault of two shadow-level warriors.
The only reason they held was because the Uchiha had reinforcements. In Senju's calculations, the Uchiha should have exhausted all their forces maintaining both the north and south fronts, with no reserves left. That was why they had been so confident. They thought the war was under their control.
But... what if the Uchiha abandoned the north and south fronts?
When Senju Rojo saw Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Zhan emerge from the Uchiha defenses, his shock was palpable. The only thought in his mind was that the Uchiha had gone mad.
Whether the Uchiha had gone mad or not, their defenses held. With their current strength, it was too difficult to break through.
In the Senju camp, Rojo, bandaging his wounds, gritted his teeth. "No matter what the Uchiha are up to, one thing is clear—they don't want us to rescue the Hyuga. What they are stopping us from doing is what we need to do. Tell the clan, I want the patriarch to come to the front line. I don't believe that the three of us can't break through."
Senju Unzen, who hadn't been injured, nodded, about to speak, when a Senju jounin suddenly entered, whispering in his ear. His expression darkened, and it seemed like it could drip water.
"What's going on?" Rojo asked.
Unzen slowly closed his eyes and said, "The patriarch probably won't be coming. The Kaguya clan has suddenly attacked us. The reasons are unclear, but it's likely related to the Uchiha."
Rojo's expression froze. He suddenly felt as though things were slipping out of their control. What did the Uchiha really want?
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Chapter 105 OUT now ,
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