Chapter 13: All-In

The war between the two families had lasted half a month; besides the towering prestige of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the name Chu Yang was gradually entering the public eye among the younger generation.

Fame brought danger in its wake.

After learning that Chu Yang was the heir fully cultivated by Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju,

the Uchiha clan solidified their resolve to kill Chu Yang.

A genius even Hashirama Senju valued would surely become a grave threat to the Uchiha clan in the future—they would never allow a second Hashirama Senju to emerge!

Thus, in the following battles, Chu Yang faced relentless “attention” on the battlefield.

Wherever Chu Yang appeared, that spot became the second center of combat, after Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

Tobirama Senju was no fool—he seemed to have anticipated their plan and was willing to use Chu Yang as "bait" to launch several brilliant ambushes.

But this did not deter the Uchiha clan’s desire to crush Chu Yang in the cradle.

Whenever Chu Yang dared appear on the battlefield, the enemy would send elite clan members to surround and kill him without fear of death.

The unimaginable numbers and desperate frenzy rendered the subsequent ambushes far less effective than hoped.

At this point, the situation had gradually slipped beyond Tobirama Senju’s control.

By the time he regained his composure… it was already too late to withdraw Chu Yang.

On the battlefield, amid the fierce struggle between both sides, Chu Yang had become a symbol; if he were now pulled back for protection, the Senju clan’s morale would suffer a crushing blow.

In that case, all the advantages Tobirama Senju had built in previous battles would lose meaning.

Thus, both sides could only center their efforts on Chu Yang!

They continuously poured in troops, raised the stakes, and launched an unimaginably fierce offensive and defensive battle.

Its importance to the war’s outcome even surpassed the battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

Late at night.

The Uchiha clan’s encampment.

Madara Uchiha and his younger brother Uchiha Izuna were discussing the decisive turning point of the war in a brightly lit secret chamber.

“Brother, if we delay any longer, the situation grows unfavorable—we must gamble everything. Gather the remaining illusion experts from our clan and eliminate that boy named Senju Yang.”

“Once he dies, the Senju clan’s momentum will plummet instantly—then we will surely win this war!” Uchiha Izuna said, his eyes bloodshot from immense mental strain.

Madara Uchiha did not respond immediately, his gaze fixed on the chess pieces crisscrossing the battlefield map—just as Izuna said, the Senju clan was steadily devouring their territory.

If they continued like this, losing the war was only a matter of time.

“Itachi will lead this mission yourself. It must succeed—if it fails, we will have no chance of recovery!” Madara Uchiha said heavily.

Uchiha Izuna nodded and turned to leave the chamber.

Watching his brother’s retreating back, Madara Uchiha suddenly felt a pang of regret—if he could, he would go himself, but he had to hold the front line against Hashirama Senju.

No one else in the Uchiha clan could stand against Hashirama, and vice versa.

That night, Uchiha Izuna summoned ten illusion experts from his clan and prepared to infiltrate the Senju encampment to assassinate Chu Yang.

The Uchiha clan had many more illusion specialists, but for an assassination, more people meant higher chances of failure.

Ten was the optimal number Uchiha Izuna had carefully calculated—among them, some were even designated as expendable pawns.

They all knew this, and they went without hesitation.

Under the moonlight, the group silently vanished into the darkness.

Meanwhile, after a day of battle, Chu Yang had returned to his tent to rest.

But for some reason, Chu Yang could not sleep.

His eyelids were heavy with exhaustion, yet he would jolt awake just as he was about to drift off.

“What strange negative buff is this?”

After tossing and turning for a long time, Chu Yang angrily sat up, muttered curses beside his bed, then sank into self-doubt: “Could it be that my body is too weak?”

“Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!” No sooner had he spoken than he immediately rejected the thought—he was a vigorous, yang-powered young man; how could he be weak?

If not physical, then it must be mental.

Regarding his mental state, Chu Yang realized that not only had his aura grown stronger, but his battle intuition had become far more acute than before.

“There must be some danger making me restless!” A flash of insight struck Chu Yang—he immediately unleashed his Kenbunshoku Haki, fully enveloping his surroundings.

Through Kenbunshoku Haki, Chu Yang detected eleven unknown auras crossing the Senju clan’s sentry lines, approaching his direction.

“Assassination?” Chu Yang sneered, guessing the Uchiha clan’s intent—he never expected they’d target him for assassination.

Chu Yang used Wood Release: Shadow Clone Jutsu, leaving a clone on the bed while he slipped away secretly.

He planned to summon reinforcements and trap them like fish in a barrel.

To deceive the enemy, Chu Yang did not inform the guards outside.

On the other side, Uchiha Izuna led his elite team as they breached the Senju clan’s defenses—each sentry post was silently put to sleep by an illusion expert.

After breaking through multiple layers of defense, Uchiha Izuna and his team reached the vicinity of Chu Yang’s tent; once they eliminated the guards at the entrance, their mission would be certain.

At Uchiha Izuna’s signal, five illusion experts struck simultaneously, silently plunging the guards into illusions.

“Lord Izuna, isn’t this going too smoothly?” The eldest man in the team suddenly spoke up.

“All our clan’s greatest illusion masters are here—if we fail now, we might as well surrender to the Senju clan outright,” Uchiha Izuna replied coldly.

The old man gave a bitter smile and fell silent, retreating back into the ranks.

The others remained outside while Uchiha Izuna pulled back the tent flap and entered alone—there, he saw the sleeping “Chu Yang,” his face etched with exhaustion.

“So young…”

At the sight of Chu Yang’s face, Uchiha Izuna couldn’t help but sigh inwardly—he was already among the top young talents of the ninja world, yet Chu Yang was even younger.

Even as an enemy, Uchiha Izuna felt a pang of regret at the thought of killing such a young genius.

But Uchiha Izuna knew well: mercy toward an enemy is cruelty toward oneself—if Chu Yang grew, the Uchiha clan might face hell itself!

The moment he thought of this, Uchiha Izuna’s expression twisted into a snarl—he drew his kunai and drove it violently toward Chu Yang’s neck!

The instant the kunai pierced Chu Yang’s neck, the unnatural sensation it returned turned Uchiha Izuna’s face pale!

“Wood Clone?!!”

(End of Chapter)