While Fujin and Mieko talked, Genji and Fujin's shadow clone reached the battlefield. Genji hid the same way as Masaru had while Fujin's clone stayed away and observed from a long distance. He had no intention of interfering in the fight.

With Masaru's help, Akihiko finally had the upper hand. They inflicted injuries on Zankoku frequently. But all of his injuries healed automatically. Genji was stunned. He thought, 'How do I sneak attack someone who heals without any jutsu?'

Fujin's clone too was shocked. He watched the fight as he analyzed, 'This guy is strong. Ridiculously so! While Hidan couldn't be killed, I don't recall him having such a healing ability. Tsk, now I am even more interested in his blood jutsus. I hope Hiruzen orders the Yamanakas to dig out all the information from his brain! Though asking it from Hiruzen would require some effort. He no longer rewards me sadly.'

After observing for a while, Genji decided, 'My sneak attacks work on the basis that I would injure my prey critically or trap him in a Genjutsu. It's pointless to hide against an opponent like him. The kid made a good decision to not show up here.'

Genji revealed himself by throwing some shurikens at Zankoku. Zankoku barely dodged them. His expression grew grim as he saw another opponent. He asked, "You killed all my Priests?"

Disbelief could be felt in his voice.

Masaru replied, "That is the case. You are all by yourself. Stop your misery and surrender. Only then you would live."

Hearing those words, Zankoku began to laugh loudly like a lunatic. He said loudly, "Do you think that killing those weaklings will make me surrender? I will sacrifice all of you to Lord Jashin and get even more blessings from him!"

As he was speaking, he began bleeding. Soon, his entire body was covered in blood. His chakra, which was getting exhausted, spiked once again. Without paying any attention to his defense, he moved towards the Uchihas. Akihiko and Masaru's expressions grew grim.

Zankoku closed the distance and swung his arm at them. Multiple drops of blood were released from his arm at the Uchihas. They immediately flickered away. Zankoku chased them. Not wanting to waste chakra unnecessarily, the Uchihas tossed explosive tags at him to hinder his path. But Zankoku ignored it all and continued the chase. Fortunately, he wasn't as fast as the Uchihas.

While engaging in combat, Akihiko said, "Genji, what's the status of others."

Genji threw a kunai at Zankoku and said, "Mieko and Shunko are injured. Fujin is fine but his chakra is very low."

Akihiko instructed, "Okay, leave this battlefield. Team up with Fujin and get Sora out. Leave a clone to watch over Shunko and Mieko."

Genji replied, "Alright!"

He flickered away from the battlefield. Akihiko looked at Masaru and shouted, "Masaru, let's go all out. We will keep him tied down here!"

Masaru nodded and launched a Fire Dragon at Zankoku. A blood armor formed on Zankoku as he rushed into the Fire Dragon. However, unlike a normal Fire Dragon jutsu, this one had dozens of Explosive tags in it. The Fire Dragon caused a massive explosion while Zankoku was in it. His momentum was finally stopped!

Without waiting for the dust to clear up, Akihiko flickered into the spot of the explosion. Zankoku's body was being healed when Akihiko attacked him once again. He was blasted back as he cursed in his mind, 'How many fucking explosive tags do these Uchihas have? Bastards have used more than a thousand so far!'

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Despite the damage, Zankoku counterattacked immediately. Akihiko and Masaru engaged in an intense fight!

Fujin's clone watched as the battle went on. After a few minutes, Fujin was awed. He thought, 'Holy fuck! These two are very good! I didn't expect Masaru to be this good as well. And Akihiko is a beast as well!'

However, he suddenly had a thought. A thought that troubled him a lot. He thought, 'If these guys are so strong, how the fuck did a 13-year-old Itachi kill them all by himself? Even with Obito's help, killing all of them in a single night would have to be a herculean task. After all, Akihiko isn't the only Elite Jounin in the Uchiha clan. From what I remember, there are 4 more Elite Jounins other than him and Fugaku in the Uchiha clan. And they also have far more Jounins than any other clan in Konoha.

Not to mention, not everyone would give up and offer their lives like Fugaku and Mikoto. In fact, I doubt anyone did so.

So is Itachi so ridiculously overpowered or will there be some other factors involved as well?'

Fujin's clone tried thinking, but he couldn't figure it out. Even with 2 S rank ninjas, killing so many strong ninjas in a few hours didn't seem to make any sense. Especially after he had just witnessed the abilities of some of the Uchihas. In the end, he concluded, 'Either there were more factors involved in the massacre, or the gap between a rank A and rank S ninja is way bigger than what I remember.'

He sighed, 'If it is the 2nd case, then reaching that level will be a lot tougher.'

While the fight was going on, Genji moved towards Fujin. He created a shadow clone and dispersed it to send a message to his clone which was looking after Shunko. The clone carried Shunko and moved towards Fujin's location.

Fujin and Mieko were chatting casually. Mieko finally managed to get up and sit. Suddenly, Fujin looked away in a direction. Mieko asked, "What happened?"

Fujin replied, "Genji is back for some reason. Did they already win?"

At the next moment, Genji appeared in front of them. He said, "Fujin, you'll be helping me get Sora out."

Fujin raised an eyebrow. He asked, "What's the situation?"

Normally Genji wouldn't have wasted time. But since he was waiting for his clone, he said, "The opponent has a very high regenerative ability and is immune to Genjutsu. We need Sora's Fuinjutsu to trap him."

Fujin and Mieko were surprised. Mieko said, "I didn't think the opponent would be so strong!"

Genji's clone finally arrived. He was carrying Shunko on his back. Genji said, "Fujin, follow me."

Mieko quickly said, "I want to come too!"

Genji looked at her and shook his head. He said, "No, you are too weak right now. If he assaults us when we are getting Sora out, you will be a burden."

Without waiting for her reply, he left. Fujin followed him. They arrived at the place where the cave had collapsed. Fujin said, "Uncle Sora should be alright. I guess he didn't come out as he needs to stay there to ensure the kids are safe."

Genji nodded and said, "Yeah. I guess that he created some barriers to keep them safe. So getting the kids out will put them at risk. Let's just go down and see what the situation is."

He made hand signs and disappeared into the ground. Fujin followed him. After reaching down, they both noticed 5 pairs of chakra signatures. Fujin said, "The one in the north has the highest chakra level. The rest should be clones."

Genji and Fujin went towards them. They moved until they reached the barrier. Genji knocked on the barrier. Sora and Haru were meditating to regain their chakra quickly. As soon as they heard the knock, both opened their eyes and looked at the spot Genji tapped. Seeing that it was allies, they relaxed.

Sora made a hand sign and created an opening in the barrier. Fujin and Genji got in. Without wasting any time, Genji briefed Sora about the situation. Sora and Haru frowned after hearing about Zankoku's abilities.

Sora made a shadow clone and said, "The barrier needs me to monitor. So I'll leave a shadow clone here. Haru and Fujin stay here and ensure that the kids remain safe. Genji, come with me."

Everyone nodded and followed Sora's instructions. Fujin and Haru were low on chakra, so Sora didn't involve them in the fight. Sora and Genji left, leaving Haru, Fujin and Sora's clones to look after the kids.

Sora's clone said to Fujin, "We shouldn't be in any danger here. The barrier can withstand all the weight above it and can withstand some attacks too. The only danger is if that Grand Priest decides to launch an all-out assault on the barrier. But that isn't likely to happen. So just relax and focus on recovering your chakra."

Fujin nodded and sat in a meditative posture.

Sora and Genji reached the battlefield and observed from a distance. Akihiko and Masaru were engaged in an intense battle. Both were breathing heavily, but so was Zankoku. His inability to land a hit on the two Uchihas in front of him annoyed him. Sora observed Zankoku's fighting style and jutsus carefully and began analyzing and calculating how he should trap Zankoku.