Chapter 9: Booby Traps

After setting off, the people in the squad fell silent. There was no noise except for the occasional hushed conversations between Uchiha Akihiko and Uchiha Hiro.

Two hours after they started the search, the squad finally found something. Uchiha Akihiko stopped when he saw the entrance hidden in the darkness not far away.

Without looking back, Uchiha Akihiko made a few hand signs. After seeing his signs, a slow smile spread across Uchiha Masaki's face, and he disappeared using Body Flicker Technique.

The other Uchihas also scattered in all directions, starting to set up Booby Traps and prepare for battle. They subtly surrounded Uchiha Hiro in the center as they moved.

They didn't have to wait long. A dazzling fire erupted from the stronghold in front of them, and several strange ninja instantly rushed out and fled in all directions.

But what awaited them were sharp steel wires and Explosive Tags that were starting to burn. Those who weren't stopped by the Explosive Tags were subdued by the Uchiha ninja waiting nearby.

"Hey - we got them just like that?" Uchiha Masaki emerged from somewhere. "Less than half of the Booby Traps I set off were triggered. Ling was really being overly cautious, wasn't he?"

Uchiha Hiro also walked over. "I've checked them. They don't have any Explosive Tags on them. They seem to be just here for training. Let's use illusions to interrogate them."

Uchiha Akihiko nodded, grabbed the collar of the leader and pulled him aside. The scarlet three - tomoe Sharingan in his eye sockets slowly rotated as he stared into the eyes of the man in front of him. But the next moment, he suddenly threw the man in his hand away and stepped back. "Fall back!"

Almost immediately, all the Uchiha ninja dropped what they were doing and retreated. Just as they moved, the ninja who had been held by Uchiha Akihiko burst apart with his skin splitting open and exploded on the spot.

The flesh and blood shattered by the explosion, along with the surging shockwaves, sent Uchiha Akihiko flying more than ten meters away and crashed him into a tree. It took him quite a while to regain his senses.

"Hey, are you still alive!"

Uchiha Akihiko got up with Uchiha Hiro's help and, covering his forehead, cursed under his breath, "What a bunch of lunatics!"

"What's going on?" Uchiha Masaki watched the green light shining on Uchiha Hiro's hand, and the smile on his face vanished. The scarlet [three - tomoe Sharingan] in his eyes slowly rotated as he vigilant around. At the same time, he commanded the clan members to disperse and search the surroundings. "There are [sealing techniques] in that guy's head?"

"Yes, it's a [sealing technique] triggered by [illusions]." Uchiha Akihiko frowned tightly. "As long as the [sealing technique] in the brain is triggered by [illusions], the [Explosive Tag] inside the body will explode immediately... Those crazy Senju who only care about information and don't care about their own lives! Ugh!"

"It's nothing serious. It's just that the forced interruption of the [illusion] caused the [chakra] to flow back," Uchiha Hiro withdrew his hand. "Don't use your [eye techniques]. You'll be okay after a break... Considering that you still knew to pull the person away for interrogation, I won't scold you."

"We can't rule out the possibility that these Senju here are all expendable pawns. Let's just wipe them all out!" Uchiha Masaki's scarlet [three - tomoe Sharingan] in his eyes spun faster and faster as he said, "We're just going to support the troops on the main battlefield. We're no pushovers either."

"We can off them, but we gotta retreat and steer clear of the main battlefield," Uchiha Akihiko lowered his voice. "I have a very strong premonition of something terrible.

Hiro, I remember your brother is on the main battlefield. You have [summoned beast]. Tell them to evacuate immediately. If there are any subsequent responsibilities, let them come to me. I'll take it all on myself."

Uchiha Hiro was stunned, and his expression turned ugly. "...Then what am I supposed to say? That my team leader was so terrified by a human bomb that he panicked and demanded a full retreat?"

"We'll talk about the retreat later," Uchiha Masaki glanced at a young Senju ninja who was quietly getting up and trying to wake up his companions to escape. He drew out the [Tantō] from his waist. "Let's kill them all first."

Before his words faded, he had already instantly appeared above those Senju ninjas. With a wave of the [Tantō] in his hand, he neatly beheaded two defenseless Senju ninjas. But just then, two voices rang out simultaneously -

"Wait! Masaki!"

"Stop right now!"

Uchiha Masaki stopped the tip of his blade at the man's throat, tilted his head slightly, waiting for the two of them to give him an answer.

Unlike Uchiha Akihiko, who looked extremely frightened, Uchiha Hiro seriously placed his hands on the ground. "There's movement underground. Don't kill those people for now."

Uchiha Masaki glanced at those young Senju ninjas who were even younger than him. He turned the blade and precisely cut the tendons of several people's hands without making them bleed too much.

After doing all this, he looked at the clan members who were on scattered guard. "Tie them all up and then prepare to trigger the [Booby Trap].

Those who brought the [Scroll of Seals] come with me to search the interior of the stronghold, while the rest of you set up the traps and then spread out for guard.

Watching Uchiha Masaki lead the others to start the search, Uchiha Akihiko pressed his throbbing temple. "Hiro, what's down there?"

"…It's an Explosive Tag array," Uchiha Hiro withdrew his hand, his expression cold. "But not all of them are activated yet. It should be linked to the lives of those Senju. Once they're all dead, it'll detonate immediately.

Moreover, the design of the Explosive Tag array underground is very ingenious. Many sealing techniques are also used to conceal the fluctuations. If there's a battle going on above, you simply won't be able to sense it… What a sneaky move."

"It should be the work of the Uzumaki clan, right? Those two clans have always been in cahoots." Uchiha Akihiko pinched his temple, his head still throbbing painfully. "Notify the main battlefield as soon as possible and then retreat."

Uchiha Hiro also knew the seriousness of the Mondai. He immediately formed hand seals and used the Summoning Technique.

As the white smoke dissipated, a pure - white short - haired kitten yawned and appeared beside Uchiha Hiro's hand. Its voice was still sleepy. "Didn't we agree not to work at night, meow…"

Such an adorable little kitten!

"Sorry, Yukimaru. I'll bring you dried shrimp later," Uchiha Hiro's expression softened as he held the little kitten in his palm. "We've run into some Mondai here. Could you please notify my brother?"

Yukimaru stretched and licked its pink paw pad, its voice lazy. "Speak, meow—But the overtime dried shrimp can't be less, meow."

Uchiha Hiro then carefully and concisely told Yukimaru what had happened here. Yukimaru also knew the urgency of the Mondai. After double - checking with Uchiha Hiro that nothing was left out, it turned into a pale puff of smoke and disappeared.

"Ask Yukimaru to report to the clan too," Uchiha Akihiko shook his head vigorously, trying to suppress the sense of unease. "There are such setups in this unimportant place. Those Senju guys haven't given up at all."

Uchiha Hiro nodded slightly and looked at Uchiha Masaki, who was leading the clan members out of the stronghold. "How about your side?"

"It's so clean that a mouse would leave in tears, feeling it has to leave something behind," Uchiha Masaki spread his hands. "It seems they made preparations to evacuate a long time ago—or rather, this isn't the real stronghold at all. It's just a decoy to deceive us."

"I speculate that the Explosive Tag array underground is linked to these people's lives. However, no one can guarantee that we won't trigger something else. Let's evacuate here as soon as possible," Uchiha Hiro frowned tightly. "But just to be safe, we'll follow the route Ling gave us and search again. Akihiko, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let Masaki take command later," Uchiha Akihiko shook his head vigorously. "But Ling is really overly perceptive…"

"Agreed—" Uchiha Masaki made a gesture to signal the clan members to clean up the traces of the battlefield. "Although most of the time his caution is unnecessary, he's really a reliable teammate—Hey, Akihiko, didn't you fight him? How's Ling doing after the recovery?"

"

 "...Go back and ask him yourself."

 "I don't want to. That guy used to only know about training, training, and more training... Now that he's blind, he'll definitely go even more overboard. I don't want to spend all my time on training."

 "Heh."

 "Uchiha Hiro! Let's have a duel! A duel!"

 "Heh, weakling."

 Uchiha Akihiko listened to the two whispering and arguing, and his head ached terribly. ...These two are such a pain.