"Lord Sasaki, due to Konoha's large-scale attack, those war faction elders have all died in battle. Although Konoha paid a heavy price for this, we now have very few clan members left who can fight. My lord, please order a retreat. The Uchiha clan cannot be massacred here."
A blood-covered Uchiha elite ninja knelt on one knee before Sasaki.
Such battle results were only achieved because Meruem blocked Uchiha Obito and Sasaki blocked Uchiha Itachi, two Kage-level powerhouses.
Otherwise, the Uchiha clan would truly have been completely wiped out without any resistance, just like in the original story.
Those arrogant Uchiha elites also understood in this slaughter against Konoha's ANBU that their Uchiha clan wasn't as powerful as they imagined.
Having stayed in Konoha's Police Force for too long, they had forgotten just how powerful a ninja village truly was. A mere clan of a few hundred people actually fantasized about rebelling and overthrowing a village.
Just how conceited was this?
This was no longer the family era of the Warring States period. The great Uchiha clan that once numbered in the tens of thousands had also declined, and there was no longer the existence of super Kage-level powerhouse Uchiha Madara.
Even among the clan's only three Kage-level members - Shisui, Itachi, and Sasaki - one was dead, one was a traitor, and one was a puppet.
Konoha had only sent the ANBU from their main combat forces and nearly uprooted the Uchiha clan's combat troops. Yes, because of the Sharingan, they had great advantages in same-level one-on-one combat.
But ANBU weren't like those samurai who adhered to one-on-one duels. Two-on-one, even three-on-one - they'd kill you without negotiation. The Uchiha clan's chakra wasn't much more than other ninjas.
So the result was obvious. Under the combined assault of large numbers of ANBU and Root ninjas, many Uchiha clan members died at their hands.
The Uchiha clan previously had several hundred clan members, but only about a hundred and some could be called ninjas.
Among them, only twenty to thirty could be called elite ninjas at the special jonin level. Although this number was already among the best among Konoha's families, the worst among the attacking ANBU were at elite chunin level.
Konoha had over a hundred ninja families. Even if each clan only had a few members join ANBU, the total number was extremely terrifying.
There were even jonin and very few elite jonin experts. For the current Uchiha clan, this could truly be called a catastrophic disaster.
But this was just ANBU. How many ninja forces did Konoha have? Several times, even over ten times more than ANBU. Of course, this included large numbers of genin.
But the number of special jonin, jonin, and even elite jonin was also considerable.
Being able to persist this long was due to Meruem's killing spree on the battlefield. Otherwise, probably only one or two people would have survived, not like now with over twenty ninjas still alive.
To reclaim the Uchiha clan, all voices unfavorable to Sasaki had to completely disappear, so those elders had to die. Now the only living leader of the entire clan, and also the Uchiha clan's strongest member, was Uchiha Sasaki.
Incidentally, the father of this body, Uchiha Sasaki, had also died in battle.
Now Obito had left, and Uchiha Itachi had also decided to temporarily hold back due to his agreement with Sasaki.
On Konoha's side, unless the Third Hokage or Danzo acted personally, with Sasaki's strength, he could still lead away the remaining Uchiha clan members.
"Anmie, how many clan members are left?" Sasaki looked up at the bright moon overhead and asked casually.
"About twenty-five awakened clan members remain, and dozens of unawakened ones are willing to leave with us." Uchiha Anmie said in a low voice with his head down.
The dignified Uchiha clan, Konoha's greatest family, was reduced to merely dozens of people. The number who could successfully escape Konoha would probably drop by over 40%.
How ironic.
"Take them and leave quickly. Right now, almost all of Konoha ANBU's elites are concentrated here at our Uchiha clan. Konoha's outer defenses are at their weakest. Your chances of breaking through are greatest."
"But my lord, you..." Uchiha Anmie thought of something and suddenly looked up at Sasaki.
"I'll hold back those ANBU from Konoha. Don't worry. Konoha won't send regular ninjas to fight us - they'll only send ANBU because they still want to maintain a good reputation. How hypocritical..."
"My lord..."
"No use saying more. My mind is made up. I now order you to immediately take the clan members and leave. Our Uchiha clan cannot be massacred here. Rest assured, those ANBU ninjas won't find it easy to kill me. After I finish dealing with these ANBU ninjas, I'll find you and regroup."
"Yes." Uchiha Anmie was completely moved by Sasaki's words. The lord was sacrificing himself for righteousness, buying precious time for their escape. If Uchiha Sasaki could survive, Anmie would definitely become his most loyal follower.
But was Uchiha Sasaki, or rather Meruem, really so noble? He just wanted to replenish some more energy.
Sensing Uchiha Anmie leading away the few remaining clan members and large numbers of ANBU ninjas approaching him, Uchiha Sasaki showed a strange smile.
"I've wanted to do this for a long time."
Uchiha Sasaki stood at the highest point of the rooftop, arms spread wide, making a pose like Pain destroying Konoha.
"Konoha, feel the hatred of the Uchiha clan toward you! Ice Fire Nine Heavens! Return to Nothingness!"
Countless huge white flames continuously shot out from one of Sasaki's eyes. ANBU members who barely touched the flames were instantly engulfed.
Not burning but freezing them, then turning them into pools of pus.
And anyone who made eye contact with his other eye - their bodies all began automatically collapsing, bit by bit, then disappearing from this world.
For a moment, all ANBU were shocked by this move from Uchiha Sasaki.
But the Root ninjas belonging to Danzo among the ANBU only paused for a moment, then fearlessly continued attacking Sasaki.
Root ninjas had no emotions and didn't understand fear. They only knew how to complete missions.
ANBU were still ANBU. Although their reaction was slower than Root, they also continued attacking Sasaki's position without backing down.
Soundproofing barriers had been set up around the Uchiha clan, so no matter how noisy the battle inside, the outside world wouldn't hear a single sound unless the fighting exceeded the barrier's range.
"Huff, huff... Indeed, although the Mangekyou Sharingan is powerful, continuously using dojutsu against so many ninjas is still too much. This body will probably be useless after this battle... If only I had Eternal Mangekyou." Both of Sasaki's eyes shed tears of blood - a sign of overusing Mangekyou Sharingan techniques.
Also, if you looked carefully, you'd find both of Sasaki's Mangekyou eyes were full of bloodshot vessels in the whites.
"I didn't expect there to be so many ANBU ninjas. After killing so many before, could it be that Konoha sent all their ANBU and Root here?" Rubbing his somewhat dizzy eyes and surveying the surrounding ANBU ninjas, Sasaki muttered to himself.
Actually, his guess wasn't wrong. Konoha's determination to annihilate the Uchiha clan and Danzo's desire for Sharingan were enough to bring most ANBU ninjas here.
Otherwise, in the original story, why didn't even one escape when the Uchiha clan had quite a few elite ninjas? How much energy could one Uchiha Itachi have to stop a whole bunch of ninjas determined to flee?
"No choice. If this body is unusable, then so be it. At worst, I'll just switch to another body... All of you die! Susanoo!" Purple chakra filled with ominous aura covered Sasaki's body, blocking all attacks from the surrounding ANBU, then purple bones slowly formed, finally becoming a huge skeletal figure.
Susanoo, one of the Mangekyou Sharingan's exclusive abilities, known as the strongest defense. But there was no "strongest" in this world - Gaara's Sand Armor had also been called the strongest defense.
"Hah... hah..." This body was probably near its limit. The rest depended on the main body. Although potential overdraft's extreme development could provide massive improvements in a short time, the drawbacks were too severe.
If it were normally awakened Mangekyou, even now it would be very strenuous, but definitely not as miserable as Sasaki. He might even go blind after this battle - the Mangekyou's side effects were doubled.
But it was just a puppet anyway.
As the huge skeletal Susanoo battled the ANBU, Meruem moved between them at terrifyingly high speed, fishing in troubled waters.
These ANBU would never dream that while they fought a super-strong Kage-level enemy, there was a third party involved.
Taotie continuously accelerated its "eating" speed, and Meruem's strength gradually recovered and enhanced rapidly. Only when the ANBU were down to their last few did they realize there was another attacker present.
But it was all too late. Under Meruem's assault, the survival rate of those few was almost zero.
"Thanks for the meal." Clenching his fist that had grown stronger from obtaining large amounts of energy, Meruem couldn't help but sigh. If only there could be more battles like this - he'd soon recover all his strength.
However, Meruem was overthinking. Having devoured most of Konoha's elite ANBU, he'd only recovered slightly over 10% of his strength. To fully recover, Meruem would probably need to devour the elites of two great ninja villages.
This was almost impossible. But now Meruem's strength had recovered to over 30%, and his height had increased slightly.
He'd reached the level where he could release his Chimera Ant subordinates, but for unknown reasons, Meruem didn't do so.
Chimera Ants weren't all as loyal as the cat girl Pitou. Human hearts were the hardest to fathom, let alone Chimera Ants who were originally transformed from humans. Incidentally, the Shadow Clan had also followed Meruem to this world, but like the Chimera Ant clan, they also needed Meruem's release.
Then Meruem left the Uchiha clan carrying the barely conscious Sasaki. Whether Itachi would educate his brother later, Meruem didn't care. How Itachi would explain so many dead ANBU to the Third Hokage, Meruem also didn't care. These were his problems. What Meruem cared about now was the Uchiha clan.
Sasaki was basically finished. He'd find another talented Uchiha clan member to "eat" and turn into a puppet later. With his current strength, he could already create two more Golden Silkworm Gu.
Moreover, having "eaten" quite a few Uchiha elites, Meruem's eyes had also undergone some changes. The ability to absorb and perfect one's own genes - the original Ant King had it, and the current Meruem possessed it too. Unlike the original Ant King who had to consume cell fluid, this was much more convenient.
So now Meruem was becoming increasingly interested in this world's kekkei genkai holders.
(End of Chapter)
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