Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Anyway,

This matter has blown up.

"Chihaya-sensei, how much longer until we reach Katsuragi-yama?"

Looking up at the sun setting in the west, the clouds in the sky were dyed a fiery red, turning into true colorful clouds. The scorching color gave people a feeling that it was time to go home. Having traveled for almost a day, the exhausted wisteria couldn't help but ask.

Logically, this question should be asked of Hotaru, since she shares the same surname, Tsuchigumo. However, it's a pity that she hasn't been back for many years, and she wasn't very old when she left Katsuragi Mountain. Over the years, she has forgotten the way to Katsuragi Mountain.

"At this speed, we should be able to reach the foot of Mount Katsuragi before the sun sets completely."

Uchiha Chihaya replied in a deep voice,

She also looked up at the vast sky, "However... we are not going to go there now. We will walk a little further and find a suitable place to camp for the night. We will go to Gecheng Mountain tomorrow morning."

belligerent and bloodthirsty

This is a personality trait that has remained unchanged to this day.

However, this doesn't mean she's the kind of brainless, headstrong, and impulsive person who just wants to rush forward. On the contrary, she's very clear-headed. This mission was made clear from the beginning: Mount Katsuragi is likely a trap. If she were alone, she might have actually dared to rush in.

But she wasn't alone.

She also had three students with her!

No matter how talented these three girls are, their lack of practical experience is an insurmountable weakness. It would be unwise to lead these girls, who have been traveling all day and are now exhausted, into the territory of Katsuragi Mountain. Even she knew that there were probably other people protecting them.

However, she would never act recklessly based on uncertain information.

"Are you going to rest now?" Fujika asked, slightly out of breath. "I thought we'd head straight to Katsuragi Mountain today!"

"That's impossible."

Yakumo was equally clear-headed and said decisively, "There's no need to rush. Hotaru, don't be too anxious either. Once you've recovered tonight, we'll go to the mountains to investigate first thing tomorrow morning."

Although she lacked practical experience, the girl's theoretical knowledge was quite good. With a little thought, she understood why Chihaya-sensei didn't plan to rush to Katsuragi Mountain in one go. It wasn't just that they had exhausted a lot of energy, but Chihaya-sensei was also not at her peak condition.

Another reason is that,

Night battles are difficult to fight.

For novices like them who lack combat experience, night battles are extremely dangerous. Even though Fujika's Sharingan allows her to see in the dark, and even though her spiritual energy is naturally strong and she has excellent perception, none of this can erase the problem of their lack of combat experience.

In actual combat, situations can change rapidly.

No one knows what unexpected situations might arise.

Regular drills can never perfectly simulate the immersive realism of a real-life situation. Putting aside everything else, the psychological state is different. No matter how strict the teachers or instructors are during drills, everyone knows that no one will die in drills, so most people act very bravely and aggressively.

However, people will die in actual combat.

This psychological change alone can have a huge impact on newlyweds. Don't say that killing chickens or animals is just for practice; that's a completely different concept from killing people.

"I see."

Ying nodded silently.

Although she wasn't particularly anxious, her concern for the Tsuchigumo clan was only so-so, mostly due to her grandfather's influence. Otherwise, she wouldn't bother with the Tsuchigumo clan's affairs and would instead stay home and hone her skills, waiting to avenge her grandfather by finding that scoundrel Kazuma in the future.

Next,

The group of the first class found a suitable place to set up camp, stopped to start a fire and cook, preparing a delicious meal to fill their rumbling stomachs. The head chef was Tsuchigumo Hotaru, who was also the only one among the girls who was good at cooking. Yakumo and Fujika were an artist and a destroyer, respectively.

Uchiha Chihaya... she was very skilled at dissecting meat.

They usually eat dry rations when carrying out missions.

Not far from the camp where the first group was located, several shadows were hidden deep in the forest under a canopy made of dense branches and leaves. "Kazuma, the target stopped about four kilometers ahead near the river and is making a fire to cook. It looks like they won't be moving any further tonight."

Tianmu knelt on one knee and used the secret technique [Bird's-eye View Technique]. His spiritual power transformed into a colorless and transparent bird that soared in the sky, monitoring the actions of the first group from above.

“I’ve already said it, the ninjas of Konoha aren’t idiots. They won’t rush into Mount Katsuragi so rashly.” Kazuma lightly shook the tin staff in his hand, looked at the Tsuchigumo Shirou beside him, and said with a smile, “Instead of sitting and waiting on the mountain, it’s better to come and take the initiative to attack. Being prepared to strike the unprepared will give us a greater chance of capturing our prey alive.”

"Humph!"

Tsuchigumo Shiro snorted, suppressing his displeasure. "Fine, you're being polite. So, what's next? Are we just going to charge in and launch an attack?"

"No need to rush. Wait a little longer, until it gets a bit darker, then we'll give them a gift."

The sinister, ghostly smile that appeared on Kazuma's face, and the insane killing intent made Tsuchigumo Shirou shiver. He couldn't help but think, "Kazuma... could he have gone mad?"

[Chapter 347. Soil of the Dead]

By the time the first group finished dinner, it was already dark, and the surroundings were shrouded in the deep darkness. Looking up, what came into view was the vast night sky that had just been created. With the help of the faint moonlight, one could barely make out the sea of ​​clouds churning like a raging tide.

It was a moonless night.

Uchiha Chihaya gazed at the dim moonlight of the night sky, becoming extremely alert.

Based on her past experience,

The darkest hour is the perfect time to kill.

She had already instructed the girls to take turns sleeping and resting. As for herself, she had already dozed off for a while, and staying up all night wouldn't have much of an impact on her. Holding her beloved knife, she sat cross-legged by the campfire, seemingly dozing off, but actually observing her surroundings vigilantly.

Time passed second by second.

The surroundings were peaceful and serene. The chirping of insects in the forest, which sounded like a symphony orchestra, was not jarring at all. On the contrary, it was quite reassuring. These insects were natural sentinels. Once something that shouldn't be in the forest approached, the smooth chirping would change slightly.

For example, now,

The chirping of insects suddenly weakened abruptly.

"Can't wait any longer?"

Uchiha Chihaya stood up and drew the Kusanagi Sword: Vacuum Blade, which was hidden in its sheath. Kurama Yakumo and Tsuchigumo Hotaru, who were on night duty together, saw Chihaya's actions and immediately shook Uchiha Fujika, who was sleeping soundly. The girls quickly prepared for battle.

only--

To everyone's surprise.

The attack from the darkness was not as swift as thunder.

They arrived slowly, as if they were being given time to prepare.

The swaying figures approached the campfire burning in the forest step by step. Their movement was not fast, just the pace of a normal person walking at a steady speed. The strange thing was that these 'people' swayed as if they were all drunk.

As they approached the campfire, the bright flames dispelled the darkness.

Seeing these 'people' with their blank eyes, bluish-gray skin, and swaying movements... they were definitely zombies from the movies! In recent years, Konoha has also made rapid progress in the technology of life and entertainment. Cinemas are no longer a rarity in Konoha Village; there are three cinemas in Konoha Village alone.

Similarly, the film industry has flourished with the peace and prosperity of the ninja world in recent years, with all sorts of movies emerging, including zombie films.

Therefore,

The girls are no strangers to the concept of 'zombies'.

"This...this is...a zombie?"

Ying swallowed hard.

I felt a little panicked.

In the past, when we went to the cinema together, what she was most afraid of was movies with horror elements.

"Are they really zombies?"

Fujika's eyes lit up, and she subconsciously activated her single-tomoe Sharingan. She looked at the 'zombie' that was walking towards her step by step with a very interested expression. Unlike Hotaru, she was very interested in those kinds of exciting movies.

"Ying, how come you never told me before that your hometown has such interesting things?"

Hearing Fujika's complaints, Hotaru, who was extremely flustered, almost cried. How could there be such a terrifying thing in her hometown? She had never heard of such a thing before! And shouldn't zombies be something made up in movies?

Correct,

This is fake; everything in front of you is a lie.

It's an illusion.

That's right, this is an illusion seen under a spell, and a very strong one at that, affecting multiple people.

"Yakumo, this must be an illusion. Quick, break it!"

Hotaru said confidently, hoping that Yakumo could quickly break this damned group illusion.

just,

"Uchiha Style: Heavenly Wind Chaos".

In an instant, Uchiha Chihaya made her move. The Kusanagi Sword: Vacuum Blade stirred in the void, unleashing six lightning-fast slashes at the staggering 'zombie'. These mindless creatures seemed to have no idea what dodging was, or perhaps the slashes were simply too fast for them to react to.

The six corpses at the forefront fell to the ground.

The slash was very powerful.

These moving corpses were directly shredded into more than a dozen pieces of varying sizes.

The body parts landed on the ground like oddly shaped cookies that had accidentally spilled from a box. Not only did no blood flow out, but they also gradually faded and turned into a pile of dirt, looking more and more like dirt-colored cookies.

"It's not an illusion."

Uchiha Chihaya spoke slowly, shattering Hotaru's illusion.

Her eyes suddenly turned crimson, with black tomoe slowly rotating within them. She could clearly see that these moving corpses possessed a chakra system almost identical to that of living people before they were destroyed. But the moment they were shattered, that chakra system collapsed and dissipated in an instant.

All of this is so bizarre and hard to understand.

but,

The only thing she could guarantee was authenticity. It was all real; these walking corpses were not illusions. Based on what she had seen during that brief probing, it was likely some kind of forbidden technique developed from earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic that allows one to escape through the earth).

“Chihaya-sensei is right. These things are not fake, but they are not living people either. They have certain instincts, but they do not have a complete ability to think. Conventional illusions have no effect on these things.” As Yakumo was speaking, four moving bodies suddenly collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning, their bodies charred black, and quickly crumbled into a pile of rubble.

Conventional illusions are useless.

However, the Kurama clan's bloodline limit can still be effective. The ability to transform into reality is not only effective against corpses that still retain some fighting instincts, but can even directly and irrationally interfere with matter that has no consciousness. Therefore, even when facing these walking corpses, the girl is not without the power to fight back.

It seems that the Uchiha clan's genjutsu is no longer of any use.

Uchiha Chizuru had already tried using genjutsu before drawing her sword, but unfortunately, the genjutsu she used was like a stone thrown into the sea, without any response. The genjutsu was useless... She didn't care too much. Genjutsu was not her forte. Among all the Jonin in the clan who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, her genjutsu skills were only average.

She is skilled in Wind Release and Uchiha-style swordsmanship.

Combining the two,

This is the origin of the name "Wind of Death".