The aide's words hung in the air of the command tent, each one a shard of ice settling into Uchiha Daichi's spine. The psychic connection to the Hokage and Commander Nara had been violently severed by the aide's entrance, leaving a ringing silence in its wake that was somehow louder than the mental conference.
"What?" Daichi's voice was a low, disbelieving rasp. He stared at the panting aide, his mind refusing to process the information. It was too catastrophic, too complete a failure. He suspected, for a fleeting second, that the strain of command had finally conjured auditory hallucinations. "Repeat that."
Before the aide could speak, Fugaku stepped forward, his own composure cracking. "What about Renjiro's team? His entire unit can't be gone. The report came from Arata Kamizuki, didn't it? Renjiro's deputy. If he's transmitting, then the team must be intact!"
The aide, trembling under the combined intensity of the Uchiha leaders, shook his head. "N-no, this was from a different person, but Captain Kamizuki also sent some communication reporting that his team is… is fine. They are unharmed. It's… it's just that Captain Uzumaki… he's…"
The aide's words were cut off as the psychic presence of Inoshi the Yamanaka brushed against their minds once more, re-establishing the severed link with a jarring pop of mental static.
"Daichi! What is happening? Report!" Hiruzen's voice was sharp with concern and impatience, echoing inside their skulls.
Daichi took a steadying breath, forcing his commander's mask back into place, though his heart was a drum of dread. "Hokage-sama. We have just received a field report from the Valley of the End."
A wave of cautious relief emanated from Hiruzen's thought-voice. "Good. And? Were they able to handle the ambush?"
"Negative," Daichi's mental reply was grim, flat, devoid of any emotion. "The ambush was disastrous on our part. Uchiha Hoshi's team and Senju Hirano's team have been completely eliminated. No survivors. Uzumaki Renjiro is alive, but the report states he is critically injured."
The silence in the mental channel was absolute. It was Nara Shiba who broke it, his usually dry tone laced with stark disbelief. "How is that possible? Critically injured? I've shared a battlefield with the boy. His recovery process is… terrifying. Beyond even standard Uzumaki vitality. For him to be critically injured implies damage on a scale I find difficult to comprehend."
"According to the initial report from his deputy," Daichi continued, his mind working through the logic, "Renjiro's own team emerged unscathed. The conclusion is inescapable: the squad captain engaged the primary threat directly, drawing their focus and protecting his subordinates. He sacrificed his own well-being for theirs."
In the physical world, Fugaku turned back to the aide, his Sharingan unconsciously activating, its tomoe spinning slowly as he sought every detail.
"The attackers. Did Arata identify them? Numbers? Composition?"
The aide flinched under the intensity of the gaze. "H-he said it was a combined force, sir. Iwa, Kumo, and Suna shinobi. At least two hundred, possibly three hundred strong. And… and there were specialised fuinjutsu masters among them. They… they trapped Captain Uzumaki in a powerful barrier. The report suggests he broke free and engaged them, but was wounded in the process."
Fugaku's eyes met his father's. No words were spoken aloud, but the message was clear, passed between them in a single, knowing glance: 'They weren't just trying to kill him. They were prepared for him. They found a way to counter the Mangekyo.'
Daichi relayed the information to the waiting Hokage and Shiba. "The attack was a coordinated effort from all three enemy villages. A force of three hundred, including elite fuinjutsu specialists, masters to be exact. They specifically targeted and contained Renjiro."
"This is worse than we imagined," Shiba's voice was heavy. "The valley is now held by a single, injured captain and his team against whatever remnants of that force remain. The position is critically vulnerable. We must send a stabilising force immediately, before the enemy reinforces and pushes through. Then, we can send proper medical and combat support to extract Renjiro's team."
"Who can you send, Daichi?" Hiruzen's voice was all business now, the shock worn off, replaced by the need for decisive action.
"As I stated before, Hokage-sama, the First Division is stretched to its breaking point," Daichi replied, his mental tone firm. "To pull a significant force now would collapse our central defense. My son, Fugaku, is one of the few capable of leading such a stabilisation effort, but his departure would critically weaken the main group. If we are attacked here—and given the precision of this ambush, it is likely—we will not hold."
He could feel Fugaku's silent, intense agreement beside him. The younger Uchiha leaned in, his whisper a bare breath against the psychic conversation. "I cannot go. It's a tactical suicide mission for this position."
"I advise that Commander Shiba dispatch a team from the Second Division," Daichi continued aloud for the mental channel."They are better positioned to respond."
"The Second Division is engaged in containing Kumo's northern push," Shiba countered, his frustration evident. "I can spare teams to reinforce the valley, yes. But I cannot afford to send a shinobi of Renjiro's calibre to do it. We don't have another one of him to throw at the problem. Fugaku is the logical choice."
There was a long, weighty pause in the mental channel. When Hiruzen's voice returned, it was imbued with the absolute, unyielding authority of the Hokage.
"The situation is too dire for debate. Fugaku will lead a contingent from the First Division to the Valley of the End to stabilize the situation and secure Uzumaki Renjiro. Shiba, you will redirect whatever forces you can from the Second Division to support him there. This is not a request, Commander Daichi. It is an order."
Daichi's jaw clenched. The order was strategically unsound. It risked everything for a single position, for a single shinobi, no matter how powerful. "Hokage-sama, I must protest. You are asking me to gamble the entire central front. Without Fugaku, our defensive cohesion shatters. And if the enemy has developed a counter to the Sharingan, as this attack suggests, then sending my son into that same trap is not a tactical decision; it is a sacrificial one."
"The order stands, Daichi," Hiruzen's voice was cold iron. "Mobilise immediately."
The argument died on Daichi's lips. To defy a direct order in wartime was unthinkable. But the calculation was clear: the Hokage was choosing the potential of Renjiro's survival over the stability of Daichi's entire division.
It was at that moment that the world exploded.
The sound was not external at first; it was a cataclysmic crack that originated inside their own minds. The carefully constructed Yamanaka psychic link shattered into a million fragments of agonizing static.
The mental voices of Hiruzen and Shiba were ripped away, not with a fade, but with a sensation of violent, psychic shearing. It was followed immediately by a physical detonation that shook the very ground beneath their feet.
The command tent shuddered violently. The map table jumped, sending scrolls and markers flying. The lanterns swung wildly, casting frantic, swooping shadows. Outside, the camp's quiet tension erupted into a cacophony of shouts, alarms, and the unmistakable whump of an explosion tags detonating.
In the Hokage's office in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Nara Shiba jolted in their seats as the connection was violently severed.
"What was that?" Shiba asked, his analytical mind reeling from the sudden silence. "Did Daichi just… cut the link? In defiance?"
Hiruzen's face was grave. "No. That wasn't a termination. That was an interruption. A violent one." His instincts, honed by decades of war, screamed at him. The timing was too perfect, too catastrophic.
Before he could voice his fears, the door to his office burst open. A different Yamanaka operative, her face pale, stood gasping for breath. "Lord Hokage! Commander Shiba! We've lost the connection to Commander Daichi's forward command post!"
"We are aware," Hiruzen said, his voice dangerously calm. "Re-establish it."
"We… we can't, sir!" the kunoichi stammered. "The reason for the disruption… our sensory team just reported it. Commander Daichi's position… it's under attack! A massive artillery barrage! The chakra signatures are going wild! They're being bombarded!"
The truth crashed down upon them. Daichi hadn't defied the order. He was fighting for his life. The enemy hadn't just struck at the Valley of the End. They had orchestrated a perfect, coordinated pincer movement. They had lured their attention to one crisis and then unleashed hell with another.