Today was arguably one of the worst days of Uchiha Izuna's life.
Two days ago, he had been sent out with a team of twelve to negotiate a peaceful annulment of the alliance between the Uchiha and the Hagoromo under his brother and clan leader, Uchiha Madara.
This plan had been underway since his brother claimed the seat of clan head a year ago, after their father fell in battle against the Senju.
Izuna and Madara had always been dissatisfied with how the Hagoromo clan did things since they were children, because the Hagoromo felt it was acceptable to hunt down the young children of their enemies.
The fact that their father had agreed to such filthy, underhanded means had always felt like a stain on the Uchiha legacy. And the two of them wanted to scrub clean the idea that such a thing was acceptable from their clan members' minds. Even if they had to go against their elders to achieve that.
That's not to say they wanted to go to war with the Hagoromo clan, not when they were already in an endless cycle of fighting with the Senju.
Gods know that whenever the Uchiha are in any kind of struggle, the Senju and their allies would take the opportunity to wipe them out.
So Izuna and Madara had agreed that the best way to handle this was to make a clean break without offending the Hagoromo.
And things had gone well at Izuna's meeting with them. They agreed that neither clan considered the other an enemy and that, from this day forward, they would no longer be bound by their former alliance.
Who would have thought that the moment Izuna and his entourage began their way home, they would be ambushed by the very clan they had just had a peaceful talk with!
They sent a ridiculously large number after them because they must have known that was the only way they would have been able to win.
This was Izuna's fault. He should have known better than to trust the words of a clan that thinks hunting children is some kind of sport.
That was how Izuna found himself on his own, the rest of his clan's men scattered, fighting too far from him or… long since passed to the pure lands. May the sun goddess put them to peaceful rest.
As he fought for his survival, all Izuna could think about was how angry his big brother was going to be because of this.
The reason Madara wasn't here was that the Senju had been preparing for a surprise battle, and of the two of them, Madara was the one their people needed most.
Cornered on all sides, Izuna couldn't help but lament his lack of a Mangekyō Sharingan. If he had unlocked one, his brother's bastards wouldn't be able to corner him like this.
Maybe he would have been able to use Susanoo to protect his poor clan members who gave up their lives to shield him today-
One of the four Hagoromo men he was fighting suddenly charged at him. He could see the exact movements and how he would have been able to dodge them if his body wasn't already at the peak of exhaustion.
Izuna gritted his teeth. He wouldn't be able to drag it out; he might as well face it head-on. He hurried to raise his sword, but even as he did so, he could tell his movements were too slow.
He cursed at these assholes for not looking him in the eye.
It would have been so easy to put them under a Genjutsu if they slipped up. Even if his chakra reserves were running low, he would have managed.
But they weren't slipping, and Izuna could see the exact trajectory of the attack. If that move hit him, he would definitely suffer an internal injury, and then fighting would be impossible.
His fate after this would be in their hands. They would try to use him to blackmail his brother.
Izuna braced himself for the hit, but something strange happened.
For one hopeful beat, he thought it was one of his clan members. An Uchiha who managed to come to his rescue, but…
Izuna was unfamiliar with the weight of their killing intent and chakra. He could tell immediately that they were not an Uchiha.
Not with this prickling sensation that sparked across Izuna's skin, like static before lightning strikes. The hairs on his arms and neck stood on end, and for a moment he struggled to breathe before forcing himself to shake it off.
With his Sharingan active, he could see the figure's movements down to the microscopic cue, and he knew the Hagoromo man who was about to mess him up was in for a very bad time.
Izuna was proven right when the man's wrist was caught, and a long, slender foot was thrown out to make solid contact with his chest. The loud crack that followed was a clear sign that his sternum had definitely broken.
The hit sent him flying toward a tree, where he unexpectedly broke through it, and the tree fell on him.
Izuna was flabbergasted.
And honestly, it wasn't even because of the stranger's timely intervention in the fight. Oh no, it was because-
"Maa, all of you against him seems a little excessive." Izuna stared as the figure straightened up.
He could see, from where he was pressed flush against the tree, that the Hagoromo were just as flabbergasted as he was. Because-
"So why don't I join in too?"
Because of that voice! And that body shape!
This was a kunoichi!
Then one of the three left standing barked out a laugh. The other three were quick to follow.
"A kunoichi? What is this? Did the Uchiha send a woman to your rescue?"
"You should leave while we're still being generous."
"Let her leave? No, no, we should teach her a lesson!"
Izuna stared at them in disbelief. These men had just watched her break one of their comrades' ribs with a single kick, yet they were still underestimating her because she was a woman.
"Maa, why are all grown men so annoying around here?" Izuna heard her lament to herself. "I might seriously end up killing half the population if this keeps happening."
She disappeared. Izuna's Sharingan barely caught the movement. The woman reappeared in front of the closest Hagoromo before he could even react. Her fist drove straight into his stomach. New chapters come out on g.com first.
The man's eyes bulged, and he flew backward, crashed into another man, and sent both of them tumbling through the dirt.
Izuna finally managed to see her face and immediately identified her as a Hatake. A very beautiful one at that. Which made sense, since their territory should be very close by.
And so began a pitiful one-sided smackdown as the Hatake kunoichi beat the living daylight out of his opponents with impressive Taijutsu he couldn't even dream of mastering.
It wasn't something he had ever thought he would see, not from a kunoichi, anyway. There were normally more assassins and spies, not… not front-line fighters.
They were just not as durable as men…
Or that was what he had always been told…
Their women were normally encouraged to stay away from the fighting in general, to focus more on protecting and nurturing their children, and to leave the fighting to the men.
Watching this pathetic display made him question what their Uchiha women were taught and…
What the hell did the Hatake feed their women?
Watching this Hatake kunoichi fight Izuna gave him the distinct feeling that even if he had been at full power right now, he still wouldn't have been able to fight her and come out unscathed.
A woman like that was so outstanding that Izuna couldn't help but believe even his brooding big brother might have shown her a little respect.
It barely took any time at all for there to be only one Hagoromo man standing. With sweat dripping down his forehead, he charged.
The Hatake woman turned toward him, and to Izuna's astonishment, she didn't even bother taking a proper stance. She simply raised one hand, and when the man's sword came down, her fingers caught the blade.
Izuna's eyes widened.
She had caught it with her bare hand as if it were nothing! No wait-
Her fingers were covered with a faint coating of chakra! What kind of unholy control over chakra is this!
The Hagoromo man stared at her in disbelief, and she stared back at him. The look on her face was one of complete boredom.
Izuna immediately felt sorry for him.
"Are you done?" The man tried to yank his sword free. It didn't move an inch from her grip.
The woman's fingers tightened around the blade, and the sword snapped in half. The Hatake woman looked at the broken piece of metal in her hand for a second, then flung it at the man's head.
Izuna had barely blinked when the last Hagoromo man fell dead to the ground. He forced himself up because the Hatake turned to him.
Then she smiled. It was a lazy smile, and he would almost call it friendly if he hadn't just watched her dismember these people.
Izuna lamented now more than ever that he had never bothered to learn anything about the Hatakes and their stance toward the Uchiha.
"Are you okay, little Uchiha?"