Naruto: Under the Banner of the Clans

"His face... It wasn't human..." murmured the man in black.

"What are you talking about?"

The men who had confronted Akeno's clone were now on high alert, in case the figure returned, scanning the surroundings with caution.

"Eyes, mouth, nose... There was nothing on his face." Looking seriously at the man in front of him, he grabbed his right shoulder with his remaining hand fervently. "Mo Tian, you have to believe me! And you felt his aura, didn't you? If it's a human, he must be a demonic cultivator like us!"

Mo Tian had indeed sensed the aura of the opponent, and just like his comrade with the half-severed right arm, he assumed that the thing he had stabbed was part of the demonic path.

In this world, there were two major paths: the orthodox path, which had strict rules to avoid causing evil and chaos, and the demonic path, which respected no rules, turning people into pills, and using entire cities as sacrifices.

Today, cultivators on the demonic path were hunted, their sects destroyed at the slightest opportunity. They were the enemies of the entire world.

As long as they lived, no one would be safe from them.

"Calm down," said Mo Tian, pulling a dagger from his belt and plunging it vertically into his comrade's head. "And also, never say my name again."

Letting the lifeless body fall before him, Mo Tian turned to his other companions. "Get ready! We're moving!"

Crack!

Turning his head toward the noise, they saw the same figure that had disappeared, now perched on a tree branch.

"You're back," Mo Tian whispered.

Crack!

But just as he was about to rush in to kill him, another figure with exactly the same appearance appeared on the opposite side of the first clone.

"What the—"

Crack!

Suddenly, five clones surrounded them, exuding the same aura, preventing the enemies from distinguishing them or fleeing.

"This just got complicated."

Mo Tian's group consisted of fifteen individuals, now minus the one he had just killed.

There were several other groups scattered in the forest for other ambushes.

But Mo Tian felt that the roles had reversed.

"Kill them!" Mo Tian ordered as he charged toward the first clone he had seen, while the others split into groups of three or four to take on a clone each.

"Suiton – Water Dragon!" With perfect coordination, five water dragons were created from the water produced by the clones' chakra.

Each dragon, about five meters long, rushed towards their enemies.

"What kind of technique is this?" Shocked by the incoming water dragon, Mo Tian dodged at the last second as the dragon exploded next to him, disrupting his vision and propelling him a few meters to the side.

Seizing the moment, the clone appeared in front of Mo Tian, weapon in hand.

"Technique of the Hundred Lotus." With grace and speed, the clone slashed as quickly as possible.

Regaining his footing, Mo Tian parried with his dagger, using the clone's force to push back and gain some distance.

"If you think I'll let myself be intimidated!" Regaining his stance, he charged at the clone again, not giving it time to unleash any more strange techniques.

With the sound of pounding hearts and bones producing explosive noises, the entire area was flooded with noise.

For the clones, who only had access to a small portion of chakra, they lacked the strength to defeat their opponents one-on-one.

Fairly quickly, Mo Tian's dagger pierced the clone's throat, causing it to dissipate in a cloud of smoke. "Again!?"

Turning around, he saw the rest of his comrades killing their opponents, who then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"We need to leave, now!"

Crack!

As their group began to retreat, realizing the strangeness of their enemy, several figures appeared, chasing after them.

All dressed the same, with no faces.

The cultivators ran as fast as they could, occasionally stopping to eliminate a few clones that got too close.

The clones ran along the trees, sometimes moving horizontally.

"How many of them are there!?" shouted one of the men in black, somewhat exhausted.

Seeing his comrades beginning to suffer from a lack of Qi, Mo Tian exclaimed, "They're trying to wear us out! We need to regroup with the other teams!"

...

Further away, accompanied by the hundred fighters of the sect, Akeno ran alongside Fang Qin, slightly adjusting his direction every few minutes.

After some time, they stopped in front of the corpse of a man in a black robe. His right arm was half-severed, and his face was pierced by a sharp weapon.

"We're close," said Akeno, keeping an eye on the direction of the enemies. "Let's hurry."

Resuming their run, the instructors and disciples who had lost faith in Akeno and this operation regained hope.

No one knew why this man was dead, but it was ample proof that they were on the right track.

Only Fang Qin noticed the details and saw puddles of water and footprints leading in all directions.

It was clear that whoever was here had fought against several enemies.

...

Finally finding one of the other groups spread out in the forest, Mo Tian had already used up most of his Qi fighting the different clones that kept appearing.

Half of his team was dead, and the other half couldn't hold on much longer.

It was a disaster.

They had fought over a hundred individuals, and every time they managed to injure or kill one, they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

They felt like prey being hunted by an invincible enemy.

Approaching the leader of the other team, Mo Tian felt his stress ease. "...Finally... We need to hurry..."

"What happened to you?" asked the other man in black.

"...I don't know, men in white outfits with no faces... I think we lost them, but we should head back to base."

"Very well! Lead the way, and we'll bring up the rear."

Taking a deep breath before resuming the run, Mo Tian didn't notice the smile on the second group's leader, nor the fifteen corpses hidden about a hundred meters behind the trees.

...

"They took the bait!" Akeno murmured with a broad smile.

Akeno followed what was happening with Mo Tian through his clones that were dissipating over time.

As they ran, Akeno and Fang Qin's group saw the various corpses along the path. Some showed signs of electrocution, others were completely drenched, and sometimes they were decapitated.

"Akeno, is this your doing?" Fang Qin asked, slightly concerned.

If it wasn't Akeno, then they might be dealing with a group capable of driving away cultivators at the Organ Fortification level, which wasn't good for them.

Responding quietly, Akeno reassured Fang Qin. "It's on our side, nothing to worry about. Now we head straight to their base."

Visibly relieved, Fang Qin asked for more information. "Are the children there?"

"I don't know..." Akeno replied. "But we'll find out very soon."

...

Arriving at the outskirts of their base, Akeno's clones began to sense the various negative emotions that hung in the air.

They were close!

Getting a bit closer, they saw a dilapidated wooden house that seemed abandoned in the forest. It was a miracle it was still standing.

Circling the building, Mo Tian hurried ahead and continued a few hundred meters to stop in front of a very large tree, probably the largest within a kilometer.

Kneeling, he opened a hatch that had been hidden under a pile of leaves.

From inside, a smell of blood and decay wafted out, but it didn't stop Mo Tian and his group from entering.

Though it was difficult, the fifteen disguised clones following them showed no change in expression and followed them into this lightless hole.

The moment the hatch closed, more than a hundred clones appeared, surrounding it. These were the last clones still active.

ILLUSTRATION

There were other groups of cultivators holding ambushes in the forest; maybe they hadn't found them all, but those they had discovered were no longer a threat.

Looking at each other, one of the clones made a hand sign and dissipated, sharing his memories with the main body.

...

"Got it. I've found their base!"