The War Begins

"Otonashi, your house is huge!"

The four little dumplings stood outside the large gate, looking up at the continuous buildings and houses. Every brick and tile was filled with an ancient charm. The long street only had this one large gate, meaning only Uchiha Otoha's family lived here.

What a rich guy!

The three companions' eyes immediately lit up, and they looked at Uchiha Otoha as if he were a human vault!

"What are you guys doing?"

Otonashi weakly held his forehead. In such a short time, he felt like he had made bad friends. This pair of siblings was too much to handle. They hadn't been quiet since they started walking back, either bickering or chattering about nonsensical things...

Even Minato seemed to be getting influenced. At least Minato didn't look at him with that kind of gaze before!

Although this feeling was quite nice!

Katsuki truly marveled at the wealth of the guy in front of him. Although the Uzumaki Clan was also a great clan in the Ninja World, the economy of the Land of Whirlpools couldn't compare to the Land of Fire. Especially compared to the fallen and destroyed Uzumaki, the Uchiha Clan was still strong, even though the incident with Madara Uchiha had dealt them a heavy blow.

However, the Uchiha, relying on their solid foundation, had endured a storm of immense magnitude. Even with the decline of the Senju Clan, they still stood tall in the Ninja World today.

Under the scorching gazes of his companions, Otonashi walked into his home.

Long corridors, courtyards one after another, rock gardens, flowing streams and small bridges, and of course, the indispensable training grounds.

"Mom, I brought friends home."

After walking for a long time, they finally arrived. As soon as he stepped inside, Otonashi shouted.

"Oh my, Otonashi, you actually brought friends home. Little ones, come in quickly." Otonashi's mother was very kind, with a faint smile on her face. She was still wearing an apron and warmly welcomed Katsuki and the others.

"Hello, Auntie!"

The three children politely greeted her in unison and, guided by Otonashi, knelt at the low table.

"Oh, oh, even cockroaches can make friends?" A cold, mocking voice came from outside. A petite loli in a black training outfit, with long, loose black hair, walked in. Her exquisite face was like a carved work of art.

"Otome, how can you talk to your brother like that?" Otonashi's mother called out, placing tea and snacks on the low table while scolding her younger daughter.

"Ah... Sorry, I misspoke." The little loli said indifferently, then her tone suddenly changed, "It should be amoeba!"

"Hey, hey, isn't that even worse?" Otonashi frustratingly slammed the table, glaring angrily. "I'm your brother! You need to respect your brother, you know?"

"Tch!"

The little loli's eyes flicked upwards, not even bothering to look at Otonashi.

"Ahhh! You, you just made a 'tch' sound, didn't you? I heard it, I heard it very clearly." Otonashi completely lacked the cool demeanor he had at school. His hands trembled with indignation at being looked down upon by his own sister.

Katsuki held his teacup and sat upright, feeling his eyes opened wide. Otonashi was like this at home? He never would have imagined it. And he had such a smart sister, it really didn't show at all!

Minato and Kushina were also full of surprise. The way they looked at him made Otonashi even more depressed. He deeply regretted it. If he had known, he wouldn't have specifically come home. He would have rather taken a beating than be in this situation. Now, he truly wished he could die.

"My name is Uchiha Otome. I apologize for my foolish and clumsy brother's behavior. I hope the three of you will bear with him." The little loli politely bowed to Katsuki and the others, causing them to hastily return the gesture.

"Otome, is it? You're so smart." Kushina reached out, pulled the little loli, and held her in her arms. The loli was only slightly shorter than Kushina, but due to her slender frame, she looked much smaller.

Kushina hugged the little loli like she had found a treasure, nuzzling her. Her face was full of delight, and the little loli didn't seem to mind much. She just stared wide-eyed at Minato and Katsuki beside her. As for Otonashi... hehe.

Otonashi had no strength left to resist. He only had one thought: to leave quickly.

"Mom, I'm not eating dinner at home. I might be back a bit late. We just came back to let you know, so you don't need to prepare anything. We're leaving right away." Otonashi jumped up and said loudly, as if he couldn't stand to stay another minute.

"Is that so? Then go play, but come back early tonight and be careful on your way." Otonashi's mother was very understanding and agreed easily.

Otonashi's spirits immediately lifted. Goodness, he could finally leave.

However, Katsuki and Minato stood up, while Kushina, holding the little loli, was dawdling and reluctant to move.

"Sis, hurry up. Don't we still need to go to the market to buy vegetables?" Katsuki looked at his older sister in confusion. Kushina, who always acted decisively, was rarely this slow.

Kushina's delicate nose twitched slightly. She gritted her teeth and said, "Auntie, can I take Otome to my house to play?"

In that instant, Otonashi's face turned pale. Especially a moment later, when he heard the reply, "Of course," his eyeballs immediately rolled upwards...

Life at the Ninja Academy was more pleasant than Katsuki had expected. He had made friends with Minato and Otonashi, as well as Otonashi's genius sister, Uchiha Otome. The shadow of the Uzumaki Clan's destruction finally began to dissipate slightly from the siblings' hearts. People had to learn to look forward; that's just how life was.

Northwest border of the Land of Fire.

Rolling hills, dense bushes covered every inch of the land. Another five to six hundred meters further northwest was the land of the Land of Rain, a country perpetually shrouded in dark clouds.

On the hills stood a sentry post. Konoha's flag fluttered in the gentle breeze, but... the flag's color was excessively vibrant red.

The sentry post was as quiet as a ghost realm. A thick smell of blood permeated the air, attracting a large number of flies. They greedily perched on the cold corpses, feeding on this rare delicacy.

The sentry post was a mess. Corpses were scattered in various corners inside and outside the post. They were literally 'scattered' – heads severed, limbs separated. The most outrageous was a guy's intestines, which were dragged from outside the gate all the way into the sentry post.

Among the bodies were both Konoha ninjas and Rain ninjas. Out of about thirty bodies, more than half were Konoha ninjas. The exact number of casualties was difficult to tally because many were too thoroughly dismembered. Puddles of blood and flesh were mixed together, making it hard to count.

"Captain, it's been a long time since we left, at least five or six hours." An Anbu wearing a fox mask calmly roamed among the piles of corpses, touching this and that, and quickly gave his investigation result.

"Five or six hours?" Sakumo looked coldly at an eyeball at his feet. "Then the Rain ninjas should have engaged our front-line troops. Let's go, we'll go disrupt their supply lines."