Taking a Nice Bath with Mito

"That was roughly what happened."

Kyosuke sat off to the side leisurely, even peeling a chestnut to eat.

"I-I have to wait here for a whole year?!" Mito was dumbfounded.

Why would her father agree to such a request? Delaying things for a year would surely provoke intense dissatisfaction from the Senju.

When that happened, the Uzumaki Clan would be caught between a rock and a hard place.

Quietly studying the beautiful Uzumaki Princess, Kyosuke pondered for a moment before asking curiously, "You have territory of your own, so why insist on wading into the muddy waters of the Land of Fire?"

At first, Mito had no intention of answering him. But when she saw the young man make a move to undress, she hurriedly explained in fright, "The Uzumaki Clan has a special constitution. Many people on the black market are willing to pay to capture us."

"If we hadn't been forced into it, we wouldn't have chosen to establish our nation on some overseas island."

Hearing that, Kyosuke roughly understood the Uzumaki Clan's predicament.

As collateral descendants of Asura, their constitutions were absolutely among the finest. They could fight, endure punishment, and be used in all kinds of experiments.

The Senju were much the same, but they were the foremost powerful clan of the Warring States period. They were not people one could simply plunder at will.

Uzumaki Ashina was indeed very strong, but Sealing Jutsu was easy to learn and difficult to master. The clan members' strength generally fell far short of what it should have been.

If they did not choose to rely on a powerful force, calamity would sooner or later befall the Uzumaki Clan.

When the God of Ninjas fell, the countdown to the Uzumaki Clan's destruction would begin.

Mito understood these issues very clearly. That was why she had wholeheartedly chosen to side with the Senju, hoping to find a suitable refuge for her clansmen in the future.

After hearing her lengthy explanation, Kyosuke nodded. At last, some of the questions in his mind had been cleared up.

"Why didn't you choose to rely on the Uchiha Clan?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"You?" Mito gave a disdainful smile and slightly inclined her head, signaling for him to go outside and see for himself. "Take a walk around the camp right now and see whether your Uchiha Clan has ever tried to accept any outsiders besides prisoners."

That was indeed the truth. The Uchiha Clan was incomparably arrogant, priding itself on being descendants of the Sage. They looked down on every clan other than the Senju.

Accept other clans?

Those people were not even qualified to be servants.

Even during Konoha's era, the Uchiha Clan had remained detached from the entire village, practically forming a nation within a nation.

It did not matter how the Hokage's faction might be described; no ruler could tolerate such an existence. Waiting thirty or forty years before acting was already quite remarkable.

Thinking about his own clan's situation, Kyosuke could not help letting out a soft sigh. For the moment, he could not think of any good solution.

The Uchiha Clan was simply like that by nature. What could he do?

He undid the restraints on the girl. Under Mito's wary gaze, Kyosuke smiled as he took her hand and tore open her sleeve.

"Ah, what are you doing?!"

"Didn't I say it? A year from now, we'll carry a child to meet your father."

"You bastard... y-you calm down—"

Rip!

"Calm down? I can't calm down right now."

Two hours later, Kyosuke and Mito set out together.

To stand against the Senju's allied army, the Uchiha Clan had to unite with other clan forces.

Kyosuke did not care what others thought. With him around, he could not let the Uchiha Clan repeat the mistakes of the past.

In short, everything depended on human effort. To liberate the Uchiha Clan, he would begin by joining forces with other clans.

To oppose the Uzumaki Clan, they would need the aid of the great clans and noble houses of the Land of Fire.

There were not many such powers, and most of them did not hold the Uchiha Clan in high regard.

It would already be fortunate if they did not kick them while they were down. If he wanted them to offer help at a critical moment, he would have to present benefits great enough to move them.

Benefits great enough for them to ignore the casualties among their own members.

Glancing at the dejected Mito, Kyosuke found it rather amusing.

This girl had actually believed he intended to violate her and had even threatened to bite her tongue and kill herself. What a naive method.

In truth, Kyosuke had merely wanted to ensure that she could not escape, so he had carved Flying Thunder God Space Coordinates onto her arm.

She was just a skinny little girl. He would find her uncomfortable even as a body pillow.

He had not intended to bring dead weight along on this trip, but on second thought, leaving her behind with the Uchiha Clan might not have been a good thing.

Things would be fine while he was around, since no one would dare act rashly. But once he left on a long journey, someone might get bad ideas.

For instance, they might use Mito's life to forcibly make the Uzumaki Clan withdraw their troops. If it truly came to that, there was a good chance everything would end in ruin.

Left with no choice, he could only bring Her Highness the Princess along.

With Flying Thunder God, her strength was not enough for her to cause any trouble.

The Yin Seal was indeed powerful, but accumulating Chakra took far too long. If she used it once and failed, who knew how long she would have to wait for the next chance?

Rather than constantly thinking about how to make trouble, she might as well behave and spend a year with him. When the time came, he would naturally let her return home and reunite with her family.

"Why does that sound like something is off..."

Beside him, Mito kept tugging at her sleeve and occasionally rubbing her arm, trying to erase the Flying Thunder God mark from it.

"Stop rubbing it. It'll be awkward if you rub off enough skin to expose the bone." Kyosuke gave the girl a thoroughly malicious look.

"Hmph." The Uzumaki Princess snorted, but her movements gradually stopped.

Perhaps she understood that the mark could not be removed by hand, or perhaps the thought of rubbing down to the bone was simply too horrifying.

In any case, the two did not exchange a single word over the next few hours.

When they passed through a remote little town, Mito made her first request. "I want to wash up."

She had expected the man to refuse, so that she could bargain with him.

To her surprise, Kyosuke nodded and said, "We really should find somewhere to rest properly. Conditions on the front lines are still far too poor."

"Uh..." The red-haired girl blinked, and a strange feeling suddenly rose in her heart.

Maybe this guy wasn't actually that hard to get along with? Unfortunately, she quickly tore that thought apart with her own hands.

"Ah, Uchiha Kyosuke, what are you doing?!" In the hot spring, Mito completely lost it.

She had wanted to soak in a hot spring and ease the hardships she had suffered over the past few days. Yet before long, she saw that bastard Uchiha come in too.

"Why are you screaming?" Kyosuke picked at his ear and said impatiently, "It's a mixed-bathing hot spring. Who can you blame for not checking properly before coming in?"

"B-but..."

"Go somewhere else. Don't disturb my rest." With that, Kyosuke closed his eyes and even began to snore softly.

Seeing this, Uzumaki Mito quickly calmed down. She raised her hand, eager to make a move.

If I attack now, could I—

Before she could finish that pleasant dream, Kyosuke's lips curled slightly. In an indistinct murmur, he muttered, "Naughty children get their butts spanked... uh, their butts spanked..."

Across from him, the girl with the bun hairstyle instantly fell silent. She pulled a towel over her head and sulked without saying a word.