Black and Red Twin Evils?!

"For safety's sake, I'll bring this matter up to Father tonight," Madara said in a low voice, staring directly at Kosuke. "But Father will then learn of your existence."

"Tonight..." Kosuke rapidly weighed the pros and cons in his mind. After a moment, he looked up and said steadily, "In three days, bring the clan members who volunteer to participate. I'll be waiting for you here with an optimized Greater Heavenly Circulation route diagram."

"As for Clan Head Tajima," a subtle curve touched Kosuke's lips, "I'm sure he'll conclude that you orchestrated this whole matter. I'm merely a child who has just turned six, after all."

Madara and Izuna looked at Kosuke's confident smile, unable to suppress their doubts. Where did such certainty come from?

The three-day deadline arrived in the blink of an eye.

The atmosphere in the basement was even graver than before.

Tajima personally entered with a ninja.

The man had lost an arm and a leg in the war. His only remaining right eye had blurred vision from exhausting his Dojutsu. He was Uchiha Mizuma, who had volunteered to become the test subject.

"Clan Head, Lord Madara!" Mizuma's voice was calm and resolute as he struggled to straighten his incomplete body.

Tajima patted Mizuma on the shoulder, his voice low and hoarse. "Mizuma... the clan will remember your sacrifice. Madara, begin."

He looked past Madara at Kosuke behind him, a trace of barely perceptible gratification in his eyes.

Madara silently nodded. He stepped forward and laid the simple, clear Greater Heavenly Circulation route diagram he had prepared flat on the table before Mizuma. After giving the clansman before him a deep look, he retreated to his original position.

Mizuma took a deep breath.

His vision was blurred due to excessive Dojutsu consumption, so he had no choice but to activate his Sharingan to barely make out the densely packed words on the Scroll.

He began reading with his full concentration.

A moment later, he closed his eyes and awkwardly began circulating his chakra according to the new route diagram.

Second by second, time passed. Just as everyone's long wait was turning to disappointment, a strange fluctuation emerged from Mizuma's body.

Before anyone could rejoice, Mizuma's condition suddenly changed.

The Natural Energy absorbed into his Meridians instantly shed its harmless appearance from the outside world and began rampaging through Mizuma's Meridians.

Wracked by intense pain, Mizuma immediately tried to stop circulating his chakra. But the sudden mutation in his body threw his thoughts into complete chaos.

Roar—

An inhuman howl instantly echoed through the basement.

At the same time, Tajima, who had been watching closely, inwardly cried out in alarm.

Tajima's figure flickered, and he appeared beside Mizuma in an instant, immediately chopping at his neck with a hand blade.

But it was already too late. From the moment the first trace of Natural Energy entered Mizuma's body, his fate had been sealed.

Watching Mizuma's body rapidly mutate and swell, everyone's eyes widened in shock.

Seeing this from the back, the words "Sage Chakra" rang in Kosuke's mind.

If no one possessed the ability to stop it, then one needed an indomitable will, powerful chakra, and the proper ratio of Sage Chakra.

Otherwise, there was only death.

Thinking of this, Kosuke suddenly raised his head and fixed his gaze on Mizuma's mutating body. He murmured, "How could I have forgotten about this?"

However, everyone present was a ninja with exceptionally sharp hearing. How could they possibly fail to hear his murmur?

Tajima frowned deeply, his gaze never shifting as he stared fixedly at the motionless Mizuma.

Mizuma no longer looked human. Petrification, woodification, beastification... it was as though every living creature in existence had manifested upon his body.

Tajima turned to the others and shouted sternly, "This matter is to be classified as the clan's highest secret! No one is to leak it! Any violator will be treated as a traitor to the clan! Even if you die, I will find a way to drag you back from the Underworld and subject you to eternal enslavement and torment!"

"Yes, Clan Head!!" everyone answered solemnly.

"Madara, take Kosuke and the others back first." Tajima turned his gaze to Madara, his tone brooking no argument. "This matter is over. Also, notify logistics to provide greater care for Mizuma's family. There must not be any oversight."

"Yes, Clan Head!"

After bowing to Tajima, Madara turned and swiftly left with Izuna, Mina, and Kosuke, leaving the underground space to the Uchiha Clan Head.

Once the four vanished from sight, Tajima's gaze returned to the lifeless "Mizuma." "Clean this place up."

"Yes!"

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Having set foot on the battlefield for two full years, Uchiha Kosuke's eyes had settled into indifference toward life and death.

His reputation rose across the battlefield like blazing flames.

With his meticulous chakra control, ruthless decisiveness in squad tactics, and fearless rescues when his comrades' lives hung by a thread, Kosuke and Madara—who had likewise risen to prominence on the battlefield in recent years—became the "Black and Red Twin Evils," a name that struck terror into enemy Senju and Uzumaki ninja.

"Damn it, did those old Senju and Uzumaki bastards get Underworld mud shoved into their brains? 'Black and Red Twin Evils'? What the hell kind of name is that?! Fuck!"

Kosuke removed half of his bloodstained Black Armor, his knuckles turning white from how tightly he gripped the shoulder guard.

Outside the hide tent erected in the camp, several young clansmen gathered around a brazier, eagerly discussing the latest battle reports. When that absurd title was mentioned, his ears suddenly twitched.

He had initially assumed Madara had gained another title after "Battlefield Asura," but after asking further, he learned that the epithet had tied the two of them together.

He was "Black Fiend," while Madara was "Red Fiend."

Irritably flinging the bloodstained rag onto the wooden rack, Kosuke stepped over the gravel and headed straight for Madara's tent.

Droplets seeping through the gaps in his armor slid along his collarbone into the lining, blooming into dark red stains on the pure black fabric—was it because he wore Black Armor year-round?

What an utterly stupid association!

"If Madara put on a white robe, would he have to be called 'Black and White Impermanence'?"

Kosuke shook his head and let out a scoff. No wonder that clan was so single-minded!

Ignorance was terrifying!

"Madara, you're back..." Kosuke raised a hand and lifted the tent flap.

Whoosh!

Before he could finish speaking, a kunai shot out of the tent with a fierce gust of wind, whistling past Kosuke's ear by a hair!

"Holy shit! Madara, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Kosuke kicked the tent flap aside, but his body paused slightly when he saw Madara sitting alone in the shadows.

That guy sat cross-legged on the felt rug, the coldly gleaming Kusanagi Sword laid across his knees.

His Sharingan glimmered scarlet in the dim tent, like a beast poised to strike.

"Well, well, is our Lord 'Red Fiend' practicing assassination techniques?" Kosuke pulled off the kunai pouch at his waist and slapped it onto the low table. A faint smell of blood rose amid the clinking metal as he reached out to light the candle. "Or... are you still secretly heartbroken over that 'good friend' who skipped stones with you for years, only to be set up by the clan?"

Madara's pupils abruptly contracted, the two tomoe within them spinning at high speed!