Black Zetsu's Cry

Seeing that neither of them intended to leave, Tajima frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Is there anything else you need to report?"

Kosuke steeled himself and immediately stepped forward. "Clan Head, I want to keep the Vortex Princess here."

"Hmm?" Tajima's eyes narrowed at once. His tone was no longer calm, but filled with authority. "State your reason!"

Tajima stared at the five-foot-tall boy before him and could not help recalling the old clan head who had personally handed the position of clan head to him.

"I want her to teach Sealing Technique."

Kosuke blurted it out without thinking.

"Teach Sealing Technique..."

The pressure surrounding Tajima quietly faded.

He did not agree immediately. After thinking for a moment, he turned an inquiring gaze toward Madara at his side.

Noticing his father's questioning look, a rare, mysterious smile appeared on Madara's cold face.

Then he shook his head and nodded.

This was...

Before long, Tajima seemed to understand what Madara meant and immediately agreed to Kosuke's request.

At the same time, he ordered that she was not to appear in public.

"Thank you, Clan Head."

As Kosuke bowed and withdrew from the tent, Tajima and Madara keenly noticed the slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth.

"Madara, you may leave as well. Hand the two Uzumaki ninja over to the Intelligence Division, and make sure to conceal their identities along the way."

"Yes, Father."

Watching Madara's departing figure, Tajima recalled Kosuke's expression from earlier, and an amused smile could not help appearing on his lips.

"Old Clan Head, you traded the position of clan head for a granddaughter-in-law for your family—and she's even a princess of the Uzumaki Clan."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... This deal... your family really struck gold."

At that, he thought of Madara, who wore that expressionless face all day long.

It was as though he had no such thoughts at all, always looking arrogantly down on everyone.

Then he reconsidered. Only Izuna was easier to deal with at home. Unlike his older brother Madara, who was like a block of iron. It was exhausting.

"Guards!"

A personal guard silently appeared where Kosuke and Madara had been standing moments ago and dropped to one knee.

"Take this scroll back to the clan and deliver it to Uchiha Aoba."

"Yes, Clan Head."

The personal guard swiftly rose and accepted the scroll Tajima had just finished writing.

"On your way out, notify the elders to come discuss matters."

"Yes."

With a blur, the personal guard vanished from Tajima's sight.

At this moment, Kosuke brought Mito, who was disguised as a man with her hair dyed black, into his tent.

"Until the war ends, you are to stay inside this tent. I'll have someone bring every meal into the tent for you. Also, keep your clothes and hair color as they are. If anything happens otherwise, don't say I didn't warn you."

Listening to Kosuke ramble on like an old woman, Mito impatiently raised a hand to interrupt him. She walked straight to the bed where Kosuke used to sleep, stopped beside it, and stared blankly at him.

"What are you doing?" Kosuke looked at Mito in confusion.

"Since you require me not to leave this tent, this bed belongs to me from now on."

"Belongs to you?! Get this straight: you're a prisoner, not an honored guest!"

Kosuke roared furiously at Mito, hoping she would recognize her situation.

"Whether I'm a prisoner or not, I know better than you do. But you should also understand that you're the one asking something of me, not the other way around. If you don't agree, you can kill me or hand me over to your clan head!"

Mito stared expressionlessly at the indignant Kosuke, then plopped down onto the bed behind her.

"Damn it! Crazy woman, you win!"

After staring at each other for a long time, Kosuke ultimately gave in to the temptation of Sealing Technique. The resentment in his heart seemed capable of piercing through the moon.

Hashirama Senju!

You'd better have started showing off your cheat abilities by now, or I'll beat you so badly even your white-haired little brother won't recognize you!

With that thought, Kosuke turned and left.

He planned to find Madara and discuss how to beat up his former best friend.

"Remember to bring back a new set of bedding!"

Hearing the voice behind him, Kosuke moved like the wind, leaving afterimages in the air.

Several days passed.

On days without missions, Kosuke would get up from the floor every morning, have breakfast with Mito, then go find Madara for training until noon.

After lunch, he would study Sealing Technique with Mito in the tent.

Then at night, he would continue training with Madara while discussing how to lure out his former friend and give him a vicious beating.

As for killing Hashirama?

Kosuke could only smile at that. The air was sweet.

Meanwhile, dark clouds gathered over the Senju and Uzumaki camp, and an oppressive atmosphere hung over every ninja.

The tent where war strategies were usually discussed had erupted into a fierce argument.

"No! No matter what, we absolutely cannot retreat from this battle again!"

"Now that the princess of our Uzumaki Clan has gone missing while outside, we must lead our people back to the clan!"

"Whether you retreat or not is a decision for your Senju Clan. It has nothing to do with my Uzumaki Clan!" The Uzumaki Elder glared furiously at the Senju Elder. Seeing that he seemed unwilling to let them leave, he slammed his hand on the table and rose. "If you insist on making the Uzumaki stay, then make your young clan head Hashirama disappear too before coming to tell me this battle cannot be abandoned!"

With that, the Uzumaki Elder snorted coldly, turned, and left with his clansmen.

They prepared to race back to the clan in a quarter of an hour.

"Damn it!" The Senju Elder smashed the wooden chair beside him with a chop of his hand. "What gives them the right to violate the alliance agreement?!"

Butsuma, who sat in the center, had originally been calm. But upon hearing the Uzumaki Elder's words, his face immediately darkened.

Terrifying Chakra burst from his body in an instant, forming waves like a surging sea.

"Forget about the Uzumaki Clan for now. What we are facing is an Uchiha Clan that is growing stronger by the day."

There was an indescribable confusion in Butsuma's eyes.

Why had the combat strength of the Uchiha clansmen surged so rapidly after only a short time?

He was not the only one. Even Black Zetsu, who had lurked in the Ninja World for nearly a thousand years, was utterly baffled.

After enduring countless hardships in the Ninja World, he had only recently found the most suitable reincarnations of Hagoromo Otsutsuki's eldest son, Indra, and second son, Asura.

Black Zetsu had planned to take advantage of the war between the Uchiha and Senju to infiltrate the Uchiha Clan's Naka Shrine—now their Ancestral Hall—and alter the stone tablet without anyone noticing.

But who would have thought that just as he used the Mayfly Technique to reach beneath the Ancestral Hall, he sensed a faint trace of Eternal Mangekyo Dojutsu spreading throughout the entire clan grounds.

It scared him out of his wits.

Without time to think, he turned and fled.

When he returned to his lair, tiny black beads strangely began to emerge from his pitch-black body.

"Why is there Eternal Mangekyo Dojutsu in the Uchiha Clan grounds?"

"Mother, it has been a thousand years! Just as the plan was about to begin, Eternal Mangekyo appeared within Indra's clan grounds! Your child has it hard!"