It Is This Chaotic World That Harmed Them

"War is unavoidable. It's a good thing to let him witness its cruelty sooner rather than later."

Uchiha Fugaku said, appraising Qingye's young face with a hint of emotion. "As for you, Qingye, it's truly remarkable how much you've impressed me in just a few months. If your parents could see you now, I'm sure they'd be proud."

Uchiha Fugaku didn't see anything wrong with his actions at all.

Look, here was a living example!

He graduated from the Ninja Academy at nine and stepped onto the battlefield just a few months later.

He never shirked difficult or dangerous missions, often finding himself in peril, even on the brink of death from severe injuries!

In return, his strength soared, his Sharingan evolved repeatedly, and at just twelve years old, he possessed a power that even Fugaku had to acknowledge!

This gave Uchiha Fugaku an idea.

The Uchiha clan's Sharingan was indeed best tempered in the crucible of war, amidst blood and fire.

"Itachi, you should learn from Qingye more in the future."

"Yes, Father!"

Uchiha Itachi nodded obediently.

Qingye almost rolled his eyes.

Forget it!

Better stay away from me!

Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi were arguably the most extraordinary father and son duo in the entire Naruto world!

One brought his four-year-old son to the battlefield, while the other personally slew his parents and wiped out his own clan... they were truly a pair of unparalleled strategists!

It was a wonder that such a family produced a normal child like Sasuke.

After a few polite exchanges, Qingye and Uchiha Fugaku headed to the commander's tent together.

Leaving Uchiha Itachi outside, Qingye lifted the flap and entered. The tent was packed with over twenty people, some who had been on the Iwagakure battlefield all along, and others who had just arrived as reinforcements. Without exception, they were all Jonin.

Each person had a chair, forming a circle.

In the center sat the commander, Shikaku Nara. To his right was Minato Namikaze, and two chairs to his left were empty.

"Allow me to introduce everyone!"

Shikaku Nara stood up to greet them. "Some of our new comrades may not know him yet. This is Uchiha Qingye. The one who killed hundreds of Iwagakure Ninja and captured Kitsuchi!"

A wave of hushed whispers swept through the tent.

The Konoha Jonin all looked at him with astonishment.

They heard Uchiha Qingye was only twelve years old!

Twelve years old with such achievements? Was he even human?

"Qingye-kun, Clan Head Fugaku, please take a seat. I will arrange the missions for the next phase."

Shikaku Nara gestured for Qingye to sit to his left.

"..."

Qingye glanced at the two empty chairs in front of him, suspecting Shikaku Nara was deliberately messing with him.

Having him sit in the middle, with Uchiha Fugaku below him, made it seem as if Qingye was the Uchiha clan head.

Qingye cast a sidelong glance at Uchiha Fugaku.

Unfortunately, their clan head maintained his usual stoic expression, giving away no hint of his thoughts.

Clearing his throat, Qingye decided not to stand on ceremony and took his seat. Uchiha Fugaku followed half a step behind, sitting down with a blank expression.

After listening to Shikaku Nara's arrangements, the summary could be boiled down to one word:

Kill!

Kannabi Bridge was destroyed, making it difficult for Iwagakure to transport supplies in large quantities for the time being.

Konoha had just received reinforcements, so there was nothing more to say. They would charge forward and eliminate all Iwagakure Ninja remaining in the Land of Grass!

On the chaotic battlefield.

After only two days of rest, the great battle resumed.

On the Iwagakure side, their commander was captured, his fate unknown. Now, their supplies were cut off, and they were facing Konoha Ninja who had just received reinforcements. The tide of the war had completely turned!

After several days and nights of fierce fighting, the battlefield was littered with the corpses of Ninja.

"Is this war...?"

Uchiha Itachi's eyes were vacant.

A group of strangers, fighting another group of strangers for reasons unknown, all wishing for the death of the other. The dried blood on the ground had a chilling black hue.

Walking across this battlefield, one could occasionally see various dismembered corpses.

Heads and limbs were severed by swords, bodies were shattered by explosive tags, and even internal organs were visible.

Stepping on the organs splattered all over the ground by accident felt sticky and extremely uncomfortable.

Coupled with the smell of charred corpses from the flames, this place was like a living hell.

"Water, water..."

An Iwagakure Ninja lying on the ground stirred his throat, his blurry consciousness gradually clearing.

Suddenly, his dry lips were moistened, and a life-saving stream of water flowed into his throat. He gulped it down, and only then did he slowly regain consciousness.

He forced his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was a child.

So young?

He must be only four or five years old.

Wait!

Why is a child on the battlefield?!

The Iwagakure Ninja suddenly noticed the ninja tool pouch on the child's leg, his expression changed, and he thrust the kunai in his hand towards the child!

Ching!

Blood splattered!

Uchiha Itachi's hand moved instinctively, and with a slash, he cut open the Iwagakure Ninja's throat.

Clap, clap, clap--

Qingye walked over, clapping his hands, and couldn't help but praise, "To have such reflexes at just four years old, truly worthy of being the Patriarch's son."

He hadn't expected to witness such a scene right after returning from a mission.

"Sentimental fool."

Fugaku, who had appeared behind Uchiha Itachi at some point, crossed his arms and shook his head in disappointment, "Still too soft-hearted!"

Don't worry, he'll definitely change this bad habit later.

He'll be able to cut your neck cleanly and quickly then, without any pain.

Qingye felt he increasingly couldn't understand how Uchiha Fugaku's mind worked.

He's only four years old, his worldview hasn't even been established yet, and you're already tormenting him like this. Are you afraid your son won't grow up crooked?

"Why, why did he kill me?"

Uchiha Itachi's face was blank, "Why do people kill each other?"

I was clearly trying to save him.

I clearly didn't want to kill him!

"Because he saw you as a threat from Iwagakure."

Qingye lowered his head and kindly explained, "Konoha suffered too many casualties in the war, so we had to kill as many Iwagakure Ninja as possible to weaken their threat.

And he saw you as a future threat from Iwagakure, so he wanted to kill you. If it were any other Konoha Ninja, he would have died even faster, so you don't need to blame yourself for his death."

Uchiha Itachi frowned, as if deep in thought.

After a long while, Uchiha Itachi suddenly understood, his eyes lighting up, "I get it, it wasn't me who killed him, it was this chaotic world that killed him!"

Saying that, Uchiha Itachi looked at Qingye expectantly, "Brother Qingye, is that what you mean?"

"..."

Qingye remained silent, merely squatting down and rubbing Uchiha Itachi's head.

Kid, you're invincible now!

Suddenly remembering something, Qingye reminded him, "Oh right, don't forget to search his belongings. He might have explosive tags or something, those are worth quite a bit of money too."

"Ah, this..." Uchiha Itachi was stunned.

Is this right?

I just convinced myself not to feel guilty, and now I have to search a dead person's belongings?

Qingye chuckled, "Think of it this way: he's already dead. If you don't collect his explosive tags and shuriken, then he died for nothing, right?"

Uchiha Itachi scratched his head, feeling that the logic was somehow off.