After returning home, Sosuke packed his belongings while doing his best to recall the information he had about the Valley of Hell.
At last, he remembered where he had heard of the Chinoike Clan.
"Wasn't this the villainous clan from Sasuke's True Story?"
The Chinoike Clan specialized in a dōjutsu called the Ketsuryūgan. It could use blood to perform secret techniques and even directly create large numbers of human bombs through the dōjutsu.
They had once been residents of the Land of Lightning, and one of the clan's girls had married the Daimyo as a secondary wife.
Not long afterward, the Daimyo died. As a result, the girl was falsely accused by the primary wife of being involved in the Daimyo's murder, causing the entire clan to be exiled to the Valley of Hell, where they endured its scorching heat day and night.
Entrusted by the Land of Lightning, the Uchiha Clan was responsible for guarding these criminals, and the clan received a generous amount of war funding from the Daimyo every year.
For many years, the criminals had lived in peace, seemingly accustomed to the Valley of Hell's sweltering conditions. However, the situation seemed to have changed recently.
Closing the intelligence report in his hand, Sosuke muttered, "A dōjutsu that controls blood. That really is an excellent ability."
Forcing himself to stop thinking about it for the time being, he picked up the notes given to him by the Clan Head. They recorded all kinds of powerful Fire Style techniques.
There were basic techniques such as the Great Fireball, Phoenix Sage Fire, and Flame Bullet.
The slightly more advanced ones included the Great Dragon Fire Technique, Hiding in Ash Technique, and Dragon Flame Song Technique.
From cultivation methods to precautions, the Clan Head had explained everything in detail. It truly deserved to be called a precious gift.
After carefully putting the notes away, Sosuke decided to study them as much as possible in his free time.
As for the current situation, he should first study the legendary Western War Zone.
The Uchiha Clan's main base was located slightly west of the center of the Land of Fire.
Powerful enemies existed in all four directions—east, south, west, and north. In the western region, aside from the Valley of Hell, which had to be guarded, there were also several clan forces worth paying attention to.
The formidable Fūma Clan.
The Kurama Clan, which excelled at using Genjutsu.
The Sarutobi Clan, which enjoyed upholding justice everywhere, as well as its allied clan, the Shimura Clan.
There were more than a dozen other small and mid-sized clans. Their combat strength varied, making this the most complicated region within the forces of the Land of Fire.
Once the unrest in the Valley of Hell was resolved, Sosuke would have to report to the Western War Zone. Sooner or later, he would come into contact with these clans one by one.
"I hope everyone can get along peacefully."
Even he probably did not believe those words. If everything were truly harmonious, why would the Uchiha deploy heavy forces to guard the area? And where would the Points he needed to grow stronger come from?
"Hey, Sosuke."
A familiar shout jolted him awake. When he looked up, he saw Izuna charging in aggressively.
Seeing him packing his belongings, Izuna immediately came forward and demanded, "Where are you going?"
Sosuke glanced at him indifferently and said calmly, "Secret."
"Are you going to the battlefield?!"
"Secret."
"The western battlefield, or are you going to the southern region with Big Brother?"
"Secret."
"Fuck!"
Seeing that Sosuke was completely impervious to persuasion, Izuna glared and rolled up his sleeves, ready to beat him up.
Then he saw electricity flickering across his companion's palm and silently lowered his sleeves again.
"Sigh." Izuna lowered his head and sat gloomily in a chair. "Big Brother is going to wipe out an enemy clan, while you brat gets to wander off somewhere and enjoy yourself. Why do I have to go to that mine where the sun never shines?"
A mine?
Sosuke remembered. The clan seemed to have some seized assets, among which the mine was an important part.
Although the conditions there were terrible, it was far less dangerous than the front-line battlefield.
As long as Izuna was careful, he should not run into any major problems.
What truly worried Sosuke was Uchiha Madara.
Because of his intervention, the brothers had awakened their Sharingan much earlier than they should have. He was worried that Black Zetsu, hiding in the shadows, might begin causing trouble ahead of schedule.
His current strength was still far from sufficient. He had no means of dealing with Black Zetsu at all. If Black Zetsu really started making trouble, he could do little more than respond to whatever came his way.
As Indra's reincarnated chakra, Madara had been destined to attract Black Zetsu's attention from the moment he was born.
That was a fate the Dancing King could not escape.
"Forget it. I don't seem qualified to worry about other people yet." Sosuke gave a bitter laugh and decided to set Madara's situation aside for the time being.
Regardless, Black Zetsu would not allow him to die. As for whether his worldview would be affected, Sosuke simply could not predict it.
Rather than that, he might as well take advantage of Black Zetsu's diverted attention to accumulate strength as quickly as possible. Once he became a Clan Head-level powerhouse, he would have the qualifications to contend with that old schemer.
While chatting idly with Izuna, Sosuke had actually intended to set off immediately. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a while, Izuna still had not left. Then Uchiha Madara, who had heard the news, arrived at the house as well.
Looking at the luggage in Sosuke's hands, Madara said with deep emotion, "I never expected that, in the blink of an eye, the three of us would be separating."
"Yeah." Izuna turned and picked up the conversation. "Who knows how many years it'll be before we gather again."
The two little brats were surprisingly sentimental. As an adult, Sosuke had long since grown accustomed to partings and deaths, so he was not as fragile as they were. "Don't worry. Sooner or later, we'll all be together again."
"The longer we're apart, the happier we'll be when we meet again, right?"
Hearing his optimistic words, Uchiha Madara immediately nodded in agreement and placed his hands on the shoulders of his two younger brothers.
"Promise me that you'll both survive."
"Don't worry, Big Brother."
"It won't be so easy to kill me."
The three exchanged glances, as if they could already see the scene of their reunion many years later.
On the way to the Western War Zone, Sosuke began practicing the Fire Style Ninjutsu taught by the Clan Head.
Unbeknownst to him, a group of bounty hunters had already set their sights on him from the shadows.
Ever since they had resolved the invasion, the three brothers' fame had soared. They had vaguely become representative figures of the Uchiha's younger generation.
Naturally, this also made them targets of hostility from the outside world.
The most direct example was the bounty on their heads. The famous Bounty Exchange had already existed during the Warring States period, and it had gathered a large number of ronin and rogue ninjas.
They formed bounty hunter teams and specialized in hunting down people with expensive bounties on their heads.
If one asked who had been the most famous recently, it was undoubtedly the group of young men known by outsiders as the "Uchiha Three Stars."
Uchiha Madara: a bounty of 25 million.
Uchiha Sosuke: a bounty of 16 million.
Uchiha Izuna: a bounty of 8 million.
If they could kill all three of them, the reward would be enough to guarantee food and clothing for the rest of their lives.
At that moment, the team trailing far behind was a group of bounty hunters with an impressive record.
"He's just a brat. Killing him will be effortless."
"Don't get careless."
After reprimanding his arrogant subordinate, the bounty hunter captain turned his head, only to see the swaying youth ahead suddenly disappear.
"Are you looking for me?" A soft laugh rang out beside their ears.
Is anyone even reading this? My collection count has been increasing by single digits every day. It feels like I wrote a fake fanfic.
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