The Blood-Controlling Eye Technique

Back in his own home, Sosuke packed his bags while straining to recall everything he knew about the Valley of Hell.

Finally, he remembered where he had heard of the Chinoike Clan before.

"Isn't this the villain clan from the Sasuke Shinden story?"

The Chinoike Clan specialized in a dojutsu called the Ketsuryūgan, which allowed them to use blood to perform secret techniques, even directly mass-producing human bombs with their ocular powers.

They were once residents of the Land of Lightning, and a girl from the clan had married the Daimyo as a concubine.

Not long after, the Daimyo passed away, and the principal wife falsely accused her of involvement in his murder. This led to the entire clan being exiled to the Valley of Hell, where they suffered day and night under its scorching heat.

Entrusted by the Land of Lightning, the Uchiha Clan was responsible for guarding these criminals. Every year, the clan received a substantial war fund from the Daimyo.

For many years, the prisoners caused no trouble, as if they had grown accustomed to the brutal heat of the Valley of Hell. But recently, things seemed to have changed.

Closing the intelligence in his hand, Sosuke muttered to himself, "A dojutsu that manipulates blood... that's a truly remarkable ability."

Forcing himself not to dwell on it for now, he picked up the notebook gifted by the clan head. It was filled with all kinds of powerful Fire Release techniques.

Basic ones like Great Fireball, Phoenix Sage Fire, and Flame Bullet.

Slightly more advanced techniques included Great Dragon Fire, Hiding in Ash Technique, and Dragon Flame Song Technique.

From the training methods to the precautions, the clan head had explained everything in detail. It was truly a valuable gift.

Carefully storing the notebook away, Sosuke decided to study it thoroughly in his spare time.

As for the current situation, he would focus on researching the legendary Western War Zone.

The Uchiha Clan's headquarters was located slightly west of the center of the Land of Fire.

To the east, south, west, and north, there were powerful enemies. In the western region, aside from the Valley of Hell that had to be garrisoned, there were several other clan forces worth noting.

The ferocious Fūma Clan.

The Kurama Clan, skilled in genjutsu.

The Sarutobi Clan, who loved to dispense justice everywhere, along with their allied Shimura Clan.

There were also over a dozen other small and medium-sized clans, with varying levels of strength. This area was the most complex in the Land of Fire in terms of power dynamics.

Once the unrest in the Valley of Hell was resolved, Sosuke would need to report to the Western War Zone. Sooner or later, he would have to deal with each of these clans one by one.

"I hope everyone can coexist peacefully."

Even he probably didn't believe those words. If peace were truly possible, why would the Uchiha station heavy troops there? And where would he get the points to grow stronger?

"Hey, Sosuke."

A familiar shout snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Izuna storming in aggressively.

Seeing him packing his bags, Izuna immediately pressed forward and demanded, "Where are you going?"

Giving him a faint glance, Sosuke replied calmly, "Secret."

"Are you going to the battlefield?!"

"Secret."

"The Western War Zone, or heading south with big brother?"

"Secret."

"I'll fucking—"

Seeing that Sosuke was completely unresponsive, Izuna's eyes widened, and he rolled up his sleeves, ready to throw a punch.

But then he saw his friend's palm spark with lightning, and he silently rolled his sleeves back down.

"Sigh." Izuna hung his head and sat gloomily on a chair. "Big brother's off to wipe out an enemy clan, and you're going off to who knows where to have fun. Why do I have to go to that sunless mine shaft?"

Mine shaft?

Sosuke remembered. The clan had some seized assets, and the mine shaft was one of the more important ones.

The environment there was terrible, but the danger was nowhere near as terrifying as the front lines.

As long as he was careful, Izuna wouldn't have too many problems.

What truly worried Sosuke was Uchiha Madara.

Because of his intervention, both brothers had awakened their eyes much earlier than usual. He was concerned that Black Zetsu, lurking in the shadows, might start causing trouble ahead of schedule.

His current strength was far from sufficient. He had no means to deal with Black Zetsu. If that guy really wanted to stir up trouble, Sosuke could only react to his moves.

As Indra's chakra reincarnation, Madara was destined to be watched by Black Zetsu from birth.

This was a fate the Dancing King could not escape.

"Forget it. I don't think I have the right to worry about others yet." Sosuke gave a bitter smile and decided to put Madara's problems aside for now.

No matter what, Black Zetsu wouldn't let anything happen to him. As for whether his worldview would be affected, Sosuke simply couldn't predict.

Rather than that, he should take advantage of Black Zetsu's diverted attention to focus on building his strength. When he finally became a Clan Head-level powerhouse, he would then have the qualifications to play games with that old schemer.

Making small talk with Izuna, Sosuke had originally planned to leave immediately. But before he could go, another person arrived after hearing the news—Uchiha Madara himself.

Looking at the luggage in Sosuke's hands, Madara said with deep emotion, "I never thought the three of us would be parting ways so soon."

"That's right." Izuna turned and picked up the thread: "Who knows how many years it'll be before we're all together again."

These two kids sure were sentimental. As an adult, Sosuke had long grown used to partings of life and death, so he wasn't nearly so fragile right now: "Don't worry, sooner or later we'll all reunite."

"The longer the time apart, the happier the reunion will be, won't it?"

Hearing his open-minded words, Uchiha Madara nodded in agreement and placed his hands on both his younger brothers' shoulders.

"Promise me—you two have to survive."

"Don't worry, big brother."

"Killing me won't be that easy."

The three exchanged glances, as if they could already see the scene of their reunion many years later.

On the road to the Western War Zone, Sosuke began practicing the Fire Style Ninjutsu the Clan Head had taught him.

Little did he know, a band of Bounty Hunters had already set their sights on him in secret.

Ever since they resolved the invasion incident, the three brothers had risen to fame, gradually becoming the soul figures representing the younger generation of the Uchiha.

Naturally, that drew outside hostility.

The most direct sign was the bounties on their heads. The renowned Bounty Exchange had existed since the Warring States Period and had gathered a large number of Ronin and Missing-nin.

They formed teams of Bounty Hunters, specializing in hunting down heads of high value.

If anyone asked who was most famous lately, it was undoubtedly the young men the outside world called the "Uchiha Three Stars."

Uchiha Madara: bounty of 25,000,000 ryo.

Uchiha Sosuke: bounty of 16,000,000 ryo.

Uchiha Izuna: bounty of 8,000,000 ryo.

If they could take down all three, the reward would be enough to guarantee a life of comfort for the rest of their days.

Right now, the team trailing far behind was a group of Bounty Hunters with a fierce record.

"Just a brat. Killing him's as easy as reaching into my pocket."

"Don't get careless."

After scolding his arrogant subordinate, the Hunter Captain turned his head—only to see the youth who had been strolling ahead suddenly vanish.

"Are you looking for me?" A light laugh rang out beside their ears.

Is anyone even reading this? My collection count's only going up by single digits each day—feels like I wrote a fake fanfic.