Two-Tomoe

The cruelty of the Warring States period was by no means limited to the world of shinobi.

The lives of ordinary people were even harsher. Without a sound legal system or social structure, weakness itself was an unforgivable sin.

To survive, people would find ways to sell everything around them, including their children and wives.

When they returned to the village, they could casually fabricate a lie—say, that their child and wife had been killed by bandits while out.

Those masked sellers from earlier were mostly that kind of person.

Covering their faces wasn't about saving face; it was about keeping their reputation from spreading, so they could still marry and have children again, repeating the same cycle.

So much so that when Scarface saw Sosuke riding a pack horse, he mistook him for someone about to sell off his little sister or child bride at a low price.

"Hurry up, kid, you're dragging your feet." The man voiced his dissatisfaction fully.

He didn't notice at all that the two people on the horse were staring at him with murderous eyes.

Back in his previous life, when he first started elementary school, a cute girl his age lived next door to Sosuke.

They were close, playing together every day after school, until one time he arrived late and watched helplessly as his friend was lured into a van by an old woman.

Little Sosuke shouted and ran desperately after the car, but how could he stop those inhuman traffickers?

That incident hit him hard. For a long time, little Sosuke couldn't move past it.

Later, the family next door moved away, supposedly to search for their lost child.

He never forgot it. Even as he grew up, he would occasionally ask his parents for news about that family.

He always held onto a sliver of hope—that even if his childhood friend had been trafficked, she might still be found, and they could meet again.

Until one day after the college entrance exams, his mother hesitantly told him that the girl had actually been found five years earlier.

At a scrap yard, her legs sawed off, her eyes gouged out, she was discarded there like a broken doll.

It was hard to imagine what kind of abuse that girl, whose smile was as beautiful as a flower, had endured all those years.

After learning this, Sosuke locked himself in his room for an entire day, then resolutely changed his college application.

He would study law, make every trafficker pay heavily. Though his actions might seem laughable, he never let a single captured criminal off the hook for years.

He never expected that in the Hokage World, he'd still have to face these scumbags.

Feeling the Youth's trembling, Mito looked up in slight surprise, seemingly taken aback by his fury.

"So you do have a sense of compassion too."

Seeing the Youth not answer, Scarface's patience wore thin: "Hey, are you deaf? I'm talking to you, can you hear me or not?"

"Back then."

"Huh?"

"Is this how you treated her?"

Before the enemy could react, Sosuke Shunshined in front of Scarface, extended his index and middle fingers, and brutally gouged out both of the man's eyeballs.

"Ah!!!"

Ignoring the man's screams, Sosuke crouched and swung his blade horizontally. The next second, the man's legs snapped cleanly at the knees, the cut perfectly neat.

He stabbed through the man's abdomen, pinning him to the ground, then stepped on the hilt of the blade. His scarlet eyes fixed on the others present, two pitch-black tomoe spinning rapidly.

"So you can feel pain too."

Not long after, two guards from the Uzumaki Clan arrived at the scene.

On the leading woman, they saw the Princess's token and Mito's handwritten letter.

The contents were simple: instructing them to take these poor souls back to the Land of Whirlpools, where they would become citizens from now on.

Aside from a few unlucky ones, most of these people had been sold to traffickers by their own families.

Sending them back would just mean being sold again.

Rather than prolonging their suffering, it was better to send them straight to the Land of Whirlpools—that was Mito's solution.

The letter also said she was going with the Youth to destroy the enemy's hideout, and once that was done, he would naturally let her go.

Looking at the letter, the two powerful shinobi exchanged glances, completely baffled by what had happened.

After a moment's thought, the strongest of the two, a middle-aged man, decided to follow alone, while his companion led the group of unfortunates to the docks.

The Princess's orders could not be disobeyed. Though still worried, they chose to carry them out faithfully.

On the other side, Sosuke was racing through the trees, with that Ponytail Princess gritting her teeth and struggling to keep up.

By now, the Princess's handcuffs were long gone—meaning she was actually free.

Yet Uzumaki Mito stubbornly refused to leave, insisting that those people were now her subjects, and as a princess, she had to vent their anger for them.

"Sigh, you didn't have to do this. I'm already grateful you took care of those people." Sosuke smiled bitterly, trying to persuade her.

This little girl was like a plaster—once stuck, she wouldn't come off.

I tell you to leave, but you won't. When my patience runs out, I'll drag you back to the clan and make you bear a bunch of little Uchiha.

"Hmph." At that, the Ponytail Princess turned her head away with a tsundere air, replying flatly, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing any of this for you."

"Well, if you run into danger, remember to run."

"Ha. Worry about yourself first."

With that, silence fell between them once more.

Watching the Youth before her, Uzumaki Mito was curious—what could have caused such a massive emotional upheaval in him?

What kind of things had happened in his life?

Without realizing it, she had developed a strong interest in this extraordinarily talented young genius.

After a brief pause, Mito suddenly pulled up to ride alongside him, smiling as she extended her hand: "Let's formally meet. Uzumaki Mito."

"...Uchiha Sosuke."

For the first time, their palms clasped together.

From that moment, the earlier rift vanished completely. Along the road to their destination, the sound of their conversation lingered everywhere.

Of course, most of it was Mito talking, while Sosuke listened in silence, occasionally speaking up with remarks that made the girl see him in a new light.

"You brat, not that old but you sure know a lot."

The Ponytail Princess was about to continue when the Youth beside her suddenly made a gesture.

Mito's heart jolted, and she quickly shut her mouth, following the direction of his finger.

Not far ahead, the entrance of a cave was clearly visible, with a few guards lounging lazily at the door.

According to the scar-faced man's confession, the transaction was taking place inside that cave.

"Finally found you." Sosuke's gaze burned with a chilling murderous intent.