Battlefield Rose

"That was more or less what happened."

After briefly explaining why he had appeared, Sosuke handed over the chicken wing he had roasted. "I never would've guessed you had it in you to be this heroic."

"Of course. Do you even know who I am?" Uzumaki Mito accepted it instinctively, only realizing something was wrong after putting the food in her mouth. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Where did you get a chicken wing?"

"I just found it outside."

"Really?"

"All right, I bought it from an old farmer at the foot of the mountain. Go ahead and eat."

"That makes more sense."

For some reason, even though she had just gone through a life-or-death crisis, Uzumaki Mito was in an unusually cheerful mood.

After wolfing down the chicken wing, she tossed aside the skewer and looked brightly at her companion. "Let's go out and have some fun together."

"Aren't you going to reunite with your clan?" Sosuke found it rather strange. If you don't hurry back, the Land of Whirlpools will probably announce your death.

"What's the rush?" Ponytail clearly didn't care. After surviving a life-or-death crisis, all she wanted now was to cast everything aside and travel around.

Once she had played enough, she would return and give everyone the shock of their lives.

Just imagining that scene made Uzumaki Mito feel happy.

"Sosuke, how about we go to the Land of Hot Water first?"

"No."

"Then the Land of Snow will do. I've never seen snow before."

"What's so interesting about snow?"

"Then let's go sightseeing at the Daimyo's Mansion in the Land of Fire."

Looking at the eager girl beside him, Sosuke sighed and glanced at the Points that were about to reach the required amount.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, "How about we go to the Land of Iron for a while?"

The Land of Iron was home to many skilled craftsmen. His Flying Thunder God Technique required specially forged Kunai, so it was the perfect place to look.

He could also ask around for better weapons. He had discovered that fighting empty-handed was simply too disadvantageous.

Especially when facing close-combat experts, the difference between weapons could very well determine whether the two sides lived or died.

He did not need a divine weapon on the level of the Kusanagi Sword. At the very least, he needed a special metal capable of conducting chakra.

Then he could fully unleash the power of his Chidori Blade.

While searching for famous craftsmen, he could also farm some Points.

As for the army, Uchiha Shū would watch over it in his stead. He believed nothing would go wrong in the short term.

"The Land of Iron?" Uzumaki Mito nodded, having no strong objections.

She had never been anywhere, after all. No matter where they went, it would be an entirely new experience.

Most importantly, Mito had no money in her pocket.

Without money, she had no say in the matter, and she did not even have the courage to suggest changing their route.

For the first time in her life, the Princess of the Land of Whirlpools realized the importance of money.

"Hey, remember to buy me some gifts when we get to the Land of Iron."

"You don't have any money?"

"Heehee, you noticed."

"Hmph. Don't come so close when there's nothing wrong. We're not that familiar."

The two bickered all the way as they began racing along the coastline toward the Land of Samurai.

Meanwhile, news of Mito's "death" reached her homeland. Uzumaki Ashina flew into a rage and immediately led his troops ashore in the Land of Water.

He intended to personally butcher Kaguya Hisao and console his daughter's spirit in heaven.

Faced with the powerful invasion of a foreign enemy, the Kaguya Clan launched a fierce counterattack.

What began as minor clashes gradually developed into large-scale armed conflict.

Against the naturally powerful Sage Descendants, the Kaguya Clan fought with extraordinary tenacity. Even though they were at a disadvantage, they still firmly dragged the battle to a standstill along the border.

They gave the Uzumaki Clan no chance to strike straight at their heartland.

For the time being, the two armies remained locked in a stalemate.

Land of Fire, Southern War Zone.

This was the domain of the Five Secret Jutsu Clans.

Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi—the famed Ino-Shika-Cho combination.

Alongside the Aburame Clan, which controlled poisonous insects, and the Inuzuka Clan, which trained ninja hounds, the five were collectively known as the "Five Secret Jutsu" Clans.

Apart from the Ino-Shika-Cho, the other clans did not have particularly good relations. If not for the foreign enemies watching them hungrily, the Five Secret Jutsu Clans might have already started fighting among themselves.

Those so-called foreign enemies were, naturally, the illustrious Uchiha.

Several years earlier, Yamanaka Koji had plotted an Extinction Plan, and the Uchiha's future had nearly been destroyed by his hands.

With such a deep grudge between them, how could the proud Uchiha possibly let it go unanswered?

For more than a year, the two sides had repeatedly erupted into major battles.

Faced with enemies bent on revenge, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans banded together for warmth, even surrendering more than half of their clans' mission shares.

To outsiders, it looked as though the Uchiha Clan was pressing them relentlessly and refusing to leave the Ino-Shika-Cho any path to survival.

After a certain "accident," the Inuzuka Clan was forced to join the battlefield. Even so, the situation still did not change.

The reason was simple: the Southern Legion had a young commander named Uchiha Madara.

Uchiha Madara, who had entered a period of rapid growth, improved almost by the day. It felt as though every time he went into battle, he was stronger than before.

The title of Young Clan Head attracted a great deal of hostility and opposition, but Uchiha Madara emerged from every mountain of corpses and sea of blood.

Until two months ago, when, after being incited by Yamanaka Koji, the Inuzuka Clan sent a Captain-level expert to intercept and assassinate him midway.

The two sides fought fiercely for half an hour. In the end, it was Uchiha Madara, wielding the Flame Gunbai, who survived.

During that life-and-death battle, Madara's Sharingan successfully evolved into the Three Tomoe form, meaning he officially possessed strength surpassing that of most Captain-level experts.

By the standards of later generations, Uchiha Madara's strength had already approached the level of an Elite Jonin.

Over the next two months, Madara thoroughly mastered the use of the Sharingan.

With the Flame Gunbai in hand, Uchiha Madara feared no powerful opponent. He even dared to challenge veteran experts such as Yamanaka Koji directly.

Under his leadership, the clan's morale soared, and they practically ground the Five Secret Jutsu Clans into the floor.

Even after the Aburame Clan was forced to join the battle, they still had no way to deal with the Uchiha, whose power was rising like the sun at noon.

No matter how grim the battle became, Uchiha Madara was always the most dazzling rose on the battlefield.

It was as though, as long as he was there, defeat was not an option in the war.

The Five Secret Jutsu Clans, gradually forced into a desperate situation, had intended to gather their strength and fight back to the death. Instead, they awaited a massive reinforcement of enemy troops.

Izuna, who had disappeared to train somewhere for more than a year, personally led the clan's forces to provide support.

With the brothers joining forces, the Five Secret Jutsu Clans' last hope was completely extinguished.

Uchiha Madara went so far as to declare that if they handed over Yamanaka Koji, he could guarantee that he would not harm the remaining members of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans.

As for the Inuzuka and Aburame, they had dared to kick them while they were down at a critical moment. They would inevitably suffer a heavy strike from the Uchiha.

When the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans shamefully handed over one of their own, the Southern War Zone no longer had any force capable of contending with the Uchiha.

"Scattered grains of sand, and you think you're worthy of challenging the Uchiha?"

Uchiha Madara was filled with disdain for the so-called Ino-Shika-Cho.

A clan that handed over its own people to save its skin would never be worthy of becoming a rival to Uchiha Madara.

I'm too tired. I'll update this first and revise it later.