After the duel, Sosuke's life returned to complete peace.
Whenever he ran into Uchiha Tetsuya, his good-for-nothing cousin would lower his head and hurry away, as if he'd been thoroughly beaten into submission.
But Sosuke knew that his cousin's vindictive nature meant he'd never let the matter go so easily.
His current show of weakness was simply because he wasn't confident he could beat Sosuke.
Once an opportunity arose, Uchiha Tetsuya would lunge at him like a mad dog and take a few bites.
The best solution would be to find a chance in the future to quietly kill the father and son, but Sosuke had another idea in mind.
If
Uchiha Tetsuya could awaken the Mangekyo, could Sosuke take those eyes for himself?
Hashirama Cells might be useful, but using them to replenish the Mangekyo's chakra was still no match for evolving directly into the Eternal Mangekyo.
"My dear cousin, you'd better not disappoint me."
Sosuke decided to watch him for a while. If his cousin didn't prove useful enough, he'd have to find a way to provoke him.
"Hey." Izuna waved a hand in front of him, looking disgusted. "That was a pretty sinister look just now. What are you plotting?"
Sosuke rolled his eyes and retorted in a muffled voice, "That's right. I'm looking for an excuse to beat you up fair and square."
In the past, Izuna would have stubbornly retorted with some nonsense like, "I'm not afraid of you."
But today he seemed unusually different. Even while arguing with Sosuke, he kept glancing outside.
As if he were looking forward to something.
"You're the one acting like you've done something wrong," Sosuke said, puzzled. There weren't many things that could make Izuna care this much.
"Yeah? You wouldn't understand—"
A figure appeared at the entrance, and Izuna swallowed the rest of his words.
His big brother didn't like him swearing, so Izuna would never do it in front of him.
Following his friend's gaze, Sosuke saw a spiky-haired boy wearing a dark blue kimono.
"So he's finally shown up."
Sosuke should have realized sooner. There was only one person who could make Izuna care this much: the legendary Young Clan Head.
The newcomer was the Uchiha Clan's Young Clan Head, Uchiha Madara, who would one day shake the Ninja World.
"Big brother, you're finally back!" Izuna threw himself into Madara's arms like a little kid.
There was no denying it: the Uchiha were a nest of big-brother enthusiasts. Of course, there were plenty of little-brother enthusiasts too.
Relationships like the one between Uchiha Tetsuya and Sosuke were, honestly, rather rare.
Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to set his sights on his cousin's eyes.
After briefly comforting his younger brother, Madara turned to Sosuke and guessed his identity after a moment's thought.
"You're Sosuke, right? It's nice to meet you." The young Madara was nowhere near as gloomy and scheming as he would be in the future.
He wasn't exactly a sunny boy, but he at least gave off a genuine sense of friendliness.
"Greetings, Young Clan Head." Sosuke kept things formal. They weren't close yet; he couldn't exactly follow Izuna's example and go hang off Madara's arm.
Hearing the distance in his address, Madara smiled and shook his head. "You're friends with Izuna, so you're my younger brother too. Just call me by my name."
The future Dancing King wasn't stupid. Sosuke had awakened the Sharingan at such a young age, and his future was bound to be bright.
Who knew? He might even become Madara's right-hand man in his future campaigns across the Ninja World. A little graciousness toward a talented person could go a long way toward building their relationship.
And so, Sosuke and Madara had their first conversation.
Over the following period, the three of them began training together.
Sosuke learned that Uchiha Madara was nine years old, exactly three years older than him and Izuna.
At that age, the body was entering a period of rapid growth. The clearest sign was the sheer power of Madara's Taijutsu.
Leaving other abilities aside, Sosuke and Izuna together couldn't beat him in a straight Taijutsu contest.
Sosuke had no chance to assess his other abilities, but at least now he had someone to use as a point of reference.
By learning more about Uchiha Madara, he could roughly estimate Senju Hashirama's strength. Sosuke wasn't greedy; he'd be satisfied if he could match either of them.
He was at a disadvantage in Taijutsu, so he'd have to find a way to make up for it in other areas.
Genjutsu could threaten Madara, but the problem was that he never gave Sosuke the chance to use it.
During their several sparring matches, their eyes never met once.
Even when Sosuke forced a Genjutsu on him, Uchiha Madara could break free in a very short time.
In the end, Sosuke needed the Sharingan as a medium. Without it, his Genjutsu wasn't enough to defeat the powerful Uchiha Madara.
Taijutsu and Genjutsu were both out, so he could only look for a solution with ninjutsu.
During this period, Sosuke began working backward to develop a ninjutsu, hoping to recreate the technique he remembered.
When it came to creating ninjutsu, the Rasengan was undoubtedly the easiest to replicate. But after thinking it over, Sosuke decided not to include it in his plans.
The reason was simple: the Rasengan required a huge amount of chakra, far too much for a six-year-old like him.
By comparison, a technique used by another protagonist was much more suitable.
Chidori: a ninjutsu that concentrated Lightning Style chakra in the hand and used a thrust to pierce the target.
Combined with the Sharingan, it could become a highly effective killing technique, even allowing him to defeat stronger opponents.
Its later variations were remarkably versatile, including Chidori Stream for defense and Chidori Sharp Spear for mid-range attacks.
Once he mastered Chidori, Sosuke's strength would surely rise by a large margin.
He'd nearly finished working out the technique. All that remained was a great deal of practice, and he expected to complete it by the end of the year.
"It'll be a New Year's gift to myself."
Once he completed Chidori, he could apply to go to the battlefield for training.
Nine-year-old Uchiha Madara had already gone to a small battlefield. It might not have been a large one, but a battlefield was still a battlefield; it was nothing like an ordinary sparring match.
To become a true strongman, Sosuke had to go to the battlefield and train. Besides, it would also help him earn Points.
That reward was so difficult to obtain. He wanted to see just what kind of surprise it could bring him.
As the end of the year approached, a major incident took place among the Uchiha.
During a mission-related clash, one of Madara's cousins was killed. The culprits were shinobi from the Senju Clan.
Madara flew into a rage and swore he'd kill those bastards with his own hands. Unfortunately, the Clan Head gave strict orders forbidding his son from sneaking out to take revenge.
Having witnessed the whole thing, Sosuke suddenly began egging Madara on, hoping to get him to sneak out and ambush the enemy.
That way, Sosuke would have a chance to accomplish his goal.
After Sosuke kept goading him, young Madara finally made up his mind to sneak out and ambush the culprits who had killed his younger cousin.
"I'm going with you," Sosuke said righteously. "A brother's in trouble, and I won't help? Sorry, but no matter what, I just can't do that."
". . .You could die," Madara said, his gaze wavering slightly.
"Haha, we're not going to die out there."
Madara looked at him deeply and stopped trying to dissuade him. He simply etched Sosuke's resolute gaze into his heart.
"Let's go."
Before you continue