Eternal Heart's Bond

After tidying up their gear, the two slipped out of the clan grounds under the cover of night.

Madara did not call for Izuna, likely fearing his younger brother might meet with misfortune. As for Sosuke, it was different; he could sense that this youth was already prepared.

Prepared to kill enemies on the battlefield—sometimes, a person's eyes simply cannot lie.

By the time the sky began to brighten, the two had already left the Uchiha sphere of influence and arrived at a densely populated small town.

According to what they had learned, the younger brother had been killed while executing a mission, accompanied by a squad of ninjas from the Hagoromo Clan.

The Hagoromo Clan was a clan that had signed a friendly pact with the Uchiha. The two clans would cooperate during missions to jointly resist the hegemony of the Senju Clan.

In the original story, the Hagoromo Clan never made a formal appearance; they only appeared when Madara and Hashirama were skipping stones—that was the corpse drifting in the river.

The strength of this family was quite decent, and crucially, their population base was massive, making them very suitable as cannon fodder to be sent to their deaths in war.

Throughout the long struggle between the Uchiha and the Senju, the Hagoromo Clan played a very important role, though for some reason, they later suddenly vanished from the Ninja World.

To find the trail of the enemies, they first had to find the surviving female ninja; only through her could they locate the killers of the younger brother.

Soon, Madara used a secret contact signal to find the intelligence operative stationed in the town.

After a brief exchange of ideas, the other party immediately agreed. It seemed the status of the Uchiha Young Clan Head was even more useful than imagined.

"Now, we just need to wait quietly." Having lost an important relative, Uchiha Madara locked himself in his room all day.

Seeing this, Sosuke had to abandon the idea of going out for a stroll; he figured the Dancing King was in no mood to listen to little tunes right now.

After about half a day, the intelligence operative came to find the two, followed by a pretty female ninja who looked to be in her teens.

"Hello, I am Hagoromo Kaoru. I heard you have an urgent matter to find me about?"

After describing his desire for revenge, Hagoromo Kaoru immediately frowned and said with some uncertainty: "I understand your feelings, but I do not suggest you go tracking the enemy."

Hearing this, Sosuke chimed in from the side: "Uh, is the enemy's strength very high?"

"That's right." Hagoromo Kaoru nodded, seemingly recalling the scene at the time: "There were five of us transporting goods when suddenly a group of bandits jumped out. The leader possessed strength comparable to a Captain-level."

"Captain-level, so that's a Jonin then." Sosuke rubbed his chin, silently pondering in his heart: "The Dancing King's strength is infinitely close to Captain-level. Relying on the eruption of rage, he can maneuver with the opponent for a short time."

"The outcome of the battle depends on whether I can quickly kill the remaining few."

According to Hagoromo Kaoru, their desperate counterattack successfully took out two people, and there were currently seven enemies left on that side.

"Seven. Excluding that Captain-level powerhouse, I need to kill six ninjas in a short amount of time."

"This is no longer a matter of difficulty."

Squeezing his palms tightly, Sosuke could clearly feel his heart beating violently.

It was normal to feel fear; even someone as strong as Uchiha Madara would have his adrenaline surge when fighting an enemy for the first time.

To borrow the words of a certain person, how can there be no fear in battle? Only those dance steps performed on the edge of a blade can allow a ninja to achieve the fastest growth.

Giving Madara a firm look, the Dancing King smiled slightly and turned to look at the young girl: "Tell me the whereabouts of the enemies. I will personally avenge those who died."

"..." The girl looked at the two deeply, her eyes flickering with hesitation and struggle.

After a full three minutes of silence, she suddenly raised her head and stared fixedly into Uchiha Madara's eyes: "Tell me the truth, what are your actual odds of success?"

"About forty percent, I suppose." Sosuke gave a fair assessment in his heart.

Of course, his companion was not nearly as discouraged.

Hearing the girl's skepticism, Uchiha Madara smiled proudly and slowly folded his arms across his chest: "Rest assured, I, Uchiha Madara, will absolutely not die here."

"Then, then I will take you there myself!" After saying this, Hagoromo Kaoru seemed to collapse instantly, leaning against the chair and panting heavily.

She knew the strength the enemies possessed, which was why she understood what they would encounter by going along.

There was a high probability that she might not be able to return.

But at the thought of her brutally murdered clansmen, and the youth who kept glancing at her from time to time, the fire of rage in Hagoromo Kaoru's heart could no longer be suppressed.

"Everyone, I will definitely avenge you."

Since they had decided to set off, the trio packed up simply and left the town.

The enemies needed to transport supplies, so their pace of travel would inevitably not be very fast.

To avoid pursuers, they had even secretly disguised themselves as a merchant caravan, but unfortunately, they could not escape the intelligence network of the Hagoromo Clan.

Three hundred kilometers south of the town, a small village was nestled.

Passersby would stop here to rest, drink a cup of tea, and listen to the old man by the road play a little tune.

Although the environment was not great, it had a unique charm.

Yet, that peace and tranquility were shattered by the arguing of a few people.

Looking at the man with a cold sneer in front of him, Takigawa Hiroshi felt his anger rising.

"I told you to transport the goods to the clan. It hasn't been windy or rainy, yet it's been five days, brother. Do you think you're going to the moon?"

Aside from war, various major clans would long-term accept external commissions. The man with the cold sneer was a ninja currently on a mission.

According to the commission, he was to transport a batch of goods to the client's clan.

As a result, he ran into the Uchiha brats halfway. Both sides fought, resulting in mutual losses, but he had unexpectedly gained a large batch of supplies.

According to the unwritten rules among ninjas, this batch of goods should rightfully belong to the employer; since they paid to hire you, any spoils found along the way naturally belong to them.

The crux of the matter was that the value of these goods was extremely high, and Senju Katsuhito was unwilling to let the employer walk away with such a massive bargain for nothing.

Using various excuses to stall, he dragged the situation out for a full five days.

It was no wonder the person in charge on the employer's side was so furious that his lips began to tremble.

Facing his questioning, Senju Katsuhito explained unhurriedly, "I am doing this out of fear that enemies might be pursuing us. If you are unwilling, we can terminate the commission immediately."

Hearing this, several of his subordinates nearby burst into laughter.

Terminate the commission?

That would mean there was no longer a contractual relationship between the two parties, and the person in charge before them would meet a miserable death at the hands of their captain.

"Stupid thing."

Glancing at the person in charge with disdain, a ninja in his twenties stood up swaying, preparing to relieve himself of excess fluids.

However, he had only taken a few steps when his path was blocked by a kid wearing a cloak, who kept muttering something under his breath.

"I declare that today, you and this kunai shall be united as one forever."

A cold glint flashed from beneath the cloak, and the next second, the kunai in the Youth's hand plunged into the man's heart.

A true union, forever.

[Ding, successfully killed Watanabe Kaoru, obtained 82 points.]

[System Store activated, Beginner Exchange List opened.]