New Year's

Clutching his eyes, Sosuke fell to his knees, sweat streaming down his cheeks.

He might have looked relaxed, but in reality, he'd just put nearly all his strength into that moment. He'd almost let his enemy break free of the Genjutsu.

Luckily, he was tough enough to see it through and successfully killed his target.

[System Notification: Successfully killed Takigawa Hiroshi. Earned 130 Points.]

"The Points really did go up." The man had been a little stronger than the other two, so the Points he earned had broken the hundred mark.

Still, he'd only been an ordinary Chunin. If his opponent had been stronger, maybe he could've pushed his Points closer to a thousand.

[Points: 343]

"343 Points. I wonder what good stuff I can buy with that."

With Hagoromo Kaoru supporting him, Sosuke staggered to his feet. His gaze never left Uchiha Madara's fight.

He'd definitely underestimated Madara's strength—or, more accurately, he hadn't expected him to hold back during their usual sparring sessions.

After all, holding back at every turn was much harder than fighting at full strength. It showed that Madara was indeed a cut above the two of them.

Facing the Dancing King's relentless barrage of blows, Senju Katsuhito could only grit his teeth and do his utmost to defend himself. He couldn't understand why he was losing in a Taijutsu fight.

"Who are you, really?!" Senju Katsuhito roared.

Uchiha Madara had no intention of answering. He'd never been one to waste words on a dead man.

He'd had only a few younger brothers, and one by one, they'd all died out there. That was why Madara had strictly forbidden Izuna from going to the battlefield too soon.

He hadn't even considered bringing Izuna along to avenge them. He was afraid something might happen to his only remaining brother.

Nearby, Sosuke watched the fight intently. Judging by how both sides were holding up, it was probably only a matter of time before Madara won.

Things went just as he'd expected. Three minutes later, Madara cut off his enemy's arm. Ignoring the hot blood splashing over him, he charged forward with his blade, like a man possessed.

"Go repent in hell."

With one clean stroke, he took the man's head. Bathed in blood, Uchiha Madara looked like a demon from the depths of hell.

"Okay, quit acting cool." Sosuke laboriously settled himself onto the cart, looking like there was no way he planned to get up again. "Send someone to collect the supplies. How about we split them thirty-seventy?"

He directed the last question at the girl beside him.

As the saying goes, there are no roads in the world until people walk them.

Hagoromo Kaoru's legs were fair and smooth. What he meant was, the Hagoromo Clan seemed to have a lot of secrets, and if the chance came, he'd have to give them a good feel—

Ahem, he meant have a thorough discussion with them.

Nothing connected to the Otsutsuki Family was ever simple. The mysterious Hagoromo Clan from the original story must have been hiding some secrets. Otherwise, why would they have vanished from the Ninja World without a trace?

"Okay."

"Agreed."

Kaoru and Madara agreed to Sosuke's proposed split in turn.

Before long, the Hagoromo Clan's shinobi arrived, and the stolen cargo was finally recovered.

She'd wanted to invite the two of them to her home for a while, but Madara had considered the situation within his clan and politely declined her invitation.

"You two have to come visit sometime." Hagoromo Kaoru held a book of ancient texts, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I love researching ancient history. I stumbled across a few clues in my clan's records, and maybe we could team up and go exploring."

As she spoke, she turned her hopeful gaze toward the spiky-haired boy, the feelings in her eyes plain to see.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Sosuke watched with interest, rubbing his chin. He patted his bandage-wrapped left hand hard against his friend's shoulder. "Hey, she's talking to you."

"Don't worry. We're already friends." Madara smiled, then got up and left the Hagoromo Clan's outpost.

Behind him, Sosuke gave her a helpless look, thinking, Don't waste your effort, girl. I've never heard of the Dancing King having any interest in women.

"Friends, huh." Hagoromo Kaoru smiled without saying anything. Getting her to give up wouldn't be so easy.

The Uchiha and the Hagoromo Clan were on good terms, and their relationship was very close. Who could say what the future might hold?

In any case, Hagoromo Kaoru had complete confidence in herself.

She had no idea that years later, a boy with a bowl cut would appear. He would be the one destined for Uchiha Madara.

Her hopes were doomed to go unfulfilled.

The two left town and made their way leisurely toward their clan grounds.

There was no helping it. Sosuke was injured, and now that they'd avenged themselves, there was no need to rush like madmen.

"Thanks." Madara offered his thanks in his usual quiet way.

After this, their relationship warmed rapidly. They went from friends who studied together to best friends who could get up to mischief together.

Before leaving, he'd also wanted to say that Hagoromo Kaoru couldn't possibly be more important than Senju Hashirama. Now, it seemed her place in his heart might not even be as important as his own.

"Never thought my rival would be myself."

Naturally, after getting up to mischief together, they had to face the Clan Head's punishment.

Seeing Sosuke injured, Tajima showed him some concern and ordered him to stay home and reflect on his actions for a month.

As for their poor Young Clan Head, he didn't seem nearly as lucky.

As the ringleader, Madara was sentenced to a full three months of confinement. During that time, no one was allowed to visit him without permission—not even Izuna.

This left Izuna extremely unhappy. The very next day, he even went to argue with his father.

The result was predictable. The Clan Head grabbed him by the collar and tossed him right out of the residence.

By the time Uchiha Madara's confinement ended, the New Year was already drawing near.

For the New Year, Sosuke received two invitations, one from his uncle and one from Uchiha Madara.

The first man was a weasel; as for the second, to be honest, Sosuke didn't want to get too close to Uchiha Tajima.

His instincts told him to stay as far away from that man as possible.

He made up an excuse about training and successfully turned them both down.

But he hadn't expected that, just as he was preparing to celebrate the first New Year of the Hokage World alone at home, Madara and Izuna would suddenly barge in with food.

That's right. No one knew who he'd learned it from, but young Madara had developed a habit of kicking in doors from an early age.

No wonder his first move after being resurrected through Impure World Reincarnation was to kick away the wooden board in front of him.

"Hmph, Big Brother insisted on coming. I didn't want to spend New Year's with you at all."

Izuna was as tsundere as ever. He never knew how to say something nice properly.

Maybe aside from his big brother, there wasn't anyone else in the world who could make him lower his guard.

Madara smiled faintly, lifted his heavy robe, and furtively pulled a small flask of liquor from inside.

"Liquor?" Sosuke's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected to get his hands on any today.

"Heh, heh, heh." Maybe he'd caught the New Year's spirit; the Dancing King seemed much livelier than usual that day.

After a few cups, he couldn't help swaying around the living room. Sosuke only regretted that he didn't have a camera on hand; otherwise, he could use this to keep the Dancing King in line in the future.

"Uh, let's just relax for today." Before long, six-year-old Uchiha Sosuke had successfully gotten drunk.

But before he passed out, what he was thinking about was still the Chidori technique he'd modified.

And the redemption options in the System Store.