Silent Ripples

A sudden clash in the northwest had been like a pebble dropped into a still lake, sending a small ripple through the Uchiha Clan. But soon, it was overshadowed by a much greater storm.

When the news reached the clan grounds, Uchiha Sou was at the training ground, practicing the shape transformation of Fire Style chakra.

"Have you heard? The Third Patrol Squad got into a fight with the Hagoromo Clan in the northwest last night!"

"The Hagoromo Clan? They actually dared to attack us? How did it go?"

"Heh, of course we won! We killed seven or eight of them and captured two alive. Only two of our own were lightly injured! It was all thanks to the Third Squad spotting them early. Apparently, some kind of warning bell went off by accident..."

Several clan members resting by the training ground were discussing the news excitedly.

The flames in Uchiha Sou's hand flickered, nearly slipping out of control. He forced his chakra steady and extinguished the fire, but his heart began beating faster despite himself.

The northwest... a warning bell going off by accident... the Hagoromo Clan...

Together, those key phrases sparked an absurd and terrifying thought.

No way... could it really be such a coincidence?

He immediately shook his head, trying to dismiss the far-fetched idea. How could that be? He'd only thrown a Shuriken at the training ground. He had to be overthinking it. Coincidences were common on the battlefield.

Still, that subtle unease lingered in his heart like a tiny thorn.

When he saw Izuna that afternoon, Izuna seemed to be in a good mood.

"Sou, you heard about what happened in the northwest, right?" Izuna said as he wiped down his sword.

"I... I heard, Uncle Izuna," Uchiha Sou answered, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Well done." Izuna's lips curved in a cold smile. "Those fence-sitting Hagoromo really couldn't resist cozying up to the Senju. Good. Now we've got something to hold over them. Big Brother's already decided to make an example of them."

Make an example of them? Uchiha Sou's heart stirred. "Are we going to attack the Hagoromo Clan?"

"More than attack them." A glint of cold light flashed in Izuna's eyes. "If we fight, we'll make sure it hurts—so badly they never dare harbor disloyal thoughts again! Kill one to warn a hundred. Let every minor clan still sitting on the fence see what happens when they betray the Uchiha!"

His voice brimmed with confidence and bloodlust, as though the Hagoromo Clan were already in his grasp.

As Uchiha Sou looked at Izuna, the words warning him to "watch out for Tobirama Senju" caught in his throat once again. In the current atmosphere, he couldn't say anything that might be taken as cowardice or as bolstering the enemy.

All he could do was lower his head. "Yes."

"All right, don't dwell on that." Izuna sheathed his sword and patted Sou on the shoulder. "Your job is to keep getting stronger. You're coming with me on the mission in a few days."

"I'm going too?" Uchiha Sou froze.

"Of course." Izuna regarded him meaningfully. "You can't truly grow until you've seen blood. If you stay in a greenhouse forever, you'll never become a pillar of the Uchiha."

Over the next few days, the clan's atmosphere grew markedly more grim and tense. More shinobi were being deployed, and supplies were being requisitioned more often. A stifling sense of an impending storm hung over the clan grounds.

Uchiha Sou trained even harder. He knew real combat was nothing like the patrols and reconnaissance he'd done before. It was a fight to the death. He didn't want to die, so he had to get stronger.

At the same time, he paid even closer attention to any intelligence about the Hagoromo Clan and the Senju Clan. He tried to piece together more details from clan members' conversations and the scraps of information he could find.

He'd heard that Tobirama Senju had recently been appearing frequently in areas near the Hagoromo Clan's border.

That news only intensified his unease.

Once again, he tried to recall details from the original story. But aside from the outcome—"Izuna died at Tobirama Senju's hands"—the events leading up to it remained hazy.

At a loss, he returned to a corner of the training ground.

He needed to test it—or, perhaps, he just needed a little reassurance.

He picked up a Shuriken and focused, recalling the sensation from that night—the subtle state of trying to attach his "intent" to it and set a "cause."

This time, his goal was simpler: hit a bell hanging thirty meters away, one that swayed gently back and forth.

He took a deep breath. The single Tomoe in his eye slowly turned as he focused completely on that strange perception and "setting." He could feel warmth spreading through his eye and his mental energy slowly draining away.

Whoosh!

The Shuriken flew.

Its trajectory seemed to follow a peculiar rhythm, slipping through the evening breeze and precisely anticipating the bell's swing.

Clang!

A clear chime rang out.

The tip of the Shuriken's blade had brushed the edge of the bell just right, making it ring.

It worked?!

Uchiha Sou was elated, but quickly composed himself. Maybe it was simply the result of his hard work at Shurikenjutsu and the Sharingan's perceptiveness, not the effect of some mysterious ability.

He tried several times. Sometimes he hit the bell, and sometimes he missed by a little. His success rate didn't seem consistent, and after every attempt, his eyes grew noticeably more tired.

"Looks like... I need more practice and... greater Dojutsu Power?" He rubbed his throbbing temples, pondering to himself.

The ability seemed extremely weak and difficult to control, more like a subtle nudge to the odds than absolute control.

Could it really affect events happening at the border, so far away? Uchiha Sou remained deeply skeptical.

A few days later, the order to move out finally came.

Led by Izuna Uchiha himself, a force of elite clan shinobi was dispatched to strike an important supply-transfer point belonging to the Hagoromo Clan. As a member of the squad, Uchiha Sou was fully equipped, his ninja gear secured on his back, standing with the assembled force.

Uchiha Madara came to see them off in person.

He looked at Izuna and said only, "Make it quick."

Izuna smiled confidently. "Don't worry, Big Brother. I'll bring back good news."

Madara's gaze passed over the squad and paused briefly on Uchiha Sou. He said nothing, merely giving him a slight nod.

"Move out!"

At Izuna's command, dozens of figures melted silently into the night like phantoms and raced toward the border.

Uchiha Sou followed the squad, the wind roaring past his ears, his heart pounding with nervousness and anticipation.

This was his first offensive mission of this scale.

He didn't know what awaited him ahead.

Even less did he know whether the butterfly whose wings he'd inadvertently flapped had already unleashed an even more unpredictable storm along this timeline.

He only knew that he had to survive.

Far ahead, the Hagoromo Clan's outpost seemed unaware of what was coming, lying silent in the night.

But farther still, in the darkness, an elite squad led by Tobirama Senju had quietly changed its patrol route based on intelligence about a possible Uchiha route that had been "accidentally" intercepted—or perhaps deliberately planted. The squad was rapidly approaching a predetermined ambush site.

The night deepened.

Invisible threads of causality seemed to intertwine under the cover of darkness, drawing everyone toward an ending that might have been predetermined—or might already have begun to change.