The Deep Scars of War

Tobirama Senju and his subordinates vanished as abruptly as they had appeared, swallowed by the dense shadows of the forest and the mist that had yet to disperse. All that remained was a ravaged valley and a deathly stillness.

Suppressed gasps and pained groans gradually became the dominant sounds, mingling with the crackle of flames consuming corpses and the eerie trickle of flowing water to form a cruel dirge for the aftermath of battle.

Izuna Uchiha stood amid the mud and puddles, his chest rising and falling slightly. The Three Tomoe in his eyes still turned slowly as he stared fixedly in the direction the enemy had disappeared. His fingers gripped his sword so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth; evidently, he had also suffered internal injuries during his furious exchange with Tobirama.

But he had no time to worry about his own injuries. He spun around and searched the battlefield anxiously, his gaze finally settling on Uchiha Sou, who was slumped against a charred boulder, his face as pale as paper.

"Sou!"

Izuna rushed over in a few strides and crouched beside him, his movements unusually hurried. When he saw the gruesome wound in Uchiha Sou's chest, deep enough to expose bone and still oozing blood, his expression darkened at once, and his murderous intent surged out of control again.

"Medical ninja! Any medical ninja still alive, get over here now!" he shouted, his voice hoarse with anger and anxiety.

The surviving Uchiha began silently clearing the battlefield, gathering their comrades' bodies and tending to the wounded. A medical ninja with an injured arm staggered over and quickly examined Uchiha Sou, then applied emergency treatment to stop the bleeding.

"Kh..." The disinfectant powder touched his wound, and Uchiha Sou sucked in a sharp breath as pain struck. Cold sweat instantly beaded across his forehead, but his gaze never left Izuna.

"Uncle Izuna... are you all right?" he asked weakly, noticing the blood at Izuna's mouth and his disheveled clothes.

Izuna didn't answer. He merely frowned as he watched the medical ninja treat the terrible wound. Only after the bleeding had been staunched did he seem to relax a little. He raised a hand and roughly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, his eyes frighteningly cold.

"Tobirama Senju... that damned bastard!" he ground out, his fury nearly palpable. "He was after you!"

Izuna wasn't the only one who had noticed. Several surviving Uchiha elites nearby had realized it too. They looked at Uchiha Sou with surprise and scrutiny. For Tobirama Senju to deliberately break off and attack him under those circumstances, the boy must have had something special about him—or perhaps... he had unknowingly become some kind of threat.

Uchiha Sou's heart lurched. Izuna's words confirmed his worst suspicion. Tobirama's attack had been deliberate. He had been the target!

Why?

Was it because of the "little tricks" he had used while on patrol, which might have drawn attention? Or because of his Sharingan, with its potential to evolve? Or... some reason he hadn't even noticed himself?

A crushing sense of unease and confusion engulfed him.

"I... I don't know..." He lowered his head, his voice trembling with bewilderment and the shock of surviving. "He was too fast..."

Seeing the boy's pale face and shaken expression, Izuna assumed he had simply been frightened by the killing intent of a Kage Level fighter. His anger eased a little, turning into a cold, lingering fear—and an even firmer resolve to kill.

He patted Uchiha Sou's uninjured shoulder, his hand still a little heavy. "It's all right now. I was careless this time. I didn't expect that mad dog to come charging out of nowhere and set his sights on you."

His voice turned icy. "Your uncle will avenge this, I promise! One day, I'll kill Tobirama Senju with my own hands!"

Just then, an Uchiha jōnin came over to report, his expression grave. "Lord Izuna, we've finished the count. We lost eleven people, seven are seriously wounded, and almost everyone else has minor injuries. Most of the supplies at Hagoromo Outpost were destroyed, and we seized very little. As for the Senju... they left five bodies behind. We don't know how many of them are wounded."

The raid on Hagoromo Outpost should have been a great victory, given that they had caught the enemy off guard. But with Tobirama Senju's sudden intervention, it had turned into a brutal exchange of casualties. The Uchiha had clearly suffered more.

Izuna's expression darkened further. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with his usual cold composure restored. "Understood. Clear the battlefield. Take whatever we can carry; destroy anything we can't. Prepare to withdraw. We shouldn't stay here."

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone began to hurry about.

With the medical ninja's help, Uchiha Sou struggled to his feet. The sharp pain in his chest reminded him with every breath just how close he had come to death. His gaze passed over his clanmates' bodies, covered in white cloth. Their familiar crests were stained with blood, and a sorrow and fury he could not put into words welled up inside him.

This was war. There were no true victors, only survivors and the dead.

He absently touched his eyes. The feeling of his Dojutsu Power surging beyond its limits in that moment between life and death remained vivid. His vision seemed sharper than before, and his ability to track movement had improved as well. The single Tomoe now turned with greater ease, and he could even sense a faint, restless urge to split.

The Two-Tomoe... perhaps it really wasn't far off.

But he felt little joy at the increase in his strength. The cold, merciless gaze of Tobirama Senju was branded deep in his mind like a nightmare.

That man was too dangerous. His schemes, his ruthlessness, and his efficiency all surpassed anything Uchiha Sou had imagined.

It seemed that this butterfly, whose wings had fluttered by accident, had truly stirred up an unforeseen storm—and been swept into its very center.

The order to withdraw was given. The survivors carried their comrades' bodies and supported the wounded as they silently left the valley, defiled by blood and fire.

Supported by his clanmates, Uchiha Sou walked forward one step at a time, each step bringing a tearing pain in his chest. He looked back at the devastated battlefield. The setting sun fell upon it, casting a beauty that was both sorrowful and cruel.

The shadows seemed to stretch behind him, while ahead, along the unknown road, an even deeper darkness awaited them.

He knew that some things had changed. Between him and Tobirama Senju, an invisible thread of Causality, thick with murderous intent, seemed to have been forged.

And the generations-old blood feud between the Uchiha and the Senju might have gained a new grievance because of tonight's upheaval, making reconciliation even more impossible.

From this moment on, his Warring States Period had finally bared its most savage fangs. His Sharingan, yearning to evolve, was quietly gathering strength in the crucible of blood and fire, waiting for the chance to break through once more.