Uchiha Shin pulled the kunai from under his arm. The Three Tomoe in his eyes slowly faded, and exhaustion washed over him. He had spent a long time chasing the two Elite Jonin at the bandit hideout, then returned here and killed a Jonin. Even though the Flying Thunder God Technique consumed very little chakra, it still took a toll. More than anything, the discomfort of repeatedly crossing through space made it hard for a body that hadn't had time to adapt to grow accustomed to it.
"Not bad. I've still got a third of my chakra left. That's one good thing about the Uchiha Clan: few clans can match our chakra reserves."
Shin turned and glanced at the house he had destroyed in the distance. He shook his head, preparing to return to the clan compound through the night. Uchiha Tadashi and the others had probably already been killed.
Suddenly, a bush beneath an old tree a short distance to his left trembled slightly. Shin's eyes instantly shifted to the Three Tomoe, and he brought his kunai up again. "Who's there? Come out!"
His left hand had already begun quietly forming Hand Seals one-handed. It was the B-rank ninjutsu, Fire Style: Flame Slash!
"Don't attack! It's me!" a voice called out. Shin froze for a moment. It sounded familiar.
A boy about his age leaped out of the bushes. He wore the same Uchiha robes, and his face bore a slight resemblance to Shin's. They looked to be around the same age, of course, their temperaments were worlds apart. Shin had an unusually mature air about him that made people forget how young he was. This boy, though he was trying hard to act mature, still clearly looked like a child.
"Izuna? What are you doing here?" Shin exclaimed in surprise. He never would have expected Uchiha Izuna to be the one who came out.
After Izuna emerged, he gave Shin an awkward smile. A shadow dropped down from the treetops. He was also dressed in Uchiha Clan robes, and he nodded to Shin. "Young Master Shin!"
Shin looked back and forth between the two, his eyes narrowing. He recognized the man: an Elite Jonin from the clan named Uchiha Keimei.
There was nothing strange about other people being here, nor was there anything strange about Izuna and Keimei being here together. But the fact that the two of them had shown up at this particular time was very strange.
In an instant, he recalled the day Uchiha Tajima had given him this mission, as well as the way Uchiha Madara had looked at him with glee during their journey. Putting that together with the Secret Ninja who had appeared at the meeting and the two people standing before him now, Shin thought he understood what was going on.
Without revealing his thoughts, Shin walked up to Izuna. His face darkened, and he asked stiffly, "Were you here when I fought that Hyuga Jonin?"
This was the first time Izuna had ever seen Shin make that expression. A bead of cold sweat formed on his forehead. He swallowed and nodded.
Shin took a deep breath, then asked, "Where's Uchiha Madara?"
Izuna pointed into the distance.
Shin followed the direction of his finger. It pointed straight toward the bandit hideout he had just left. His expression darkened further. He drew two deep breaths, forcing himself to stay calm, then enunciated each word. "You came here with me, didn't you?"
Cold sweat covered Izuna's forehead. Afraid Shin would take out his anger on him, he replied cautiously, "To be precise, we arrived an hour after you."
Crack!
An old tree behind Uchiha Izuna snapped in two. Shin calmly lowered his fist. After a couple of seconds of silence, he suddenly exploded, gripping the kunai in his hand until it broke. "Damn it, Uchiha Madara! You've got some nerve, scheming against me! If I don't get even with you, I'll stop being Lu!" He was so furious that his mind had gone blank, and he had blurted out his surname from his previous life.
Izuna asked timidly, "Aren't we all surnamed Uchiha?"
Shin whipped his head around. The fury in his eyes made Izuna shiver, and he didn't dare say another word.
"Tell your brother that I'm challenging him to a duel—the kind on the Life-Death Arena. I thought that with that smug, overbearing look he wears every day, he'd have some magnanimity. Who knew he'd be so petty? If he gets into trouble like this in the future, he'll deserve it. Damn it!"
As soon as Izuna had pointed out that Madara was at the bandit hideout, Shin had figured out what had happened. The Uchiha Clan had used him as bait and thrown him to the wolves.
When he'd met Hyuga Tamamo, he had wondered why his uncle had sent him here so foolishly when the plan was so simple. Fine, even if his uncle really was slow to catch on to schemes, the entire Uchiha Clan knew about the situation at Fujiwara Mine. Was every single person in the clan an idiot?
Fine, even if every last clansman was a brainless fool, surely there was nothing wrong with the Uchiha Clan's intelligence network. If Elite Jonin from another clan could infiltrate their doorstep and stir up trouble without anyone noticing, then the Uchiha had no business calling themselves one of the two great clans of the Warring States Period. They might as well all kill themselves—their inevitable fate wasn't far off anyway.
But now it was clear that wasn't the case. The secret report the Secret Ninja had delivered at the Clan Meeting must have included not only news of the Hyuga Clan's alliance with the Senju, but also detailed information about Fujiwara Mine.
And just as Hyuga Tamamo had said, if the one who came had been an Uchiha Jonin, he would have found the real bandits. The clan must have been worried that if they sent a Jonin or Elite Jonin directly, the enemy would simply flee. So they had happily thrown Shin to the wolves instead.
When Hyuga Tamamo had plotted to kill him, she had probably never imagined that she was the one the Uchiha Clan had plotted to kill. The two of them had been trying to outsmart each other, both thinking they were clever. Now Shin realized they were a pair of clowns.
Shin could even guess what the original plan had been: once the enemy made their move, someone would come to his aid, and they would turn the tables and surround them. It had to be that brat Uchiha Madara, holding a grudge because Shin had made him take over for five extra minutes last time and deliberately setting him up.
Of course, he hadn't meant to get Shin killed. At most, he had wanted to make him suffer a little. He just hadn't expected Shin to perform so impressively, kill five Chunin, and still escape despite the enemy's scheme. Even without seeing it, Shin could imagine the look of shock on Uchiha Madara's face, as if he could swallow a whole egg.
Thinking of that made him feel a little better. He turned and said, "Back to the clan!"
Uchiha Izuna glanced wistfully toward the bandit hideout in the distance. He still really wanted to go take a look, but sensing the thick killing intent radiating from Shin, he decided to keep quiet.
Just as they turned to head back to the clan, a powerful surge of chakra erupted from Fujiwara Mountain. Even from so far away, Shin and the others could feel the ground tremble. The chakra's strength was unlike anything Shin had ever encountered; it far surpassed that of an Elite Jonin.
Uchiha Keimei's expression changed. He exclaimed, "With chakra like that, someone at the Hyuga Clan Head's level has entered the fray. Could it be Hyuga Tenin? Did that old man sneak along too? Why wasn't it in the intelligence report?"
Shin paused, then realized that "Clan Head level" meant Kage Level. His expression changed. He had a vague impression of Hyuga Tenin, as though the character had been mentioned in the original story, but there hadn't been much detail.
He didn't know how many people Madara had brought. If it really was Hyuga Tenin, they might still be in danger. Shin couldn't help worrying.
Just then, a streak of fire suddenly flashed across the sky, heading toward Fujiwara Mountain at tremendous speed. A figure could just barely be seen within the flames.
"Clan Head?" Uchiha Keimei exclaimed.
As the fire plunged into the distance, the entire ground shook around the impact site. The tremors were several times stronger than before, as if an earthquake had struck.
Shin stared in astonishment toward the bandit hideout on Fujiwara Mountain. This was the first time since he had crossed over that he had witnessed a battle between Kage-level Experts. It was truly earth-shattering.
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