Fighting

The clash between the two Kage-level powerhouses came as quickly as it went. When the tremors ceased an hour later, Shinnō turned and headed back to the clan with Izuna and the others.

Chiyo Hotaru was naturally delighted that Shinnō had returned so soon. Shinnō didn't say much; after washing away the dust of the day, he slept soundly until noon the next day.

Upon waking, he casually ate the meal Chiyo Hotaru had prepared and rushed straight out, his target clear: Uchiha Madara's residence.

He had made up his mind to wreck the place. As for the wooden door typical of the Warring States period, he kicked it open directly. The thin cedar planking shattered instantly, ending its life in an instant.

"Uchiha Madara, get your ass out here!"

Shinnō stormed in with a ferocious expression, searching everywhere. Madara's room was the same layout as his own and not particularly large.

After all, they were still children and weren't assigned independent mansions.

The living room was small, the bedroom door was wide open, the kitchen could be scanned at a glance, and the bathroom door was locked tight. Shinnō spent five seconds searching for a trace of Uchiha Madara, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.

There was, however, a boy kneeling in the living room, pretending to be an adult while drinking tea, though it wasn't Uchiha Madara.

"Izuna, where is your brother?"

Shinnō sat cross-legged directly opposite Izuna and asked, his eyes filled with menace.

Izuna chuckled and said, "I don't know. I haven't seen him."

"Then why are you in his room?"

"...He told me to watch the house for him, so it wouldn't get smashed up by your temper."

"When is he coming back?"

"I don't know."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know."

"Did he get beaten to death by that Hyuga powerhouse yesterday?"

"You're the one who got beaten to death! My big brother wouldn't die even if you did!"

"You looking for a beating, kid?" Shinnō raised an eyebrow, tempted to rush over and teach the boy a lesson, but he reconsidered—there was no point in stooping to a child's level. "I'll just wait here. I don't believe he won't come back today. Even if he doesn't come back today, he'll come back tomorrow. I don't believe he can hide forever."

Izuna nodded solemnly. "My brother said if you want to stay here, he'll leave the place to you and find somewhere else to live."

Giving up easily wasn't a virtue, and Shinnō certainly wouldn't be dismissed by two sentences from Izuna. He closed his eyes and sat there quietly, looking as if he truly intended to wait.

Izuna secretly stuck out his tongue, thinking to himself, Big brother, pray for your own luck. This is all I can do for you.

Shinnō sat with his eyes closed, continuously reflecting on the recent events. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Investigating the matter was fine, and running into an ambush was also part of the job, but the system had issued that infuriating mission, forcing him headfirst into an encirclement. Then, he discovered that the clan had known about it all along—they had used him as bait to lure the enemy out.

He dissected the entire affair over and over, realizing that because of the clan's recent defeat and the Third Elder's blunder, he had underestimated the entire Uchiha Clan.

In truth, if the Uchiha were as incompetent as he had imagined, how could they stand at the pinnacle of the Warring States period? Take the front lines, for instance: fighting a two-front war, they had held their own against the pressure of both the Senju and Hyuga clans for two whole years. If not for the Third Elder's stupidity leading to a Hyuga sneak attack, who knows how long the stalemate would have lasted.

Based on this strength alone, no other clan in the Warring States period could achieve such a feat.

And his uncle—thinking about it carefully, he wasn't without his merits. Although he was a bit slow to react to certain conspiracies, his strength was formidable, his prestige within the clan was high, and he could unite the power of all his clansmen. He had built the Uchiha Clan's defenses into an impregnable fortress. For many years, aside from the back-and-forth with the Senju Clan, their win rate against all other clans had been quite high.

Ah, Confucius was right: "I examine myself three times a day." Arrogance and self-importance are not to be tolerated, Shinnō reflected. With his previously cautious nature, he should have discovered the clues and deduced the sequence of events long ago.

Unfortunately, ever since he defeated that Jonin and exchanged for the Flying Thunder God technique, he had assumed that with the Flying Thunder God protecting him, no one in the Warring States could hurt him. That subconscious complacency had led to this situation.

Just imagine: if the clan hadn't actually known about the situation, him stepping into the enemy's trap would have been truly dangerous. If an elite Jonin had been lying in ambush in that room, he would likely have had to pay the price of a severe injury just to escape, let alone counter-killing the opponent.

In the future, until my strength reaches the level of Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara from the original story, I must not be careless. This is the Warring States period; countless people have been plotted to their deaths. I cannot afford to capsize in a gutter.

As Shinnō pondered, a scream suddenly came from the doorway: "What the hell is going on? My door!"

He opened his eyes instantly, glaring at the figure in the doorway. He stood up and sneered, "Oh, look who decided to come back. I thought you were going to hide until the end of time."

Izuna's expression turned bitter. Why had his big brother returned so suddenly? This wasn't what they had discussed yesterday.

Uchiha Madara also looked furious. "It's my house, why wouldn't I dare come back? As for you, tearing down my door for no reason—are you looking for a fight?"

Most of Madara's anger was feigned; after all, he was in the wrong. He had intended to hide for a few days, but his father had ordered him to deliver a message personally, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and return.

According to the plan, he should have led his men to surround the area the moment Hyuga Tamamo and her group emerged. However, remembering how Shinnō had tricked him last time, he decided to delay the move. He still remembered Shinnō's technique of turning into crows and figured there shouldn't be any major issues—at the very least, he wouldn't be killed in an instant.

But what he hadn't expected was that the kid would scatter kunai everywhere and use a ninjutsu that he hadn't even heard of, let alone seen, managing to escape from three elite Jonin. Not only that, but he had also casually slaughtered five Chunin. That record left him completely stunned, his jaw hitting the floor. It wasn't until Shinnō left using the Flying Thunder God that he finally led his men out to surround the Hyuga Clan.

He had brought five elite Jonin with him. When Hyuga Tamamo sent out Hyuga Kazama, he had quietly sent Uchiha Keimei to follow, fearing that Shinnō might run into an accident. Of course, when he gave the order, he had said that if Shinnō could handle the Jonin himself, there was no need to intervene.

However, even if he was in the wrong, getting Uchiha Madara to bow his head and apologize was impossible. He simply wasn't the type of person to bow to anyone.

"You still dare to act tough!" Shinnō laughed in anger. It was the first time he had seen someone act so righteous after setting someone up.

Uchiha Madara tossed his hair and let out a haughty, arrogant snort.

Shinnō gritted his teeth, suddenly lunged forward two steps, and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "I came here specifically to fight!"

Uchiha Madara's face burned with pain. His mind went blank for a moment, unable to process what had happened. Did I just get hit? I actually got hit?

His eyes narrowed immediately. He scrambled up and, without a second thought, threw a punch back.

The two were soon brawling together. They didn't use ninjutsu or chakra; they just traded punches and kicks, not acting like two ninjas at all, but rather like two common ruffians.

Izuna stared blankly at the scene, then quietly walked past the two men rolling on the ground and slipped away.