The carriage raced along a rugged mountain road, jolting as it headed toward the red sun sinking into the mountains.
Sitting on the wooden floor, Rikusei felt the carriage rocking beneath him. He met the tenderness in the girl's eyes, and after only a few days apart, he had a lot he wanted to tell her.
The breeze stirred their hearts, but before Rikusei could take the scroll off his back, his enthusiastic classmates had surrounded him.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!" Nao, sitting beside Naori, formed a hand seal and quieted the overexcited Kagami. "Mm! Leaving without a word was really hurtful, you know."
Rikusei untied the scroll and set it beside him. Seeing the reproachful look on the blonde girl's face, he made a pleading gesture. He was the one in the wrong, and any further explanation would just be an excuse.
"Who ambushed me!?" Kagami pushed himself up from the rocking carriage floor and asked Hiruzen and Danzo, who were beside him.
"Don't know."
They answered in unison,
and Kagami realized who the real culprit was. But this wasn't the time to make a fuss. He hurriedly brushed the dust off himself and asked the boy he hadn't seen in a while, "Where have you been these past few days?"
His question piqued everyone's curiosity. Even Tobirama, driving the carriage up front, turned his attention to them, eager to hear Rikusei's answer.
Sheltering from the dusk in Naori's shadow, Rikusei glanced at Madara, who was still standing on the horse's back and enjoying the autumn breeze. "I went to a clan connected to the Uchiha Clan."
"A clan connected to them?"
Danzo murmured as he leaned against the wooden wall, searching his memories for anything about the Uchiha Clan. He came up empty.
He could only look to