Eradicating Evil Is Also Spreading Love

Early the next morning, Hiugo arrived at the destination with a yawn.

Tobirama was already waiting, dressed in the same armor as Hiugo. Seeing him approach, he immediately handed over a black scroll:

[Mission: Eliminate Yin-Yang Shenfeng]

[Deadline: Within three months]

[Target Intelligence: Yin-Yang Shenfeng is a Chunin of the Yin-Yang Clan. Three days ago, he suffered a cultivation mishap during a mission, lost his sanity, and killed his companions.

The target specializes in Wind Release and possesses three summoning beasts: a Giant Dog, a Centipede, and a Black Toad.

He was last spotted in the territory of the Ghost Fire Clan, northeast of the Land of Fire.]

[Bounty: 30,000 Ryo]

[Recommendation: To be handled by one Jonin or two Special Jonin.]

"The Yin-Yang Clan..."

Hiugo had some recollection of them. It was said to be a clan that focused on cooperation with summoning beasts. Rumor had it that their summoning techniques involved the soul, so they often required only one or two hand seals, and some even required none at all.

In earlier times, they called these summoning beasts Shikigami, though everything had since been standardized.

Unlike the Senju Clan, which raised ninja dogs from a young age, the Yin-Yang Clan directly selected powerful summoning beasts and entered into certain agreements to achieve cooperation.

It was said they were once a prominent, glorious clan, but due to some unknown reasons, a large number of their members perished, causing them to fall from their status as a major clan. Because they still possessed clan-leader-level powerhouses, their overall strength sat somewhere between a major clan and a mid-sized one.

"The two of us will complete this mission. The teacher generally won't intervene," Tobirama said, pulling a bundle from behind his back and tossing it into Hiugo's arms.

"What is this?"

"Extra ninja tools. They're for you, don't hold me back."

Tobirama finished speaking and walked away without looking back.

"Such a tsundere."

Hiugo blinked, looked at the bundle in his hands, muttered to himself, and followed after him with a smile.

No one would ever complain about having too many ninja tools; it was obvious Tobirama had split his own share to give some to him.

In truth, the reason was simple: Hiugo was a few months younger than Tobirama, making him Tobirama's younger brother in terms of age, though he always addressed him by name.

The two maintained a steady pace to avoid unnecessary exhaustion. Since this was their first time traveling far from home, they both felt a sense of novelty toward the surrounding scenery.

When they arrived at the Ghost Fire Clan, they saw a group of people gathered in one place.

"Looks like someone is competing with us for the mission," Hiugo whispered, and Tobirama nodded in agreement.

The Ghost Fire Clan was a small clan; the strongest combat power in such a clan was only at the Jonin level. Whenever there was the slightest disturbance, they would gather to face the danger.

Since there were no signs of battle in the vicinity, it was highly likely that these people, like them, were here to track the target.

The Ghost Fire Clan leader glanced at the two children who had just appeared. Seeing the horizontal branch pattern on their armor, his face immediately broke into a smile.

"Distinguished Senju ninjas, is there anything I can help you with?"

The benefit of a clan emblem was that it clearly identified one's status. For a small clan like this, the Senju Clan could wipe them out by sending a single elite Jonin.

Therefore, even though the Ghost Fire Clan leader was a Jonin, he remained respectful when facing the two children.

Tobirama didn't waste words and asked, "In which direction did Yin-Yang Shenfeng flee?"

Hearing this, the Ghost Fire Clan leader immediately pointed in a direction, as if he had expected the question.

"Who else came by to ask for directions just now?" Hiugo followed up with a second question, but this time, the Ghost Fire Clan leader looked troubled.

"You two, our Ghost Fire Clan is but a small clan. We dare not offend others, so please don't ask this question."

"How many people were there? What was their approximate strength?"

Hiugo tried a few different questions, yet the Ghost Fire Clan leader remained tight-lipped.

"Did they seem to specialize in ninjutsu or taijutsu?"

Hiugo still wouldn't give up, changing his approach to keep asking.

The Ghost Fire Clan leader sighed, "Stop asking. I won't say anything."

Seeing the Ghost Fire Clan leader act this way, Hiugo began to lose his patience. It wasn't that he wanted to make things difficult for anyone, but failing to confirm the identity of an unknown enemy during a mission was irresponsible toward his and Tobirama's lives.

He narrowed his eyes, his tone turning cold.

"It seems the Ghost Fire Clan leader is determined to go down this path to the end."

"What do you mean by that?"

The Ghost Fire Clan leader couldn't help but frown.

Hiugo pointed at the Ghost Fire Clan leader, then pointed toward the direction where Yin-Yang Shenfeng had just departed, and said coldly:

"The meaning is obvious: the Ghost Fire Clan is attempting to collude with the Uchiha Clan to ambush and slaughter the Senju Clan. Their intentions are truly sinister!"

Hearing this, Tobirama beside him was momentarily stunned, his expression turning peculiar.

The Ghost Fire Clan head reacted even more violently, his voice rising several decibels:

"What nonsense are you spouting? How could our Ghost Fire Clan possibly cooperate with the Uchiha Clan!"

Hiugo let out a scoff and said:

"Fine, then how can you prove that you haven't been cooperating with the Uchiha Clan?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Ghost Fire Clan head's mind raced, but after only a moment of thought, his brain went completely blank.

He had never cooperated with the Uchiha Clan in the first place, so how could he prove it? Proving something that didn't exist was a feat that even the Sage of Six Paths couldn't accomplish if he were still alive.

Wait, that's not right—I need to prove that I haven't cooperated with the Uchiha Clan, not prove that I have...

After much deliberation, he remained silent for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and saying: "Is this the legendary 'Love of the Senju'? To bully a small clan like ours—aren't you afraid of being mocked by other clans?"

With a tone like that, did he think this was a romance novel?

Hiugo raised an eyebrow, though his face remained stern:

"By daring to cooperate with the naturally evil Uchiha Clan, you have already fallen into the abyss, and eradicating evil is precisely the way our Senju Clan proclaims love."

Was this correct? It was perfectly correct. If the Senju Clan only talked about love all day, how could they have fought the Uchiha Clan for so long? In the Warring States period, might made right; no one cared if you were a "good person" or if you had "done wrong."

The Ghost Fire Clan head subconsciously clenched his fists, but in the end, he dared not strike. His remaining sanity told him that two brats wouldn't be out executing a mission so brazenly unless there were ninjas following them in the shadows.

After a mental struggle, the Ghost Fire Clan head said in a low voice: "There were four people who came earlier, all from the Hyuga Clan. Three of them were Chunin, around your age, and the other one was stronger than me—likely an elite Jonin..."

"Hold on, Tobirama, use a jutsu."

Seeing that the other party had finally spoken, Hiugo quickly stopped him and signaled to Tobirama with his eyes.

The Senju Clan lacked the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan and could not directly verify the accuracy of intelligence, but over the long passage of time, someone had created a jutsu to determine whether a ninja was speaking the truth.

Tobirama did not refuse; he condensed a sphere of water in his hand and gestured for the Ghost Fire Clan head to place his hand upon it.

If the water sphere burst, it meant the person was lying; otherwise, it was the truth.

The Ghost Fire Clan head, with a gloomy face, repeated his statement, including the direction he had previously pointed out for Yin-Yang Shenfeng.

Seeing that the water sphere did not burst, the two of them finally departed.

The Ghost Fire Clan head couldn't help but let out a long sigh, feeling as though he had aged significantly in an instant.

Having left the Ghost Fire Clan territory, Tobirama looked at Hiugo and thought to himself:

So this is what Father meant when he said there were things I needed to learn.

He had originally felt a bit of a barrier toward Hiugo's "underhanded" tactics, but after those few sentences just now, he realized that this stuff was actually quite useful at times.

"The naturally evil Uchiha..."

For some reason, Tobirama felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this phrase, as if it were something he himself should have said.