Madara Bro~ I'm Afraid of the Dark

Senju Chenghe, who had been starving for a day and a night, finally got to eat. He was so happy he could have cried.

Although he had been exhausted on the battlefield before, never had he felt so terrified, regretful, and fearful as he did today, not to mention having to go a full day and night relying solely on Military Ration Pills to sustain his energy.

"Brother Chenghe, eat slowly, don't choke," Senju Kyogawa said, unable to help himself as he watched Senju Chenghe wolf down the already hardened steamed bun.

Though Senju Kyogawa was also hungry, the bun was truly too hard and had even turned slightly sour from being left out too long, so he couldn't bring himself to eat more than one.

At that moment, Senju Chenghe held a bun in each hand, taking bites from both. He gave a few muffled "mm-hmms" in response to Kyogawa's reminder, but he didn't slow his chewing speed at all.

Sure enough, after only a few bites, Senju Chenghe choked. He struggled to swallow, but refused to put the bun down, instead pounding his chest with the hand holding it.

Senju Kyogawa hurriedly fed him some water.

Senju Chenghe drank from Kyogawa's hand, finally managing to wash the bun stuck in his esophagus down.

After this ordeal, Senju Chenghe finally slowed his pace.

After eating three more buns, Senju Chenghe was finally full. He drank another cup of water, then cupped his hands toward Madara, who was sitting to the side with his eyes closed in meditation, and thanked him:

"Many thanks for the buns, Brother Madara!"

Madara opened his eyes and gave a cold, aloof nod.

Seeing Madara's feigned indifference, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but laugh out loud. In the few hours he had spent with Madara, thanks to Kyogawa's one-sided pestering for Cuddle Points, he had grown familiar with him and, through his own persistent "annoyance," had successfully broken through Madara's defenses multiple times.

Therefore, whenever Kyogawa saw Madara acting this cold, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

Hearing Kyogawa's laughter, Madara turned his head and glared at him.

"Cough, cough!" Seeing the glare, Senju Kyogawa immediately tried to suppress the smile on his lips and sat up straight.

However, in the end, he couldn't hold back his amusement. He simply burst into laughter, clutching his stomach with one hand and pounding the table in front of him with the other.

Senju Chenghe hadn't seen Madara glare at Kyogawa, so he watched Kyogawa laughing "for no reason" with a look of utter confusion, his expression like an elderly person trying to figure out a smartphone.

It took a while for Senju Kyogawa to stop laughing, and he said to Senju Chenghe:

"Brother Chenghe, let me see your wounds and treat them for you."

After resting, Senju Kyogawa thought about what the system had told him: [That "wall monster" is actually a "gate" connecting to another place.]

He pondered for a moment, Since it is a "gate," and I can smell a strong, strange fragrance around it, if I hadn't been accidentally pulled into a space-time rift this time, could I have found the cause of the "Evil Demon's" appearance through the "gate"?

Senju Kyogawa felt this was a very feasible idea.

So, he shared his thoughts with Senju Chenghe and Madara.

"So, Brother Kyogawa, you were able to smell that strange fragrance I couldn't, which is why you approached that wall?" Senju Chenghe suddenly realized.

Madara looked at Senju Kyogawa with a strange expression, staring until Kyogawa felt his skin crawl, before saying, "I could smell that strange fragrance, too."

"Eh?" Senju Kyogawa and Senju Chenghe wore identical expressions of confusion.

Returning to the mansion, they encountered a few monsters, but they were all low-level ones, and the three of them quickly dealt with them.

Senju Kyogawa headed straight for the room. As soon as they stepped inside, Kyogawa and Madara couldn't help but frown at the intense fragrance.

This time, Senju Kyogawa had experience. He didn't place his hand directly on the wall but first asked the Ugly Monster if it connected to a space-time rift. After receiving a negative answer, Kyogawa decisively reached out to touch the wall.

Once again, his hand left an imprint the size of his palm. He pushed forward with force, feeling his fingers break through the resistance of the "gate" and reach into another space.

Senju Kyogawa covered his arm in flames for protection before pushing his entire arm into the wall. It went smoothly, with no resistance.

"Whoa! That's amazing!" Senju Chenghe exclaimed.

Following that, Senju Kyogawa poked his head through the wall, passing the barrier of the "gate" to see the scene in the other space.

It was also a room, very empty, but the fragrance there was far more intense and pungent than outside the "gate."

After observing carefully and confirming there was no danger in the other space, Senju Kyogawa pulled his head back and signaled for Senju Chenghe and Madara to follow.

The three of them successfully passed through the "gate" into the other room.

Madara coughed twice after smelling the intense fragrance, which irritated his eyes until they were slightly red.

Senju Kyogawa handed Madara a pair of nose plugs he had redeemed from the Cuddle Mall, signaling him to put them on.

"There's a tunnel here!" Senju Chenghe, unaffected by the strange fragrance, had been scouting the room and discovered a hidden tunnel concealed beneath a solid table.

After pushing the table aside, the full view of the tunnel was revealed—

It was large.

Large enough for the three of them to pass through.

"I'll scout ahead. I'm a sensory-type ninja and can detect danger first," Senju Chenghe proposed.

Senju Kyogawa and Madara did not refuse.

As they descended into the tunnel, Senju Kyogawa suddenly reached out and grabbed Madara's hand. When Madara looked at him with a puzzled expression, Kyogawa put on a pitiful look:

"Brother Madara, I'm afraid of the dark~"

Senju Kyogawa was naturally delicate and cute, and being quite young, it was easy for him to win sympathy with such a pitiful expression—not to mention that he looked just as refined as an Uchiha.

Seeing Kyogawa acting spoiled, Madara couldn't help but have a vision of his own brother, Izuna, so he agreed quite easily.

Senju Kyogawa knew Madara would agree, so he listened with satisfaction to the constant chime of <strong>[Cuddle Points +7]</strong> and walked down the tunnel, holding Madara's hand.