Recently, Senju Kyogawa had felt that his second-eldest brother, Senju Tobirama, was acting strangely. He seemed to be running into Tobirama much more often than before.
For instance, whenever he sneaked out of the clan grounds to hunt, he would "coincidentally" run into Senju Tobirama, who had also come out.
At first, Senju Kyogawa had thought it was just chance, but after it happened again and again, he started to feel something was off and couldn't help wondering what Tobirama was up to.
Strange. This was really strange.
Senju Kyogawa ran into Senju Tobirama again, only this time it was inside the clan grounds.
Senju Kyogawa was at the communal farmland, checking on the crops he had planted. They were all growing remarkably well. He wondered if it had something to do with the fact that they came from the system.
After experimenting several times, Senju Kyogawa had discovered—
Potatoes treated with Healing Jutsu did grow faster, but there was a limit. Once the potato seedlings reached a certain size, they couldn't keep growing.
Perhaps it had something to do with the number of times their cells could divide...
So Senju Kyogawa still couldn't tell what this potato plant would eventually turn out like. He could only wait until harvest time and see...
Water Release—
Senju Kyogawa used the Water Release he had just learned, precisely dividing it into many small water balls that landed on the crops. The water trickled down the seedlings, seeped into the soil, and reached the roots.
"Clap, clap, clap—"
A round of applause rang out.
Senju Kyogawa turned around in surprise and saw that it was Senju Tobirama.
"Little brother, your chakra control has gotten much more precise lately. And you even thought to use Water Release for something like this..." Senju Tobirama folded his arms across his chest and rubbed his chin with his right index finger, as if deep in thought. "I can only say, that's just like you, little brother..."
Senju Kyogawa felt a little embarrassed by the praise.
That was right. Coming from the exceptionally serious Senju Tobirama, this counted as praise.
And Senju Kyogawa had been admiring Senju Tobirama more than ever lately. Hearing him praise him made him feel as though his idol had approved of him, and it put him in a great mood.
But Senju Kyogawa quickly came back to his senses. Suspicious, he looked Senju Tobirama up and down, but couldn't spot anything unusual.
Then Senju Kyogawa told Senju Tobirama to stay still and circled him, inspecting him carefully from every angle before stopping in front of him.
Senju Kyogawa still didn't say anything. He rubbed his chin, his expression grave.
Senju Tobirama had looked calm at first, but as Senju Kyogawa kept staring, his expression stiffened. If this were a manga, he might have had dark, ominous lines around him and a cross-shaped vein popping on his forehead to show his anger...
Still, Senju Tobirama held back. Perhaps he did feel a little guilty—about secretly following Senju Kyogawa?
"What's wrong? You've been looking at me for ages without saying a word." Senju Tobirama couldn't help asking.
Senju Kyogawa shook his head, then nodded, but still said nothing.
Just as Senju Tobirama was starting to lose patience waiting, Senju Kyogawa suddenly said:
"Sure enough, Brother Tobirama is still really handsome..."
Just as Senju Tobirama began to relax a little, Senju Kyogawa changed tack.
"But..."
"I can't shake the feeling you've been secretly following me lately, Brother Tobirama..."
Senju Tobirama flatly denied following Senju Kyogawa, insisting it was just a coincidence.
But Senju Kyogawa didn't really care about it. He hadn't done anything he needed to feel guilty about, so he gave up pursuing the matter.
It wasn't long before Senju Kyogawa realized things weren't that simple.
Maybe Brother Tobirama was actually trying to follow Brother Hashirama? Senju Kyogawa pondered.
These past few days, Senju Kyogawa had increasingly felt that Senju Tobirama was acting strangely.
He carefully thought through Senju Tobirama's movements over the past few days and compared them with his and Senju Hashirama's schedules. Then he realized—
His and Senju Hashirama's schedules actually overlapped quite a bit.
The difference was that Senju Kyogawa went hunting in the forest near the Naka River or fishing at the spot where he often met Izuna, while Senju Hashirama went to the Naka River to "date" Madara—no, to fight him.
On top of that, there had been a tense atmosphere at home lately. Senju Butsuma had been in a bad mood these past few days, as if something were weighing on him. A few days ago, he had even called Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama into his room for a talk. Senju Kyogawa had been curious, too, but he'd been kept outside and couldn't hear a thing. All he saw was that when the three came out, none of them looked happy. They were as dark as ink spilled from an overturned pot.
That was when Senju Kyogawa had a startling realization—
Oh no, oh no...
Could Hashirama and Madara have been caught meeting in secret?!
And Senju Butsuma had found out, too!
Thinking about it carefully, there had been signs. Senju Tobirama had keen senses and might have noticed something suspicious before, but lately Hashirama had been acting so obviously strange that even Senju Kyogawa couldn't ignore it. It was only natural that Senju Tobirama would try to get to the bottom of it.
Oh no, this was bad! If Madara really was a member of the Uchiha Clan, Senju Butsuma would never approve of the two of them being together. He would definitely try to tear them apart!
As for why Senju Kyogawa was so sure Senju Butsuma already knew, it was because Senju Tobirama had long displayed a deep hatred of the Uchiha Clan. That hatred had only grown stronger after Senju Itama was killed in battle.
Oh no, what were they going to do?
Given Senju Butsuma's personality, he would definitely try to kill Madara!
They might even stage a classic ambush, with the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole waited behind, right when Hashirama and Madara met.
The more Senju Kyogawa thought about it, the more worried he became. He was a little afraid that, given Hashirama's personality, he might side with Madara and fight his own father and younger brother...
Please, anything but that...
But it might already be too late. Early that morning, after Senju Hashirama hurried out, Senju Tobirama had quickly made an excuse to follow him—and might have brought Senju Butsuma along as well.
Senju Kyogawa rushed after them at nearly the fastest speed of his life.
He was grateful that, at a time like this, his Breathing Technique gave him a huge advantage. He was fast—especially after learning the Ninja Step—and didn't feel tired at all.
He reached the Naka River and hid in the bushes to watch.
I made it, I made it...
Sure enough, his excellent eyesight quickly picked out Senju Butsuma and Senju Tobirama hiding farther back, watching like predators lying in wait.
On opposite banks of the Naka River stood Senju Hashirama and Madara, both familiar to Senju Kyogawa.
It seemed his guess had been right.
Senju Kyogawa slowed his breathing, hoping to conceal his presence.
However...
He failed.
Senju Tobirama was an excellent sensor-type ninja. He had noticed Senju Kyogawa as soon as he approached, and his gaze shot toward the hiding place like a blade.
Brother Tobirama spotted me... Senju Kyogawa sheepishly came out, then tiptoed over and crouched beside him.
Then Senju Kyogawa saw—
Madara looked very serious. He couldn't see Senju Hashirama's expression, but he assumed Hashirama's probably wasn't any better. After all, he was being forced by his own father and younger brother to "capture" the dear friend he had chosen for himself...
After a long silence, Madara was the first to speak. His expression cool, he said to Senju Hashirama across the river:
"Let's start with a greeting. We'll skip stones first."
The two of them almost in unison threw the stones clutched in their hands toward the opposite bank.
After successfully exchanging the stones, both seemed to notice something. In tacit unison, they lowered their heads to look at the stones.
Then, at the same time, their expressions changed abruptly.
Madara looked a little tense as he spoke quickly.
"Hashirama, I'm sorry, but we can't play together today. I just remembered I have something to take care of..."
Then he turned and made as if to leave.
A bead of cold sweat ran down Senju Hashirama's forehead, too. He answered, sounding very forced:
"Is, is that so... Then I'll head home for today..."
Looks like they've already agreed on a secret signal... Senju Kyogawa felt relieved, but would Senju Butsuma really let Madara go so easily? Judging by his expression, Senju Butsuma had clearly already confirmed that Madara was an Uchiha...
Sure enough, the next moment, Senju Kyogawa saw Senju Butsuma's expression turn grim and frightening.
He gritted his teeth.
"So soon? Are you trying to run away?"
"That Hashirama actually let the secret slip..."
It looked like Senju Hashirama would be in for it when he got home...
"Let's go, Tobirama!" Senju Butsuma turned to signal Tobirama to follow him, clearly with no intention of bringing Senju Kyogawa along.
Then the two leaped out of their hiding place and landed on the water, one after the other.
At the same time, two figures—one tall and one short—burst out from the opposite side, clearly prepared for this as well.
Izuna?! Senju Kyogawa stared in disbelief at the black-haired, dark-eyed Uchiha boy with fair skin.
He hadn't expected Izuna to be Madara's younger brother.
Now the two sides faced off, the atmosphere charged with tension.
So this is how much fun you ninjas have... I've been missing out... And you're all so in sync, too...
Senju Kyogawa's mouth twitched as he couldn't help complaining to himself.
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