They were choosing their masters, too. Fine birds chose their trees to nest in. When he chose the Uchiha Clan, wasn't the Uchiha Clan choosing him as well? If he refused them today, then tomorrow the same proposal would be brought before the other generals or commissioners. Thinking of this, Sato weighed his options and spoke.
"Thirty thousand kan of silver will serve as the initial funds for establishing your base. It will also be the full reward for your first mission, which will earn you an official title. I want you to completely sabotage the bridge being built at the borders of the Land of Grass, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Fire. I don't care how you do it. I want to make sure that bridge cannot be completed within six months!"
"Understood, sir!"
"I'm not finished. Thirty thousand kan is no small sum. Do you think you can earn it with just a little sabotage? There's one more thing: within six months, I want you to kill Akiyama Nobunori!"
"We accept the mission!"
"As for your official title, I'll formally submit a request to the Daimyo. Once Akiyama Nobunori is dead, you'll get what you want! But until then, this matter must remain secret. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
"For thirty years, we have hidden ourselves away in the countryside, drifting through life in a daze. Now that our hearts have been awakened, we will surely shake the world! Your mission begins today!"
"General, I have a suggestion I'd like to bring to your attention!"
"Speak!"
"Though it rains constantly in the Land of Rain and its mountains are steep and rugged, the country lies at the center of the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire. It connects not only our three great nations, but, should war break out, it would also make a useful battleground for our supply lines. The mountains between the Land of Rain and our Land of Fire are especially steep and treacherous, and a great river forms a natural barrier. If we begin building a bridge connecting the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire now, then after you sweep through the Land of Fire, General, you can lead your army straight into the Land of Rain and launch a full assault on the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind. This would also ensure that the fighting stays beyond the borders of the Land of Fire, keeping our homeland safe from large-scale destruction by any army!"
"Hmm! You make a good point. But that's Akiyama Nobunori's project. Hmm, change of orders: you must make every effort to assassinate Akiyama Nobunori within a month. Once he's dead, I'll take full control of the project!"
"Yes, sir!"
The bright moon hung in the sky, its silvery light falling like frost upon the ground. Yet it brought a warmth one could barely sense to the dark night. The towering trees stretched on without end, each standing fifty meters tall. No one knew just how vast the forest was, or what lay within.
Footsteps suddenly sounded among the previously silent trees. At the front was Uchiha Izuna, followed closely by more than thirty shinobi dressed in the Uchiha Clan's signature attire, emblazoned with the fan-shaped crest. A figure darted through the shadows. Izuna's eyes instantly shifted into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The figure, poised to move beneath the shadows, froze the moment their eyes met. One of the Uchiha shinobi behind Izuna used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside the figure, then cut off their head with a single stroke.
"Five on guard. Eliminate them all!"
Less than a minute after the figure died, a ninja clad entirely in black burst out of the ground, leapt onto a tree, and knelt before Izuna. Izuna nodded and raised one hand, palm facing forward.
"After tonight, the Haguro Clan will be no more!"
The same scene played out beside another lake, a thousand miles away from the forest. Mingye rocked gently in a small boat on the lake as a boy of no more than twelve rowed him to the opposite shore. Mingye took a one-li silver piece from his sleeve, tossed it to the boy, and smiled.
"Head on home."
"Sir, this is far too much!"
The boy took the silver, stunned. The trip had lasted only ten minutes, yet the man had given him so much. Shy and nervous, the boy hurriedly spoke up to thank him.
"It's not too much! Not at all!"
Mingye's voice sounded low. He walked into the woods and disappeared from the boy's sight. The boy glanced toward the trees, then silently turned back to his little boat. Suddenly, he remembered something his father had once told him. He went to an unremarkable tree and arranged the scattered stones into a strange pattern. Then he turned around, beaming at the silver in his hand, and happily headed back to his boat. But all at once, he felt a chill at his throat. He wiped at it with his hand, only to find red blood pouring out and staining his palm. His body began to give way, and he collapsed to the ground. The one-li silver piece seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as it slipped from his hand. The boy lay limp, staring at where it had fallen, regretting that he had suddenly grown so sleepy.
That money could have bought Father a whole new outfit for me!
The boy was unable to voice the thought in his heart. A white-haired man walked up behind him, following his gaze to where the silver had fallen. The man picked it up and looked at the boy's struggling eyes. His face remained expressionless, but he walked over, lifted the boy's hand, placed the silver in it, and pressed it against his chest.
The boy's face seemed to smile in gratitude to the white-haired man. Then he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the new clothes he would wear when he woke and reunited with his parents.
But a child knew nothing of cold, nor did he know what death was. His ignorance kept fear from troubling him at all, and so, with a smile, he calmly accepted the cruelest thing in this world.
The white-haired man sighed softly, shook his head, and turned to walk into the woods. The instant he stepped among the trees, the howling of wolves rang out across the land.
"Big Brother!"
At the Senju Clan's camp, Hashirama was resting and recovering from his injuries when the door to his room suddenly flew open. Tobirama rushed in, panting.
"What happened?"
Seeing how tense Tobirama was, Hashirama asked him anxiously.
"Last night, the Togakushi and Haguro Clans were wiped out by the Uchiha Clan! They've made their move!"
Tobirama steadied his breathing and stood up straight before answering Hashirama.
"What! The Togakushi and Haguro Clans... No! Their next target is likely the Kurohabaki Clan, which is in the same region. We have to stop the Uchiha Clan from going on this rampage!" Hearing Tobirama's words, Hashirama thought it through. Then he suddenly remembered the Kurohabaki Clan, which had close ties with both of the smaller clans and had dealings with the Senju Clan. He immediately understood Madara's intentions, got out of bed, and grabbed the armor beside him as he spoke to Tobirama.
"That's what I came to tell you. Father is already gathering the clansmen. He says we have to strike back hard and give the Uchiha Clan a crushing blow!"
Tobirama nodded and replied.
"I'm going right now!"
Hashirama took less than a minute to put on his armor, then rushed out with Tobirama toward the place where their father was waiting.
Outside the house, Butsuma stood in full armor, seemingly already waiting for Hashirama and Tobirama. Beside him was a red-haired man they had never seen before.
"So these are young Butsuma's sons?"
Butsuma looked somewhat awkward at the red-haired man's question, but only mildly so. He forced a smile and said,
"Sorry about that. Hashirama, Tobirama, come over and greet your granduncle! This is Uzumaki Aihara!"
With the fighting so tense, both Hashirama and Tobirama were already on edge. They hadn't expected that, upon reaching Butsuma, he would point to a man in his early twenties and tell them to call him their granduncle. Hashirama couldn't help mocking Aihara.
"Uncle?! Dad, how can you joke around at a time like this? He looks about the same age as us! Kid, whose side are you on? How dare you make us call you Granduncle!"
Tobirama was different. Without the slightest objection, he immediately bowed to Aihara and greeted him.
"Hello, Uncle!"
Hashirama was stunned. He pointed at Aihara and looked at Tobirama, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Tobirama... you!"
Butsuma was secretly pleased. At last, someone else was just as awkward as he was. But he didn't hold back, smacking Hashirama on the head and scolding him.
"You ignorant fool! Don't you know that the shinobi of the Uzumaki Clan are famous for their long lives? Aihara may look about twenty, but he's actually over fifty!"
"What!"
"Idiot!"
Hashirama stared at Aihara as if he were some kind of monster. He couldn't understand what the man had been eating to look no older than twenty at the age of fifty. Tobirama, meanwhile, seemed to have been prepared for this. After getting in a jab at his older brother, he turned to their father and asked,
"Father, the Kurohabaki shinobi are surely about to be attacked by the Uchiha shinobi. Aren't you going to send reinforcements right away?"
Butsuma nodded. When he'd sent Tobirama to fetch Hashirama, he'd indeed planned to fight the Uchiha Clan to the death. But now, Uzumaki Aihara's arrival had disrupted his original plan. He turned to the two of them and said,
"I'll go myself. There's no need for you two to come with me!"
Hashirama was clearly taken aback by Butsuma's words. He had told Butsuma how powerful Madara was now, but his father seemed not to have listened. Anxiously, he said,
"What! Father, you know what Uchiha Madara can do. Do you think you're stronger than me?"
"Hashirama, our purpose this time is only to rescue the Kurohabaki Clan. We're not going to fight the Uchiha Clan to the death. We have something more important to take care of!"
Before you continue