Madara Was Shaken

Inside the ancestral hall, only Tajima, Madara, and Qin Mo remained.

The air seemed to freeze. Madara's brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze moving back and forth between his father and his younger brother.

"Mo, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Qin Mo did not answer at once. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again—

His pitch-black pupils abruptly changed. The crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan looked eerie and cold in the candlelight.

Madara's breath caught.

"Three tomoe!"

A sharp glint flashed through Tajima's eyes, but it quickly settled back into deep calm. "When did this happen?"

"Eight years ago... the night Mother died." Qin Mo's voice was very soft, yet it echoed clearly through the ancestral hall.

Madara's pupils contracted sharply, and his fingers clenched unconsciously.

That night, the Uchiha Clan had been attacked. Their mother, in order to protect the infant Qin Mo, had died at the hands of the Senju Clan's ninja.

At the time, Tajima and the other elite clan members had all been away from the clan. By the time they rushed back, everything was already over.

Mo... had only been three months old then.

He had awakened his eyes at three months old, and they had directly been three tomoe?

Madara's throat bobbed, his voice a little dry. "You... hid it all this time?"

Qin Mo did not answer. He only looked quietly at Tajima.

Tajima was silent for a long time before finally speaking slowly.

"Why say it only now?"

Qin Mo's Sharingan turned slightly, his voice calm to the point of near indifference.

"Because now, I need the qualifications to go to the battlefield."

Inside the ancestral hall, candle flames swayed, casting the silent shadows of the three of them.

An unreadable emotion flashed through Tajima's eyes. "Once you are on the battlefield, you must obey Madara's commands. You are not to act on your own, and you are even less allowed to easily expose your Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Can you do that?"

Qin Mo slowly lowered his head and said respectfully, "Yes, Father."

Madara's brows still had not relaxed. He stared at Qin Mo, his eyes filled with shock, suspicion, and a trace of an indescribably complicated emotion.

Awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at three months old?

This had already completely exceeded the Uchiha Clan's common sense.

Even he, the young clan leader, had yet to awaken the Sharingan.

"Madara." Tajima's voice interrupted Madara's thoughts. "Starting tomorrow, Mo will join your squad. Remember, his Sharingan is the Uchiha's hidden card. Do not expose it unless there is no other choice."

Madara took a deep breath, suppressed the doubts in his heart, and nodded. "I understand."

Tajima's gaze swept between the two of them before finally stopping on Qin Mo. "Mo, since you have such talent, then fight well for the clan!"

Qin Mo raised his head, a barely perceptible glint flashing through his eyes. "Yes."

Late at night, moonlight poured like water over the silent training ground.

Qin Mo stood alone at the center, eyes closed as he sensed the chakra flowing inside his body.

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan glowed faintly in the darkness, and every tiny movement of the wind and grass around him was clearly reflected in his perception.

Suddenly, a figure appeared silently behind him.

"You hid it well enough." Madara's voice drifted over slowly.

Qin Mo did not turn around. He only replied indifferently, "I did it to protect myself."

"Then I'm very curious why you took the initiative to expose your strength tonight." Madara asked curiously.

Qin Mo slowly turned around and said with a grave expression, "Big Brother, if I told you the Uchiha would be exterminated in the future, would you believe me?"

Madara's pupils contracted abruptly. "What did you say?"

Qin Mo continued, "Big Brother, if you trust me, then listen to me. Don't trust anyone easily, including any words on any stone tablet."

Madara stared fixedly at the younger brother before him, who had suddenly become unfamiliar. "Stone tablet? You mean the ancestral stone tablet at Naka Shrine? What does that have to do with the Uchiha being exterminated?"

"I can only say this much. Big Brother, you'll understand in the future." After Qin Mo finished speaking, he turned and left the training ground.

Only Madara was left behind, deep in thought.

The next day, at the border battlefield.

The Senju Clan's ninja surged forward like a tide, and battle was about to erupt.

The squad led by Madara quickly spread into formation, while Qin Mo quietly followed at the very rear, looking just like an ordinary Uchiha boy.

However, when a Senju jōnin broke through the defensive line and charged straight for Madara's back—

Qin Mo's figure vanished in an instant.

The next moment, his kunai was already pressed against that jōnin's throat, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan staring at him coldly. "Too slow."

The Senju jōnin's eyes were filled with terror. "You... you are...!"

Qin Mo did not give him a chance to speak. With a turn of his wrist, blood splashed onto the battlefield.

Madara glanced back, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by battle intent. "Don't get distracted. The fight isn't over yet!"

Qin Mo flicked the blood from his kunai, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint, almost imperceptible smile. "Yes, Big Brother."

On a high cliff in the distance, Senju Butsuma narrowed his eyes as he watched the battlefield.

His rough fingers unconsciously rubbed the hilt of his blade, his gaze locking onto the small, thin figure who had instantly killed a jōnin.

"That brat..." He turned to look at the white-haired boy beside him. "Tobirama, did you see clearly?"

Senju Tobirama's pupils contracted slightly. "His Body Flicker Technique is highly complete, but what's more worth noting is..." He paused. "When he made his move, Madara's expression was very wrong."

Butsuma snorted coldly. "That old fox Uchiha Tajima really was hiding another card." He abruptly raised his arm. "Second echelon, press in!"

On the battlefield, Qin Mo suddenly raised his head and looked toward the high cliff.

His three tomoe rotated slightly, instantly catching Senju Butsuma's gesture.

"Big Brother, three o'clock." Qin Mo reminded him in a low voice.

Madara immediately turned in that direction, and sure enough, he saw cold glints flashing in the dense forest. He swiftly formed seals. "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

A scorching sea of fire swept through, forcing out the hidden Senju ninja.

But what was even more shocking was that Qin Mo completed his Water Style hand seals almost at the same moment. "Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

The steam produced by the collision of water and fire instantly enveloped the entire battlefield.

"Cover me." Qin Mo's voice suddenly sounded beside Madara's ear. Before Madara could respond, his figure had already vanished into the thick mist.

"Wait!" Madara wanted to stop him, but he heard screams ringing out one after another from within the mist.

When he rushed into the fog, he saw Qin Mo pulling his kunai out of the chest of the last Senju chūnin.

"Father said not to act on your own!" Madara grabbed Qin Mo by the shoulder.

Qin Mo smiled faintly. "Big Brother, I'm fine. These ants can't hurt me."

"When did you learn Water Style?"

"Four years ago."

Looking at his third younger brother, who was half a head shorter than him yet so much stronger, Madara was instantly shaken.

One had to know that the current Madara had not yet met Hashirama, and there was still some time before he awakened the Sharingan.

Just then, a deafening explosion suddenly came from far away.

"It's from the clan grounds!" Madara's expression changed abruptly.

A trace of understanding flashed through Qin Mo's eyes. "A diversion!"

Madara immediately turned around. "We have to return to reinforce them at once!"

Qin Mo held down Madara's arm. "Don't worry. Father already expected this."