A Treasonous Deal: The Senju and Uchiha's Secret Alliance

The wind by the Naka River seemed to have completely stilled at that moment.

Uchiha Fugaku strode out from the shadows of the woods with three elite guardsmen. The high-collared uniform bearing the fan clan crest flapped loudly in the wind, and his face was so grim it seemed water could drip from it.

When his gaze swept across the riverbank and he clearly saw the scene before him, the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched uncontrollably.

His fiancée in name, the brightest jewel of the Uchiha clan, was standing extremely close to another man. Mikoto's eyes were noticeably red-rimmed, and her slender pale fingers still tightly clutched a pure white handkerchief belonging to that man.

What made Fugaku's pupils constrict even more was that the man was actually Senju Sosuke! That sickly invalid whose meridians had been utterly destroyed, who could stop breathing at any moment!

"Mikoto! What are you doing?!"

Fugaku's roar drowned out the rush of the river. He abruptly pressed forward, three tomoe spinning wildly within his blood-red pupils, his eyes radiating undisguised savagery and killing intent.

Mikoto shuddered at the roar. The instinctive obedience ingrained in her by years within the clan made her subconsciously want to release the handkerchief and shrink back.

At that instant, a hand, slightly cool yet unusually broad, firmly grasped her wrist.

Sosuke did not turn around. He merely drew Mikoto half a step behind him. Facing Fugaku's nearly devouring gaze, he covered his mouth with his free hand and coughed twice in suppression.

"Cough, cough... Captain Fugaku certainly cuts an imposing figure." Sosuke lowered his hand, a gentle yet piercing smile appearing on his pale face. "Shouting at your own fiancée by the Naka River—is this the magnanimity expected of the Uchiha's future clan head?"

"Shut up! You cripple from the Senju Clan, this is no place for you to speak!" Fugaku laughed in extreme fury, his right hand already gripping the hilt of the ninja sword at his waist. He stared fixedly at Mikoto, his tone carrying an unquestionable command. "Mikoto, get over here immediately! Do you know who you are? Entangling yourself with trash who could die at any moment—do you intend to disgrace the Uchiha clan completely?!"

Every word he spoke dripped with lofty arrogance. In Fugaku's eyes, Mikoto was not a person with independent thoughts, but Uchiha property—his, Fugaku's, possession.

Mikoto lowered her head, her pearly teeth biting hard into her lower lip until it nearly bled.

Grievance, humiliation, resentment—every emotion churned violently within her chest. Sosuke's words from moments ago replayed endlessly in her mind: "Sacrificing a woman's lifelong happiness in exchange for compromise from internal factions," and "Entrusting a clan's fate to a marriage alliance is the act of a coward."

Compared to that, Fugaku's current overbearing manner seemed so ugly and pitiful.

"If you retreat now, you'll be trapped in that cage called Uchiha for the rest of your life." Sosuke's voice was so low that only the two of them could hear it. There was a trace of temptation in his tone, but also a confidence that struck straight at the soul. "Don't be afraid. If the sky falls, the Senju will hold it up for you."

Those words became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Mikoto drew a deep breath. Rather than pulling free from Sosuke's grasp, she turned her wrist and tightly interlocked her fingers with his.

That gesture made Fugaku instantly freeze where he stood.

Mikoto raised her head. In those eyes that had always brimmed with gentleness, unprecedented resolve now burned. Facing Fugaku's Sharingan, she spoke slowly and clearly. "Young Master Fugaku, I was only taking a walk with Young Master Sosuke. I am not your subordinate. Please do not interfere with my freedom."

Boom!

Fugaku felt as though the last thread of reason in his mind had snapped completely.

"You dare betray the clan?!"

With a furious roar, chakra erupted from Fugaku's body like a volcano. He yanked out his ninja sword, its snowy blade reflecting a cold gleam in the morning light as it pointed directly at Sosuke's throat.

"Senju Sosuke! What sorcery did you use to beguile Mikoto?! Even if the Hokage punishes me for it today, I'll kill you, you piece of trash!"

The three elite guardsmen also drew their weapons at once, forming a half-circle that sealed off Sosuke's retreat.

Killing intent permeated the riverbank.

Mikoto's face went deathly pale, and she instinctively tried to stand before Sosuke. But Sosuke forcefully pulled her back behind him and faced the blade hanging before him alone.

He formed no hand seals and made no effort to evade. He did not even blink an extra time.

The terrifying foundation granted by his beginner-level Sage Body allowed him to crush Fugaku's throat in an instant. Yet he did not. He was a hunter, but also a politician. Killing Fugaku would be easy, but using Fugaku's stupidity to throw Hidden Leaf into turmoil would maximize his gains.

Sosuke looked at the blade tip less than half an inch from his throat, then suddenly chuckled.

That laughter seemed exceptionally strange amid the drawn-sword tension.

"Drawing your sword? Fine." Sosuke slightly raised his chin, deliberately bringing his vulnerable neck closer to the blade, his eyes full of undisguised mockery. "Do it, Uchiha Fugaku. Put some force into it and pierce my throat."

Fugaku's hand holding the sword abruptly halted, and the corner of his eye twitched wildly.

"You think I don't dare?!"

"Of course you don't." The gentleness vanished from Sosuke's face in an instant, replaced by coldness from on high. "I am the last remaining heir of the Senju Clan, the bloodline of the First Hokage. If you kill me here today, tomorrow the Third Hokage and Elder Danzo will have the ANBU level your Uchiha clan grounds on charges of 'treason against the village'!"

Sosuke took a step forward.

Fugaku was actually forced back half a step by his imposing presence.

"Hidden Leaf's higher-ups are desperate for an excuse to deal with you. One slash from that blade will send the entire Uchiha clan to the execution block!" Sosuke's voice was not loud, but every word struck at Fugaku's heart like a heavy hammer. "Don't you keep claiming it's all for the clan? Come, let me see exactly how much backbone this future clan head has!"

"You..." Fugaku's face alternated between green and white. Veins bulged on the back of his sword hand, yet he could not bring himself to thrust.

Sosuke was right. He did not dare.

The Uchiha were currently walking on thin ice, and the higher-ups' suspicions had reached their peak. If he truly killed the last male of the Senju Clan, Tsunade would go mad, and the Hokage's faction would seize the opportunity to make an issue of it. He could not bear that price.

Seeing Fugaku's helpless, furious expression, Sosuke's contempt deepened.

He turned to Mikoto behind him, his tone becoming gentle again. "Let's go. The air here is too foul for a walk."

Mikoto stared blankly at Sosuke's profile, her heart pounding wildly.

This man had forced the untouchable Uchiha elite into not even daring to swing their swords with only a few words! That composure, treating life, death, and political schemes as playthings in his palm, filled her with a profound tremor—and an indescribable sense of falling deeper.

"Mm." Mikoto nodded obediently.

Sosuke held Mikoto's hand and openly walked past Fugaku.

"Captain! Are we just letting them leave?" one guardsman asked through gritted teeth.

Fugaku stared fixedly at their interlocked hands, his teeth grinding loudly. He suddenly sheathed his ninja sword, his voice hoarse with extreme fury. "Let them go! This matter... isn't over!"

He did not dare kill Sosuke, but he would never allow the Uchiha's jewel to fall into Senju hands. He would return to the clan at once, convene the council of elders, and pressure the higher-ups!

After leaving the Naka River, the two walked side by side along the tree-lined path leading toward the center of Hidden Leaf.

Only after confirming that no pursuers followed them did Mikoto let out a long breath, relaxing her tense body. Then she realized that her hand was still tightly held by Sosuke.

Sosuke's palm was broad, carrying a warmth unusual for an ordinary person.

"I'm sorry, Young Master Sosuke. Things were urgent just now..." Mikoto said, blushing as she tried to withdraw her hand.

But Sosuke did not let go. Instead, he tightened his grip. He stopped and turned to look at Mikoto, a domineering refusal to be denied in his black eyes.

"The show has already begun. How can we quit halfway through?" A smile curled across Sosuke's lips. "From today onward, you are a woman under the protection of me, Senju Sosuke. Fugaku will not dare touch you again, and the Uchiha council of elders will not dare act rashly either. Since you nodded to this treasonous deal, don't even think about getting off this ship."

Mikoto's heartbeat skipped.

She knew she was not merely using Sosuke to escape the marriage alliance. She had completely tied herself to the Senju Clan's war chariot. It was an enormous gamble, but as she looked at the unfathomable man before her, she suddenly felt that even an abyss ten thousand fathoms deep would be better than that decaying Uchiha estate.

"I understand." Mikoto clasped Sosuke's hand in return, her eyes growing resolute. "From now on... please take care of me, Sosuke."

That change in address signified the complete formation of their alliance.

Sosuke smiled in satisfaction. Although no system notification sounded, he could feel that his progress bar for stealing Mikoto away had crossed its most difficult threshold.

The two continued walking side by side toward the village, the morning sun stretching their shadows long behind them.

However, they failed to notice.

Deep within the canopy of a towering tree a hundred meters away, hidden amid lush branches and leaves, lurked a ghostlike figure.

The person wore an expressionless raccoon-dog mask and a dull gray bodysuit. Their emotionless eyes stared fixedly at Sosuke and Mikoto's clasped hands.

"The Senju remnant and the Uchiha jewel have secretly formed an alliance..."

An almost inaudible murmur came from beneath the mask.

The next moment, the Root spy transformed into a cloud of smoke and silently vanished into the air, rushing toward the underground Root base. The already murky stagnant waters of Hidden Leaf were about to be stirred into unprecedented stormy waves.