Gathering Intelligence in a Parallel Universe
In the boy's shadow, a pair of scarlet eyes were coldly watching him.
"Sharingan... Uchiha..." someone squeezed out these words from their throat, their voice trembling uncontrollably.
The Grass Ninja, their hands gripping Kunai, froze in mid-air, the tips of their blades pointing forward, yet they no longer had the courage to thrust even an inch further.
Natsu's eyes turned cold.
He originally only intended to stop the convoy to gather some intelligence, but he didn't expect to go on a killing spree.
But some things are ingrained in one's bones, such as the awe for the name Uchiha and the disgust for such foolish faces.
No matter what world they live in, these self-important scum will never learn to be humble and modest.
"I almost forgot, the scum in this place is still the same." Before he finished speaking, a flash of light appeared behind him.
Yaoyu drew his sword so quickly that the Grass Ninja didn't even see it—they only saw a flash of silver light, Tachi already back in its sheath.
Then the carriage, along with its curtains, roof, and the driver's seat, was neatly split in two from the very middle.
Wood chips and scraps of cloth fluttered down in the air, and the fat nobleman remained frozen in place, still in the position of lifting the curtain and hurling insults, a red line slowly seeping from his forehead.
He never imagined that these lowly people would actually dare to make a move.
He was a tax official under the jurisdiction of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He had been running rampant on this trade route for several years. He was always the one who cursed people, and no one dared to lay a finger on him.
"Wait—you bunch—" He tried to say something in terror, but the words were stuck in his throat.
The two pieces of carriage wreckage collapsed with a crash, burying his body under the rubble.
The surrounding samurai hadn't even realized what was happening until their companion's warm blood splattered on their faces, at which point they frantically tried to draw their swords.
But just as they were halfway to drawing their knives, the Yakumi silently appeared behind them.
He didn't draw his sword; he simply swept his Three-Tomoe Sharingan around indifferently, his gaze no different from that of looking at roadside weeds.
The samurai froze simultaneously, their Tachi slipping from their hands. After a series of dull thuds, they all collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
From beginning to end, it took only a few moments.
A tax collector who had been running rampant on the trade routes of the Land of Fire for several years, along with his hired samurai guards, was thus wiped out with a mere flick of the wrist.
Those few Grass Ninja were still standing there, trembling all over, unable to move an inch.
They watched as the expressionless young man cleaved the carriage in two with a single stroke, and then watched as another man felled several warriors with a mere glance.
But they didn't intervene—not because they didn't want to, but because they were afraid.
Those scarlet eyes never took them seriously from the start; that indifference wasn't feigned, it was genuine indifference to whether they fought or fled, lived or died.
Natsu glanced at Yaoyu Yu, a hint of helplessness in her eyes, but didn't say anything more.
He knew the nature of the Yaoyu.
In the years since they Origin Island, the Uchiha Clan has held a superior position. The clan members have become accustomed to being revered and respected, and it has been a long time since anyone has dared to display such a reckless attitude in front of them.
The Uchiha in this world may still be struggling to survive in the shadow of the Senju Clan, but these three come from a time when the Uchiha has already stood at the pinnacle of all races.
Their tolerance for such insults has long since dropped to zero.
He withdrew his gaze and walked towards the few Grass Ninja Captains who were still slumped on the ground.
As he approached, the other person tried to back away but tripped over the loose stones behind him and fell to the ground with a thud.
Natsu stopped in front of him, leaning slightly forward, her scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan reflecting his deathly pale face.
"A few questions," he said, his tone flat and cold, as if delivering an unquestionable verdict. "Whom do you work for? What is this convoy's destination?"
The Grass Ninja Captain instinctively tried to answer, but found his tongue was tied in knots from fear, and he could only let out muffled whimpers.
Natsu didn't wait for his reply. The Three Tomoe in her scarlet pupils shifted slightly, and the Genjutsu was silently unfurled.
He doesn't need the person to speak; he only needs to extract the information directly from their mind.
Behind him, the Yaoyu and the Yakumi stood quietly among the corpses. His Tachi was sheathed, Sharingan coldly gazed upon this familiar yet alien homeland, awaiting the next command.
A few minutes later, Natsu casually tossed the limp corpses to the side of the road, dusted off the dust on her sleeves, and looked past the stream to the distant mountain outlines in the direction of the Land of Fire.
A faint hint of surprise flashed in those Mangekyo Sharingan, only to be replaced by a profound sense of interest.
"Interesting. Flame Ninja Village? Uchiha King?" He repeated the two names softly, a slight smile playing on his lips. "That's quite unexpected."
"Young Master Natsu, what's going on? I don't remember there being a Flame Ninja Village when Konoha was founded, or that guy named Uchiha King." Yaoyu frowned and thought for a while, but couldn't help but lean closer to his younger brother and ask in a low voice.
Yakumi glanced at his older brother expressionlessly and said, "Brother, have you forgotten that when we graduated from the Ninja Academy, my academic score was even lower than yours? Asking me is pointless."
"Ahem..." Hearing his younger brother's complaint, Yaoyu coughed dryly, scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and simply asked Natsu, "Young Master Natsu, what should we do next?"
The Yakumi didn't speak, but his eyes were exactly the same as his brother's.
Natsu rolled her eyes, somewhat speechless, at the sight of the two brothers.
He leaned against the trunk of an ancient tree, arms crossed, and said with a thoughtful and resolute tone, "This should be some parallel Ninja World. As the saying goes, 'One flower, one world; one blade of grass, one Bodhi,' perhaps it is a branch born from some spacetime misalignment."
However, this Uchiha King really surprised me. He was able to withstand the pressure from Madara Uchiha and lead a branch of the clan to establish their own sect.
He also dragged the Uzumaki Clan had been allied with the Senju clan for the Senju Clan, into his camp, and also took over the Kaguya Clan and Yuki Clan. Even the Daimyo of the Land of Fire sided with him.
To be able to maintain an alliance spanning multiple clans right under the noses of two of the pinnacles of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, requires a skill that is far beyond the reach of ordinary ninjas."
"That's certainly surprising." Yaoyu nodded, but his tone immediately turned somber. "What's frustrating is that this guy ultimately chose to submit to the Daimyo."
He paused, a complex coldness flashing in his eyes. "That's right. If it weren't for you, Young Master Natsu, we'd probably be like these people, being used as tools by those parasites like slaves."