An ambush from Iwagakure

In truth, even if Madara Uchiha had agreed on behalf of his father, Uchiha Fugaku, to move the Uchiha Clan to Kōzuki Shinhiko's Fief, Shinhiko himself would not have dared accept them. Every noble maintained private troops on his land, but keeping a clan of renowned ninja who specialized in assassination was another matter. If anything happened to any noble in the Land of Fire, the blame could easily be pinned on Shinhiko Kōzuki. He was merely dangling empty promises before Madara Uchiha.

"Good lad. Stay by my side until we reach our destination."

Shinhiko Kōzuki and Madara Uchiha had enjoyed their conversation immensely. When Madara left the palanquin, Shinhiko even granted him the privilege of remaining close at hand. Meanwhile, Kazuhiko Sarutobi had beaten Shinhiko's Samurai into submission, fully unifying the escort party. If danger arose from then on, they would follow Kazuhiko Sarutobi's orders.

"Sosuke, Hayato, and I will clear the way ahead. Itachi, you really are the best choice to protect Lord Shinhiko. If there are no objections, let's set off."

Among the four from Konoha, Kazuhiko had established his superiority over the Samurai, while Madara had won Shinhiko Kōzuki's favor. Arrogant though the Samurai were, they were no fools, being members of Shinhiko's personal escort. Once they realized that the Konoha ninja genuinely had some skill, they displayed their own impressive combat discipline, carrying out Kazuhiko's orders to the letter.

In the Land of Fire, five unidentified masked figures lay in ambush in the woods on either side of the road, quietly awaiting their target. A short while later, another person wearing an Owl Mask appeared before them. He was the member of their group responsible for gathering intelligence.

"According to our intelligence, that old bastard Shinhiko Kōzuki will reach us in another half day. There's