The strange battle report

Early the next morning, just as the sun rose, Madara Uchiha woke in the tent Shinhiko Kōzuki had assigned exclusively to him. After quickly getting dressed, he pulled back the tent flap and found Hayato Hyuga standing before him, having kept watch all night.

Thud!

The moment Madara appeared, Hayato dropped into a deep bow before him.

"I was wrong! I absolutely won't die before we fulfill our dream!"

Last night, after Kazuhiko Sarutobi told Hayato everything about Sōsuke Aburame, Hayato had forgotten his grief. So Konoha had a hidden organization called Root, and Sosuke had been watching Madara all along. But Sosuke was dead now. Surely Madara wouldn't be angry just because Hayato had cried for him? As he stood watch, Hayato pondered why Madara was disappointed in him.

The problem seemed to lie in what he had blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Although he had been a little slow on the uptake, Hayato was no fool. Once he understood why Madara was disappointed in him, he immediately came to apologize.

"Understood."

Madara answered him coolly. Hayato, who had still been bowing, immediately sprang up and slung an arm around Madara's shoulders.

"Oh, come on! I was just so upset yesterday that I said things I didn't mean. With Lord Itachi teaching me, I'm sure I've long since surpassed Sosuke!"

"Get your hand off me."

Shaking off the arm Hayato had draped over him, Madara kicked him into his tent.

There was still some time before they set off, enough for Hayato to get some rest.

"Ah, to be young!"

Shinhiko Kōzuki's tent stood beside Madara's. Although he had no idea what was going on between Madara and Hayato, he smiled wistfully at the sight of their roughhousing.

After fighting alongside Madara yesterday and having his