Izuna had just carried Setsuna under his arm from the Hagoromo Clan Territory into the First Settlement when he turned toward Toshihi, who was approaching them.
"Toshihi."
"Lord Izuna." Toshihi bowed. "How should we handle the gains on the front?"
"Hagoromo and the Senju are still negotiating. This battle before winter is about over." Izuna's voice was level.
Toshihi understood. They called it "helping Hagoromo stabilize the front," but in reality, Izuna was to remain here as their anchor.
After all, knowing Lord Izuna had come to support Hagoromo, Tobirama Senju could no longer act as recklessly as before.
From a distance, Setsuna spotted Kagami's distinctive little curls as he waved.
Kagami came pattering over, his cheeks flushed with excitement.
"Lord Izuna!" Kagami obediently bowed to Izuna before turning to Setsuna. "Setsuna, I'm so glad you're all right."
Setsuna snorted. "What could possibly happen to me?"
He squirmed, trying to make Izuna put him down.
Izuna loosened his grip and let Setsuna land on his feet. He glanced at the well-behaved Kagami, then at the little troublemaker Setsuna, and thought, If Setsuna were half as obedient as Kagami, he wouldn't give me so many headaches.
But... an obedient child could never rule the Uchiha.
Izuna gave him a push forward and told Toshihi, "I'll leave Setsuna to you."
Toshihi nodded.
Setsuna noticed there weren't many children this time, only six or seven. Morning dew still clung to them, which meant they had traveled through the night.
But none of them looked panicked or disheveled, which meant they hadn't been attacked.
Their backpacks were smaller than last time, but judging by their weight, they mostly contained weapons such as shuriken.
The children handed their packs to the logistics staff and lined up. This time, Toshihi gave them little time to rest, intending to head back as soon as they had recovered their strength.
Meanwhile, their jonin escorts had increased from just Toshihi and Tetsukawa to four.
Setsuna suddenly understood.
These people weren't merely here to deliver supplies. Their more important purpose was to bring him, the now-confirmed young clan leader, home.
The supplies and the children carrying them were cover, meant to make the enemy think this was just an ordinary supply run.
Setsuna was the cargo that truly needed careful handling.
He looked at Kagami and the other children, feeling uneasy.
These children didn't know they were being used as a smokescreen. They thought they were here on a delivery mission, that they were already holding their own on the battlefield.
Kagami was the first to notice something wrong with Setsuna's expression.
"Setsuna, what's wrong?" The curly-haired boy leaned closer, his round eyes filled with innocent concern. "Are you hurt somewhere?"
"No." Setsuna turned away, unwilling to reveal the cruel truth to Kagami.
The journey back was twice as long as the journey there.
Toshihi chose another stretch of forest farther south, closer to the Uchiha's sphere of influence.
It added almost two and a half kilometers to their route, but it was safer.
Hagoromo had already swept through the Fuma's ambush sites once, but no one could guarantee that none had escaped.
No one spoke along the way. There was only the soft rustle of footsteps on fallen leaves.
Toshihi led the way, while Tetsukawa brought up the rear as always. The two newly assigned jonin flanked the group, the four of them forming a moving diamond around the eight children in the center.
Kagami followed two steps behind Setsuna. Morning dew had soaked his little curls, plastering strands to his temples like a curly-haired puppy just fished out of the water.
When the Neutral Zone's forest appeared at the edge of their vision, Toshihi slowed slightly.
An extremely faint smell of rust lingered in the air, mingling with pine resin and damp earth, barely perceptible.
Everyone's nerves tightened in silence.
Toshihi raised a hand in a signal. The group slowed, and the four jonin drew closer together, tightening their formation around the eight children.
But events overtook their plans.
The instant Toshihi's ears caught the scrape of metal, darkness surged in like a tide.
The daylight filtering through the leaves overhead vanished in an instant.
Their vision had been stripped away completely!
Toshihi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun uselessly in his sockets. The tomoe were still there, but nothing reached his brain except emptiness.
The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!
Tobirama Senju!
As that name exploded in Toshihi's mind, his right hand had already drawn his blade!
The scrape of the blade leaving its sheath was piercing in the absolute darkness.
"Form a circle!"
As Toshihi roared those words, the shriek of clashing metal rang out!
His wakizashi collided with another weapon in the darkness.
Unable to see one another, the four jonin adjusted their positions, relying on memory and instinct to surround the eight children.
Toshihi listened intently.
More footsteps closed in from different directions. Some crushed the dry leaves heavily, others lightly. The nearest was already fewer than forty paces away.
"Tobirama Senju," Toshihi said, his fingers clenched around his sword hilt, "are you going to violate the ceasefire agreement?"
Tobirama Senju's low, calm voice came from the darkness.
"The Uchiha intervened in the war between the Senju and Hagoromo. Weren't you the ones who violated the ceasefire?"
Toshihi tilted his head slightly toward the voice. He heard Tobirama's footsteps stop twenty paces away.
"The Uchiha are only providing logistical support, not entering the front lines. The ceasefire agreement doesn't prohibit that," Toshihi said calmly.
"Who knows whether you're passing secret intelligence to Hagoromo?"
Tobirama's voice drew a little closer.
Fifteen paces.
Toshihi raised his sword tip slightly, fixing it on the direction of the voice.
Without his Sharingan's vision, he stood no chance against Tobirama Senju in this darkness. And he had eight children behind him.
Tobirama spoke leisurely. "Four jonin for eight children. How extravagant."
He drew out his words maliciously. "It makes me suspect you may well be using children to carry intelligence."
Faint, delicate whistles cut through the darkness as Tobirama Senju's guards engaged all four Uchiha jonin at once.
The Uchiha jonin drove back the enemies before them with slashes. Their blades repeatedly clashed with their opponents' kunai in the darkness, each strike coming from a different angle, each parried through hearing and instinct.
But their opponents gave them no chance to pursue-one strike, then retreat, followed by another attack from a different direction.
The Senju were wearing down their attention, trying to tear open their formation!
Tobirama slipped silently through that gap and tossed the children out one by one.
"Tobirama Senju, you're despicable!" Pinned down by a Senju ninja, Toshihi couldn't get to the children.
Tobirama Senju answered unhurriedly, "I'm only searching them. Once I confirm you aren't carrying any intelligence out, I'll naturally let you go."
Yet the men Tobirama ordered to search the children found no intelligence.
Tobirama fell silent for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.
"There's an extra one. My intelligence said seven children. There are eight here."
The men conducting the search exchanged looks.
A note of realization entered Tobirama Senju's voice. "There's someone important among these children, isn't there?"
Tobirama Senju's declaration made the Uchiha jonin catch their breath.
That confirmed Tobirama Senju's suspicion.
He stepped forward himself, walking past the children one by one.
He watched the adults' reactions whenever he stopped in front of a child.
Even within the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, the Uchiha jonin could sense changes in each child's chakra. That would let him determine which one mattered most.
When he reached Kagami and Setsuna, he stopped. The Uchiha jonin's attention kept drifting subtly in this direction.
Tobirama reached toward the two children.
Though Kagami couldn't see, he felt the adults around him change their breathing in the same instant.
He had heard the rumor.
Uchiha Setsuna had been named young clan leader. Toshihi had said, "Setsuna is the clan leader's only remaining descendant."
There were twice as many guards on the return trip as on the way here. He wasn't stupid. He was here to cover Setsuna's withdrawal.
Without hesitation, Kagami slapped Tobirama's hand away.
"How rude. Is this how the Senju Clan's second-in-command bullies the weak?" He tried his best to sound like a young master.
Tobirama's hand hung in midair, his gaze darkening for an instant.
In that moment of extreme tension, Setsuna felt a cold presence surge up from within him.
All he could think of was that six-year-old curly-haired boy slapping Tobirama's hand away, ready to sacrifice himself just to protect him-Setsuna-for no reason at all.
His refusal to owe anyone, especially this fool who always talked about protecting him, suddenly gathered into a cold current of energy.
All his emotions twisted together at once and tore through his chakra pathways, driving the proportion of spiritual energy higher and higher until it broke through the threshold he had never been able to cross.
This was yin release chakra!
He could extract yin release chakra now!
And darkness itself was the manifestation of Yin Release.
The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique stripped away all visual information, but he could sense yin release chakra, thick as ink, enveloping him from every direction.
Within this domain, darkness was the rule. Darkness was the law.
Yet within darkness, shadows were everywhere. He didn't need to create a shadow. This entire expanse of darkness was the deepest, purest shadow.
He was already within the deepest shadow.
In that moment, all Setsuna's vague ideas connected. He didn't need imagination. He didn't need to picture what animals he had never seen looked like.
He raised his right hand.
His middle finger pointed skyward-at that burning meteor, at that condescending face, at those words, "Your courage in challenging me is impressive, but that's all I can praise you for," and at everyone who looked down on him from above.
"Madara Uchiha, fuck eighteen generations of your ancestors!"
A child's shrill voice exploded through the darkness.
Whoosh!
Huge hands, each flipping the middle finger, burst from the shadows, hurtling toward the Senju ninja and toward the hand Tobirama had extended to Kagami.
Toshihi couldn't see what had happened.
But his chakra perception caught the eruption of chakra from Setsuna.
Whatever that was, this was their only chance.
"Retreat!"
The four Uchiha jonin moved at the same instant, swiftly scooping up the children nearest them.
Four figures shot through the darkness in the same direction, escaping the range of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
"Fire Dragon Bite!"
All four jonin turned and formed hand seals at the same instant.
Four massive fire dragons erupted from four directions at once. The scorching blasts forced the Senju guards trying to pursue them back into the darkness.
Setsuna held up his middle finger and met Tobirama Senju's gaze from afar.
"Fuck eighteen generations of your ancestors!"
"Ding! Rebellion points +15!"
Before you continue