Didn't Madara tell you not to provoke me?

On the day Hashirama Senju and Senju Longshu left on their mission, Butsuma Senju pressed Yanbai about whom he and Hashirama Senju had gone to meet at the Naka River.

Yanbai stubbornly refused to admit anything. Butsuma Senju could do nothing about it, but he still said, "Your father will make your wish come true."

What Butsuma Senju had not expected was that Yanbai really did have a wish.

"Thank you very much, Father."

Yanbai turned and bowed to Butsuma Senju, who stood before him.

Butsuma Senju folded his arms and looked at Yanbai with mixed feelings. "This scheme of yours to destroy the enemy from within is downright underhanded. I recalled your eldest brother early, and he still doesn't know the truth. With Hashirama's current disposition, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to accept it."

Kill the enemy's employer, then pin the blame on the Hagoromo Clan.

Butsuma Senju had to carry out much of the plan himself.

A mistake in any detail would bring endless trouble upon the Senju Clan.

In a very short time, Butsuma Senju had followed Yanbai's plan to the letter and executed it beautifully.

Through the animals, Yanbai had obtained considerable intelligence on the Saionji House, which employed the Uchiha Clan and the Hagoromo Clan.

Behind the walls of any great household, there were always dirty secrets and struggles for power.

Yanbai had Butsuma Senju pose as a Hagoromo Clan Shinobi and infiltrate the Saionji House's territory.

Then, under that identity, Butsuma Senju conspired with an heir of the Saionji House who coveted the headship to murder the current head.

Once the head of the house, Saionji Kaede, died.

The main branch of the Saionji House would inevitably become embroiled in a succession struggle, leaving it no time to contest territory with the Senju Clan's employer.

That way, the Uchiha Clan's and the Hagoromo Clan's current missions would end early because of an unexpected crisis involving their employer.

Judging by the outcome.

The successful execution of this plan had directly resolved the Senju Clan's predicament of being attacked by two ninja clans at once.

Butsuma Senju sat cross-legged in front of Yanbai and stared at him solemnly. "That person will never let the Hagoromo Clan survive. He can't afford to have his secret exposed."

Yanbai nodded slightly, his expression calm.

The "person" Butsuma Senju referred to was, of course, the Saionji House heir who had hired someone to commit murder.

With the intelligence Yanbai provided, Butsuma Senju had contacted "that person" while posing as a Hagoromo Clan Shinobi.

Then he had laid a trap for the real Hagoromo Clan to fall into.

As far as "that person" was concerned, he had hired Hagoromo Clan Shinobi to kill Saionji Kaede.

Next, "that person" would very likely hire the Uchiha Clan to wipe out the Hagoromo Clan.

Whatever happened, this matter no longer had anything to do with the Senju Clan.

Even if the Hagoromo Clan tried to claim the Senju Clan had framed them, it would be useless.

Since the frame-up was premeditated, they would have no trouble manufacturing charges. Naturally, all the "evidence" was already prepared, ensuring that no amount of pleading could clear the Hagoromo Clan's name.

The Uchiha Clan was probably feeling thoroughly frustrated right now, too.

At the thought, the faintest smile appeared on Butsuma Senju's deeply lined face. He felt utterly invigorated...

After recounting the matter, Butsuma Senju did not stay long. As clan leader, he had a great deal to attend to.

After watching Butsuma Senju leave, Yanbai sank into thought.

Yanbai wanted the Hagoromo Clan gone.

Ever since his arrival, Yanbai had been working to keep Itama Senju and Senju Kawarama alive.

In their original fate, Senju Kawarama's outstanding performance had made him a joint target of the Hagoromo Clan and the Uchiha Clan. He had been the first of the four brothers to die, and only part of his body had been recovered.

Not long after Kawarama's death, Itama had followed him, likewise killed by adults from the Hagoromo Clan and the Uchiha Clan working together.

Now, Yanbai's presence had greatly delayed the deaths of these two brothers.

Even without the Hagoromo Clan, there would be other ninja clans.

Itama and Kawarama would have to enter the battlefield sooner or later.

But Yanbai hoped to give these two older brothers more time to grow.

First, he would use someone else's blade to do the killing and find a way to make the Uchiha Clan and the Hagoromo Clan fight each other instead of working together.

Several days later.

The Naka River.

Dressed in ordinary clothes, Uchiha Izuna wandered around the spot where his older brother Madara had skipped stones.

Uchiha Izuna had been watching in secret for many days, but he had yet to see the silver-haired girl who had left his brother unable to eat or sleep in peace.

Gazing at the distant mountaintops as they gradually turned crimson, Uchiha Izuna suddenly noticed something strange.

At dusk, on the boundary between day and night.

The animals all seemed to be watching him.

It was a very strange phenomenon.

Animals of different species had different appearances, yet their eyes all held the same look, sending a shock of astonishment through Uchiha Izuna.

The leaves rustled in the wind.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but Uchiha Izuna actually heard a woman's sweet laughter in that rustling.

Out here in the wilderness, that sound did not inspire sweet, romantic fantasies in Uchiha Izuna. Instead, it conjured terrifying possibilities.

Although Uchiha Izuna had brought guards to follow him in secret as a precaution, that did not guarantee his safety.

An eerie gust swept over him. Uchiha Izuna felt as though it carried needles of ice, and he involuntarily narrowed his eyes.

"Hehe..."

The laughter ceased to be an imagined sound and became real.

"The forest by the Naka River told me you've been looking for me lately."

A voice like a rose, perfectly suited to the forest night, echoed in his ears.

Uchiha Izuna's entire body tensed. He looked toward the voice and suddenly glimpsed an incomparably beautiful face beneath silver hair. Even he could not help letting out a sound of wonder.

The night wind brushed his face, yet Uchiha Izuna felt a prickling pain in his cheeks, as though something were stabbing them with needles.

In Uchiha Izuna's eyes.

The night wind seemed to be protecting the silver-haired girl before him.

That hair, that face-it was as though the brilliant radiance of crystallized moonlight had been ground to dust, then condensed anew into true moonlight.

The girl before him possessed an indescribable beauty. Her green robes revealed an intoxicating elegance as they stirred in the night wind.

For one brief moment, Uchiha Izuna had the strange impression that making an enemy of this woman was a sin.

Yet Uchiha Izuna gritted his teeth in irritation. "Hmph, putting on a spooky act! Urk..."

Before Uchiha Izuna could finish speaking, the silver-haired girl suddenly appeared before him at an inconceivable speed, seized him by the throat, and lifted him off the ground.

Yanbai had no time to play childish games with the young Izuna.

Yanbai only intended to save Izuna's life in the future for Madara's sake.

That did not mean Yanbai would indulge his rotten behavior.

Holding Uchiha Izuna high with one hand, Yanbai asked with a radiant smile, "Didn't Madara tell you not to provoke me?"