Asking Him for Help

The decisive exchange was over in an instant. The Hagoromo Clan pursuers died, bringing the battle to an end.

With the Uchiha Clan already carrying out a plan to exterminate them, the Hagoromo Clan no longer adhered to the principle of "always flee a one-on-one fight." Even if they ran, the Uchiha Clan would not let them go. Only a desperate fight to the death could carve a path to survival.

Still, there was no denying how perilous it was to face the Sharingan.

But using the Sharingan placed a physical burden on the Uchiha Clan as well.

The waterfall poured down like a river cascading from the heavens.

After killing their pursuers, Madara Uchiha used the knowledge Yanbai had once given him to quickly cut wood with Ninjutsu and build a makeshift raft.

As he worked, Madara Uchiha rapidly explained the process to his younger brother, as though teaching him, or perhaps recalling the steps himself.

"You can make a raft from bamboo, sturdy little trees pulled up by the roots that haven't rotted, or the upper branches of dead trees."

"You need several pieces of wood, but not too many. Too many are difficult to lash together."

"Secure the wood with clove hitches."

"Where two pieces cross, tie them together as tightly as possible with rope."

"The joints where the wood crosses..."

"Tighten the middle sections..."

"Join the ends of the wood..."

Once the raft was ready, Madara Uchiha pulled Uchiha Izuna aboard and hurried downstream, leaving that dangerous place behind.

The river surged, almost swallowing their young bodies!

They raced downstream with the current.

Behind Madara Uchiha, Uchiha Izuna noticed his Older Brother's stiff posture and could not help asking quietly, "Older Brother, are you all right?"

"That fight left me badly hurt, too. He was an adult and had more chakra. I had no choice but to use that tactic..." Madara Uchiha murmured. "If only he were here..."

Madara Uchiha was all too familiar with injuries like these.

Back when Yanbai was with them, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had held nothing back in their sparring matches, suffering serious injuries every time. With Yanbai serving as their walking "medical kit," they had practically trained themselves to death.

They simply had not expected Yanbai to train even harder than they did.

"He..." Uchiha Izuna murmured, at a loss for words.

At that moment, Uchiha Izuna finally understood what the silver-haired youth meant to Madara. He and his father might both have been wrong.

Perhaps it was not the first stirrings of youthful romance. Perhaps the silver-haired youth was simply so powerful that Madara had developed something akin to a child's admiration for a parent.

Madara Uchiha continued watching their surroundings warily as he spoke. "If he hadn't sent me a message, I wouldn't even have known you were in danger. Luckily, I made it in time."

"What?" Uchiha Izuna frowned.

Madara Uchiha continued, "He told me about meeting you and how you awakened your Sharingan. He also told me when you parted ways. When I realized you still hadn't returned after so long, I had a feeling you were in danger."

"How did he do that?" Uchiha Izuna's brow furrowed even more deeply.

Uchiha Izuna knew perfectly well that, because of the earlier upheaval, his Older Brother had been training in seclusion within the Clan Grounds and had not left at all.

How, then, had that youth sent his Older Brother a message?

Madara Uchiha sighed. "That's his ability. I don't know how he does it, either. The rats, cats, birds, even household pests and trees in the Clan Grounds... any of them could be his subordinates. An animal delivered his letter to me. As long as all the plants and animals in the world haven't died out, he can find a way to send me a message."

"And that's not all. I only found you because I asked a night bird in the forest for help. It looked familiar and seemed intelligent. It helped me for his sake. Otherwise, how do you think I found you so precisely beneath the waterfall?"

Uchiha Izuna shuddered, his face full of fear. "He... what clan does he belong to?"

That was practically the power of a god.

No wonder. No wonder he had said when they met, "The forest along the Naka River told me you've been looking for me."

Uchiha Izuna immediately looked around like a startled bird, feeling as though the surrounding woods and river had come alive.

Madara Uchiha fell silent, a complicated expression on his face.

He...

Belongs to the Senju of the Forest...

But Madara Uchiha could not possibly say those words aloud.

The makeshift bamboo raft raced along the river. Half-kneeling behind Madara Uchiha, Uchiha Izuna suddenly felt a spray of liquid strike his face from ahead, carrying a metallic sweetness.

That smell... blood?

Madara Uchiha's face was deathly pale now. His injuries were taking their toll.

"Older Brother, ask her again... ask her for help again."

Anxiety filled Uchiha Izuna's heart as he stared at the forest rushing past before them and spoke softly.

At those words, Madara Uchiha's vision suddenly dimmed, and an uncanny chill crept up his spine.

The darkness ahead had lain still beneath the starry sky.

Madara Uchiha asked quietly, "Izuna, where are we?"

"The lower reaches of the Naka River. We're getting farther and farther from the Clan Grounds," Uchiha Izuna replied anxiously.

"To shore..." His expression composed, Madara Uchiha swung the chain he had brought with him and pulled Uchiha Izuna along, abandoning the makeshift raft to escape the Naka River.

The chain wrapped around a tree on the bank, carrying Madara Uchiha and Izuna across the water of the Naka River and straight onto shore.

After landing, Madara Uchiha did not dare linger. In a few bounds, he swiftly left the bank and fled deeper into the forest.

Madara Uchiha and Uchiha Izuna fled with all their strength.

They absolutely could not let the Hagoromo Clan succeed.

They were already enemies, and now that the Hagoromo Clan faced annihilation, they would stop at nothing to survive.

As Uchiha Tajima's sons, Madara Uchiha and Izuna understood what consequences their capture by the Hagoromo Clan would bring upon the Uchiha Clan.

Their headlong flight through the air left their breathing so ragged they could barely draw breath.

But Madara Uchiha did not stop. Leading his younger brother over mountains and ridges, he fled toward the most desolate depths of the mountains.

As long as we enter his domain...

As long as we enter Yanbai's domain, the forest will protect us.

Madara Uchiha knew that Yanbai held a special position within the Senju Clan. Asking Yanbai for help as Uchiha Izuna suggested was not realistic.

At a time like this, Yanbai could hardly leave the Clan Grounds. The moment he did, he would inevitably draw attention from all sides.

Besides, Madara Uchiha believed that friendship required equals. Constantly asking for help would eventually make him a burden and only widen the distance between himself, Hashirama, and Yanbai.

Only when he had no other choice could he humble himself and ask for help, even from his own friends.

After a long while, Madara Uchiha reached the area where Konoha's Shinobi Village would one day stand. At the distant sight of a dark cliff, he finally stopped.

Uchiha Izuna panted and murmured, "That was close. Luckily, the Naka River is between us. The Hagoromo Clan can't follow."

"No. The Hagoromo Clan hired other shinobi clans with tracking abilities. Even the faintest trace of our scent will let them find us easily." Madara Uchiha gritted his teeth. "We're not out of danger yet. If we want to live, we have to be careful!"