Uchiha Kagami looked at Uchiha Ichiro lying on the ground with a peaceful expression and pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
He really didn't have much on hand for treatment, just a few emergency bandages and Medical Scrolls. Where did I put them again?
He turned and rummaged around the cave until he found them.
Holding the brand-new bandages, Uchiha Kagami had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right.
So now I'm supposed to treat my enemy?
Something's wrong here!
Didn't I come here for revenge?
Why has it turned into this?
Let me think this through.
First, to become Clan Head, I have to defeat Uchiha Ichiro.
But what's impressive about picking on the old, weak, sick, and disabled?
Defeating an enemy at a disadvantage means nothing. I don't want to become Clan Head that way.
So I have to restore him to peak condition. I have to treat him.
The logic checks out.
But I came all this way for revenge, and now I have to treat him. Why does this feel so weird?
Where did it all go wrong?
Having never received nine years of compulsory education, Uchiha Kagami got stuck in a mental rut, and his brain crashed.
Anyway, if those old bastards hadn't gone around drugging people, things never would've come to this!
Right, it's their fault. I'll beat them up again next time I go back!
By the time he sorted out his thoughts and turned around, Watanabe Ichiro had opened his eyes.
"Why... cough, cough... aren't you killing me?"
Looking at the bandages in Uchiha Kagami's hand, his expression turned strange.
"If you're here to mock me for the state I'm in, you can spare me the fake concern."
"Your life is in my hands right now!"
Uchiha Kagami's temper flared, and his grip on the bandages instantly tightened.
This brat really has a death wish. He still dares talk to me like that inside my Mangekyō ability?
He stood over Watanabe Ichiro, looking down at him.
"Look at you. Pathetically weak. I wouldn't even have to lift a finger to kill you! Hah, worthless."
"What a shameless little bastard! Whose fault is it that I'm like this?"
Watanabe Ichiro struggled to get up, but his arms couldn't support his body. He could only lie on the ground, panting.
"Drugging me. What a brilliant move. I never thought even in Konoha..."
"I wouldn't stoop to something as pathetic as drugging you. Those old bastards acted on their own. I only told them to lure you out."
His contemptuous gaze made Uchiha Kagami uncomfortable all over, prompting him to offer an explanation.
Looking down at Watanabe Ichiro's feeble, helpless state, he suddenly found the whole thing dull and lost the desire to talk.
With a turn of his hand, he tossed the Medical Scroll and bandages onto the ground.
"Treat yourself. The Relief Medicine is beside you."
"You can rest here until dawn. Get back to Konoha first thing tomorrow."
"Get yourself back into shape and wait for me to kill you!"
"One more thing."
"Your life is mine. Don't go getting yourself killed by some worthless nobody before then!"
"Poisoned? Hah, to think such a cheap trick could take you down. I really... gave you too much credit."
Uchiha Kagami flicked his sleeves, clasped his hands behind his back with that swagger passed down through the Uchiha generations, and made to leave.
After that verbal barrage, he felt thoroughly refreshed. All the frustration he'd accumulated over so long had vanished.
Sure enough, showing off a little was good for the mind and body.
"I never expected you to be such a nice guy."
A chuckle with an odd inflection came from behind him.
Uchiha Kagami frowned, feeling that something had slipped beyond his control.
He looked back. Where was that weakness in Watanabe Ichiro now?
His complexion was rosy, his legs were crossed, and he propped his chin on one hand, looking as though he'd just enjoyed a good show.
"I was going to trick you again, but this whole display of respect for a worthy opponent honestly moved me a little. So I've decided! I'll reunite you with your wife!"
"Oh, right, and the child she's carrying. I've confirmed that they can both... hmm, anyway, you'll be able to see them later."
Watanabe Ichiro gave him a vaguely worded preview.
As Uchiha Kagami stared at him, his expression transitioned seamlessly from utter blankness to explosive rage.
This brat was making a fool of me!
The poisoning, the injuries, being too weak to resist-it was all a lie!
I don't know what he was after, testing me like this, but!
This little shit actually dared bring up my wife and child!
How dare you!
Are you really that confident you can take me down?
You've actually got the nerve to provoke me like this!
"You little bastard! I'll slaughter you right now!"
A black-and-red Mangekyō Sharingan pattern resembling a Flying Thunder God Mark emerged in his eyes.
Without a shred of mercy, he expelled Watanabe Ichiro's legs from the bounds of [Netherworld].
Watanabe Ichiro, who had meant well and spoken nothing but the truth, shook his head helplessly.
He had wanted to use [Impure World Reincarnation] on Uchiha Kagami's wife, let the two meet, and clear up the misunderstanding caused by Black Zetsu's possession.
But Uchiha Kagami was far too worked up to give him a chance to explain.
And what he'd said had admittedly been somewhat ambiguous.
Still, they could talk after fighting.
Watanabe Ichiro was also quite curious about Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyō ability.
Strange spatial fluctuations appeared around Watanabe Ichiro's legs, closely resembling those produced when Flying Thunder God activated.
Is it some sort of spatial lockdown?
No.
This feeling... repulsion?
Are my legs being rejected by this space?
Watanabe Ichiro's thoughts raced, and he activated Flying Thunder God.
Earlier, he'd used his body as cover to leave several Flying Thunder God Marks on the ground. Now he tried teleporting to them.
Strangely, however, the teleportation marks in the system were grayed out, making activation impossible.
The system promptly informed him that spatial coordinates within this space differed from those outside. Flying Thunder God's formulas didn't apply and needed to be recalculated.
Deriving the new formulas would take an estimated minute.
Watanabe Ichiro praised the system for being so helpful, instantly unleashing Wood Release from his hands to gather as much information as possible.
He had ["Coincidence"] as his trump card. If things went badly, he could spend fate points to alter the course of the future. His System Inventory also held an item ready to revive this Disguise immediately, so he had no reason to fear death.
Wood Release wrapped around his legs, but it did nothing. Watanabe Ichiro's legs seemed to have shifted into another dimension, passing straight through the wood like a clipping glitch in a game. They slid down through it and fell to the ground.
The Wood Release did support Watanabe Ichiro's upper body, temporarily staunching his bleeding wounds and keeping his life out of danger.
"Oh? Wood Release?"
"I never expected you to know Wood Release. Is that what gave you the confidence to run your mouth at me?"
Uchiha Kagami was a little stunned by the wood that had suddenly appeared, but seeing that Wood Release couldn't block his Mangekyō ability at all instantly restored his confidence, and he calmly taunted him.
"I never expected your ocular technique to be this powerful."
Watanabe Ichiro's face turned pale. The heavy blood loss had still affected him somewhat, and the pain of his severed legs pierced him to the bone.
"Ah, I miscalculated. I shouldn't have come straight in!"
"Who would've thought the power of the Mangekyō would be so terrifying!"
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