Uchiha Takashi and the others had narrowly escaped with their lives just like that, successfully returning to headquarters with an important figure from the Senju Clan.
"Elder! Elder!" Carrying the Senju clanswoman, the three ran toward the Third Elder's residence.
Mostly, it was because the Third Elder was the only elder the three knew. The First and Second Elders were both away from the clan grounds, while the Third Elder was specifically responsible for raising orphans, so naturally, they knew him.
"What's going on?" The Third Elder slowly emerged from his residence. Seeing the three little ones rushing toward him carrying someone, he asked in surprise, "Who is this? Someone from the Senju Clan?"
Uchiha Takashi immediately stepped forward and said, "Third Elder, this is the daughter of a Senju Clan elder. After capturing her, we brought her straight back to headquarters."
Hearing that she was the daughter of a Senju Clan elder, the Third Elder's eyes immediately lit up. He stroked his beard. "So she's the daughter of a Senju Clan elder.
"You did very well. Take her to a cell and lock her up for now. I'll bring some people over to interrogate her shortly.
"Go see Katsu Uchiha later to collect your rewards. For capturing someone this important, you'll receive everything you're due. Then return to the front. They're in need of people there right now."
After taking her to a cell, the three were led away to collect their rewards.
The Uchiha clansman responsible for handing out rewards asked, "Do you know what's happening over there now?"
Uchiha Takashi and the others shook their heads. "No. We hadn't been away from the front for long before the Senju Clan started pursuing us. We don't know what's happening at the front."
Katsu Uchiha pressed his lips together and said nothing more. He handed the three their rewards, then turned away to attend to other matters.
After collecting their rewards, the three little ones did not linger, instead hurrying back to the front.
On the way back, Homura Uchiha was rather quiet. He was still thinking about their clansmen from earlier.
The sight of those clansmen's backs as they desperately held off the Senju Clan remained vivid in his mind.
"Those damned Senju! I'll kill every last one of them!" Homura Uchiha said bitterly.
Uchiha Takashi offered no comment. He knew about the hatred between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, but even after more than a thousand years, neither side had managed to defeat the other.
As the three traveled, Uchiha Takashi suddenly caught the scent of blood. He immediately grew alert and looked at Aka Uchiha.
Aka Uchiha looked at him at the same time. It seemed he had smelled the blood as well.
"The smell of blood is strong. Something's happened up ahead," Aka Uchiha said gravely.
Uchiha Takashi said, "We're not far from the front. Why is the smell of blood so strong here?"
The same ominous thought suddenly occurred to Aka Uchiha and Uchiha Takashi. Involuntarily, they quickened their pace and hurried toward the front.
Falling behind, Homura Uchiha saw the two speeding up and hurried after them. "Hey, wait for me! Wait!"
When the two reached the front and looked around, sure enough... the situation there was utterly horrific.
As Uchiha Takashi took in the scene before him, the sight he had witnessed at six years old kept surfacing in his mind, plunging him into terrible memories.
Only then did Homura Uchiha finally catch up from behind. Bracing his hands on his knees, he panted, "You two... why did you suddenly run so fast..."
Homura Uchiha abruptly fell silent. He, too, had seen the devastation at the front. Countless clansmen lay in pools of blood, and blood covered the ground. It was just like the surprise attack on headquarters two years ago-perhaps even worse.
Around them, quite a few clansmen were carrying the wounded, all of whom were wailing and groaning.
Blood, severed limbs, corpses-every one of them bore witness to just how horrific the front was.
Sensing that something was wrong with the person beside him, Aka Uchiha looked at Uchiha Takashi with concern. "Takashi, are you all right?"
Uchiha Takashi turned to Aka Uchiha and shook his head, indicating that he was fine.
Aka Uchiha then looked at Homura Uchiha. After confirming that both were all right, he led them into the position.
Along the way, they stepped over countless bodies and saw many clansmen lying in pools of blood, leaving all three with bitter feelings.
Without stopping, the three kept running in one direction. Only when they saw a familiar figure lying in a pool of blood did they stop.
"Rekka!" Aka Uchiha shouted as he rushed over and hurriedly lifted the person lying in the blood.
Hearing someone call his name, Rekka Uchiha struggled to open his eyes. Seeing his friends Aka Uchiha and Uchiha Takashi, the corners of his mouth immediately lifted. He wanted to smile, but his injuries were too severe. He could no longer manage it.
"Aka... Takashi, you... came," Rekka Uchiha said with difficulty. "...You're... all right... That's... wonderful."
"Rekka, don't talk. I'll take you back right now so you can recover properly." Aka Uchiha immediately moved to carry him back.
Homura Uchiha stopped a medical-nin walking through the position. "My friend's hurt. You have to save him."
The medical-nin hurried over, but the moment he saw Rekka Uchiha, he shook his head. "His injuries are too severe. There's no saving him."
Uchiha Takashi, who had been crouching on the ground holding Rekka Uchiha's hand, sprang to his feet. "What did you say? You haven't even tried! What gives you the right to jump to that conclusion?"
"I won't waste the clan's medical resources on someone who's dying! He can't be saved... I understand how you feel. My younger brother died this way, too..."
The medical-nin's words silenced the three. Unable to argue, they could only watch in sorrow as Rekka Uchiha quietly closed his eyes, powerless to do anything.
For the first time, Uchiha Takashi felt the cruelty of war so tangibly.
His friend, the smiling, somewhat tsundere Rekka Uchiha of his memories, had lost his life just like that. At only nine years old, he had closed his eyes forever.
Uchiha Takashi closed his eyes in distress. Scene after scene surfaced in his mind again: the surprise attack on headquarters, the devastation he had just witnessed at the front.
Whose family members, whose friends were these clansmen lying in pools of blood? What had war brought them, exactly?
Before, he had not known the others lying in pools of blood. They had little connection to him, so he had never felt it very deeply.
He had only mourned those lost lives. But when someone close to him truly died and left him forever, that person still lingered in his memories.
Uchiha Takashi finally understood what the war Madara Uchiha spoke of felt like. It really did feel awful.
When he opened his eyes again, two black dots drifted ceaselessly within them. The Sharingan-the One-Tomoe Sharingan.
So this was the price of awakening these eyes? No wonder the Uchiha Clan's eyes were called cursed eyes. Tobirama Senju really was right.
In a dark interrogation room somewhere, pinpricks of red light could still be seen flickering even in the darkness.
Several Uchiha with their Sharingan activated watched the Senju clanswoman, while the Third Elder sat directly in front of her.
"What is your name?" After bringing the Senju clanswoman under his Sharingan's control, the Third Elder questioned her.
In a daze, the Senju clanswoman answered, "Yuki Senju..."
The Third Elder asked, "Who is your father?"
Yuki Senju answered, "Tsuru Senju."
Tsuru Senju, the Senju Clan's Fourth Elder, oversaw the assignment of clan personnel-the equivalent of a personnel director.
The Third Elder had not expected the person before him to be his daughter. She really was someone important.