Chapter 31: Uchiha

"How did it go, Captain? Any leads?" one of the ninja who had delivered the "cargo" asked.

The captain nodded, then shook his head. He said:

"Our mission doesn't need to continue. The target is already dead."

And died in a pretty dumb way, too… though he kept that part to himself.

Upon hearing that the target was dead, the other two Uchiha ninja each let out a breath of relief. They really didn't want to keep pursuing such a pointless mission.

"So what's the problem then? Don't tell me we're supposed to track down the one who killed the target?"

The captain shook his head again.

"No need for that either. The killer is also dead. However…"

"However, before the target died, someone claiming to be Uchiha Izuna came here trying to rescue him. It was this so-called Izuna who released the captive ninja held here."

"Izuna? That's impossible. He's been on a different mission all this time."

The young Uchiha ninja immediately objected.

And with good reason—because he was none other than Izuna's and Madara's younger brother… At this point in time, there was a high probability Madara had already entered his "fewer-than-five-brothers" phase.

Soon, he might only have one brother left. And eventually… none.

"The man concealed his face, but judging from his build and age, he did resemble Izuna. Even so… it wasn't him."

The impersonation wasn't entirely baseless. Yujin was about the same age as Tobirama Senju, and Tobirama was also around the same age as Uchiha Izuna—making it feasible for Yujin to pose as him.

The last ninja finally caught on and asked, "Someone's impersonating an Uchiha?"

So what do you do when someone's impersonating an Uchiha?Answer: absolutely nothing.

Unless the impersonator was caught red-handed, the Uchiha clan frankly didn't have the time or energy to deal with this sort of trivial matter.

The three of them sighed in unison, helpless expressions on their faces.

"Let's go. Our mission is over."

…

Yujin had no idea that not long after he left the town, the Uchiha clan arrived there. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—they didn't cross paths.

He had been so focused on rescuing the captives that he forgot to loot the battlefield afterward. If he had gotten carried away "looting the bodies," he might very well have bumped into the Uchihas.

Not that Yujin feared the Uchiha—unless it was a few specific individuals. The clan was notoriously arrogant, making them easy prey for sneak attacks due to their overconfidence.

Dealing with them was simple: the moment they start mentally monologuing something like "Curse the fate of those without Sharingan…" while sneering in disdain, that's your cue to strike.

Next frame: Uchiha down.

And if there's one thing Yujin's good at right now—it's sneak attacks.

He wasn't in a hurry. If fate willed it, he would meet the Uchiha clan eventually.

Meanwhile, back at the camp—

A few days later, Chihori had mostly recovered, and Yujin decided it was time to move out.

But for some reason, every time he made such a decision, something always happened to mess up his plans.

This time was no different.

On the very day they finished packing and were ready to depart—with everything prepared and Yujin just about to shout "Let's move out!"—an unexpected event occurred.

A strange sense of dissonance made Yujin swallow his words.

How to describe it?

It was like reality had been suddenly split open, and an extra frame of animation had been inserted into the scene.

Or like time, normally flowing smoothly, had just gained an extra second out of nowhere.

This disruption in space-time immediately put Yujin on high alert. Someone nearby was using a specialized jutsu.

And then…

A figure suddenly appeared midair.

"W—!"

Thud.

Before Yujin could even finish yelling "Watch out," the figure crashed solidly into the ground.

If anyone ever wanted a textbook example of a faceplant, this was it.

The person who crashed struggled to get up, flailing around unsuccessfully.

Eventually, with no other choice, she lifted her bloodied face and looked in Yujin's direction.

"Hey… a little help… please…"

The whole scene looked oddly comical—until Yujin got a good look at her face, and felt a chill run down his spine.

Not because he recognized her, but because…

She had a pair of Sharingan.

And not just any Sharingan—these weren't the basic tomoe pattern.

She had a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.

The Uchiha kunoichi had crash-landed, begged for help, and promptly fainted.

So…

A wild Uchiha just dropped from the sky?

Well then. If fate didn't catch up to you there, it certainly would here.

You might be wondering what Yujin was thinking at this point.

Well, he wasn't eyeing her organs, if that's what you were wondering. In fact, he was thinking of Tobirama Senju.

He couldn't help but feel a little guilty toward Tobirama.

Because the person Tobirama had been hunting really was hiding in Yujin's camp all along.

…

Yujin motioned for everyone to back away—as if concerned about some kind of biohazard. The way he acted, you'd think the person who fell from the sky was an alien, not a ninja.

Then he cautiously stepped forward to inspect the Uchiha kunoichi's condition.

Her body was already covered in wounds, still bleeding in several places. And after that hard fall from midair, it seemed she'd passed out from sheer exhaustion right after asking for help.

To be sure, Yujin gave her arm a good stomp.

Crack. Something definitely snapped—whether it was a bone or joint was unclear—but she didn't even flinch.

Yujin relaxed.

"Whew. Out cold."

Can't blame him for being overly cautious—it was his first time seeing Mangekyō Sharingan, after all. Better safe than sorry.

"Captain, her eyes…?" Ryūnosuke Hayasaka approached and asked in a whisper.

Quite a few people had noticed something strange about her eyes when she looked up earlier.

"Sharingan of the Uchiha clan," Yujin said. "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the one Tobirama Senju was tracking."

Everyone knew about the frequent conflicts between the Senju and Uchiha—it was practically Shinobi World Common Sense.

"But why did she only show up now? It's been months," Ryūnosuke asked again.

Yujin found it strange too. The pursuer had appeared long ago, but the one being pursued only now decided to show up.

Then he recalled the strong spatial-temporal jutsu fluctuations he had sensed earlier. Could it be that she could use space-time jutsu?

Come to think of it… that might actually be possible.

But the injuries on her body were clearly fresh—no way they were months old.

Yujin opened his mouth but said nothing in the end… No one could really know what a pair of unknown Mangekyō Sharingan might be capable of.

"So… what do we do? Are we still moving out today?"

Yujin gave Ryūnosuke a strange look.

I've just captured a wild Uchiha and you're not asking if we're gonna gouge her eyes out—you're asking whether we're still moving camp?

Isn't that a little too disrespectful to Mangekyō Sharingan?