Chapter 33 – Mangekyō

After a moment of silence, Genma seemed to understand what the other person was really asking.

"We've been hiding deep in the forest for a while now, so we haven't been keeping track of the days. But if you want to know how long it's been since you were being hunted… I can tell you this: it was autumn back then. Now, it's already winter."

It was a rather primitive way of counting time.

Still, despite the vague answer, the Uchiha ninja visibly let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for saving me. My name is Uchiha Nanami. May I ask yours?"

Nanami struggled to sit up, leaning halfway against a tree trunk that supported the tent behind her. Turning her body slightly, she glanced at Genma beside her, then shifted her gaze toward the campfire burning in the clearing outside.

"Genma. No notable background—just a wandering shinobi."

Genma felt his introduction was a bit too bland.

"You're all... wandering shinobi?"

"Yes. We all used to come from various minor shinobi clans. But now… well, we're just wanderers."

When Genma decided to abandon the name "Hanemiya," it was precisely to be able to use this explanation when the time came.

Nanami nodded slowly and added, "That's pretty rare. You all must've been through a lot."

In the shinobi world, most who lose their clan's protection don't survive long. Groups of wandering ninja usually consist of survivors from a single clan. A group like theirs, made up of people from different origins, was indeed uncommon.

Of course, this "rarity" was built on Genma's lie. In truth, they were no different from typical vagabond shinobi now.

"Oh, right... I should apologize. I'm really sorry for causing you trouble earlier. That Senju brat didn't make things too difficult for you, did he?"

"At first, things nearly escalated, but we managed to... persuade him in time."

It was during his pursuit of Uchiha Nanami that Tobirama Senju had stumbled upon Genma's camp. In other words, Tobirama had been led there by Nanami.

Had things gone even slightly wrong, it could've spelled the end for their little group of vagabond ninja. A casual apology hardly covered it.

Genma couldn't be sure whether Nanami had led Tobirama to their camp by accident or on purpose. He could only be thankful that Tobirama had been wounded and in a weakened state—easier to deal with.

"I didn't mean to bring him to your camp," Nanami said, her tone defensive. "I was fleeing in panic. The jutsu I use to hide myself and shake off enemies doesn't activate immediately. It's... special. Unreliable, even."

She paused. "During my escape, I kept trying to trigger it. I only succeeded when I got near your camp. By then, I couldn't stop it."

Unreliable? So the technique had a mind of its own?

That actually made sense.

Which meant... Nanami wasn't able to properly control her Mangekyō Sharingan?

Looking at her now, Nanami did seem genuinely regretful for bringing Tobirama upon them. Compared to how they were now helping her, it really was returning hostility with kindness.

"It's fine. That guy didn't cause us any lasting damage."

Genma didn't express any clear trust or distrust toward Nanami's explanation. Still, if she truly felt guilty, she should at least offer something in return.

Nanami's face stiffened a little. She could sense the doubt in Genma's tone.

"I just didn't expect that stubborn Senju brat to be 'persuaded.' I told him I didn't want to be his enemy, and he still chased me like a madman."

Genma couldn't help thinking: Well, physical persuasion still counts as persuasion.

"Either way, thank you for helping me despite everything," Nanami said again, sincerely.

Genma hesitated, then decided to speak a bit more truthfully.

"It's not like we saved you out of goodwill. We didn't have a choice... We can't afford to provoke the Uchiha."

If Genma hadn't been a master of deception, even just one elite jonin from the Uchiha clan would've been enough to wipe out their entire group.

Nanami seemed puzzled. Given the current state of the shinobi world, people died all the time. Why would the death of one Uchiha matter that much?

Even among the great clans, lives were often treated as expendable.

Not to mention, Genma and the others hadn't killed her—at most, they would've just let her die.

Seeing her reaction, Genma decided to clarify.

"I saw your eyes. That wasn't an ordinary Sharingan... I've heard of a special kind of Sharingan with powers far beyond the norm. Even within the Uchiha clan, it's incredibly rare."

A single Uchiha's death, or even the loss of a pair of regular Sharingan—those might not be worth much.

But a Mangekyō Sharingan? That was another matter entirely.

Just like how he had previously exposed Tobirama as Hashirama's younger brother, Genma now laid bare Nanami's true identity. No matter how you looked at it, she had to be one of the Uchiha's core members.

Nanami looked even more awkward now.

Though she didn't seem as arrogant as most Uchiha—nor did she view others as ignorant fools—information about the Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't something a wandering ninja like Genma should have access to.

And yet... he did.

What made it worse was that she had tried to hide it.

If not for Genma's camp appearing out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere, Tobirama likely would have killed her.

Seriously though, why did Tobirama seem to show up everywhere?

"This eye is called the Mangekyō Sharingan. Normally, its power far surpasses a regular Sharingan, yes. But in my case... it's not very useful."

She continued, "First, I can't use it skillfully. Second, I can only use it to run away—and even then, it doesn't always work when I need it."

Not very useful? Genma didn't buy that. At the very least, Nanami could use her Mangekyō to perform space-time ninjutsu. That alone placed her among the top tier of Mangekyō users.

Which raised a bigger question: why hadn't someone like her ever been mentioned in the original records?

Genma quickly came to a conclusion—

If it hadn't been for their camp appearing deep in the woods when it did, Uchiha Nanami would've been silenced for good by the infamous Tobirama Senju.

Seriously… how was Tobirama everywhere?

Genma was about to say more when he noticed Nanami had already closed her eyes. Her hands were folded neatly over her stomach, and her breathing was even and steady…

Her entire posture radiated peace.

She really did look like someone who had just… died.

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