Ling shook off the blood on the blade. The smile on his lips remained gentle, but he didn't put the sword back into its scabbard. "I think you might want to rephrase your words now?"
But soon, hearing the sounds of swords being drawn, Ling showed a helpless smile. "You're really rude to your guests... But it's actually more convenient for me this way."
While Ling and the others were going about their business methodically, another group of ninjas arrived in this somewhat remote town. The leading male ninja was tall, with healthy wheat - colored skin. He had regular and kind - looking features, and just looking at him made people trust him.
They knew that the clan emblem on his forehead protector belonged to the Senju clan, which was rumored to be gentle - tempered. But who knew if they would be killed by these powerful ninjas for some strange reason? So when passers - by saw the emblem, they quickly stepped back to avoid getting into unnecessary trouble.
The young leading ninja was already used to this and didn't care. He just led the young boys behind him into a restaurant on the street and sat down in a corner where they could easily observe.
After ordering food from the shopkeeper, the young leader looked at a boy with a watermelon - shaped haircut in the group. "To be honest, I'm really disappointed in you all on this mission, especially you, Hashirama.
The teenage boy pointed out by the man pursed his lips and turned his head away without saying a word.
Seeing this, the young man sighed again. "Hashirama, you're really capable, but I have to tell you that you can't show mercy to suspicious targets that might threaten our mission during a mission."
"But they're just passing civilians!" The teenage boy called Hashirama suddenly slapped the table and stood up, his eyes filled with anger. "There's no need to go to such extremes!"
Hashirama Senju as a child
The young man, massaging his temples, looked extremely tired. "That level of Illusions won't cause them any real harm, and it can also rule out unstable factors in the mission... Anyway, if you want to qualify for independent missions, this is a must."
"So back then—" Hashirama looked at the terrified shopkeeper, gave him an apologetic smile, then sat back down in his seat and lowered his voice. "So didn't I say at that time? They're just ordinary people without any chakra!"
"Hashirama, not everyone has your intuition—and intuition isn't always accurate." The young man covered his head, and his voice sounded a bit on the verge of collapse. "Even sensory ninjas can't guarantee the accuracy of every one of their perceptions. Meanwhile, people without chakra may sometimes intentionally or unintentionally leak our information..."
"Oh my god! I'd rather have a fight - to - the - death with an Uchiha than go on a mission with you!"
The other teenage ninjas beside him nudged Hashirama, signaling him not to be so stubborn.
Hashirama wasn't convinced and wanted to say more, but at that moment, the wind chimes at the shop entrance rang again, and a gentle voice came along with it. "Excuse me, do you sell alcohol here?"
Hashirama didn't want to pay attention at first, but he saw the young man in front of him suddenly exude intense hostility. Out of curiosity, he couldn't help but turn his head to look. What he saw was the bright red Fire Fan on the man's chest—it was an Uchiha!
"Y-yes, we have alcohol here," the shopkeeper glanced at the group sitting in the corner, his voice a bit stuttering. "B-but..."
"That's great. Please give me a glass of ale mixed with tea—more tea, please. It's really hard for me to find a place to drink in this state. Thank you."
Hashirama couldn't help but sized up the young Uchiha. The young man was dressed in light-colored clothes, looking very neat. His black hair was neatly tied up behind his head—although some strands of his hair seemed a bit unruly, curling up playfully on his head. This didn't spoil his appearance; instead, it reduced the sense of aloofness caused by his overly perfect face.
But what puzzled Hashirama the most was the silk ribbon covering the young man's eyes. After all, it was an open secret in the ninja world that the Uchiha clan was proficient in Eye Jutsu. He couldn't figure out why this young man would cover his eyes.
[Is he in [Training]?]
Thinking this way, Hashirama grew even more curious and couldn't help staring at the young man.
"Is there something wrong with me? Your gazes are quite intense."
Hashirama was startled and involuntarily looked up, just in time to meet the young man's turned face. Even without meeting his eyes directly, Hashirama still felt as if he was being stared at. Along with that came a sense of crisis that made his hair stand on end. So he blurted out subconsciously, "Nah, it's just that there's a lot of blood on you, so I'm a bit worried."
The young man was stunned and lowered his head. "Huh? Blood? Where is it?"
"On the right cuff and the right hem of your clothes..."
"Aww - this is the only clean set of clothes I have. It's really a headache. Looks like I should wear dark-colored clothes from now on." The young man sighed, then turned towards Hashirama with a smile on his lips. "Thanks for the reminder."
Hashirama was still a bit dazed. He didn't expect to receive thanks from an Uchiha. He subconsciously shook his head, but then he noticed the blindfold on the other person and came to his senses, saying, "No, it's nothing. After all, we should help each other when we're out."
"Pfft, hahahaha - You're really interesting, kid. Hahaha. But you're right. We should help each other when we're out. Hahaha -"
As the young man laughed, Hashirama felt the sense of crisis that had been following him disappear. However, the doubts in his heart only increased. How was this Uchiha different from what the elders in the Senju clan had said?
"Are you very confused?" The young man propped his chin with his hand, still wearing a gentle smile on his face. "Why am I different from the Uchihas described by the older generation of the Senju clan?"
Before Hashirama could react, the leading young man beside him spoke first. "Shopkeeper, why haven't the dishes we ordered arrived yet? Your speed is too slow, isn't it?"
"Coming right up, coming right up." The shopkeeper forced a smile, but couldn't help cursing in his heart, [Everyone knows that the Senju and the Uchiha are on bad terms. Given the atmosphere you guys created just now, who would dare to step forward!]
After instructing the waiter to quickly serve all the dishes to both sides, the shopkeeper led the waiter back to the side, trying to make themselves as unnoticeable as possible.
Under the threatening gaze of the leading young man, Hashirama didn't say anything more, but his eyes still involuntarily fell on the Uchiha sitting in the middle of the hall, watching him drink a large glass of barley wine mixed with tea in one go quite boldly.
"Delicious! It's really the best to have a drink after a mission! So satisfying, so satisfying -" The Uchiha young man let out a long breath. "Boss, please check out."
"No need, no need. Consider it my treat, consider it my treat."
"This won't work..." The young man shook his head slightly, and the smile on his lips turned helpless. He took out some money and put it on the table. "Although there are other [fellows] here who didn't get to drink their fill today, we're all just trying to make a living. I don't need to make things difficult for you...
Oh, yeah, yeah. To those [fellows] in the corner, although I'm not sure if you're from the Senju clan or the Uzumaki clan, the next time you bring your clan members out for training, you'd better not show hostility so easily. This time, I'm letting you go 'cause your kids are kinda interesting, but the next Uchiha you meet might not be as good - tempered as me."
Once their identities were revealed, the young leader of the Senju clan stopped keeping silent. His words were full of sarcasm. "Humph, if it weren't for the clan members around me, do you really think I'd be afraid of you, a blind man? Give me your name. We'll have a showdown on the battlefield one day."
"Name...?" The young man stood up, leaning on his staff sword. The smile on his lips clearly widened. "My name is Uchiha Ling."