Chapter 49: The Two Clans After the Deal
The deal with the Nara Clan was soon completed. After half an hour of continuous arguing, Senju Ming and Uchiha Sen finally shut up - not because they had run out of words, but because they were simply too tired to speak.
Without too much politeness, both sides sincerely wished each other an early death and then walked in opposite directions.
After the Uchiha group was out of sight, Senju Ming took out a bamboo tube filled with water and took a big gulp. "Damn it, that kid sure can talk. I'm exhausted. Humph, among them, only that blind guy looks okay..."
"Hey, Ming," Senju Chokei sighed. "Don't let your body's slow development also affect your brain. That guy is the most troublesome one among the Uchihas. Have you forgotten what the clan emphasized about Uchiha Ling the other day?"
Senju Ming stroked her chin, trying to recall. "Oh, I know. He's the leader of the Uchiha generation. But is he really that dangerous? And why are you so familiar with him, Chokei?"
"Do you think I'd be unfamiliar with him after almost dying at his hands twice?" Senju Chokei twitched the corner of his mouth. "You've always been curious about who broke my ribs last time. It was that kid."
Senju Ming's eyes widened in shock. "Then why didn't you just kill him earlier?!"
"Didn't I tell you I don't want to fight him? If it had been anyone else today, I'd have stepped up for sure!"
"Are you actually afraid of an Uchiha?!" Senju Ming raised her voice and jumped up to give Senju Chokei a hard whack on the back of the head. "What a disgrace! Don't say you're my brother from now on!"
"Me, afraid of him?!" Senju Chokei covered the back of his head and shouted back. "I'm worried that once the fight starts, he'll go for you guys first instead of me! I had my ribs broken by his single blade strike. With your small frame, you'd be cut in half!"
"What? How dare you talk to your sister like that?!"
"Who wants to be your brother anyway? You look so gentle on the outside but are so violent! You'll never get married!"
"Aren't you the one who stole too much nutrients from me in our mother's womb? Otherwise, would I have developed so slowly and been called a midget by those Uchiha brats?!"
Senju Asa, who was carrying the Scroll of Seals at the back, watched the two as they argued and the topic veered off. She let out a sigh and then turned to the silent person beside her. "Jin, are the Uchihas following us?"
"I can still sense their spying, but they don't seem to be following us," Senju Jin replied calmly, with a slight tilt of her eyes. "Are you planning to ambush them? I can make the first move."
"No. We need to retreat as soon as possible. The medicinal herbs we bought this time are urgently needed by the clan. We can't afford any mistakes." Senju Asa frowned slightly. "Ming, Chokei, stop arguing. We'll hurry back to the clan at full speed from now on."
Hearing Senju Asa's words, the two who had been arguing stopped immediately. Senju Ming took another sip of water and muttered, "Another full - speed rush. I really hate it."
Senju Chokei clicked his tongue and changed his position to walk on the other side of Senju Asa. "Stop complaining. Finish this mission quickly and then go to a temple to pray."
"Why?"
"To get rid of bad luck, of course. Isn't it bad enough to run into the Uchihas on a transportation mission?"
"
"That's really bad luck..."
While the Senju chose to speed up their return journey, on the other side, the Uchiha were having their own conversation.
"So, Yugu, was the mission successful?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Yugu nodded slightly at Ling. "It was very smooth. The Nara Clan cut us a pretty good deal. This time, we really have to thank those troublesome Senju."
"Indeed. I don't know what's going on recently," Ling said with a light laugh. "Good things keep happening whenever we meet the Senju..."
"Every time recently?" Uchiha Sen tilted his head. "Brother Ling, have you met the Senju a lot recently?"
"Yeah. I don't know why, but I've been quite fateful with the Senju recently even though I'm not on the battlefield. Oh, they're leaving, huh..." Ling turned his head and looked in the direction the Senju were leaving. "Those must be some seriously important supplies."
"Shall we launch an attack?" Uchiha Lin rubbed the hilt of her sword. "It should cause them quite a bit of trouble."
Hearing this, Uchiha Sen also perked up. "Let's go! Let's go! Kill those guys and take their heads as keepsakes! Especially that foul-mouthed midget. I can't wait!"
"No, let's not. The Senju have left the town and are heading into the forest. By the time we catch up with them, we'll probably be in the forest," Ling shook his head. "It's way too stupid to fight the Senju in the forest. And there's no mission for our two clans to be at war right now. Let's avoid this for now."
"I'm fine with that," Uchiha Yugu said. "We can have the ninja crows ferry the supplies from this deal back little by little. The mission won't have any Mondai."
Uchiha Sen, who was originally excited, suddenly froze.
Ling frowned slightly. "Well... if everyone thinks like this..."
"No, thinking about it carefully, let's not fight," Uchiha Sen interrupted Ling's words and snatched the Scroll of Seals from behind Uchiha Yugu. "After all, my bro's a total slacker. He'd just hold us back in a fight. Forget it."
Uchiha Yugu, who was yanked and almost fell: ...
Uchiha Lin frowned. "Yugu himself agreed—"
Uchiha Sen immediately looked at Lin. "But don't you still have to bring souvenirs back for Komi? If Komi sees your wounds, you won't be able to explain it, right?"
Hearing Uchiha Sen mention his sister, Uchiha Lin was silent for a moment and finally took his hand off his weapon. "Indeed, going back with injuries might scare Komi... But isn't it too easy on the Senju to just let them go?"
"What do you mean 'let them go'? Ling bro wants to skip this fight too, right, Ling? Ow! Bro, let go of my ear! It's gonna pop off!"
Listening to Uchiha Sen's strange cries, Ling couldn't help but nod with a smile. "Indeed, this fight ain't gonna do us any good. I don't wanna get into a fight that's a total wash and might stir up a huge mess."
"Huh? That's not right, is it?"
Uchiha Sen was pitting his strength against Uchiha Yugu with both hands. He looked sideways at Ling and said, "I can understand that there's no profit. After all, if they find they can't win, they won't leave things behind to aid the enemy.
But a major war... We've had a long - standing feud with the Senju. It doesn't make sense for them to start a major war just because a transport team was wiped out, right?"
"Haha... The major conflict I'm talking about isn't with them. It's the alliance formed by the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans," Ling said with a soft laugh, tilting his head towards the trees on one side. "We can't ignore others' strength just because we're powerful ourselves. Otherwise, we'll be taught a lesson."
After Ling finished speaking, the sparrow that had been grooming itself on the tree finally flapped its wings and flew away. Meanwhile, in a nearby dark room, a middle - aged man with blond hair opened his eyes. He looked at Nara Shikakazu beside him with a complicated expression and said, "As you said, that blind - eyed kid is really an abnormal Uchiha."