Uchiha Ryo's vague words made Uchiha Masaki even more uneasy. But he didn't dare to press for an answer and could only try to approach the matter from other angles. "Did you go to the Land of Lightning because of Akihiko's incident?"
"Sort of, I guess," Uchiha Ryo said with a smile on his lips. "After all, they sent us such a generous gift. As a great clan ourselves, it would be quite impolite not to return the favor, right?"
"If you want to back out, Uchiha Masaki, there's still time. I'll talk to the chief elder and replace you with someone else."
"No, it wouldn't be bad to take a trip to the Land of Lightning..." Uchiha Masaki barely hid his reluctance on his face, but his voice remained calm. "I'm saying, are you really sure this is a good thing?"
"Yes, it is."
Seeing Uchiha Ryo nod, Uchiha Masaki relaxed a bit. He folded his arms and stood aside, saying nothing.
After seeing the two finish their conversation, Madara finally chimed in. "Now, big brother, can you tell us the difference between battles between ninja clans and ordinary battles?"
Uchiha Ryo nodded slightly, but before he could say a word, Uchiha Masaki showed a surprised look. "Your brother has only been on the battlefield for less than a year, right? Are you really going to tell him all these intricate things so early?"
"Well, you know, my situation isn't exactly rosy..." Uchiha Ryo pointed to his eyes with a smile still on his lips. "Moreover, I've recently discovered many disturbing things, and Madara has a simple nature..."
"Your brother is simple?!" Uchiha Masaki's voice involuntarily rose. "He's scolded my younger brother Uchiha Noriaki to tears several times because of missions!"
"That's because Uchiha Noriaki was being an idiot," Madara folded his arms and looked up at Uchiha Masaki impatiently. "And after picking a fight and losing, he still went back to complain? Where did he get the nerve?"
"Look at your brother's foul temper. It's exactly like yours in the old days!" Uchiha Masaki rubbed his arms. "Whenever things didn't go his way, he'd beat people up and say such excessive things..."
"But I only had clashes with you twice, right? Once over a mission, and once because you had a crush on Chiho..." Uchiha Ryo tilted his head. "But compared to Madara, you are indeed a bit simpler, Uchiha Masaki."
Seeing the suddenly ugly expression on Uchiha Masaki's face, Madara also remembered what Uchiha Kenji had told him before. "Ah, he's the idiot my brother talked about who was led astray by a few words from the mission target."
Although it was a question, judging from Madara's tone, he was clearly certain of something.
"I've killed more people than the number of missions you've been on, you little punk. What gives you the right to talk like that?" Uchiha Masaki clicked his tongue. "If you weren't Uchiha Ryo's younger brother, I'd have... well, forget it."
Madara showed no sign of backing down either. "Then come at me. Even if you beat me now, I'll settle the score with you later. I'm not like Uchiha Noriaki. When he loses, he can only run to his brother and cry about it."
"You unlikable kid—"
"Come on, come on," Uchiha Ryo rubbed his temples with a headache. "Madara, you can't talk to your elders like that. And Uchiha Masaki, cut it out. Look at what you do sometimes. I don't even want to mention it."
Uchiha Masaki, who was about to burst into anger, suddenly stopped, snorted, and turned his head away without saying a word.
Ryo shook his head and then faced Madara. "Let's talk about the difference between ninja clan fights and regular fights.
I'm wondering if Madara has ever come across such a situation. The opposing ninja clan got a conflicting mission, but they choose to back off when they meet us.
Or, you've just completed a mission and are in a state of low stamina, while they are at their full strength but still avoid conflict."
Madara frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and nodded in response. "Yes, I've encountered such situations."
"Then have you thought about why they choose to back off?"
This time, Madara answered without hesitation. "Of course, it's because I'm stronger than them. And I'll never show my exhausted and low - stamina side to the enemy."
"No one can be on guard all the time," Ryo smiled helplessly. "Let me put it another way. Even if they really can't match Madara, and Madara won't show his weak side. Madara is still a newbie on the battlefield, no matter how talented he is. Can't they really defeat Madara?
As I know, there are many bounties in the black market for our Uchiha clan. Even an Uchiha's body without the Sharingan can be sold for hundreds of thousands of ryo. So, what reason do they have to let Madara go?"
Madara wasn't stupid and quickly understood what Ryo meant. "...Is it because I'm an Uchiha?"
Ryo nodded slightly. "Then can Madara think of why they choose to avoid conflict just because you're an Uchiha?"
Madara frowned again. "...Is it because our clan is stronger than theirs?"
"That's just one aspect," Ryo said with a smile as he reached out and ruffled his younger brother's hair. "But the most important thing is how our clan deals with such things.
Guess what happened to the last person who dared to accept the mission of hunting Uchihas in the black market."
"Since you're saying this, that person must have ended up badly..." Madara tilted his head slightly. "He must have been killed by someone from our clan, right?"
"I haven't witnessed such a thing myself. I found it in the documents recording our clan's history," Ryo withdrew his hand, his mouth curving down slightly. "At that time, the Uchiha clan was just a somewhat well - known ninja clan, only famous locally and not well - known throughout the ninja world.
We became famous thanks to a powerful ninja from outside. That ninja loved to travel around the ninja countries and, by chance, saved one of our clan members who was on a training mission outside. So he was invited to our clan as a guest."
During his time with the Uchiha clan, that ninja also had sparring and exchanges with the powerful ninjas of our clan. It was only natural that he came to know about the Sharingan.
He admired the power and beauty of the Sharingan and even asked if he could describe its beauty and power to outsiders. Our clan agreed.
Not long after our agreement, that ninja left our clan and continued his travels. Little did we expect that this agreement would arouse the Malice of outsiders for the Sharingan.
The man who coveted our Sharingan wasn't very strong, but he was extremely wealthy. In order to obtain the Sharingan, he spent a fortune placing a bounty on the black market, hiring other ninjas to attack the Uchiha clan.
Caught off guard, many young members of the clan who were out on training missions had their eyes brutally gouged out. After that, their hands and feet were chopped off, and they were sold again for others to abuse for their perverse pleasure.
By the time our clan noticed, at least thirty clan members of different ages had been killed. Among them, two - thirds were kids who had just started to experience the battlefield... about the same age as Madara.
Madara's fists had unconsciously clenched, and his voice was a bit hoarse. "… And then?"
"Then... we of the Uchiha clan found out who that man was," Uchiha Masaki sneered, taking over with a threatening air. "We went to his place and subdued everyone in his clan.
First, right in front of him, we gouged out the eyes of everyone in his clan, adults and children alike, and fed them to him. Then we slowly chopped off their limbs, turning them into human stumps. We pierced them with unpolished wooden stakes from their lower bodies, with the ends protruding from their necks or mouths, and let them bleed to death.
As for the instigator, we inserted thin needles into his eyes one by one until his eyeballs were completely mashed up. Then we cut open his abdomen, drove nails into his internal organs, and tied his body to a wooden stake. After that, we sliced off the flesh from his body piece by piece... To prevent him from dying midway, our senior members kept using the Mystical Palm Technique to keep him alive.
That man listened to the wails of his clan members and endured such torture until everyone in his clan was dead, and only then was he allowed to die.
After the instigator died, those who had attacked the Uchiha clan for the huge reward were also sought out and retaliated against by our senior members one by one... So, you arrogant little brat, do you get why no one messes with the Uchiha now?"
[This work has no bad influence. The thoughts of the characters in the book do not represent the author's views. Do not imitate the dangerous behaviors in it.]
[This work has no bad influence. The thoughts of the characters in the book do not represent the author's views. Do not imitate the dangerous behaviors in it.]
[This work has no bad influence. The thoughts of the characters in the book do not represent the author's views. Do not imitate the dangerous behaviors in it.]
[The word count of the main text is enough. This is not padding.]