Chapter 97: Hashirama: Got it, got it.
After leading Uzumaki Yang and Hashirama to run nearly ten kilometers, Uzumaki Yi's steps gradually slowed down. His voice was a bit heavy as he said, "It's really incredible. Uchiha Ryo is still the same as before."
Uzumaki Yang almost immediately understood what Uzumaki Yi meant and was quite surprised. "Has his strength not declined?"
"Decline is inevitable. After all, he doesn't have that troublesome [Sharingan] anymore. But his sharp [Gitai] is still very difficult to deal with. In fact, he's even more ferocious than before," Uzumaki Yi stopped and looked back at the place they came from. The bright smile on his face was replaced by a complex expression. "It's both exhilarating and nerve - wracking to have an enemy like him."
"Exhilarating my ass. It's just nerve - wracking, okay?" Uzumaki Yang pouted. "By the way, are you really okay? I saw that sword strike land on you."
"Ah, now that you mention it, I should really take care of it."
Just as Hashirama was wondering what Uzumaki Yi was about to do, he witnessed Uzumaki Yi take a deep breath, press the knuckle of his thumb against the xiphoid process. After a short while, he spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "wow" sound, and his complexion looked a lot better than before.
"Brother Yi, what are you doing..."
"Huh?" Uzumaki Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Oh, it's okay. I was just invaded by Uchiha Ryo's [chakra] into my body just now, and it hurt my internal organs a bit."
Hashirama: ... Didn't you just say you weren't hurt?
Seeing Hashirama's confused expression, Uzumaki Yi laughed again. "Hahaha - You can't expect me to just tell the opponent about my real injuries, right? That would be so stupid!
Moreover, if I really exposed it, that guy Uchiha Ryo would definitely try his best to give me another sword strike regardless, right? Sigh - I really lost this time so badly."
Hashirama tilted his head. "But didn't that Uchiha Ryo say it was a draw?"
"No, I lost," Uzumaki Yi said with a helpless smile as he ruffled Hashirama's hair. "Because I wasn't certain I could drag Uchiha Ryo down with me, but he was sure he could drag me to hell with him... This is a really dismal loss."
"So you were being too soft on that Uchiha at the start," Uzumaki Yang frowned tightly. "Why not just use the Sealing Jutsu to kill him? You had already imprinted the Hand seals on him at that time, right? If I'm not mistaken... it was the Quadruple Limb Seal, right?"
"Yeah, but Uchiha Ryo reacted very swiftly and instantly dispelled the seal formula with his chakra. It also takes time to prepare it again. I just learned the Quadruple Limb Seal not long ago and haven't mastered it to the level of Instant use."
Speaking of this, Uzumaki Yi wiped his face, looking quite troubled. "By the way, why can sword skills break the Adamantine Sealing Chains? Is my impression of the Uchiha clan inaccurate? Aren't they mainly famous for genjutsu? I almost thought Uchiha Ryo was from the Hatake family with his swordsmanship."
"Exactly. That guy doesn't seem like an Uchiha at all. Not only does he not flaunt his skills during a fight, but while others would target your limbs, this guy just aims for your throat!"
Uzumaki Yang's face also turned gloomy. "Moreover, although the Adamantine Sealing Chains are constructed by chakra, they are much harder than ordinary swords. How come that guy cuts them like it's child's play?
Moreover, he cut several of them in a row! It's already a pain to guard against genjutsu when fighting the Uchiha clan. Now we can't even get close to them in Gitai. If all Uchihas are like this, how can we fight?"
Uzumaki Yi sighed and looked up. "By the way, Hashirama, how long has it been since the last war between your two clans?"
"Um? Let me think..." Hashirama recalled the time of the last conflict with the Uchiha clan. "It should be about nine... no, ten months ago."
"What about the first news of his out - of - village mission? Just tell me what you know."
"Um... It seems to be about four or five months ago," Hashirama scratched the back of his head. "I remember that I was on a mission with Brother Cheng. We met him during a break. Ah, he even said thank you to me."
"So that guy, Uchiha Ryo, started taking on missions less than half a year after going blind?!" Uzumaki Yang swore. "Is he heartless or what?"
Uzumaki Yi also lowered his head, with a bitter smile on his lips. "Less than half a year... We lost even more thoroughly this time."
Hashirama looked a little puzzled. "Why do you say that?"
"Didn't I tell you? I almost had my arm cut off by Uchiha Ryo once. After that, I practiced using a double - handed sword," Uzumaki Yi said with a smile. "But at that time, after knowing that my dominant hand was almost useless and the chance of recovery was slim, I was really disheartened and even thought about just fading away.
The Uzumaki clan members told me that my arm was recovering well and would be fine as long as I took good care of it. It was then that I cheered up again. So although it took me a year to recover, I actually spent nearly two months wallowing in self - pity.
Uchiha Ryo was involved in the war last time. His injuries couldn't have been lighter than mine, right? But even so, he cheered up right away... Well, I have to say, he really is Uchiha Ryo. He's such a tough guy to keep up with!"
Hashirama suddenly started coughing violently.
"Hey, Yi, you really need to change your way of speaking. Look, you've frightened the poor kid," Uzumaki Yang took out the Scroll of Seals, took out a bottle of water and handed it to Hashirama. "And you, Hashirama, that guy, Uchiha Ryo, the one involved, doesn't react to Yi at all. Why are you so excited..."
Hashirama took the water bottle absent - mindedly. For a moment, he didn't know whether to complain about Uzumaki Yi's way of speaking or about the fact that Uchiha Ryo didn't react at all.
"Yang, what you said is not right," Uzumaki Yi shook his head. "The Mondai isn't me, but you guys who misunderstand what I say.
All I do is with sincere intentions, yet you twist my words. What does that tell you? It shows you're not open - minded. Look at Uchiha Ryo. He never misinterprets what I mean. You're even less open - minded than an Uchiha. You should reflect on that."
"
"You're a great guy, but your brain," Uzumaki Yang tapped his temple, "is hopeless. Haven't you heard the saying 'If you're not going to marry her, don't lead her on'? You're just lucky you're dealing with an Uchiha with some Mondai. If it were any other girl with a crush on you... tsk tsk."
Hashirama silently hugged the water bottle and took a sip - so... is it okay to treat an Uchiha like this? Learned it, got it.