A short while later—
"Hehe, so tasty!"
Uchiha Minami wore a simple, honest smile as he chomped away at the roast wild boar meat Yu had shoved into his hands, grease dripping from his mouth in delight.
He suddenly felt that meat sliced by that divine weapon truly tasted different—
as if the flavor had been elevated several levels.
Originally, Minami had stood up intending to say something.
But Yu, thinking he was simply hungry, had silently handed him a slab of roasted meat.
Minami was so moved by the gesture that he immediately hugged the meat and started devouring it, completely forgetting what he had planned to do.
The others also received portions of the roasted meat.
This time, Tamao wasn't stuck eating only roast rabbit heads and rumps like last time.
However, with a wild boar trotter in hand, Tamao kept circling around Yu, peeking this way and that.
Yu didn't mind Tamao's childlike behavior.
After finishing his meal, he wiped his hands clean with a paper napkin.
The campfire crackled brightly.
The Uchihas, having witnessed Yu's miraculous Wind Release swordsmanship and now filled with food, slowly felt their exhaustion ebb away.
Even the sorrow that had gripped their hearts began to fade.
What puzzled them, though,
was that Captain Yu, after practicing such advanced sword techniques, showed no signs of fatigue.
Meanwhile, their own bodies felt hollow, as though something had been drained, leaving them slightly weak and short of breath.
Oddly enough, their appetites had grown stronger.
The whole wild boar was eaten clean without issue.
Seeing Tamao circling around so many times, Minami finally snapped, "Can you stop pacing and take a break?"
Tamao grumbled, frustrated:
"Don't any of you want to know where big bro hides all his treasures?"
Just now, Yu had flipped his wrist and retrieved Dark Moon, causing a spatial ripple—
a moment Tamao found deeply memorable.
Of course, everyone was curious.
They all turned to look at Yu.
But Yu remained expressionless, showing no intention of explaining anything about the black blade or so-called "space-time ninjutsu."
Since he said nothing, the Uchihas naturally didn't dare ask.
Shhhk—
Yu took the border map they'd purchased back in Kikyo Castle spread it out on the grass near the fire, and confirmed their current location.
The map was very detailed.
It marked forests, streams, lakes, and mountains—complete with distance, direction, and annotated place names.
The Uchiha renegade squad was currently located at the base of Mount Katsuragi, near Mount Kikyo.
In these mountains was a small shinobi village called Tsuchigumo Village.
It was officially allied with Konoha.
Heading northwest—
Past Mount Katsuragi lay Mount Xu, a steep, wild mountain range full of primeval forests, rare resources, and exotic medicinal herbs.
Beyond that—
Was the Valley of Judgment, a land shrouded in perpetual mist, with dangerously low visibility.
It was said even Jonin would get lost inside.
Treacherous terrain, ruthless conditions—a place where entering meant almost certain death.
The Uchihas, Kurenai, and Nonoyu gathered around Yu and the map.
Izumi crouched opposite Yu, her small body nestled among her clanmates, feeling completely safe.
Her wide eyes blinked as she followed Yu's gaze to the map, and she asked curiously:
"Captain, is our final destination one of the small countries near the Land of Earth?"
By skirting around the Valley of Judgment, they would enter the most chaotic region of small nations in the ninja world.
"Yeah, let's try to head in that direction,"
Yu said calmly.
Nonoyu let out a quiet sigh of relief, lifting a hand to adjust her glasses.
Her target for assassination would be coming from the Land of Earth.
That meant she could continue traveling with the group.
After that, Yu put the map away and handed it to Minami.
Now that everyone knew the goal of their journey, they felt more at ease.
At the very least, knowing their destination lessened the uncertainty weighing on their hearts.
Yu lifted his gaze toward Mount Katsuragi.
The others looked as well.
Under the moonlight, they could just make out three separate paths winding up the mountain.
The nighttime forest was tranquil and deep.
'A multiple-choice question...' Yu thought to himself, then turned toward Izumi, who was toying with a torch behind him.
He asked, "Which direction should we take next?"
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
Why would the captain ask such a crucial question… to Izumi, a seemingly fragile little girl?
Caught off guard, Izumi quickly put down the torch.
Then, as a thought struck her, her cheeks lit up red in the firelight, glowing like apples.
"I… I think… all three roads are okay!" she stammered.
Inside, she giggled mischievously.
She'd learned her lesson.
Choose all the paths, then throw the question right back—
surely nothing would go wrong this time, right?
Yu considered her answer for a moment, then turned to the others and said:
"All three paths might hold danger. We'll take the middle one and rest here for now.
We move out in the second half of the night—everyone be ready for battle!"
The Uchihas exchanged thoughtful looks and then glanced at Izumi, whose flushed face showed her complete panic.
They knew there was something odd about her…
But was she really reliable enough to be used as a guide for their march?
Mikoto also looked at Izumi curiously—
She didn't know some of the rumors surrounding the girl.
Izumi pouted, her brows drooping pitifully as she protested in a small voice:
"C-Captain Yu… If we'd taken the river path last time, we probably wouldn't have been ambushed…"
She was still hung up on the fact that Yu hadn't taken her suggestion last time—
believing that was the root cause of their difficult battle.
At her words, everyone immediately turned to look at Yu.
They all remembered that incident.
Yu's lips curled faintly at the corners.
He hadn't intended to bring up Izumi's "trauma,"
but since she volunteered the confession…
Yu raised his head and looked at Kurenai Yuhi.
The Uchihas and Izumi were confused by what Yuhi Kurenai meant.
Kurenai took a moment to compose herself, organizing her thoughts before slowly explaining:
"That night, the Konoha jonin chasing you laid a trap in the waters outside Kikyo City.
They planted enough explosive tags there to kill all of you three or four times over.
Had you rushed into the blast zone—
half the people standing here today wouldn't have made it out alive.
Later, I split off from them and returned alone to that area, dismantling all the explosive tags and ninja tool traps.
That's also one of the reasons I arrived late at the refugee camp and failed to stop them from committing those atrocities in time."
"Ah… I picked the wrong path again!"
Izumi stood frozen, as if struck by lightning, overcome with shame.
So that night—her suggestion had been that dangerous!
The Uchihas all inhaled sharply, staring at Izumi in disbelief, their expressions slowly becoming more complicated.
Of course, none of them blamed her.
It just felt… too surreal.
Mikoto didn't seem to mind—
Choosing the wrong path during a ninja mission wasn't unusual.
Nor did Nonoyu show any concern.
Yu himself had only learned about the explosive trap from Kurenai while traveling with her.
Yu knew—
Izumi's judgment wasn't flawed in itself.
She had based her suggestion on the fact that the pursuit squad hadn't caught up to them.
But what she didn't factor in…
was that ninjas rarely chase down their targets for a direct fight.
They preferred to lie in wait, gather intel, and ambush when the enemy was most vulnerable.
"Hmph…"
Izumi pouted, her expression one of sheer social death.
She silently turned away from the group, squatting by the fire and poking at it with a stick.
Everyone now saw Izumi as their youngest little sister.
They couldn't bear to see her looking so dejected.
Minami took the initiative to walk over and gently pat her shoulder, offering comfort:
"Izumi, you were just a little unlucky, that's all!"
The other Uchihas followed one by one, patting her shoulder and chiming in:
"Yeah, yeah, Izumi—this wasn't your fault."
"Izumi, you have to be strong!"
Suddenly—
A loud, excited voice exclaimed:
"This is actually a good thing!!"
°°°
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