Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Uchiha Fugaku walked at the very front of the group. His pace was brisk, each step landing heavily on the ground.

His back appeared exceptionally silent in the shadows of the woods. The group followed behind him without a word; the only sound was the rustling of their footsteps crushing fallen leaves. The air was stifling, as if an invisible weight pressed down on everyone's chest.

After walking for several miles, Uchiha Fugaku came to a halt.

He stood beneath a massive tree, his brows tightly furrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line. His gaze was hollow, lost in unknown thoughts.

Uchiha Mikoto, walking right behind him, also stopped and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Uchiha Fugaku remained silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly and looked back in the direction they had come from.

"It's nothing. I just feel that... he is completely on a different path from us now."

The Uchiha clansmen behind him lowered their heads, no one offering a reply.

Disappointment was etched on every face. They had traveled all the way from Konoha, bringing the stone tablet and their goodwill, hoping to use this opportunity to mend their relationship with Uchiha Taiga.

But the result?

Uchiha Taiga hadn't accepted their goodwill; he hadn't even spared them a second glance.

Uchiha Mikoto's eyes grew red again. Tears welled up and, unable to hold them back any longer, finally fell.

"He still blames us," she choked out, her voice trembling.

Uchiha Fugaku reached out and gently patted her shoulder.

"Let's go. It's time to head back."

Uchiha Mikoto nodded, wiping her tears with a handkerchief. She turned around and cast one last look toward where they had come from.

Naturally, she couldn't see anything from here.

She looked deeply heartbroken—heartbroken that they had come full of anticipation, only to finally realize that things between them and Uchiha Taiga could never return to how they used to be.

During their brief interaction earlier, Uchiha Taiga hadn't initiated a single conversation with her. He hadn't called her 'Sister Mikoto' like he used to, hadn't asked how she had been doing lately, and hadn't even offered a single unnecessary word.

His attitude had been polite but distant, as if he were dealing with a complete stranger.

At this thought, Uchiha Mikoto felt a tight grip on her heart, making it hard to breathe.

In the end, she could only quicken her pace to catch up with the group, keeping her head down so no one would see her face.

The group continued forward, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Uchiha Taiga sat by the campfire, wiping his ninja blades clean before sheathing them at his waist one by one.

His movements were slow and meticulous, as if he were performing a delicate craft that required immense patience.

Yugito Nii was packing up the bowls and cooking utensils. She dried the washed dishes with a cloth and neatly placed them into her backpack. Her movements were swift, and in no time, everything was packed away.

"We can go now."

Hearing this, Uchiha Taiga stood up, dusted the dirt off his pants, and walked toward the edge of the woods.

Yugito Nii followed behind him. The two of them, one in front of the other, continued their journey in their previous direction.

After walking for a while, Yugito Nii couldn't help but speak up.

"Do you really have no feelings left for them at all?"

She found it hard to imagine. They were from the same clan, and the Uchiha had traveled so far to find him. Their attitude had been flawless, and that woman named Uchiha Mikoto had even shed tears in front of him. Their sincerity was plain to see.

Yet, from beginning to end, Uchiha Taiga had remained completely indifferent. He wasn't angry, nor was he moved; his emotions were entirely flat.

Uchiha Taiga walked ahead without turning back, but he let out a soft chuckle.

"What's there to feel?"

His tone was casual.

"They simply hope I'll return to the clan to bolster the Uchiha's strength."

He shook his head, his footsteps never pausing.

"Uchiha Fugaku might think he hid it well, but I saw through it at a glance. He has already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Hearing this, Yugito Nii's footsteps faltered, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes.

Having followed Uchiha Taiga for so long, she naturally knew what the Mangekyo Sharingan was.

It was the legendary ocular jutsu of the Uchiha clan, an existence on a far higher level than the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

If Uchiha Fugaku had truly awakened the Mangekyo, then the Uchiha clan's overall strength had already taken a qualitative leap. At the very least, they were no longer lacking in top-tier combat power.

"With him around, the Uchiha clan's strength is guaranteed. Coming to beg me on top of that is a bit too greedy."

Yugito Nii remained silent for a moment, then nodded, asking no further questions.

She knew Uchiha Taiga wasn't heartless; he just saw things too clearly. Those people had come with goodwill, but they had also come with an agenda.

The goodwill was real, but so was the agenda.

He didn't reject them out of coldness, but simply because he had already seen through it all.

The two continued walking, just as before, as if the recent events had never even happened.

Uchiha Taiga unfastened the small jar from his waist, weighed it in his hand, and gave it a shake.

The little black humanoid figure inside bumped against the walls of the jar with the shaking, letting out faint thuds.

"Are you feeling pretty smug right now?" he asked.

Black Zetsu's voice drifted from the jar, feigning innocence.

"Not at all. Why would you say that, my lord?"

Uchiha Taiga raised the jar to eye level, looking at the little black figure curled up into a ball inside.

The corners of his mouth curled up into a half-smile.

"I might be mediocre in other aspects, but my sensory abilities have never failed me. Just now, when you saw that stone tablet, your chakra fluctuations were a little too active."

The smile froze on Black Zetsu's pitch-black face.

It had no real face, no distinct features, only hollow eyes and a mouth, but its body stiffened slightly. It clearly hadn't expected Uchiha Taiga to say this, and its heart tightened.

Watching its reaction, Uchiha Taiga felt a surge of amusement.

It wasn't that he didn't know what was written on the stone tablet, nor was he ignorant of the tampering Black Zetsu had done to it. He was simply asking a question to which he already knew the answer, doing so purely out of a wicked sense of humor to entertain himself.

"Although I don't know exactly what you were so happy about just now, as long as Uchiha Fugaku isn't stupid, he should remember my warning."

Black Zetsu didn't speak. Its body curled up even tighter, like a person shivering in the dead of winter.

Uchiha Taiga shook the jar again, and the little black figure inside bumped against the walls a few more times.

"You just focus on keeping me entertained."

Black Zetsu fell silent. It didn't speak again, nor did it struggle, simply curling up at the bottom of the jar motionless. It seemed to be thinking, or perhaps waiting.

No one knew what was going through its mind.

But no matter what it was thinking, from the moment it was sealed into this little jar by Uchiha Taiga, its future had already been forfeit.

Uchiha Taiga tied the jar back to his waist, patted it, and continued walking.

The two traveled onward, passing through forests, crossing hills, and following rivers for two days.

Two days later, they left the borders of the Land of Fire and entered the Land of Rivers.

The terrain of the Land of Rivers was vastly different from the Land of Fire. There were fewer plains and more rivers, and the air was noticeably more humid.

Large stretches of rice paddies lined the road. Occasionally, they could see farmers toiling in the fields, water buffalo rolling in the mud, and children chasing each other along the field ridges.

They walked along the main road of the Land of Rivers for half a day before stopping at a crossroad.

A stone marker stood at the intersection, carved with directions. To the west lay the Land of Wind, still several days' journey away.

He was just about to step forward when his footsteps paused again. His gaze shifted from the west and landed on the edge of a nearby forest.

A person stood at the edge of the woods, wearing a flak jacket that distinctly belonged to Sunagakure.

Furthermore, in the woods behind that person, Uchiha Taiga could sense quite a few chakra signatures. Counting carefully, there were over thirty people.

Sunagakure shinobi.

Uchiha Taiga raised an eyebrow slightly.

"They arrived earlier than I thought."

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he stepped toward that direction.

Yugito Nii followed behind him, her hand resting on the hilt of her ninja blade at her waist. Her gaze swept over the figure, as if calculating their numbers and positions.

Uchiha Taiga hadn't bothered to conceal his tracks during this journey, so naturally, there was no shortage of people tracking his whereabouts. He was well aware of this.

Especially after his recent battle with Uchiha Madara, any ninja village in the shinobi world that wasn't blind or deaf would naturally keep a close eye on him.

And his current destination was very clear. To put it bluntly, he was heading straight for the Land of Wind. Unless the people of Sunagakure were fools, they would know Uchiha Taiga was coming for them.

Because of this, it was perfectly normal for these Sunagakure shinobi to be waiting here in advance.

Upon seeing these people, Uchiha Taiga only cared about one thing: was Sunagakure hostile toward him?

With this thought in mind, he walked right over.