Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Uchiha Madara gave a cold snort. The sound was soft, but it carried an unmistakable sense of disdain. He shifted his gaze away from Uzumaki Karin and let it fall upon Uchiha Sasuke, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"Brat, do you desire power?"

His voice was deep and incredibly enticing.

"Come with me, and I can give you everything you want."

The four members of the Uchiha squad immediately panicked. Their leader scrambled up from the ground, his clothes stained with dirt and blood. His footsteps were a bit unsteady, but he ignored his condition, staring intently at Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sasuke, don't listen to his lies! Think of the clan, and think of your father!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke furrowed his brows tightly. He didn't even glance at the man who spoke; his eyes remained fixed on Uchiha Madara.

"Are you here for me?"

Uchiha Madara chuckled, the smirk on his lips deepening.

"To be precise, I am here for the two of you."

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze from Uchiha Sasuke and glanced over at Hyuga Neji.

With just that single look, Hyuga Neji's body violently tensed. His Byakugan was active, allowing him to see the chakra radiating from Uchiha Madara, pulsing in his eye sockets like a cluster of black flames.

His body instinctively leaned back, his toes lifting slightly as his heels left the ground.

Just as Hyuga Neji was about to retreat, it was as if a sudden realization hit him. Gritting his teeth, he planted his heels back down. His posture shifted from a backward lean to a forward stance, changing from a position of flight to one ready to charge.

He did not back down.

Uchiha Madara watched him, his lips twitching slightly.

"Not paralyzed by fear, I see."

His voice remained calm.

"It seems the Hyuga aren't completely useless after all."

Hyuga Neji's lips moved before he finally spoke. His voice was a bit dry, but his words were clear.

"What do you want?"

His tone carried obvious caution.

Uchiha Madara's smile remained unchanged.

"A member of the Hyuga Branch House betrays his clan and abandons Konoha. For what purpose?"

As he spoke, Uchiha Madara's eyes scrutinized Hyuga Neji, as if seeing right through him with a single glance.

"Isn't it just to break the Caged Bird?"

He paused.

"I can do that for you."

Hyuga Neji's eyes widened drastically, a glimmer of light seeming to flash within his pale pupils.

His hands trembled slightly—not out of fear, but from an indescribable surge of emotion crashing through his body.

The Caged Bird curse mark, the shackle forced upon him since childhood, the prison meant to control his entire life... suddenly seemed to have a chance of being shattered.

Even if this person was Uchiha Madara, and even if Uchiha Madara was likely far from a good person, none of that mattered to Hyuga Neji right now.

Because this was the Caged Bird!

As long as it could be removed, he was willing to pay any price.

Hearing this, the four Hyuga shinobi grew incredibly anxious. Their leader, still bleeding from the corner of his mouth, had a face full of panic.

"Hyuga Neji, don't do anything stupid!"

His voice was loud, cracking slightly from the strain.

Uchiha Madara sneered.

"Noisy."

With that, he casually waved his hand toward the man.

His arm traced an arc through the air. His fingers snapped together from an open position, pressing tightly to form a hand resembling a blade.

An invisible blade of air shot out from the edge of his palm.

The air blade moved incredibly fast, so fast that the air merely distorted slightly, as if an unseen sword was slicing through the atmosphere. It flew straight toward the Hyuga shinobi who had just spoken, its aim deadly accurate—aiming right for the man's neck.

Smack!

With a crisp sound, the air blade was shattered by a single hand.

The hand wasn't large, with slender fingers and neatly trimmed nails.

It slapped the air blade from the side, the palm pressing against the edge of the invisible strike and clapping shut with immense force.

Under the strike of that hand, the air blade shattered like glass, turning into countless tiny currents of air that slipped through the fingers and fluttered the man's hair and clothes.

Uzumaki Karin had appeared halfway along the air blade's trajectory at some unknown moment.

Her body still held the posture of her strike—her right hand raised, palm open, fingers slightly curled. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground, completely steady without even a hint of swaying.

She flashed a wide grin.

"You old Uchiha ghost, did you forget I'm still here?"

Her voice was loud, carrying a very obvious tone of provocation.

Uchiha Madara looked at her, his face expressionless.

"Brat, do you also want to dance?"

Uzumaki Karin froze for a moment.

Then, her brows furrowed slightly, her mouth opened a bit, and then closed again.

Finally, as if she couldn't hold it in any longer, she burst out laughing. The sound wasn't loud, but it was crisp and clear.

Such laughter seemed incredibly out of place in this situation, but Uzumaki Karin couldn't care less. Her laughter grew louder and more pronounced.

Eventually, she bent over, clutching her stomach with one hand and resting the other on her knee. Her body trembled slightly—not from fear, but from laughing too hard.

"I can't take it."

Her voice slipped out between bouts of laughter, broken and breathless.

"So it's actually true. Teacher was right. You really just love using that dramatic tone to show off how special you are."

She straightened up, her smile vanishing in an instant.

Her lips flattened, her brows leveled out, and her eyes shifted from mirthful to completely calm, making her look entirely expressionless.

But this look made her seem somewhat exaggerated, because it wasn't a genuine lack of expression—it was a deliberate imitation, and anyone present could tell.

"Do you also want to dance?"

Uzumaki Karin repeated the phrase using Uchiha Madara's exact dramatic inflection.

After saying it, she clutched her stomach and burst into roaring laughter again. Her laughter echoed through the woods, completely shattering the tense atmosphere from moments ago.

Her laughter instantly diluted the heavy tension in the air.

Uchiha Sasuke lowered his eyelids slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

He wanted to laugh, but he held it back, pressing his lips together and biting down on them.

Hyuga Neji took a deep breath and exhaled. He felt that laughing right now would be somewhat inappropriate, so he lowered his raised hands.

As for the others, although they didn't laugh out loud, they also felt that the atmosphere was no longer as suffocating as before.

The four members of the Uchiha squad climbed up from the ground, looking at Uzumaki Karin with twitching mouths.

The four members of the Hyuga squad sat up from the ground, the muscles around their mouths jumping slightly.

The four members of the ANBU squad still had their masks on, so their expressions remained hidden.

Uchiha Madara's face darkened. His brows furrowed, the corners of his mouth turned down, and his gaze shifted from calm to piercingly cold.

The next moment, his figure abruptly vanished without a sound, as if he had never been there at all.

Uzumaki Karin's smile faltered.

The corners of her mouth were still turned up, but the smile had frozen on her face.

Yet she didn't hesitate for a second, nor did she waste any time thinking. Without a second thought, she executed a sideways flip.

Her body flipped to the left, her foot tapping the ground as she spun in mid-air.

Immediately after, she twisted her torso, rotating her waist and whipping her long leg out into the empty air like a lash.

The kick was incredibly fast, so fast that the air in front of her leg compressed into a white burst of vapor. Her leg traced an arc through the air, letting out a sharp, piercing whistle.

Right there, Uchiha Madara's figure had just materialized, shifting from ethereal to solid, from nothing to something.

His right hand was raised, fingers spread, his palm facing the spot where Uzumaki Karin had just been standing. Before he could even stabilize his footing, her leg was already whipping right toward his face.

Uchiha Madara clearly hadn't expected his movements to be instantly read by Uzumaki Karin, but he merely furrowed his brow slightly and raised his arm, holding it horizontally in front of him to block the kick with his forearm.

The leg slammed into his forearm with a muffled thud.

Bang!

Uchiha Madara's body didn't budge an inch.

He looked at Uzumaki Karin, who had retreated two steps, and his lips twitched.

"Are you that brat's disciple?"

Although his voice was still calm, a hint of something different could be heard in his tone.

Uzumaki Karin didn't answer. After steadying herself, she looked at Uchiha Madara, the corners of her mouth still curled up in a mocking smile.

"You old geezer, you have no respect for martial ethics."

Her voice was loud, carrying obvious sarcasm.

"To actually sneak attack a youngster like me."

She paused, tilting her chin up slightly.

"I advise you to reflect on yourself and behave!"

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