After walking for about another half-kilometer, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
The ground was covered in huge water pits. The water inside was blood-red, looking exactly like blood. Scattered white skeletal remains lay at the bottom of the water, looking utterly terrifying.
Walking further in, rows of regularly shaped caves appeared at the foot of the hard rocky mountains.
Seeming to sense Uchiha Yuzuru, people with pale skin walked out of the caves one after another. A rough glance suggested there were nearly a hundred people.
"Who are you?!"
Seeing Uchiha Yuzuru alone, an elderly leader spoke up to ask.
"The one here to save you."
Uchiha Yuzuru said calmly, "Chinoike clan, I have come to take you back to live in Kumogakure."
"What?!"
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's words, everyone present was greatly shocked, looks of disbelief appearing on their faces. Having been imprisoned for hundreds of years, they had long since lost any hope of getting out.
Uchiha Yuzuru's sudden arrival left them somewhat at a loss.
The old man asked with a trembling voice, "What happened outside? Why release us so suddenly?"
Before Uchiha Yuzuru could speak, a Chinoike clansman suddenly shouted, "That clan crest... You are from the Uchiha clan!"
As his voice fell, all the Chinoike clansmen froze for a moment before glaring furiously at Uchiha Yuzuru.
"Damn Uchiha! It was you who exiled our clan here back then!"
"We want revenge!"
Some of the radical Chinoike clansmen's eyes emitted a red glow similar to the Sharingan, their pupils transforming into a horizontal "one" shape.
Uchiha Yuzuru felt a force constantly impacting his spirit.
At the same time, the Chinoike clansmen formed hand seals in unison. The red spring water in the pools surged, and several massive blood dragons swept toward Uchiha Yuzuru.
"Die!"
The blood dragons instantly swallowed Uchiha Yuzuru.
The next second, Uchiha Yuzuru's disheveled figure appeared before them. Seeing the wounds on his body, the Chinoike clansmen revealed cold sneers.
"Repent! Explosion!"
Boom!
The smiles on the faces of those radical Chinoike clansmen hadn't yet vanished when their bodies were blasted into fine powder.
The remaining Chinoike clansmen looked ahead in disbelief.
"H-How is that possible? Why did they self-destruct?"
"What a terrifying Genjutsu. Exactly when..."
"It must be those Three-Tomoe Sharingan! They looked directly into that guy's eyes!"
In the eyes of many Chinoike clansmen, those kinsmen who had just died had shouted something, then strange smiles had begun to appear on their faces. Immediately after, they had formed seals and blew themselves up.
This abnormal behavior was clearly the result of being under a Genjutsu.
This made all the remaining Chinoike clansmen feel apprehensive. One had to know that their eyes could also release Genjutsu, and their resistance to Genjutsu was very high. Yet, in that instant, all the clansmen who harbored hostility had fallen under the opponent's spell.
Such power was simply too terrifying.
Seeing the Chinoike clansmen quiet down, Uchiha Yuzuru stood where he was and said expressionlessly, "Can we have a proper chat now?"
Invisible pressure permeated the air, causing all the Chinoike clansmen to lower their heads.
The elderly leader summoned up his courage and spoke, "It was our people who were in the wrong just now. Please continue."
Uchiha Yuzuru nodded in satisfaction and did not pursue the matter further. It was normal to become extreme and irritable after being imprisoned in such a place for so long.
There was no need to implicate those who hadn't thought of attacking just because of such a thing.
"Judging by the reaction of those guys just now, you should still remember the events of the past."
"In that era, we Uchiha were merely hired by the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning."
"The one you should truly hate is the Land of Lightning's Daimyo."
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's words, bitter smiles appeared on the faces of the Chinoike clan members.
How could they not know that it was the Land of Lightning's Daimyo who had reduced them to this state? But even if they hated him, what could they do?
The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning was completely beyond their reach.
Thinking of this, the Chinoike elder suddenly startled awake and asked Uchiha Yuzuru, "Lord, could it be that our release is not the will of the Land of Lightning's Daimyo?"
If it were the Daimyo's will, the other party shouldn't be saying things like "hate the Daimyo." But without the Daimyo's consent, who would dare release a criminal clan like them from the Valley of Hell?
Seeing the elder's confusion, Uchiha Yuzuru said indifferently, "The times have changed. Starting today, we no longer need to look at the Daimyo's face to do things."
"The era belonging to ninjas has arrived."
"The era belonging to ninjas..."
"Has arrived?!"
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's words, the Chinoike clansmen trembled with excitement.
In that case, they really didn't have to stay in this hellhole anymore!
"My Lord, my name is Oyashiro En. I haven't asked for your name yet..."
"Uchiha Yuzuru."
"Lord Yuzuru, we will go pack our things now. If you have any orders, please just tell me."
Uchiha Yuzuru waved his hand, letting Oyashiro En take his clansmen to get busy.
The Chinoike clan packed very quickly; in less than two hours, everyone had gathered once more. In a place like the Valley of Hell, they didn't even have a few decent pieces of clothing.
"Let's go."
Under Uchiha Yuzuru's lead, the members of the Chinoike clan walked out of the Valley of Hell for the first time.
Although the landscape outside wasn't much different from inside the valley, many Chinoike clansmen still wept tears of excitement.
So the outside world was actually this vast!
Compared to his clansmen, Oyashiro En was much calmer. He followed beside Uchiha Yuzuru and asked cautiously, "Lord Yuzuru, what did you mean by those words just now?"
"Our clan has left the shinobi world for too long. Could I trouble you to tell me what has happened during this time?"
Uchiha Yuzuru glanced at him. Not bothering to act aloof, he said calmly, "After you were imprisoned back then, the shinobi world didn't change much."
"Until several decades ago, when the Uchiha clan united with the Senju clan to establish the one-village-one-country system, completely ending the Warring States Era..."
Uchiha Yuzuru briefly recounted some important events, up until the point he led the Uchiha clan to Kumogakure and actively proposed releasing them.
Oyashiro En had long since been shocked into numbness.
He had never imagined that strong individuals like Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama would appear in the outside world.
After digesting this for a while, Oyashiro En said gratefully to Uchiha Yuzuru, "Lord Yuzuru, you are the benefactor of our Chinoike clan. If you have any orders in the future, we will certainly go through fire and water for you."
Uchiha Yuzuru waved his hand with a smile. "You have too few clansmen right now. You should strive to produce offspring."
"No matter what, getting the population numbers up is the most important thing."
Hearing this, Oyashiro En was even more moved.
The lord before him was completely different from the descriptions of the Uchiha clan passed down through the generations. Regardless, they would never forget the kindness Uchiha Yuzuru had shown in saving the Chinoike clan from the Valley of Hell!
Kumogakure.
The Cloud ninja, having received the news in advance, gathered on both sides of the streets once again.
Watching Uchiha Yuzuru lead the Chinoike clan into the village, everyone immediately boiled over with excitement.
"So this is the Chinoike clan. It's said their eyes possess power second only to the Sharingan."
"Great! Our village has gained another new power!"
"It's Lord Yuzuru again! I really love him to death. How can one person be so handsome and so powerful at the same time?!"
"Ever since Lord Yuzuru came to our Kumogakure, our village's strength has been undergoing earth-shattering changes every day. We really struck gold this time."
"Once again, thank you Konoha! Thank you Hokage!"
For all the Chinoike clansmen, this was the first time they had seen so many outsiders. Originally, they were quite apprehensive, but hearing the hearty laughter of the Cloud ninja, their moods unconsciously relaxed a great deal.
Walking to the clan compound that had been arranged in advance, Uchiha Yuzuru spoke. "Settle in for now. If there is anything, go find Fugaku. He will convey your needs to me."
After speaking, Uchiha Yuzuru turned and left.
It really wasn't easy trying to increase his strength a bit.
But there was no helping it; he wasn't some child of destiny, so he could only sweat and work hard to cheat his way up.
Walking down the road, a familiar voice drifted over from a training field.
Uchiha Yuzuru turned to look and found Uchiha Obito sparring with Hatake Kakashi.
Holding a kunai, Uchiha Obito constantly launched attacks at Hatake Kakashi, but Kakashi dodged them one by one.
The high-intensity offense caused Uchiha Obito's breathing to become disordered very quickly, and his speed slowed down more and more.
Hatake Kakashi seized the opportunity, using a sweeping kick to knock Uchiha Obito to the ground. Immediately after, a short sword was placed against Uchiha Obito's neck.
"Damn it!"
Uchiha Obito punched the ground unwillingly.
He lost again.
Just then, a hand reached out in front of him. "You've improved a lot, but you're too uncool-headed during combat."
Uchiha Obito froze for a moment, then reached up and grabbed the hand Hatake Kakashi extended.
He adjusted his goggles and shouted loudly, "One day, I will definitely surpass you!"
Hatake Kakashi gave a light snort. "I'm about to become a real ninja. I probably won't be able to train with you every day in the future."
"Huh?!"
Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Hatake Sakumo all turned to look.
Uchiha Yuzuru suddenly pressed his hand down on Hatake Kakashi's head. "You want to graduate early?"
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