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"This one?"
The elder stared at the mission slip in Xuan's hand, his expression caught between surprise and genuine concern. "If I'm not mistaken, your combat prowess is currently hovering around the Tokubetsu Jōnin level. The Blood Ninja, however, has been a full-fledged Jōnin for years. His strength is vicious. You are a genius of our clan; there is no need to throw your life away trying to prove yourself. Pick another mission. There are several Grey-Rank tasks in that pile that would suit you perfectly."
The elder clearly assumed Xuan was just another arrogant, hot-blooded youth trying to bite off more than he could chew for the sake of glory.
Xuan knew the old man meant well, but he was fully aware of his own capabilities. He politely declined the elder's advice with a firm shake of his head.
In the future era of Konoha, taking a mission so far above one's official pay grade would be strictly prohibited. The hidden villages would enforce rigid ranking systems that were incredibly difficult to bypass. But this was the Warring States Era. The rules were loose and bathed in blood. If you believed you were strong enough to survive, you could take whatever assassination bounty you pleased.
Survival of the fittest was the absolute law governing every shinobi clan of this age. If a ninja lacked the self-awareness to accurately gauge their own strength, they were destined to die on the battlefield anyway. Such fools were never meant to be shinobi in the first place.
Realizing he couldn't talk the boy out of it, the elder sighed deeply and processed the paperwork. I just hope the Blood Ninja has already fled the Land of Fire, or died at the hands of another clan, he prayed silently. Anything, as long as Xuan doesn't actually cross paths with him.
Tucking the mission slip securely into his robes, Xuan left the grand hall. It was mid-morning now, and the Uchiha compound was bustling with frantic activity. The suffocating tension of the impending war hung heavy in the air.
Hmph, you guys can go grind yourselves to dust in this war, Xuan thought with a smirk. I'm going to solo farm the jungle for thirty years. Once I'm fully geared and max level, I'll step out and 1v5 the entire continent. With that grand plan in mind, he headed toward the compound gates, setting his sights on the northwestern border of the Land of Fire.
"Yo! What a coincidence, Xuan."
As he rounded a corner near the gates, a familiar voice called out. A figure was standing on a set of unfinished stone steps, arms crossed defensively over his chest.
Xuan paused, his expression twisting into a weird grimace. It was Uchiha Madara. "What are you doing here? And why are you standing on top of those unfinished steps? Are you trying to look cool?"
Madara coughed awkwardly into his fist. "I went to your house this morning. Your little maid said you went to the Mission Hall, so I headed this way and... just happened to bump into you."
Xuan's mouth twitched. Just happened to bump into me? Yeah, right. You clearly saw me coming from a mile away and scrambled up those steps just to strike a cool pose.
Too mentally exhausted to call out his friend's edgy posturing, Xuan sighed. "What do you want?"
Refusing to break his brooding pose, Madara countered, "Never mind that for now. Why the sudden interest in taking missions? Let me see what you picked up."
Xuan didn't see the point in hiding it. He pulled the Black-Rank bounty slip from his robes and tossed it over.
Madara caught the paper and scanned it. His expression shifted drastically. He reread the contents, his eyes widening before he shot Xuan a look of absolute disbelief. "Are you tired of living? Why the hell did you take a bounty that even a veteran Jōnin might fail to complete?"
Not in the mood to be lectured twice in one morning, Xuan replied coolly, "Mind your own business."
Madara trembled with irritation. Unable to actually beat sense into him, he crumpled the paper and chucked it directly at Xuan's face. "Fine! Go die out there, see if I care!" he snapped angrily.
Xuan easily snatched the crumpled ball of paper out of the air and tucked it back away. "Spit it out, Madara. I have a bounty to catch."
Madara's face darkened as he dropped his edgy facade. "After I stayed behind yesterday, my father and the elders finalized the operational details against the Hyūga. They plan to deploy Uchiha Tō with a strike force to intercept the Senju reinforcements. However... the Senju are absurdly powerful, and we permanently lost the Kazama Valley chokepoint. We are effectively fighting a two-front war. I want to hear your honest assessment. Can we actually win this?"
Xuan stared at him, releasing a long, exasperated sigh. "You tracked me down just to ask me that?"
Madara's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. If glares were kunai, Xuan would have been impaled ten times over.
"We will win. Goodbye," Xuan tossed over his shoulder, turning on his heel to leave.
"You little bastard..." Madara finally snapped. In a blur of motion, he vanished from the stone steps and reappeared directly in Xuan's path. Raising a clenched fist, he snarled, "If you're looking for a fight, just say the word. I'll gladly oblige."
Xuan paused. Knowing Madara's volatile temper, pushing him any further would inevitably result in a full-blown brawl right here in the street. Relenting, he sighed, "I literally just told you we're going to win. What exactly do you want to hear?"
Madara lowered his fist, his expression deadly serious. "If the Senju fully commit to intervening, I'm worried Tō's strike force won't be able to hold the line. The only reason we managed to fight a two-front war for two years last time was because of the chokepoint at Kazama Valley. We tied down the Senju main army while dedicating a small elite unit to hold off the Hyūga using the terrain. But now? We've lost that geographical advantage. Fighting both clans simultaneously without it is a logistical nightmare. And you thought you could brush me off with a casual 'we will win'?"
"Your premise is flawed," Xuan replied flatly.
"What?"
"We are only marching to war against the Hyūga. We aren't fighting the Senju simultaneously. There's a massive difference."
Madara stared blankly at him, looking at Xuan as if he were a complete idiot.
Xuan easily read the insult in his eyes and elaborated. "Don't mistake the clan elders for fools. If this were truly a suicidal two-front war, they never would have authorized the deployment. They are battle-hardened veterans who have survived decades of bloodshed; do not underestimate their political acumen. You need to separate the two entities in your mind. The Hyūga are the Hyūga, and the Senju are the Senju. They are two distinct factions."
Madara furrowed his brow. "You're saying the Senju won't reinforce them? That makes no sense. The Hyūga just submitted as their vassal clan. The Senju are obligated to protect them."
"Alright, let's frame this differently," Xuan proposed. "Imagine the roles were reversed. You are the Head of the Uchiha clan, and the Hyūga just swore fealty to us as a vassal. Then, the Senju declare war on the Hyūga. What do you do?"
"That's obvious. I would immediately dispatch our forces to protect the Hyūga—" Madara began without hesitation, but suddenly, his voice trailed off. His eyes widened slightly as the brutal reality of shinobi politics clicked into place. Lowering his voice, he muttered, "No... wait. In that scenario, I would let them fight it out first. I'd sit back and watch the tigers tear each other apart. Once they were both exhausted, I'd sweep in and clean up the mess. But... the Hyūga are a sworn vassal. Doing absolutely nothing would shatter my clan's reputation. So, I would dispatch a relief force, but I wouldn't send my main army. I'd only make a show of marching to their rescue."
Madara's strategic mind was rapidly processing the implications, the fog of confusion lifting entirely.
Xuan nodded in approval. "Exactly. The Hyūga clan is still incredibly formidable. Being forced into vassalage is a humiliating blow to their pride, but as long as they retain their massive military strength, their subservience is only temporary. The Senju absolutely do not want a vassal as strong as the current Hyūga. Therefore, whether we bleed the Hyūga dry or the Senju swoop in halfway to reap the spoils, the Senju win either way. They believe they hold the absolute initiative in this war and can end it whenever they please. That is precisely why Tō's strike force won't face overwhelming pressure from the Senju—at least, not until the Hyūga are pushed to the brink of collapse."
Madara's eyes gleamed with fierce realization. "Which means we have a genuine window to cripple them."
"Precisely. The clan elders understand the Senju's political playbook better than anyone," Xuan affirmed. "Rest assured, the Hyūga are the only ones who will truly suffer in this war. We want brutal retaliation, and the Senju want a subservient, weakened vassal. Being simultaneously targeted by the two strongest clans in the world... well, they might not face total annihilation, but the Hyūga are going to lose a massive chunk of flesh before this is over. Now, if you're quite finished, I have a bounty to catch. Goodbye."
Having thoroughly explained the geopolitical reality to his friend, Xuan turned away and confidently marched out of the compound gates.