It took Ryo nearly two full hours to finally explain to Yatagarasu and Mitsuashi that some words needed to be understood through context and tone rather than interpreted literally.
“Humans are so complicated, caw.” “Caw!
Exactly!
Way too complicated!” The corner of Ryo’s mouth twitched.
“Alright.
We’re leaving for a mission tomorrow, so I’m going to sleep.
You two should get some rest as well.
You don’t need to stay by my side all the time.” Mitsuashi nodded and gently tapped Ryo’s palm with his beak.
“Caw!
Then remember to summon us if you need anything!
You’re blind, after all!” “I want to help Master too, but honestly, I hate being summoned, caw…” Yatagarasu spread his wings.
“Feels like I’m about to throw up yesterday’s dinner every time.” “Caw!
I completely agree!
It’s awful!
Absolutely awful!” “Sorry about that…” Ryo walked toward his bed.
“Once your chakra grows enough to use Reverse Summoning, I’ll see if I can improve the process somehow.
Asking me to improve something I barely understand is a bit much.” “Caw!
Yatagarasu, Master is such an idiot!
He actually thinks a bird’s chakra could ever exceed a human’s!
Cawahahaha!” “Idiot, you can’t just say things like that out loud.
You’ll hurt Master’s feelings, caw.” “Cawahahaha!
Master is way too naive!
Cawahahaha!” Ryo, who was in the middle of changing clothes before bed: …
Maybe not being able to understand animals all the time is actually a blessing.
With that thought, he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, after confirming their equipment and ninja tools, Ryo and Madara headed to the clan’s mission assignment office.
Since Ryo couldn’t see, only Madara entered the building.
His plan was to record a few promising missions and then discuss them with Ryo outside.
He happened to run into several people from his generation and exchanged a few casual words.
Before the conversation could continue, however, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
It felt as though he had been targeted by a predator.
Madara instinctively drew his blade and turned around— only to find himself staring directly into a pair of scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
The owner of those eyes seemed to realize his behavior was inappropriate.
His gaze shifted slightly downward to avoid direct eye contact, but he continued staring intently at Madara.
His expression was unusually excited.
“You’re Madara?” “What’s Ryo to you?” Madara immediately frowned.
“What’s it to you?” “You really are Ryo’s younger brother!” The stranger’s excitement only intensified as he took several steps forward.
“I finally found you!” At that point, it wasn’t only Madara who became tense.
His peers nearby also grew nervous.
Several clan members stopped walking and looked over.
However, some of Ryo’s generation immediately broke into smiles after recognizing the newcomer.
One of them even shouted: “Seriously, Kenshi?
Ryo’s already recovered and you still haven’t managed to find his house?” Madara froze.
The suspicious look in his eyes immediately deepened.
The person called Kenshi turned bright red but stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on Madara.
“Shut up!
You’re too loud!” “I just wasn’t seriously looking!” “Sure you weren’t~” The other Uchiha laughed.
“Alright, everyone, relax.
He’s looking for Ryo, that’s all.” Then he looked toward Madara.
“Hey, Madara , just take him to your brother.” Madara: …
Who are you calling Madara ?!
We’re not close enough for that!
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Madara signaled to his companions that he could handle things himself.
At the same time, he carefully studied the person before him.
Uchiha Kenji .
Or was it…
Kenshi?
The person’s skin was fair and flawless.
Their appearance was strikingly beautiful.
Softly curled black hair framed both sides of their face, falling to shoulder length.
Even the dangerous gleam of the Sharingan couldn’t diminish their attractiveness.
Even among the famously attractive Uchiha, this level of appearance was exceptional.
Just because you’re good-looking doesn’t mean you can stare at people with your Sharingan like that.
How rude.
Madara’s expression grew colder.
“What do you want with my brother?” Before Kenshi could answer, another voice called from the entrance.
“Hey!
Kenshi!” “Ryo’s outside!” “What?!
Which one?!” Kenshi immediately looked delighted and rushed toward the exit.
Then he abruptly froze.
Slowly turning around, he stared at the crowd of similarly dressed Uchiha and looked utterly defeated.
“…I’m doomed.” Madara’s eyelid twitched.
He raised a hand.
“Were you…
looking for me?” The response he received was a suspicious stare.
“…You’re Madara?” “Really?” Madara: …
What is wrong with this person?
They’re face-blind to this extent?
Everyone was dressed similarly because they were preparing for missions, sure.
But forgetting someone’s appearance after turning around once?
That was absurd.
Under Madara’s increasingly baffled gaze, Kenshi’s face turned red again.
Without another word, he continued walking toward the exit.
“Whatever.” “Ryo’s outside.” “I’ll find him eventually.” Madara abandoned all thoughts of selecting a mission and followed behind him.
At this point, he genuinely wanted to know what this strange person was trying to do.
“So Kenshi’s still looking for me, huh?” Ryo smiled helplessly.
“You guys are terrible.” “When I was training on the Naka River Highlands by the Naka River, you could’ve brought him over.” “You all know he’s both face-blind and hopeless with directions.” The Uchiha chatting with him burst out laughing.
“Come on, watching Kenshi search for people is entertaining.” “Besides, with that extreme personality of his, could injured-you really have handled him?” “Oh, there he is.” The man waved.
“Hey!
Kenshi!
Over here!” “The blindfolded one is Ryo!” Then he slapped Ryo’s shoulder.
“By the way, Ryo, you’d better hurry up and recover completely.
I’m still waiting for you to become squad leader again so I can coast through missions.” “You have no idea how many meals I’ve missed trying to settle team disputes while you’ve been away.” “Thanks, Eiji.” Ryo laughed.
“But spare me.” “Just developing techniques suitable for myself is already taking all of my energy.” “Don’t be so absolute~” Uchiha Eiji grinned.
“Anyway, I’m off for a mission.” “See you around.” Ryo nodded.
“Take care.” “May fortune favor your blade.” “Haha, same to you.” “May fortune favor your blade.” Listening as Eiji’s footsteps faded into the distance, Ryo sighed with a smile.
“Still the same as ever…” He barely had time to finish the sentence before a figure rushed over and grabbed him by the collar.
“Uchiha Ryo!” “You damn idiot!” Ryo raised both hands.
“Alright, alright, Kenshi, calm down—” “How am I supposed to calm down?!” Kenshi yanked him forward violently.
His voice was overflowing with fury.
“Do you have any idea how stupid what you did was?!” “I was the one carrying the fake intelligence and drawing away the enemy!” “What exactly were you doing?!” “Why was the real intelligence somehow in my hands at the end?!” “And look at yourself now!” He shook Ryo harder.
“Does this look reasonable to you?!” “Between a guy like me—someone who can’t even complete missions alone—and the strongest shinobi of our generation, anyone knows which one should be sacrificed!” “Don’t tell me you couldn’t make the correct choice!” “Well, technically I escaped at first…” Ryo tried to explain.
“This injury happened later when I ran into a Senju squad and couldn’t resist—” “Shut up!” Kenshi exploded.
“You idiot!” He nearly lifted Ryo off the ground by his collar.
“That’s even stupider!” “Do you know how many Senju you’d have killed if you’d grown up properly and reached your full potential?!” “If you’d let me distract the enemy that day, none of this would’ve happened!” “Maybe by now you’d already have avenged me by killing dozens of Senju!” “Why would you throw away your future for trash like those Senju and a useless person like me?!” His voice suddenly cracked.
“And I heard…” “I heard even the preserved Sharingan in the clan couldn’t restore your eyesight…” “I…” “I…” “How am I supposed to repay you…?” “Waaaahhh—!” Madara, who had followed him outside, stood completely frozen.
He genuinely couldn’t understand it.
How had this man— who looked prettier than most women— gone from raging fury to clutching his brother’s waist and bawling his eyes out within seconds?
And somehow he looked even more heartbroken than Ryo himself.
Standing at the entrance of the mission office, Madara watched Kenshi completely ignore the stares of the surrounding clan members while sobbing dramatically into Ryo’s clothes.
His gaze toward Ryo filled with both sympathy and astonishment.
There are this many weirdos in Brother’s generation…?
Life really isn’t easy for you, Brother.