[Three years later[
"What a cruel war… I don't want to die for nothing. I'd better lie low here for a while…"
Uchiha Katsu crouched behind a huge rock, thinking quietly to himself.
War was cruel.
On the Uchiha side, they operated in squads of five.
But because of the Senju clan's offensive, their squad had been scattered.
Uchiha Katsu was clever and knew he couldn't just run around randomly.
So he planned to hide here for a few days. Maybe he could survive.
After the battle in this area ended, he would return to the clan.
"Damn it! Those guys… the clan leader's and elders' sons can have experts protecting them, while kids like me can only fend for ourselves…"
The sting on Uchiha Katsu's cheek was still burning. The hatred in his heart grew like poisonous vines, but it was firmly suppressed beneath his numb expression.
"Grrr~"
Uchiha Katsu gave a bitter smile and rubbed his stomach.
Damn it, he hadn't even eaten a proper meal before coming to the battlefield.
He had only taken a single bite of a rice ball before coming to fight.
Now that the situation on the battlefield was so tense, later he might have no choice but to eat grass.
"Who's there!?"
Suddenly, a light shout came from the open ground not far away.
"Hiss…"
Katsu instantly held his breath and hid his presence.
A girl with a high ponytail stood among the scattered rocks. Blue chakra flowed around her fists like streaks of light.
She was only about eleven or twelve years old, yet her posture was already straight like a small pine tree.
It was Senju Mio.
Just now, she had sharply heard the sound.
"Come out!"
She leapt up and smashed her fist down.
BOOM!
The huge rock shattered on impact, fragments flying everywhere.
Uchiha Katsu was exposed before Mio's eyes.
'It's her?'
The moment Uchiha Katsu saw Mio, his heart suddenly tightened.
The Senju monster strength.
It was that Senju girl from three years ago by the river who had spared his life.
Uchiha Katsu instinctively wanted to turn and run away, but his feet seemed nailed to the ground.
"It's you?", Mio seemed to remember something and stared tightly at Uchiha Katsu.
Uchiha Katsu's entire body stiffened, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Their eyes met.
Time seemed to freeze.
Mio's pupils shrank slightly. Clearly, she had recognized him too.
That Uchiha brat by the river in the middle of the night, trembling yet stubbornly maintaining a blank expression.
"We meet again."
Katsu closed his eyes and lowered his hands as if accepting his fate.
Now even a fool would know he was an Uchiha.
Just kill him. It would be better than living a life worse than pigs and dogs in the Uchiha clan.
But the pain he expected never came.
Mio slowly withdrew her chakra. Her brows slightly furrowed, and her voice was cold, carrying a trace of deliberate distance.
"It's dangerous here. Leave quickly."
"You…"
Katsu suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her.
The girl turned her face away, avoiding his gaze. Her fingers curled slightly.
Her father had repeatedly warned her, 'If you encounter an Uchiha, kill them without hesitation.'
But looking at the skinny boy in front of her, who didn't even dare resist, she ultimately couldn't bring herself to do it.
"I…", Katsu opened his mouth. His voice was dry and hoarse.
"Don't talk nonsense.", Mio interrupted him, turning her back to him and speaking calmly.
"If you don't leave now, I might change my mind."
"Thank you!"
Uchiha Katsu clenched his fists, looked deeply at her once, then staggered away and disappeared into the dense forest.
Only after his figure completely vanished did Mio lower her shoulders and murmur softly, "What an idiot… clearly an Uchiha, yet living so pathetically."
She had already witnessed the crazy bloodlust of the Uchiha clan.
But an Uchiha like Uchiha Katsu, who focused so much on surviving quietly, was almost nonexistent.
———
After returning to the clan, Uchiha Katsu was granted an audience with one of the elders of the Uchiha clan.
"You're called Uchiha Katsu, right? This war caused quite a lot of losses. The fact that you survived can be considered a blessing from the Sage of Six Paths…"
"As a reward, I'll grant you three ninjutsu."
The Uchiha elder narrowed his eyes slightly and tossed three scrolls to Uchiha Katsu.
"Th-thank you, Elder!"
Uchiha Katsu pretended to be pleasantly surprised as he accepted the scrolls, but a trace of unease rose in his heart.
He had only survived, but he hadn't achieved any merit.
Since they were giving him ninjutsu to strengthen him, it was very likely they had some suicidal mission waiting for him to carry out.
"Hmm, you haven't awakened the Sharingan yet, right?"
"Yes."
"Recently, manpower on the front line has been scarce. After you learn these few ninjutsu, go to the front line."
Hearing this, Uchiha Katsu's heart trembled.
:Just as expected!'
"Understood."
Uchiha Katsu silently nodded.
What else could he do?
He could only accept it.
———
[Three Years Later]
Uchiha Katsu had already gotten used to life on the front lines.
Relying on his ability to lie low and survive, Uchiha Katsu practiced ninjutsu and trained his combat ability while surviving again and again. However, his Sharingan still hadn't awakened.
This was inevitable. Uchiha Katsu was an orphan.
And he had matured early.
There was truly nothing in the world that could make Uchiha Katsu lose emotional control anymore.
However, there were still things that made Uchiha Katsu feel warmth.
That was that he had become familiar with Senju Mio.
The two met in the forest.
Uchiha Katsu had gone hunting for some wild food to fill his stomach, and afterward he encountered Senju Mio, who was also stationed on the front lines.
That time, they both recognized each other.
Because in their previous two encounters, they both had a fairly good impression of the other.
So afterward, they silently chose not to attack and instead sat down to eat together.
After that, the first meeting became the second, and the second became familiarity.
Seeing that Uchiha Katsu often went without proper meals, Senju Mio simply started bringing him some food from the Senju side.
Gradually, the two formed a kind of unspoken understanding.
Every time Senju Mio came, she would bring some food from the Senju side for Uchiha Katsu.
Although Uchiha Katsu felt shy and embarrassed about it, the meals on his side simply couldn't compare to those of the clan leader's daughter.
Uchiha Katsu was just an ordinary poor kid among the Uchiha.
And Senju Mio was the only daughter of a Senju elder.
"You're really soft-hearted. You know I'm an Uchiha, yet you still bring me food every day.", Uchiha Katsu said with a smile.
This was the first time he had shown a smile that truly came from the heart.
Being an orphan, and having been bullied by other children, Uchiha Katsu had a lonely and withdrawn personality. When facing Senju Mio's kindness, he actually liked it a lot.
Besides, Uchiha Katsu was already thirteen years old, and Senju Mio didn't look bad. In this era, marriage and romance happened early... those who understood, understood.
"Sigh, at the beginning I just couldn't bear to kill you…", Senju Mio said with a soft sigh.
"So now you can bear it?", Uchiha Katsu asked with a smile.
Senju Mio looked into Katsu's eyes, her cheeks slightly red, "Even now, I still can't…"
"Hahaha!", Uchiha Katsu laughed softly twice, then suddenly grabbed Senju Mio's hand and pulled her as he rushed toward the depths of the forest.
Uchiha Katsu held Senju Mio's hand tightly, his palm warm with the heat of youth.
"Slow down…"
Mio's fingers instantly tensed as Katsu dragged her running wildly through the forest, and her face couldn't help turning red.
Two clans that were mortal enemies, youthful feelings, the depths of a dense forest, a lone boy and a lone girl…
All kinds of thoughts tangled together, making Mio's ears turn so red they looked ready to drip blood.
Biting her lower lip, she stammered awkwardly, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, "Katsu, we're still young, and you're an Uchiha while I'm a Senju. We… we can't…"
Her words were still drifting in the wind when Katsu suddenly stopped and pulled her into a wide, flat clearing in the forest.