Chapter 655: 616. Madara Shinden: The Legend of Kusanagi Blade
Madara eats his breakfast while silently listening to the discussion and rumor of the surrounding people. He pays close attention to the discussion of the shinobi groups.
After an hour, Madara departs the tavern after gathering enough information. He walks through the streets of the commercial district of the village, purchasing supplies and sorting out the information he just overheard.
'Looks like my speculation is correct. The shinobis of the Land of Earth are uniting under the banner of the Kamizuru clan. Their purpose is unclear to others, but this group is amassing a large number of weapons, armor, and other war supplies.' Madara wonders.
'What could be their purpose? Could it be?' Madara narrow his eyes.
'Then there is also the matter of civil war in the Land of Water. Various forces are entangled with each other, making the situation more chaotic than usual. So much so that even merchants and traders are being constantly attacked and plundered.'
Hmm…
Suddenly, Madara's eyes narrow. He feels a murderous intention locked onto him.
Madara keeps walking forward. He glances at a dark corner from the corner of his eyes. His lips curl slightly.
'A group of mischievous rats!'
Whoosh…
In the next instant, Madara disappears from their vision.
AH…
The group of shinobis hiding in the dark corner suddenly frowns.
"Where is the target?"
They look at each other and attempt to search Madara's trail.
"Are you looking for me?"
Suddenly, Madara's voice echoes in their ear above their head.
They raise their heads and notice Madara standing on the roof of a nearby house. Madara folds his hands and calmly glances at this group of ragtag bunches.
He senses their chakra signature and doesn't find any significantly powerful opponents.
"So, a group of wild thugs! But they seem to have lots of innocent blood on their hands."
Swish…
The next instant, Madara disappears from everyone's vision and reappears outside the alley with a kunai in his hand.
Swish…
He flicks the kunai to wipe the blood and continues to walk forward, silently disappearing into the crowd.
A few seconds later,
Another bunch of shinobis appear in the alley. They glance at the horrifying sight of blood and corpses straying around and gasp in shock.
Their group was the backup reinforcement of the previous group. But it hasn't been long since the other group left and now every member of this group is dead.
"A powerful shinobi has appeared!" This group looks at each other with fear in their eyes.
"Let's inform the members of the Sōgen clan of this matter." The shinobis glance at each other and nod.
While the group was discussing among themselves, a sudden silent figure appeared among them.
Madara glances at the second group of shinobis with a cold gaze. His presence startles the group and they prepare to flee at first sight.
Shiing…
"Genjutsu: Sharingan,"
Madara traps them all in his Sharingan's genjutsu.
"Hmm… Looks like these people are the affiliates of the Sōgen clan. If I kill them here, their death might alert the higher-ups of the Sōgen clan. Although I am not afraid of the Sōgen clan, I don't want any unnecessary conflict on this trip, leading to any further delay.
With his genjutsu, Madara transplants fake memories in the shinobi's mind and disappears quickly. While moving towards the rendezvous spot, Madara recalls information on the Sōgen clan.
'Sōgen clan is a middle-sized clan of the Land of Grass. They don't possess any powerful Kekkei Genkai or special skills, but their proficiency in Kenjutsu is quite top-notch."
Most shinobi clans are mercenary groups that are blades for hire. Several people, including the feudal lords, nobles, various aristocrats, and top merchants, hired these shinobi clans to do their dirty work for them.
The shinobis live a life of blood and battle. But that doesn't mean these shinobi clans are poor. On the contrary, most shinobis clans have a very rich heritage and legacy.
Almost every shinobi clan has a stronghold in a country. The stronghold of most shinobi clans is surrounded by small civilian villages. These small villages seek shelter under these powerful shinobis for protection and pay a fair amount of their revenue as protection fees to the shinobi clans. Thus, this is a mutually beneficial relationship. This way, every medium to large size shinobi clan has a territory that falls under its control.
This small village is in the territory of the Sōgen clan. Most shinobi clans want control over their subsidiary village and thus create small underground organizations to keep the villages in check. However, the Uchiha clan despises such tactics.
Madara recalls another rumor about the Sōgen clan.
According to the rumor, the Sōgen clan possesses a powerful sword called the 'Kusanagi blade'. This blade is also infamously known as the 'Grass-cutter blade' in the Land of Grass.
The legend comes from the tale of an unknown shinobi. The unknown shinobi wielded the blade to single-handedly cut down an entire foreign invading army.
Rivers of blood flowed from the massacre, and the surrounding land was painted red from the bloodbath. The infamous place where the battle took place is called the Kama Plain. The forest surrounding the plane is called the red forest because of the blood-red leaves of the surrounding tree.
After that legendary battle, the Kusanagi blade came into possession of the Sōgen clan and was passed down as an heirloom. Not much is known about the Kusanagi blade since it didn't appear after that battle. It's said that the Kusanagi blade can extend its reach endlessly to strike the enemy down, no matter the distance.
Madara reaches the rendezvous point and meets with the other members of his clans. He summarizes his encounters and listens to the rest of them. After a few minutes, the remaining members also arrive and the group sets off.
After traveling non-stop for an entire day, the group finally reaches the border of the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass.
Madara glances at the bottomless ravine, separating the prosperous land of grass from the rocky terrain of the Land of the Earth. The distant Ishiyama mountain range stands tall, separating the two countries from each other.
"Let's rest here for the night and we will cross the mountain range tomorrow!"
Madara glances at his slightly exhausted group and gives orders. The exhausted group relaxes slightly and takes out their rations and chakra pills to recover their stamina and strength.
As for food, some dry rations and beef jerky are enough nutrition, to recover lost energy. After filling their stomach, Madara signals Ekizo to scout the surrounding area again.
After half an hour, Ekizo returns with a few wild fruits and berries.
Madara hears his report while he distributes the fruits to other Uchiha clan members.
"Very well, take some rest while I keep a lookout!"
Whoosh…
The group quickly disperses and conceals themselves in the forest to hide and sleep. Madara also carves a hole in a hollow tree and conceals himself.
With such a small group, sleeping in the open is akin to inviting disaster and unknown enemies. Lighting a fire is equivalent to shining a beacon on this dark night.
The members of the group take turns to sleep and keep a lookout.
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