Time moved into the deep of night, and the snowfall in the sky showed signs of intensifying. Snow gradually accumulated around the camp as flakes drifted down.
Yūshin added fresh wood to the campfire. With the crackling sounds of burning, he watched the flames regain their original vitality before sitting back in his original position.
The flickering fire occasionally illuminated half his face in the dancing light.
Crisp bird calls occasionally echoed from the forest—signals from the night watch shinobi indicating "all clear."
Yūshin was contemplating certain matters.
Through his recent conversation with Shichimi Uchiha, he noticed that when she spoke, she occasionally revealed a sense of world-weariness beyond her years, yet her appearance suggested she was the same age as Tobirama Senju, who had been pursuing her.
To awaken Mangekyō Sharingan at this age—in a sense, her talent even rivaled Madara Uchiha's... Well, perhaps that was somewhat exaggerated.
Considering the conditions required to awaken Mangekyō Sharingan, one could also say her childhood experiences were even more tragic than Madara Uchiha's.
At minimum, the deaths of several beloved relatives and blood brothers would be necessary to subject the brain to sufficient trauma to awaken Mangekyō Sharingan.
Combining the space-time fluctuations present when Shichimi Uchiha appeared, the dried blood traces at her eye corners, the fresh injuries from her fall when unconscious, her confusion about dates upon awakening, and various characteristics inadvertently revealed in her speech, Yūshin developed some speculation about her Mangekyō Sharingan's special ability.
It was very likely some form of time-jumping capability.
Shichimi Uchiha had quite possibly used her Mangekyō Sharingan to instantly leap from the past when pursued by Tobirama Senju to several months in the future.
If so, her Mangekyō Sharingan was undoubtedly an extremely powerful pair of eyes.
However, based on Shichimi Uchiha's reactions, she wasn't proficient in using Mangekyō Sharingan, meaning she likely couldn't perform "time jumps" promptly nor precisely control the span of such "time jumps."
The temporal coordinates she escaped to could be several months later, or possibly years or even longer. That's why she relaxed upon hearing that Tobirama Senju's pursuit occurred only months ago.
As for her claim that these eyes could only be used for escape, this was clearly because she hadn't further developed her special ability.
Such capability to traverse past and future theoretically shouldn't be used for killing—such vision would be too narrow... It possessed the potential to create miracles.
So what kind of miracle would it be?
This question certainly couldn't be answered by Yūshin.
Frankly speaking, all the above was merely Yūshin's speculation based on fragmentary clues. What if Shichimi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan didn't possess such ability?
Hard to say—temporarily impossible to determine.
...
The next morning.
After resting overnight, Shichimi Uchiha had regained some mobility—at least she no longer needed to rely constantly on a stretcher.
"It seems you've recovered somewhat. What do you plan to do next? We'll continue moving west," Yūshin asked her.
More precisely, they were moving northwest.
Upon awakening, the temperature had dropped sharply, and each breath produced a white cloud before his face.
Due to insufficient intelligence and previously operating at too low a level, Yūshin wasn't clear about the Shinobi World's power distribution, but one thing he could confirm—it was best to stay far from what would later become the "Land of Fire" central region.
Regarding food, they weren't lacking temporarily, but they needed cold-weather clothing.
Shichimi Uchiha considered, then asked somewhat embarrassedly:
"Could I temporarily travel with your group?"
On one hand, her current condition wasn't suitable for solo action; on the other hand, she was somewhat curious about this group of wandering shinobi.
A group of wandering shinobi from different clans—why could they unite around one person, following him with complete trust? This form of cooperation was rather too science-fictional for the current Shinobi World.
Wandering shinobi gathering together wasn't uncommon, but they usually harbored ulterior motives, and within short time they would scatter or even kill each other for various reasons... The concept of trust, if not limited within a single clan, was far too luxurious.
Shichimi Uchiha thought this group of wandering shinobi might have something special, so she wanted to understand more... She was perhaps overthinking.
However, her reaction also demonstrated from another angle that Yūshin's orders had been strictly executed—his clansmen had disguised themselves well, making "Hagūgen" appear as a composite group with complex member origins.
"Of course. We're a wandering shinobi group keeping warm together, maintaining an inclusive attitude toward joiners and even temporary joiners. Traveling together the entire way might be wishful thinking, but temporary companionship is definitely possible."
Yūshin began lying with open eyes.
"Then I'll temporarily trouble you," Shichimi Uchiha said with a thoughtful expression.
"No problem. Honestly, we're actually full of confusion about the road ahead too. Fortunately, there are always people in the world who need to hire shinobi."
Due to severely insufficient strength, Yūshin could only temporarily act according to Shinobi World rules—seeking suitable employers... Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't engage in "fundraising" behavior toward non-shinobi forces.
Fundraising from other shinobi forces was fine—as long as his strength could defeat them, since the Shinobi World operated this way anyway.
Speaking of which brought tears—guess what? Yūshin's group left their carefree pastoral life actually to "seek employment."
...
Shichimi Uchiha became a temporary travel companion to Yūshin's group, recovering from injuries while following them westward.
Their movements were extremely stealthy. Yūshin temporarily didn't want to conflict with other shinobi, sometimes choosing to move only during late night to dawn periods, precisely to avoid being drawn into battles between other shinobi groups.
But since this era had shinobi everywhere, no matter how careful Yūshin's movements were, they would inevitably encounter "colleagues" inadvertently.
Logically, when shinobi moved in groups, they should deploy "scouts" forward and backward, preferably sensory-type shinobi.
But Yūshin's group couldn't achieve this because the clan lacked sensory shinobi—they could only move as a group.
Without sensory shinobi, even if Yūshin wanted to establish proper perimeter security, once encountering enemies, he doubted his guard shinobi could transmit messages timely.
Most likely, "forward observation units" would be instantly eliminated.
Because without sensory shinobi, the battlefield was unilaterally transparent to enemies—Yūshin's group was surrounded by fog of war.
Under such circumstances, they might as well honestly move as a group.
Therefore, after five days of cautious movement, Yūshin's group finally collided head-on with another shinobi force.
Unfortunately, the opposition had more people than their side.
Fortunately, this group was also remnant defeated soldiers, appearing in worse condition than Yūshin's group.
When both sides collided, the opposition was even more panicked than Yūshin's side.
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