Under the cover of darkness, the pale moonlight illuminated the face of the Uchiha clansman who had captured him. Accompanied by his sinister smile, it appeared exceedingly eerie, causing the already timid Senju Hashirama to tremble uncontrollably, his mouth stuffed with an object that only allowed him to emit muffled whimpers.

"Kid from the Senju clan, if I were you, I'd eat quickly while you have the chance," said the Uchiha "demon," glancing at Hashirama's lifeless eyes.

Upon hearing this, Hashirama instinctively licked the object in his mouth, which brought a salty and fragrant taste. He then bit down hard, discovering that the object was actually jerky. Having gone without food or water for two days, he didn't care whether it was poisoned and began to chew eagerly, devouring a large piece in just a few bites.

After finishing, he smacked his lips, still wanting more, and asked, "Is there any more?"

Hearing such audacity from the captive, Uchiha Silver raised an eyebrow before delivering a sharp blow to his stark white head. "Kid, don’t you understand the situation?"

"The Senju clan will never be slaves! If you have the guts, kill me! My father and brother will avenge me," Hashirama replied defiantly.

Seeing the boy's fearless expression, Uchiha Silver suddenly lost interest in toying with him. In his past life, he also had siblings, and boys like Hashirama were likely spending their days watching cartoons and enjoying a carefree childhood. But in this era, even such young children were already engaged in killing or being killed on the battlefield.

"What a detestable era," Uchiha Silver thought heavily.

After all, just a few days ago, he was a person with a normal worldview and couldn’t possibly adapt to this era overnight; it was too strange for a protagonist to adjust to new rules immediately upon transmigration!

"Ah, what did you say? Let me tell you, I won’t reveal a single word about my clan's information!" Hashirama said stubbornly, his young face showing a maturity not typical for his age.

"What a self-righteous little brat," Uchiha Silver suddenly looked down at him, his gaze emanating a chilling aura. Hashirama felt a chill run down his spine, but emboldened by his Senju bloodline pride, he defiantly met Uchiha Silver's gaze.

"Good eyes. We won’t take your life for now, but don’t think about escaping," Uchiha Silver warned.

"......"

"And don’t think about committing suicide, because if you die, we'll just go capture your brother."

"!!!"

Seeing the murderous look in the boy's eyes, Uchiha Silver slowly crouched down, leaning closer to whisper in his ear, "Kid, you don’t want your brother to be captured because of you, do you?"

His words were like whispers from an ancient god, causing Hashirama’s heart to be thrown into disarray, and the rebellious spirit that had just risen was instantly shattered.

"I hope you cooperate. The Uchiha clan has always treated captives well; maybe in the end, we might even let you go," Uchiha Silver continued to tempt him.

"Can you guarantee that?" Hashirama raised his head after a moment of silence, his small face filled with determination.

"I swear by the honor of the Uchiha ancestors." In any case, the ancestor was currently hiding in the body of that Uchiha Madara kid, so Uchiha Silver felt no burden in making the oath.

"Achoo..." A boy with a hedgehog hairstyle practicing skipping stones by the river suddenly felt a chill on his back and sneezed loudly.

Beside him, a mushroom-headed boy was instructing him on how to throw stones across, and upon seeing him sneeze suddenly, he asked with concern, "Are you okay? Don’t rush if you can’t throw it; you need to find that upward motion..."

"It’s all your fault for standing behind me! I’m the type of person who can’t even pee if someone stands behind me; I’m super sensitive!"

"Sorry..."

The mushroom-headed boy, scolded, sat down dejectedly.

【The entangled duo, the encounter of fate, marks the beginning of the ninja era.】

Hashirama compromised; now that the other party had grabbed his weak spot, he, being young, couldn’t analyze whether what Uchiha Silver said was true or false like his precocious second brother, Senju Tobirama.

If Uchiha Silver had spoken those words to Tobirama, he might not have seen the sun rise the next day.

Since Hashirama cooperated willingly, Uchiha Silver removed the chains binding him. After all, it was a burden to carry this little brat while traveling with a heavy chain.

Reducing the weight by putting it back in the scroll, he simply tied Hashirama's hands with rope.

Of course, he couldn’t let the other party sleep in the tent, so Uchiha Silver marked out a space behind the tent, drove a wooden stake into the ground, and tied Hashirama to it, just like how Flagwood was tested during the first encounter with Team Seven.

After settling everything, Uchiha Silver felt a bit tired and thought it was time to return to the tent to rest.

While stretching, he pondered how to deceive Uchiha Daito into having a “battle” with him the next day to gain some heart energy from the Heart of Steel treasure chest.

Just as he was about to walk around the area behind the tent and return inside, he suddenly sensed a stillness in the air, feeling someone peeking from behind.

He instinctively turned to glance at the wooden stake where Hashirama was tied, and in the pitch black of night, a figure stood silently on the stake, while Hashirama had already vanished without a trace.

"Enemy attack!"

Uchiha Silver's pupils dilated in shock. This mysterious person had managed to appear silently in their camp without being detected by Uchiha Fuhuo's three-tomoe Sharingan.

He immediately wanted to shout a warning and call the surrounding Uchihas, but a beam of moonlight fell, revealing the figure.

As he watched the person slowly unveil themselves from the darkness, Uchiha Silver found his voice stuck in his throat.

The figure before him shocked Uchiha Silver, who had been unperturbed since his transmigration, as if struck by lightning; a chill surged from his heels to his forehead. As the moonlight fully illuminated the shadow, Uchiha Silver's dry mouth revealed the identity of the visitor.

"Uchiha... Itachi... impossible, there shouldn’t be your existence in this era; could it be the dragon vein?"

The black-haired young man dressed in black with red clouds stood quietly with his eyes closed. Deep lines marked his pale, handsome face, and he wore a forehead protector that did not belong to this era, with a visible scratch upon it.

Having read Naruto for many years, Uchiha Silver immediately recognized the person as Uchiha Itachi, the indispensable man in the life of the series' female protagonist, the "two pillars."

While Uchiha Silver was shocked, he couldn’t help but speculate that the Akatsuki organization had discovered the dragon vein deep within Loulan, and Uchiha Itachi had been sent to this era by the dragon vein.

Seeing that Uchiha Itachi was silent and made no moves, Uchiha Silver was about to call Uchiha Fuhuo and the others.

At that moment, the young man on the stake slowly opened his eyes, his Sharingan glowing faintly like shurikens.

A strange scene unfolded beside Uchiha Silver; the pure white moon appeared to vanish.

A blood-red full moon rose in the sky, and the entire space around him filled with a blood-like crimson hue, an oppressive aura rushing at him.

In a moment of distraction, Uchiha Silver felt as if he was being lifted high, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself bound to a crucifix.

"Blood moon, crucifix... could it be???"

Coming back to his senses, Uchiha Silver was too shocked to speak. He had seen all this in books, but experiencing it firsthand was entirely different.

【Genjutsu: Tsuki no Me】

Uchiha Silver looked around; one by one, Uchiha Itachis slowly appeared, each holding a katana, and one of them said expressionlessly, "In the world of Tsuki no Me, space, time, and mass are all under my control. For the next seventy-two hours... I will keep stabbing you with a knife..."

With the sounds of blades piercing flesh echoing, Uchiha Silver's helpless and miserable screams filled the entire Tsuki no Me space.

In his past life, even a minor scratch would cause a huge commotion, and now Uchiha Silver was on the verge of a breakdown.

Even knowing it was a genjutsu, each stab felt painfully real, shaking him to his core with every cut.

The nature of the genjutsu space prevented him from losing consciousness from the pain; he could only watch helplessly as the blood hole he had just recovered from was pierced again with a sharp knife.

Uchiha Silver was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face, and he even lost control of his bodily functions. He didn't know how long it had been, and just when he thought time was up, a ghostly voice sounded in his ear:

"There are still seventy-one hours..."

"Ahhhhhh!!!" Uchiha Silver's wails continued.