Chapter 37

Reid laid on his bed with his arms and legs bandaged up. His upper torso was without clothes showing that it too was covered in bandages.

Despite his insistence that he was fine, he could only watch as he was mummified by his worried mother. The cruel bruises and slight tinting of his skin color was enough to make her panic.

He gave up on trying to convince her after the first half hour and allowed himself to be treated. He knew his body better than anyone and with [Gamer Body] he was completely sure that he would heal properly even without her help.

He let out a sigh as he looked at the closed door of his room and then out the window.

'Well that went well.' He thought to himself sarcastically. Immediately, his mind went to the what happened the previous day.

~~~~~~~~~~~[Flashback]~~~~~~~~~~

"You dare to enter my village and attack my son! For that you must die!" She announced as her eyes opened wide and her aura pulsed.

"Amaterasu!"

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

~~~~~~~~[Flashback End]~~~~~~~

The fight ended with the man writhing in pain and Miko stabbing his own cleaver through him during his screams.

He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his mother had the mangekyou sharingan. Although it meant she was much stronger than a normal Uchiha, it brought up many questions to his mind.

'When did she unlock it? Who did she lose to unlock it? And then the most important question, how long has it been since she unlocked it?'

'It has to have been at least seven years since she awakened it, meaning that she's been holding onto her sight and avoided using it a lot.'

From what he could guess, she should know about the effect of blindness the mangekyou had causing her to use it sparingly, which would explain why she isn't blind yet. The fact that she has barely needed to fight for this long also helped.

He had no way to truly help her fight the curse of the mangekyou. The only thing he could do is to become stronger so she wouldn't have to use it. There was another way in the back of his mind but it didn't seem feasible.

The way was simple; for him to awaken the mangekyou and exchange his own eyes for hers. There were so many problems with that way that it was enough to rule it out.

He unconsciously let out another sigh as he replayed the fight in his head. As of now his only trump card was [Lightning Aura Transformation] and he wasn't ready for anyone to find out about it.

He was far too weak to fight against those who would want to know the secrets of his abilities. And so he lay there, pondering on what to do to increase his combat ability.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Reid was confined to his room, an important meeting was going on in the village.

"While I understand how the intruder was able to sneak into the village, I am not happy about it." Miko spoke to a burly man who was decked in light armor.

In the small room, there were about ten people present, Miko and Lisa included. A table stood in the middle of the room, which Miko rested on as she spoke. The man who she spoke to was the one in charge of village security.

He had no words and simply put his head down in shame. Nobody laughed or scorned him as this was an important situation and they were mature enough to understand the situation. The rest of the people present were people whose power had made them well known figures in the village.

In this war, the future of the village rests heavily on their hands. A lot of strong people were sent to the battlefield but the rest were left behind. It wouldn't do to have all of their future pillars perish at once should things go wrong.

"Moving on, I have received information that there is a small army making their way to the village as we speak." She said making all eyes widen but they didn't interrupt her, which she was thankful for.

"We don't know how they managed the pass the troops and get so close without being spotted but that's the least of our worries. We need to prepare ourselves. I'm putting the village under lockdown, nobody goes in or out without proper authorization." She paused, letting what she just said settle.

"Also…" She started with a flinch before she continued.

"With the size of the army at our door step, the soldiers we have in hand won't be enough so…" she trailed off before one of them gasped.

"Surely you don't mean-" He asked in disbelief before she continued his thoughts out loud.

"Yes. I've called back the third troop to join us in fighting them back but I don't know how long it'll take them to get here and I doubt they'll get here before Turwen strikes. With our lack of manpower we have no choice but to recruit the promising youths of the academy to fight." She said with a hint of steel and something else in her voice, her eyes looking towards the table she rested on, not looking anyone in the eye.

"That's absurd! They're just children! They won't last a minute in this war. How can yo-"

"That's enough, Hanzo." The man behind him stopped him as he chastised the clan head.

"What do yo-" His words died in his mouth as the man who interrupted him quietly pointed something out for him to see. They had all noticed it too, Hanzo was just a bit slow at noticing it.

Miko's hand trembled as she spoke those words and her hand still shook up until this moment. There was a look of agony on her face that she tried to hide by not looking at anyone but it made it more obvious.

Hanzo then understood that out of everyone in this room presently, Miko was the one who hated the idea the most. She had a son of her own. What mother wants to watch their child go into war knowing they might never come back.

This was a situation where she had no choice. She was backed into a corner and forced to make a choice she hated with her life.

"I'm sorry." Hanzo apologized softly but she didn't respond. She was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"We have to start our preparations for when they arrive. Inform the rest of the soldiers and have them ready. Hanzo, I leave the job of informing the headmaster up to you." She said managing to keep her voice stable, looking at Hanzo who simply nodded before continuing.

"We move out in two days. We can't let the battle happen close to the village or it'll be caught in the crossfire. You're all dismissed!" With that she ended the meeting and people began leaving in a hurry to prepare, leaving Lisa and Miko alone.

Had they turned back they would have seen the stream of tears that poured out of Miko's eyes as she clenched her teeth in a silent scream.