Chapter 30

The flight back was even faster than it was when we first came. Not in the sense that time passed quickly but in the sense that Silva had flown at high speed.

Miko was silent throughout the trip, as was Lisa and Silva. Ashton, seemingly sensing the mood, also stayed quiet. Reid's only thoughts were on what was so important to make his mother this agitated. Nothing came to mind but he knew it was something big.

As they flew, they were already seeing the beginnings of the village from afar. With no form of communication needed, Silva landed the airship.

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"Thanks for all your help. None of this would be possible without you." Miko thanked Silva.

"What are friends for?" He asked rhetorically, causing Miko to smile. He then continued.

"Are you sure you don't need help? Whatever is going on seems very serious." Silva asked, very concerned only for her to wave off his concern with a small smile.

"Thanks but I can handle things from here." She answered as they both turned to the children who were saying their farewells.

"That's it for now. See you…" He said bluntly and began to walk away but Ashton didn't seem to like that.

"Hey! Come back here! What the hell is 'that's it'!?" Ashton screeched while pulling on Reid's arm.

"You're too loud. Shut up!" Reid replied, his ears ringing from the loud noise.

"Don't change the subject!" Ashton screamed, causing a confused irritation to appear on the Uchiha's face as he retorted.

"You're not making any sense! Just be quiet." He said, yanking his arm free from the other boy's grip.

Lisa stood in the background quietly as usual but she was still approached by Ashton to her goodbye. After the final greetings, it was time to move.

"Let's go." Miko spoke in a stern voice as she took off. Reid's eyes widened a bit at the speed she ran off with.

'Something is definitely wrong.' He thought as he ran after her with Lisa beside him.

Running at full speed, he just barely caught up to her. She could obviously go faster but that would mean leaving Reid and Lisa behind. Even then, the speed she ran at pushed the limits of Reid's ability.

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They were running for about an hour when they saw a pillar of smoke rising in the distance.

'That direction…that's-!' His thoughts were interrupted by his mother speaking.

"We need to hurry up. Reid, can you go faster?" She asked, the wind carrying her voice to his ears.

'If I channel aura through my legs I should be able to go a bit faster but it won't make much of a difference. I'll have to use [Flash Step].'

"Yes!" He answered after some thought.

She nodded slightly and sped up to the point that she was almost a blur. Reid eyes widened as his eyes turned red instantly.

'[Sharingan]!'

He thought it would simply be a case of moving fast enough to catch up with her but now he realized that even if he was fast enough, he would never catch her if he couldn't see her movements.

With the use of these two skills he was able to somewhat keep up with her. Anytime she seemed to be too far away, two or three quick uses of [Flash Step] helped him close the distance.

She watched Reid through the corner of her eye. Many times she was afraid she had left him behind only for him to appear a second later.

'At least Lisa is there to watch him.' She thought as they continued moving. They moved in the direction of the smoke pillar for a while until they heard faint sounds of fighting as well as evidence of a fight in the forest they were now in.

The sounds got closer as they kept moving. There was tension in the air as the trio didn't know what to expect but were on guard. Suddenly, a figure shot out of the shrouded bush beside Reid with a battle cry.

"DIEEEEE!" A male voice screamed as it swung an axe down at Reid.

With his [Sharingan] activated, he saw everything in slow motion. He dodged to the side with [Flash Step], aura already gathering in his hand as it began to spark and chirp.

He didn't get the chance to do any more than that as the head of the attacker was snapped to the left by a vicious kick. The man flew to the side and landed face down, his neck completely shattered.

Reid looked at the owner of the foot, his mother, in surprise and she had a cold and cruel look on her face. He stopped the flow of aura to his hand, letting the sparks die down.

He was only a bit surprised at her strength but his surprise was because of the cold temperament she was exuding.

"Don't let your guard down. Let's go." She spoke, her tone as cold as her face as they took off once again.

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They finally reached the source of the smoke. It was close to the village outskirts. A man in lightweight armor stood with multiple bodies of both his comrades and enemies surrounding him on the floor.

One specific body was on both knees with a spear through his bloody chest.

"Are you ready to talk?" The man asked the impaled man on his knees. The man who was thought to be dead let out a bloody cough.

"S-screw you. The people of Turwen will raze you to the ground-ackk!" He was interrupted as the man violently pulled his spear out the man's chest. He swung the weapon in a low arc, separating the man from his head.

The man watched silently as the body fell to the floor. He suddenly tensed as three figures suddenly rushed into view. He raised his spear in the event of an attack but quickly lowered it as he got a closer look at the figures.

"Lady Miko!" He greeted in shock as he got a clear look at them.

"Thank goodness you're back!" He exclaimed as he went into a bow.

"What happened?" Miko questions or rather demanded. Without wasting time, the man began to explain.

"It started just two days after you left. A few of our men were ambushed during their patrol on the outer side of the village. One of them managed to survive and report back."

"He was able to recognize them. They belonged to the kingdom of Turwen. The ambushes continued but we were prepared. We found out that some of them were lurking around our borders so I decided to take care of it personally. We don't know why they attacked but from the looks of it…they want war." He finished in a grave tone.

Miko's face became even colder but there was a glint of anger in her eyes.

"Turwen…a village of arrogant people who call themselves a kingdom. They've been waiting for an opportunity to fight, it looks like something finally gave them a push." She muttered to herself. Reid used this chance to get a good look at the man.

He was a young and muscular man. He had long black hair that was tied in a low ponytail, with his eyes being the same color as his hair. He donned light armor that allowed for easy movements with a certain amount of protection.

"Viktor, it's time we remind the people of Turwen why the Uchiha are not to be trifled with. If it's a war they want then it's a war they will get." She spoke decisively.

Reid couldn't keep his eyes from widening. Of all the things he expected to happen, this was not one of them.

'War…?'