The Border * Changgui

Meanwhile, Tobirama was leading a newly formed squad toward the border under the Tobirama of night.

These three-person teams were already formed when the village implemented the team system. Ninjas from different clans were already used to each other's fighting rhythms. In addition, with the recent establishment of the Ninja group, they have also begun to recognize each other spiritually.

Nowadays, when deploying troops to the border, the process of dismantling and reorganizing is no longer necessary; the entire team is simply taken away.

Tobirama walked at the front, and the Ninjas behind him silently followed in his footsteps, moving swiftly through the night.

The group traveled for a day and a night.

The next morning, the outline of the Border Checkpoint emerged from the morning mist.

When Tobirama stepped through the gate of the checkpoint, the Senju clan members stationed there were already waiting in front of him.

Tetsugaku bowed, intending to say something, but Tobirama had already walked up to him and slapped him hard Tobirama face.

Tetsugaku was completely stunned by the slap, covering his face and looking at him in disbelief.

"This blow was for my sister-in-law." Tobirama withdrew his hand. "The merchant caravan from the Land of Whirlpools you detained is Mito's family. You made her lose face in front of her own people."

Tetsugaku slowly lowered his hand from his face without saying a word.

"All personnel will be rotated and return to the village immediately." Tobirama's gaze swept over every Senju clansman in the Tobirama. "The newly formed squads are all present; the handover must be completed by today."

"Yes, Lord Tobirama." Tetsugaku waved to the others, signaling them to pack their belongings.

The people behind Tobirama also went to take over. They were all sensible, knowing that Tobirama might be going to lecture his own people, and it was inappropriate for them to stay.

After a while, only Tetsugaku and some Senju clansmen who were still dissatisfied remained.

"Lord Tobirama." A young Senju boy stepped forward. "We just want to protect Lord Hashirama. The Uchiha clan is making a huge name for themselves in Kyoto, and their fame has even spread to this remote region. We're afraid that their Uchiha reputation Lord Hashirama will be sidelined in the village."

Another person chimed in, "Yes, Lord Tobirama, we detained the goods from the Land of Whirlpools not to make things difficult for Lady Mito, but because there were Uchiha members in the escort team. We didn't dare let the Uchiha obtain the Sealing Jutsu, so..."

"That's why you detained our allies' goods without authorization." Tobirama finished the sentence for him. "You were afraid the Uchiha would obtain the Sealing Jutsu, so you preferred to keep the people of the Land of Whirlpools waiting outside for five days. You were afraid Hashirama would be sidelined, so you made the decisions for him."

After speaking, Tobirama narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Who gave you the right to do this?"

In an instant, the surroundings fell silent.

"Who is my Big Brother?" He approached the young Senju who had spoken. "The First Hokage, the God of the Shinobi World. He could run on water at seven, crushed the Uchiha Clan's elite on the battlefield at ten, became the Clan Head at twenty, and established Konoha at thirty, earning the title of God of the Shinobi World. Do you really think such a man needs your despicable methods of 'protecting' him by seizing your allies' goods?"

The Senju tribesmen in the courtyard kept their heads down, and no one dared to speak.

"As for Madara Uchiha?" Tobirama's lips curled into a cold smile. "He was indeed strong, fighting with my Big Brother his whole life, but what was the end result? He ran away before the battle was over, claiming to be seeking revenge but failing to do so completely. If he had actually killed my brother back then, I could call him a hero, but he wasn't. He was just an indecisive coward."

"This guy, who's neither good enough for anything, a loser defeated by my Big Brother, are you afraid of him? Afraid of his people?"

A middle-aged Senju stammered, "But the Uchiha are in Kyoto..."

"What's wrong with making a name for themselves in Kyoto?" Tobirama interrupted him. "That's the reputation they earned through their own abilities! If you're not happy about it, then use your own achievements to steal the limelight back! Detaining allies and setting up roadblocks, what is that? That's cowardly, that's admitting you can't compete with the Uchiha, so you resort to such underhanded methods."

His voice suddenly rose. "Why was Big Brother able to establish Konoha? Because he dared to turn his enemies into allies and dared to carry out his ideals to the end! For this reason, he could completely trust Madara Uchiha and entrust his back to him. You don't have this kind of magnanimity, and I don't blame you."

"But your attempts to 'protect' him with these petty tricks are an insult to him. An insult to the efforts he has made for peace over the years, an insult to his ideals!"

The Senju Clan members all lowered their heads. The young Senju child's eyes were red, and he was clenching his teeth, as if he was about to cry.

Tobirama was so angry his head ached. He rubbed his temples and sighed, "Listen, the Clan Head doesn't need you to guard against the Uchiha for him. What he needs is for you to act like true Ninjas and do things openly."

"If you can stand them, fight alongside them. If you can't, use your Strength to overwhelm them. Detaining caravans, seizing supplies, or sabotaging them behind their backs—if I find out about these things again, you'll be punished according to family rules!"

"Yes."

Tobirama looked at Tetsugaku, "As for you, as the leader, instead of stopping the rumors, you tacitly allowed the mistake to happen. After the handover, immediately return to the village and apologize to Mito."

Tetsugaku finally managed a hoarse reply, "Yes."

Tetsugaku and the others packed their bags and set off on their journey back to Konoha.

They were quick to reach the border, and on their way back, they took on the task of escorting caravans, Earth Flow at a leisurely pace.

The caravan consisted of several wagons from the Land of Whirlpools, loaded with Sealing Jutsu Scrolls and Medicinal Herbs. After being detained for so many days, they were finally able to leave. The caravan members didn't give the Senju clan a friendly look and barely exchanged any words with them along the way.

Tetsugaku walked at the front of the group, the side of his face that had been slapped had not yet fully recovered from the swelling, and the finger marks were still faintly visible.

Several young Senju walked behind him, talking in hushed tones. Their voices were very low, but the wind still carried them into his ears.

"... I just don't accept it. Lord Tobirama talks about 'direct competition,' but when have those Uchiha ever engaged in direct competition? They befriended Daimyo and won over nobles in Kyoto —is that the way of the Ninja?"

"Exactly. Hashirama Clan Head is such an open and honest person, how would he understand these complicated matters? If the Uchiha were to stab him in the back, how would the Clan Head possibly handle it?"

"Lord Tobirama even hit Tetsugaku... What kind of person fights his own people for the sake of foreigners?"

Tetsugaku paused for a moment, but did not turn around or reprimand him. He simply gripped the hilt of his sword and continued walking forward.

The fire in his heart was greater than that of those young men.

The slap across the face wasn't so bad in terms of pain, but it was embarrassing.

What upset him even more was Tobirama's words, "Go and apologize to Mito."

How could he, the leader of the Senju, bow down to a woman? He thought Mito was a good person, but he was unwilling to admit his mistakes to that extent.

But since it was Tobirama who said it, he had no choice but to obey.

So when those people whispered among themselves, he would only occasionally turn his head and glare at them, or say in a deep voice, "That's enough," but he never really pursued the matter.

While verbally stopping them, they secretly allowed the resentment to fester, even vaguely feeling that it was good to let them vent. Lord Tobirama couldn't hear them, but these resentments needed an outlet.

As night fell, the team set up camp in a clearing at the edge of a grove of trees.

A campfire was lit, and the caravan members huddled together beside the wagons to rest, while the Senju tribesmen took turns on guard duty in several groups.

Tetsugaku leaned against a tree, closed his eyes to rest, but his ears were perked up, listening to the sounds around him.

He heard two young men continuing to whisper over the campfire.

"... If you ask me, if something really happened, Lord Tobirama would protect the Uchiha first. What are we? We're family, so we can fight and insult each other without hesitation..."

"Shh, keep your voice down, Tetsugaku is listening."

"So what if you heard it? Tetsugaku is also seething with anger, isn't he? Didn't you see he barely said a word during the day..."

Tetsugaku opened his eyes and was about to get up and scold when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure standing up from the edge of the camp, patting the dirt off his backside, and walking into the depths of the forest.

"I'm going to the bathroom," the man said casually. His companion didn't even look up, just waved his hand as if to say he understood.

Tetsugaku leaned back against the tree, not taking it seriously.

After about an incense stick's time, another person stood up.

"I'll go check out the sentry posts over there." Tetsugaku glanced in the direction the man was heading, and seeing that he was indeed heading towards the outer sentry posts, he closed his eyes again.

But as the third, fourth, and fifth people left the camp one after another and headed deeper into the forest, Tetsugaku finally sat up straight.

Something's not right.

Whether it's relieving themselves at night or patrolling and keeping watch, it's not impossible for three or five people to leave one after another, but why did they go to one place without sending a message or making any arrangements?

Not good!

He suddenly stood up, about to take a step to chase after him, but his feet seemed to be entangled by something.

He looked down.

Several strands of dark green vines, as thin as hair yet incredibly resilient, sprouted from the soil beneath his feet, tightly gripping his ankles.

He struggled, but the Vines didn't budge. Instead, they tightened even more, digging into the fabric of his leg guards, which was icy cold.

He looked up.

The path through the woods was as deep and secluded as a throat in the night, and a person stood at the entrance of the path.

The man was tall and slender, dressed in a magnificent green Kariginu, the hem embroidered with dark wisteria patterns that shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

His hair reached his waist, so smooth it seemed unreal. A few strands of willow vines hung down from his hair, as if they were growing in his hair or had fallen from a tree, indistinguishable from one another.

He was facing away from Tetsugaku, looking in the direction where the Senju clansmen had disappeared. A piece of white paper was tied to his eyes, floating around, but no matter what he did, he couldn't see his face.

Then he turned his head away.

She smiled at him, then gently raised a finger and placed it to her lips.

Shh--

Tetsugaku opened his mouth to shout and tried to draw his sword, but he couldn't move.

He could only watch helplessly as the person turned around, their long hair and willow vines swaying in the moonlight, before slowly Earth Flow down the path, their figure swallowed by the night.

The campfire was still crackling.

The caravan members were fast asleep beside the wagons.

The remaining members of the Senju tribe leaned against the trees in twos and threes. No one noticed that five people were missing, nor did they notice that their leader was standing there like a stone statue, his eyes bloodshot and his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Senju Akira didn't know why he was here. He had been boasting and complaining with his friends by the campfire, but now he was wandering around here.

He had been wandering for a long, long time. The surrounding darkness had made him lose his sense of time, and he could only guess from his hunger that he had been wandering for at least a week.

Neither marking nor breaking the Genjutsu worked; there was nothing but trees all around.

At first, he was still able to run and actively search for a way out, but by this moment he was exhausted.

Then he saw a tall, slender figure standing under a tree.

Her green Kariginu gleamed in the moonlight, her long hair cascading down to her waist, with strands of willow vines winding out from her hair as if they were growing inside it.

He tilted his head slightly, his face covered by a piece of paper with a red eye drawn on it in red lines.

"Ah, who is this?" the person spoke, their voice clear and resonant, as if drifting from a great distance, or as if whispering in one's ear.

He gently beckoned to the Senju clansman at the front, "Come closer so I can take a look? Yes, a little closer, just like that, excellent--"

The Senju Clan member seemed to be drawn by something, his feet involuntarily taking one step forward, then another.

He stood in the clearing in the woods where the moonlight couldn't reach, looking up at him.

The man nodded in satisfaction, a smug smile on his face. He began in a low, story-telling voice, "Bold traveler traversing the night, listen to my words. See the reflections of the trees shimmering in the water? Have a drink and rest."

Senju Akira listened as if by some strange impulse, sat down, took the bowl offered to him, and drank a sip of water.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha, divine beings above, please bless me," the man chanted in prayer. "Namo Amitabha Buddha... divine beings—"

Bin didn't know what he wanted to do, so he could only sit there awkwardly, holding his bowl and drinking water.

"I'm a young man who will be twenty-one this year," the young man said cheerfully. "I came into the mountains full of confidence to catch a tiger."

"I caught a tiger and went back to the village to show off... but that's how I lost my life."

Bin felt a chill run down his spine, his heart pounding with anxiety. He tried his best to remain calm, wanting to get up and leave, but he couldn't move.

He discovered that, without him noticing, his body had become covered in Vines had tightly bound him, rendering him unable to move.

Who are you? What do you want?!

"They said I was too strong, and they were afraid of me. They were even more afraid after I killed that ferocious tiger. They were respectful to me on the surface, but secretly they were plotting to get rid of me. Then one day, I found myself dead in my home."

Even my friend was caught in the crossfire and nearly lost his life.

The young man gazed at him silently. "Friend, don't you think this is so sorrowful and heartbreaking? I'm so saddened that even the gods and spirits of the Yomi... can't take me down with them."

"What does this have to do with me!"

The young woman smiled sweetly and slowly walked towards him.

"Don't come any closer!" Bin's voice grew increasingly agitated as he saw him approaching. "This has nothing to do with me! Let me go!"

He suddenly revealed a terrifying, demonic expression, and grabbed Bin's collar. "I'm so sad, so very sad, that's all, so traveler... please help me."

"You'll come down to the Yomi with me." His face was bloodless, his lips were pale, and thorny Vines wrapped around his arms before climbing onto Senju Akira's body.

"And help me find out which scoundrel dared to talk so much and drive me to become a demon."