Blood Loss

That was right. Tobirama Senju was injured, and his injuries were quite serious.

Blood was constantly pouring from his right abdomen, the amount of bleeding alarmingly heavy.

Combined with the demands he had just made, the situation was probably something like this...

Not long ago, he had fought some powerful enemy. Both sides had been wounded, but he had gained a considerable advantage, so the enemy had chosen to flee while he gave chase.

After pursuing them for some time, he had followed them to the camp deep in the mountains and forest. Tobirama Senju had therefore concluded that his enemy was hiding here.

As someone with an extraordinarily powerful chakra-sensing ability, and immense confidence in his own senses, Tobirama Senju's guess was, admittedly, quite reasonable.

Reasonable—except that it did not match reality.

He urgently needed to deal with his enemy, or all his previous efforts would be wasted.

Under these circumstances, if the wandering ninja in this camp chose to protect his target, then he would inevitably become hostile. There was no doubt about that.

Tobirama Senju ignored Yuzhen's meaningless, fake concern and warning, simply saying:

"I'll repeat myself. Please hand him over. It'll be beneficial for both of us."

Yuzhen thought, Our "benefit" isn't going to be staying alive, is it? He sighed and said:

"Everyone in the camp is here. If the person you're looking for isn't among them, then you must have come to the wrong place."

Verbal persuasion was impossible. Neither side had any trust in the other. Only once one side was lying on the ground would the organs attached to their heads—namely, their ears—start working again. The question now was: who would be the one lying down?

As he spoke, Yuzhen signaled for his clansmen to retreat. There was no need for them to take part in the coming conflict. Otherwise, they would only end up covered in blood.

"Looks like we can't talk this out."

If possible, Tobirama Senju still hoped that the other party would agree to his request directly. As things stood, he had no choice but to waste a little more effort.

Yuzhen said nothing more. The tension visibly thickened, while the others did their best to move away from the area at his request.

Tobirama Senju did not stop them. He was glad to see the others withdraw from the fight. In his view, as long as he subdued the captain in front of him, everything here would fall under his control.

He actually dared to face him alone. Did he think an injured Senju had little strength left? That was truly...

Courageous.

Yuzhen stared intently at his opponent. In the next instant, Tobirama Senju's fingers suddenly tightened around the hilt of the Ōdachi he was gripping loosely! Yuzhen saw a flash of cold light and instinctively swung the kunai that had somehow appeared in his hand.

Clang!

The blades collided in an instant, scattering sparks in all directions.

Yuzhen instinctively pursed his lips. Tobirama Senju was far too fast. If he had not been highly focused and anticipated his opponent's speed, this one strike alone would have left him seriously injured.

Tobirama Senju obviously could not have completed the development of the Flying Thunder God yet. What Yuzhen was facing was merely his superb Body Flicker Technique.

And Tobirama Senju was not merely fast. Ninja who specialized in speed often gave people the impression that they lacked strength, their attacks light and insubstantial. Tobirama Senju was clearly different.

He was not surprised that his attack had been blocked. He simply pressed down with both wrists as he gripped the hilt. In the next instant, Yuzhen felt the force transmitted through the blade suddenly increase.

He truly was that man's younger brother. Although Tobirama Senju's physical abilities were not as absurd as his brother's, his physique was absolutely top-tier.

Strength and speed combined, Yuzhen could not help grumbling inwardly: Wouldn't you two be better off as berserkers? Why insist on being ninja?

A head-on clash seemed more difficult than expected. With a single shift of thought, Yuzhen immediately decided to adopt a more efficient fighting method.

He could tell that his opponent only wanted to control him, not kill him outright. Thus, he felt that even if he employed a "roundabout tactic," the risk would remain within manageable limits.

With that, he acted as though he could no longer withstand his opponent's strength. Under the pressure, he lost his balance and began stumbling backward.

Tobirama Senju immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to move aside, his figure appearing along Yuzhen's retreat path. With one hand, he effortlessly twisted Yuzhen's arms behind his back. With the other, he pressed the edge of his long blade against Yuzhen's neck.

Seeing the situation suddenly reverse, the camp's people, who had just fled, tried to return and rescue him. Fortunately, they immediately caught Yuzhen's look, preventing their good intentions from making matters worse.

"All right. Don't move. Hand him o—"

As he spoke, Tobirama Senju's gaze lowered, unintentionally catching sight of the large scroll strapped to Yuzhen's back.

More precisely, he saw the crest of the Sarutobi Clan on the scroll.

"A Sarutobi Clan scroll... Wait. What is your relationship with Sarutobi?"

Unlike small ninja clans that could vanish overnight, great ninja clans often possessed long histories and the potential to endure for generations. That potential was the foundation for maintaining relatively stable relationships between them...

Those relationships might be long-standing hostility, or they might be relatively peaceful—even friendly.

For example, the relationship between the Senju Clan and the Sarutobi Clan had always been quite good.

In any case, the external environment faced by great ninja clans was always much more stable than that faced by small clans.

Tobirama Senju had merely pursued someone into this forest by chance and discovered this hidden camp of wandering ninja. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way the people here could have anything to do with the Sarutobi Clan.

That was why he looked somewhat surprised upon seeing the crest.

However, he was overthinking it. Yuzhen could not be said to have no relationship with the Sarutobi Clan at all. It was more accurate to say that their relationship was one of robber and robbed.

Yuzhen did not answer the question. He merely muttered, "That's a Body Flicker Technique far beyond the ordinary. We're clearly about the same age. How did you train it?"

His irrelevant answer brought Tobirama Senju back to reality. Now was not the time to consider the Sarutobi Clan.

Thinking this, chakra suddenly erupted from Tobirama Senju's hands. The brutal force crushed against Yuzhen's bones until they creaked, as he attempted to force Yuzhen to submit through pain.

"Enough nonsense. Hand him over."

"I already told you. The person you're looking for definitely isn't here. We don't even know whether the person you're looking for is male or female." Yuzhen continued patiently explaining.

Tobirama Senju felt somewhat puzzled. The man was clearly under his control, with life and death resting on a single thought from him. So why did his opponent show no sign of panic?

His doubts were answered soon enough.

Tobirama Senju naturally did not believe Yuzhen's words. Just as he prepared to take harsher measures, the world suddenly began spinning, while strength and sensation rapidly drained from his body.

Once again, Yuzhen's unhurried voice reached his ears...

"Relax. Feeling dizzy is normal. You've lost too much blood."

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