Shimura Saburo Makes a Name for Himself

Sen didn't answer Kushina. He only had her release her chakra, told Samehada to take it easy, then replenished his own supply.

A moment later, thanks to the combined treatment of the medical ninja and Samehada, Sen had almost fully recovered.

He got to his feet. After confirming that Kirigakure was on the verge of collapse, he formed Hand Seals and created a Shadow Clone.

The moment the Shadow Clone appeared, it took on Shimura Saburo's appearance. Holding a Kunai, it joined the battle while everyone was occupied fighting.

"Shimura Saburo's here!" He aimed at an injured Mist Ninja and shouted, "Try my Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive ball of flame instantly swallowed the Mist Ninja.

"Brother!" A Mist Ninja nearby who looked just like him glared furiously. "I'll kill you!"

"You worthless trash Mist Ninja think you can stand against me?" Shimura Saburo drew his Kunai and lunged straight at him.

The Mist Ninja had already been fighting two Konoha ninja at once. Now, with his brother dead, he lost focus, and his Kunai techniques grew clumsy. After exchanging several blows with Shimura Saburo, he was killed by another ninja's sneak attack.

Shimura Saburo spat on the man's corpse and laughed. "What a waste!"

A Kirigakure Jonin saw Shimura Saburo targeting injured men with sneak attacks and roared furiously, hurling two Kunai at him in quick succession.

Shimura Saburo hurriedly ducked, barely avoiding the Jonin's consecutive throws, but kept taunting him.

"You Mist Ninja only know how to sneak up on people. What good does that do? When this battle's over, do you think you'll dare sneak into Konoha to attack me? Or will you hire bounty hunters to assassinate me?

"Your Kirigakure is a poor village. How could you ever compare to Konoha?"

Shimura Saburo's grin widened to its limit. "Since you're all going to die here today, I might as well tell you: Shimura Danzō is my uncle!

"His plan to have you assassinate Uchiha Sen last time was part of the same scheme. You idiots actually fell for it!"

His voice rang clearly in Jūzō Biwa's ears as he fought desperately.

He whipped around, his eyes instantly bloodshot, his hatred surging!

"Bastards of the Shimura clan! I'll collect some interest first!"

With the Body Flicker Technique, Jūzō Biwa appeared behind Shimura Saburo. The Kubikiribōchō swept down in a swift strike, fueled by the fury of revenge!

But the head he expected to see fall never hit the ground. Just before the blade struck, Shimura Saburo turned into a puff of smoke.

Even at the last moment, his taunt rang out:

"What a waste! You've got a Kubikiribōchō, but you can't even tell a Shadow Clone from the real thing. What kind of ninja are you? Go back to farming!"

"Argh—!"

Jūzō Biwa went completely berserk! He swung his massive blade wildly, accidentally killing one of his own comrades!

Watching his subordinates die one after another, he stared with bloodshot eyes, despair filling them, and issued his final order:

"Jonin, break through at once! Everyone else, use Explosive Tags to cover them! We'll kill the entire Shimura clan for you! We'll use Danzō's head to honor your deaths!"

At his words, a fire of desperation blazed in the eyes of every surviving Mist Ninja! They lit every Explosive Tag on their bodies and charged the Konoha ninja like madmen!

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!" Jiraiya immediately used the technique to hold them back.

"Fall back! Use long-range attacks!" Orochimaru immediately ordered.

"BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—"

Explosions thundered one after another. Even with the Swamp of the Underworld blocking the way, Konoha suffered considerable casualties.

Amid the chaos, only a few Jonin, including Jūzō Biwa, managed to escape the battlefield, badly wounded and in a sorry state.

"Medical team, get over here!" Jiraiya shouted urgently, shielding the younger ninja nearest to him.

The battle was over, and everyone began clearing the battlefield.

Konoha had won this battle at minimal cost, while Kirigakure had been almost completely wiped out.

Even as they cleared the battlefield, everyone felt a surge of joy. Kirigakure had suffered such heavy losses that it probably wouldn't be able to threaten Konoha for a long time.

Seeing the others start clearing the battlefield, Sen went over to help.

"Why not pursue them and wipe them out?" Sen asked Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's face brightened when he saw Sen. The main reason they'd managed to annihilate so many of Kirigakure's ninja was that Sen had played a crucial role as bait.

"There's no need. Their main force has already suffered devastating losses. They won't dare attack Konoha again anytime soon."

Orochimaru patted Sen on the shoulder. "You did well. When your clan sent me word, I thought you weren't coming back. Jiraiya rushed here with his people as fast as he could, and we just made it in time."

"I was just lucky." Sen changed the subject. "So, is our war with Kirigakure over now?"

The long hours of commanding the battle had already given twenty-year-old Orochimaru a furrow between his brows. He took a deep breath before answering:

"It's over, but not all the wars. Once we finish with them, we'll be sent somewhere else to fight. The ninja of other countries aren't like those of the resource-poor Land of Water. Their abilities aren't so uneven, and they're not so easy to deal with."

Orochimaru looked at the comrades being placed into body bags—the same people he'd shared a meal with just yesterday—and sighed. "They were eating with us only yesterday... and now, in the blink of an eye, they're gone. Once you're dead, it's as if nothing remains."

"Maybe one day, we can make it so wars never happen again," Sen said.

"Heh." A trace of mockery showed in Orochimaru's eyes. "Rather than believe in that elusive peace, you'd be better off thinking about how to live forever and never be killed."

"Didn't you say I had a lot of nerve?" Sen watched Jiraiya and the others calling to him in the distance, an unprecedented light shining in his eyes.

"Then I'll make a big bet. One day, I'll unite this world as a single nation. Then there won't be so many pointless wars."

"Haha, even the First Hokage couldn't accomplish that. It's good for young people to have dreams, but it's not good when they're too far removed from reality." Orochimaru casually offered his opinion as he took the casualty list prepared by the Anbu and began checking the exact losses.

"Didn't you think I couldn't pull it off back then, either?" Sen grinned brightly. "Care to bet?"

The pen in Orochimaru's hand stopped. He studied the young man before him for a long while, then gave a helpless laugh.

"You really do keep coming up with new surprises for me! If you actually manage to unite the entire Shinobi World, I'd be happy too. Then I wouldn't have to be a ninja anymore, and I'd have time for my research..."

"Then I hope both our wishes come true." Sen trusted Orochimaru's research abilities. He just hoped Orochimaru wouldn't use him as a research subject...