Konoha Winter Night Ambush, Thousand-Year Fox's Stake

After tens of minutes of fighting, Nawaki panted and said:

"Sen! Your strength is too outrageous!"

After being easily defeated once again, Nawaki collapsed on the ground, "I thought the gap between me and Minato was already huge, I didn't expect you to be a whole level stronger than him!"

"You're not bad either," Sen commented. "At thirteen years old, your strength is already close to Chunin. In at most a year, you'll be able to pass the Chunin exams."

After observing for a while, Sen noticed that Nawaki's talent was very similar to Kushina's; both possessed chakra reserves far exceeding ordinary people, but their potential had not yet been fully unlocked.

"Becoming a Chunin is good, but I want to defeat Kushina even more!" Nawaki wasn't discouraged at all. Instead, with renewed fighting spirit, he charged forward again with a kunai.

If it were anyone else being told they were not strong enough by a genius, they would probably be depressed for a long time, but unfortunately, this was Nawaki, a naturally optimistic person.

Another ten minutes later, Nawaki finally collapsed from exhaustion and grudgingly surrendered.

[After defeating Nawaki, please choose the terms to absorb: Innate Optimistic Physique, Physique +2, Chakra +2]

Sen: "..."

Sen looked at the system panel, speechless.

Innate Optimistic Physique? What kind of ridiculous term is that!

Tsunade inherited the Senju Clan's monstrous strength, why did you only inherit this?

What good is it!

"Nawaki, don't you have any Kekkei Genkai like Wood Release?" Sen asked, pulling Nawaki up from the ground. "I remember you're the First Hokage's grandson, surely you can use Wood Release?"

Nawaki stood up with the help of Sen's arm. He patted the dirt off his clothes, seemingly unconcerned about Wood Release:

"Historically, only Grandpa and Second Uncle inherited it. It's a pity that after Grandpa passed away, Second Uncle also sacrificed himself during a mission, so no ninja can use Wood Release anymore." As he spoke, Nawaki still had a smile on his face.

"Ninja don't live very long, so we have to seize every second to become great ninja."

You truly are quite optimistic...

After Sen's internal comment, he continued to ask, "By the way, what about your large clan? How is it that only you and Tsunade are left now?"

"Let me think..." Nawaki gulped down some water before replying:

"I remember Grandpa wanted to integrate our Senju Clan with the people of the village. But Second Brother Tobirama always disagreed. He felt that the village was built for the clan's continuation. If they did that, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

Our clan was the strongest in the ninja world back then, but because of that, we also had the most enemies. After Grandpa passed away, many of our old rival clans came to assassinate members of the Senju, and many clan members died tragically.

At that time, there was war, missions, and poor medical conditions. Our clan declined day by day. Later, Second Brother Tobirama had no choice but to reluctantly agree: to integrate the clan registry into the village, and no one could use the surname 'Senju' anymore.

It's probably like that, it's very complicated."

Nawaki chuckled at the end, "All the Senju are in the village, and everyone in the village is a comrade, there's no need to distinguish so clearly."

You say it so lightly, Hashirama, your descendants don't even have Wood Release anymore, how can they protect Konoha?

Sen shook his head. Thinking about it was meaningless. It seemed there was no way to get Wood Release from Nawaki. Perhaps he could only look for White Zetsu.

With that thought, Sen casually claimed the Chakra +2 and opened his status panel to check:

[Name: Uchiha Sen] [Age: 11] [Physique: 275] [Spirit: 163] [Chakra: 292] [Kekkei Genkai: Three Tomoe Sharingan, Uzumaki Physique] [Ninjutsu: ... Crow Clone: When attacked by an enemy, can use a combination of Illusion Technique and Summoning Technique to evade attacks and counterattack. ] [Other: ... Chakra Nature: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Water, Earth]

Sen closed the panel, feeling quite satisfied. After this period of arduous training, except for Spirit, which grew relatively slowly, all other attributes were about to break the 300 mark.

"Sen-kun has always been this strong, you know that," Kushina said, taking the water cup from Nawaki. "It's too much for you to challenge him. I think it's more realistic for you to challenge Minato."

Nawaki muttered softly, "I just want to beat you, then I won't have to get beaten by you anymore..."

"You dare talk back?!" Kushina's fists clenched with a cracking sound.

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around," Minato quickly stepped forward to mediate. "There's only a month and a half left before we head to the front lines again, let's focus on training."

Seeing them stop arguing, Minato also stepped forward and began sparring with Sen.

Time flew by, and another half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Konoha also welcomed winter, and the weather became increasingly cold.

This day, Sen returned home after training until evening. It was only six or seven o'clock, but the sky was already completely dark.

As he rounded the corner, two figures blocked his path.

Uchiha Sen frowned, about to sidestep them, when one of the figures spoke:

"You're Uchiha Sen, aren't you? We're subordinates of Lord Danzo. We're here for your sword, Samehada."

"What do you mean?" Sen took a step back, his right hand gripping his short sword, his left reaching for the scroll on his back. "This sword is a spoil of war I captured on the battlefield. According to the village rules, it's my private property now."

"Rules are dead, people are alive." One of the Root Ninja tossed a scroll over.

"This is a mission scroll personally signed by the Hokage. We need to research Samehada. If we can find its clan and establish a summoning contract through it, the village's strength will reach a new level."

Sen kicked the scroll to the ground and nudged it away with his sword, his eyes wary. He glanced at the contents and then cursed, "A million ryo? You want to buy my sword with that? Are you kidding me? Do you know how much this sword is worth on the black market?!"

"It's wartime, the village doesn't have that much money. Can't you consider the village and make a small sacrifice for now?"

Sen spat. "Tch! Does your 'village' include us Uchiha?"

"What do you mean?! This is a village mission. As a ninja, you should obey unconditionally!" the other retorted.

Sen's eyes darted, and he suddenly smiled. "You want the sword? Fine. But I'm only renting it, not selling. The rent is ten thousand ryo per day, a year per lease. If it's not returned after a year, you'll have to pay me fifty million ryo in breach of contract damages."

"Ten thousand ryo a day? That's... a year would be..."

"That's not important!" the other Root Ninja quickly interrupted his companion, smiling at Sen. "Lord Danzo will agree for the sake of the village! Give us the sword now!"

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Sen weaved through the two of them, saying without looking back, "Have your master write up a loan agreement and prepare a year's rent, then come find me!"

The two exchanged a look and immediately agreed. "Alright!"

In their eyes, this was merely a delaying tactic.

Once the sword was in Lord Danzo's hands, there would be no possibility of its return. Did a mere Uchiha brat dare to oppose the entire Root?

Meanwhile, far away, a sly smile played on Sen's lips. He had long discovered an unbreakable summoning link between Samehada and Kirigakure. No matter the distance, the Mizukage could recall it at any time. He had kept Samehada sealed precisely to prevent this.

So, a very clever situation had formed: Danzo wanted Sen's sword, and Sen wanted Danzo's fifty million ryo. Simply put, two thousand-year-old foxes were eyeing each other's "principal."

The next day, as the sun rose, the two Root Ninja knocked on Sen's door.

"Uchiha Sen, everything you said yesterday is written in this loan agreement. We've also brought the rent for a year. Just sign it, and the money is yours."

Sen opened the scroll. The loan agreement was meticulously written, even bearing Danzo's personal signature and Root's seal.

"Hmm, no problems here."

"Then please sign quickly and give us the sword?" the other urged, handing him a brush.

Sen took the brush, twirling it between his fingers, but hesitated to sign. "The penalty for breach of contract is fifty million. I don't dare to sign just like that. What if you renege on the debt later? I need a few witnesses."

The two frowned, a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.