Sarutobi Hiruzen stood on the raised platform, delivering the final war-mobilization speech. Sen was already nodding off. His vacation had been cut short, which had annoyed him enough as it was. Now he had to listen to these tired platitudes about the "Will of Fire" and "sacrificing for the village."
Then Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice suddenly rose:
"In this battle, I will go to the front lines with you in the name of the Hokage and fight alongside you, drenched in blood! Everything is for Konoha!"
"Ohhh!"
The crowd's cheers nearly shook the sky.
Sen was surprised, too. He hadn't expected Sarutobi Hiruzen to have such resolve. Instead of staying safely in the rear, he had chosen to head to the front lines at the very start of the war.
Sen glanced up at the platform. Shimura Danzō's arm and eye were still intact.
It seemed his signature "bandaged one-eyed" look was a result of this war.
"Sen, look. Isn't that Shimura Saburo?" Kushina asked, pointing into the distance.
Sen turned to look. It was Shimura Saburo, all right.
But something seemed strange. Two Jonin followed close behind him, never leaving his side. They didn't look like team leaders so much as personal bodyguards.
"Looks like the war is already more serious than we imagined," Minato said, his face full of worry. "Even clan scions like Shimura Saburo have to go to the battlefield."
Sen nodded. With even the Hokage joining the fight, it would be hard for the younger generation of these clans to stay in the village and avoid the war.
"That guy looks scared. We haven't even left the village yet," Sen remarked after watching him for a moment.
"Haven't you heard?" A gentle voice came from behind them. It was Hyuga Akatsuki, Kushina's former deskmate.
Kushina's gossip-loving side immediately sprang to life. "Akatsuki, what happened? We've been training nonstop lately, so we haven't really kept up with what's going on in the village."
Hyuga Akatsuki lowered her voice and spoke mysteriously. "A while ago, quite a few Mist Ninja and black-market ninja infiltrated the village and plotted to assassinate Lord Danzō!"
As one of the village's leaders, Shimura Danzō was a perfectly ordinary target for a ninja-led assassination. But what did that have to do with a minor character like Shimura Saburo?
"Spit it out. Don't be so cryptic!" Kushina knew Hyuga Akatsuki well and had long since learned that she liked keeping people in suspense.
"All right, all right. I'll tell you. Those ninjas seemed to have targets besides Lord Danzō. I don't know what Shimura Saburo did to offend the Mist Ninja." She pressed a finger to her chin and thought for a moment before continuing.
"I remember Shimura Saburo has barely ever left the village. Last time, he even bragged to his classmates that he wouldn't have to go to the battlefield. I wonder how he managed to offend the Mist Ninja."
Kushina struggled to hold back her laughter, her shoulders shaking.
What had happened?
Of course, Sen had used a Shadow Clone disguised as Shimura Saburo to make the Mist Ninja hate him on Lookout Island!
By now, Shimura Saburo was probably higher on Kirigakure's kill list than his "godfather," Danzō.
Minato watched Kushina snicker, utterly confused. "What's going on?"
Kushina held back her laughter and patted Minato on the shoulder with a solemn expression. "Minato, you'd better watch how you look on the battlefield. If the enemy thinks you look like Shimura Saburo, they might just toss a Shuriken at you."
Minato hurriedly fixed his blond hair. "Is that so? Maybe I should grow it out a bit..." A moment later, he came to his senses. "That makes no sense. Why would a ninja kill someone at random? This must be part of the mission, too. What exactly happened?"
The battle had been chaotic that day. No one had noticed that the foul-mouthed Shimura Saburo had actually been Sen in disguise.
"You'll find out next time," Sen remarked casually.
Minato looked at Sen's expressionless face, as if he knew everything, and suddenly felt a chill.
Yikes, it definitely had to be Sen's doing! Sen was usually so sunny. Why was he being so dark all of a sudden? Had he been putting on an act the whole time?
Half an hour later, the long-winded mobilization speech finally ended. The units began heading to their respective battlefields according to plan.
Sen took the mission scroll and saw that they were headed to the Land of Wind border. It wasn't a great mission, but at least it was better than fighting Kirigakure.
The journey would take three days. The only thing that annoyed them was that Shimura Saburo's squad had been assigned to theirs.
Normally, being assigned together just meant they had to focus on carrying out the mission. But Shimura Saburo had barely left the village before he started getting carried away again, bragging to everyone:
"So much for Kirigakure's assassination attempt! Now that I've left the village, they won't be able to find me!
"I'm going to kill a thousand Jonin from Sunagakure! My godfather gave me plenty of intel—even the antidotes," he shouted at members of the other squads. "You'll only survive if you stick with me!"
If not for the Jonin protecting him, the ninjas from the other squads would probably have already beaten him to a pulp.
Even Kushina held her temper in check the whole way. If Minato hadn't talked her down, she would have gone over and punched him a few times.
Fortunately, just as they were about to lose their tempers, they finally reached their destination.
The Jonin went into the main tent to report. A short while later, the outpost's commander came out.
Sen took a look at the newcomer. He was tall, with striking silver-white hair and an easygoing smile. He was none other than Kakashi Hatake's father, the legend who had shaken the Shinobi World single-handedly—
Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.
"Welcome to the front lines in the Land of Wind," Hatake Sakumo said in a steady, powerful voice. "I'm in charge here, Hatake Sakumo. As you can see, there's sand everywhere and the conditions are harsh. Be careful when carrying out your missions."
He looked around, his gaze finally settling on Sen's clan crest. "You must be Uchiha Sen. Since you arrived together, you'll be fully responsible for these nine new recruits while I'm away."
No one objected. After all, Sen was the only Chunin among them.
"Why?!" Shimura Saburo jumped in. "What makes Uchiha Sen qualified to be squad leader? Is he stronger than the Jonin beside me? I say you should listen to me!"
Hatake Sakumo frowned. Dealing with missions and enemies was already annoying enough. Now he had to deal with these hotheaded kids, too?
He turned his gaze to Sen, signaling for him to handle it himself. If he couldn't even deal with something like this, he had no business being a squad leader.
Sen nodded. The next second, he was already behind Shimura Saburo!
Thud!
A quick, clean front kick sent the other boy sprawling face-first into the sand.
Before he could get up, Sen planted his foot hard on his face, driving it deep into the sand.
The Jonin from the Shimura Clan started to move, but the icy Three Tomoe Sharingan in Sen's eyes and his authority as squad leader froze him in place.
"First," Sen said to Shimura Saburo underfoot, his voice devoid of emotion. "When you're on a mission, address me by my title!"
"Second, as squad leader, I have the authority to deal with subordinates who disobey orders. I could kill you right now, and Danzō wouldn't dare say a word!"
As he spoke, Sen slowly drew his short sword.
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