Senju Gen's Entanglement

Sitting in the classroom, Uchiha Yuan sighed helplessly.

Senju Gen had just left his sight. This was the third time he had come to challenge him in five days.

After some thought, Uchiha Yuan decided to find his instructor, Sarutobi Retsu.

He couldn't keep being harassed by Senju Gen like this.

On the other side of the classroom, Senju Gen was talking with two classmates. Seeing Uchiha Yuan leave the classroom, he pondered for a moment, then got up and also left the classroom.

"Teacher Retsu."

Uchiha Yuan met Sarutobi Retsu in the hallway near the classroom.

"Yuan, what is it?" Sarutobi Retsu asked, confused.

"It's Senju Gen. He's invited me to spar several times, but I've refused. I'm worried he might come to you, Teacher Retsu, to arrange a one-on-one match for us at the training ground."

Hearing Uchiha Yuan's words, Sarutobi Retsu's brow furrowed, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

From his impression of Uchiha Yuan, Sarutobi Retsu knew he had excellent Taijutsu, but his talent in Ninjutsu was average. Furthermore, as he was an external family member of the Uchiha Clan, the possibility of awakening the Sharingan was very low.

Therefore, his assessment of Uchiha Yuan's overall strength was probably outside the top ten in the class.

As for Senju Gen, he could only say he lived up to his name as someone from the Senju Clan. His Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Chakra reserves far surpassed those of his peers, and his strength ranked within the top five of the entire grade.

After Uchiha Yuan's match with Hyuga Kagami that day, he had been worried.

He hadn't expected Senju Gen to truly want to spar with Uchiha Yuan. Fortunately, Uchiha Yuan seemed to be well aware of his own lack of strength and didn't want to fight Senju Gen.

Sarutobi Retsu smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't arrange a match between you two."

"Then I can rest easy."

Just then, Senju Gen's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Uchiha Yuan, why are you unwilling to spar with me? You accepted Hyuga Kagami's challenge."

Uchiha Yuan turned around and saw Senju Gen walking over quickly, his face full of displeasure.

Uchiha Yuan looked at Senju Gen and said coldly, "Senju Gen, your strength is first in the class, and you rank in the top five of the entire grade."

"I rank twelfth in the class. Do you want to humiliate me and the entire Uchiha Clan in front of everyone?"

Senju Gen was stunned. He had simply seen a worthy opponent and wanted to spar with Uchiha Yuan. How had it turned into humiliating him and the Uchiha Clan?

After speaking, Uchiha Yuan walked straight past Senju Gen and headed back to the classroom.

This time, Senju Gen shouldn't bother me again.

Returning to the classroom, Uchiha Yuan thought to himself.

Not long after, Senju Gen also returned to the classroom. Uchiha Yuan noticed that he kept his head lowered, appearing quite dejected.

After school, Uchiha Yuan and Hatake Harukaze walked toward the Hatake Clan Land together.

Hatake Harukaze said, "I ran into Kakashi-senpai yesterday. He seems even colder than before; I didn't even dare to get close to him."

Uchiha Yuan's expression shifted slightly at these words. "It's wartime now. Perhaps a comrade Kakashi-senpai knew has sacrificed their life."

Hatake Harukaze whispered, "I heard from an uncle in the clan that the father of one of Kakashi-senpai's close friends died on the battlefield.

The elders in the clan seemed very surprised by the sacrifice of that Might Duy-senpai."

The image of Might Guy's bright, cheerful smile involuntarily surfaced in Uchiha Yuan's mind.

Uchiha Yuan said, "Seeing a friend lose their father must be very painful for Kakashi-senpai. He must have been reminded of White Fang-senpai."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "But this is war; there will always be sacrifices. Yet, it is precisely because of their sacrifices that we can enjoy this peaceful life in the village."

Hatake Harukaze said, "Yeah, I heard that Might Duy-senpai killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in one go.

Might Duy-senpai was truly powerful. Teacher Retsu spent three whole lessons talking about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen; each of those seven is a famous strong person in the Ninja World."

Uchiha Yuan said, "Although there are many shameful, dirty dealings in the village, there are also many figures worthy of admiration. This Might Duy-senpai is one such respectable ninja."

"Yuan, if the Fourth Hokage hadn't sacrificed himself, it would have been better. The war only began to intensify after the Fourth Hokage's death.

And if the Fourth Hokage were still here, he would surely have been able to stop those dark affairs in the village."

If Minato Namikaze hadn't died, the relationship between the Uchiha and the village would indeed have eased significantly.

Because Uchiha Mikoto and Uzumaki Kushina were close friends, both sides had a channel for mutual trust and communication. It wouldn't have escalated to the point of an overnight clan annihilation, Uchiha Yuan thought.

He revealed a mocking smile and said, "Harukaze, if the Fourth Hokage were alive, he might have been able to change the village, but do you really think the Third Hokage would have given up power just because he stepped down?"

"Back then, there were always voices in the village pushing for the Fourth Hokage. Even we, as Ninja Academy students, knew that, which shows that many ninjas in the village were dissatisfied with the Third Hokage holding power."

"In my opinion, although the Jonin Minato became the Fourth Hokage, the actual power remained in the hands of the Third Hokage. I fear the Fourth Hokage would have become a puppet for the Third Hokage."

"Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, is not only powerful but also holds immense prestige in both the Ninja World and the village. Many ninjas in the village respect him."

"If he had become the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage would have been forced to truly become nothing more than a lecherous old man who spies on the women's bathhouse every day."

"That is why the Yellow Flash ultimately won the competition for the Fourth Hokage."

Hatake Harukaze said with a complex expression, "Did the Third Hokage really do that?"

Uchiha Yuan laughed, "Look at the village now. The Third Hokage is acting as the temporary Hokage. Why hasn't a Fifth Hokage been appointed after the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice?"

"Because if we elect the Fifth Hokage now, no one can stop it, Orochimaru will definitely be elected."

"Then who will be the Fifth Hokage?"

"Who knows? How could we possibly know about the power struggles among the village's higher-ups."

As they spoke, the two arrived at a forest near the Hatake Clan Land.

At this moment, Uchiha Yuan suddenly stopped, turned around, and said to the rear, "Senju Gen, what do you want by following us all this way?"

Upon hearing this, Hatake Harukaze was startled and hurriedly looked around for any signs of a follower.

Water Style - Water Colliding Wave!

At this moment, a surge of Chakra fluctuation suddenly appeared from the surrounding bushes, and a stream of water rushed towards Uchiha Yuan.

Uchiha Yuan raised his hand and punched out, shattering the stream of water, which dispersed into a mist of water.

Almost simultaneously, a figure flew out from the water mist and kicked towards Uchiha Yuan with a meteor-like force.

Uchiha Yuan once again threw a punch to meet it. Several knuckles on his fist formed a protrusion, and then his fist collided with the sole of the foot.

"Bang!"

With a heavy collision sound, the attacking figure backflipped and landed on a tree about ten meters away.

It was Senju Gen.

He showed a pained expression on his face, holding his right foot up and refusing to put it down.

"Uchiha Yuan, what kind of technique was that?"

Senju Gen gasped, feeling that after his right foot collided with Uchiha Yuan's fist, his entire right leg instantly became numb, as if countless electric currents were surging within it.