The Moral High Ground

As subordinates of Tsunade, the Seigetsu Squad followed her toward the Land of Rain.

Over three hundred ninja walked in silence through the curtain of rain.

The heavy downpour quickly filled the pits left by their feet, leaving behind a dense trail of footprints.

Kawadera Uchiha spoke to Tobirama Senju within his consciousness:

"Second Hokage, my eyes have seen a glimpse of the future."

"This time, Konoha has split off 300 ninja to enter the Land of Rain, but in the end, the battlefield will be littered with corpses."

"Only Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya will survive."

"Mitokado Homura's judgment was flawed; the strength of the demigod Hanzo far exceeds his estimates."

"Even the three of them nearly died at Hanzo's hands."

"After slaughtering all the Konoha ninja, Hanzo deemed it unworthy to fight to the death against three juniors and left, satisfied, to collect the reward promised to him by Ōnoki."

Tobirama Senju no longer doubted the accuracy of the prophecy; he was more concerned that Kawadera Uchiha was using half-truths to swindle rewards out of him.

"I will evaluate your performance and grant you the corresponding reward."

Kawadera Uchiha asked, "Is this mission not worth an S-rank reward?"

"If you can save 200 Konoha ninja, I will grant you an S-rank mission reward."

Kawadera Uchiha fell silent.

That was a fantasy; if he could protect 200 people in front of the demigod Hanzo, he would declare himself a Hokage Advisor, and Danzo would have to swallow every word he had to say.

Rain fell onto their cloaks, the patter-patter sound growing increasingly dense.

The Seigetsu Squad was currently attached to the medical corps; Seigetsu Senju herself was a trainee medical ninja, while the rest of the squad had joined the medical unit's guard detachment.

In a force of over 300, they were equipped with a medical squad of 16, which was a high ratio only because Tsunade was present.

On other battlefields, a force of 300 would typically have only 6 to 8 medical ninja.

The benefit of serving as guards for the medical corps was that they would not be the first to engage in combat, unlike reconnaissance squads, which might already be locked in close-quarters skirmishes with Cloud Ninja scouts.

The downside was that once discovered by the enemy, they would face a torrential onslaught.

Medical ninja were critical tactical targets, the very first objects that had to be cleared at any cost during a war.

Kawadera Uchiha scanned the medical corps, found nothing unusual, then jumped onto a boulder. Facing the direction he was observing, he slowly swung his short blade.

Senju Style: Willow, much like the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, was a genjutsu performed using Yin-style chakra.

This type of genjutsu was not as efficient as ocular jutsu, but it could serve as a supplement when ocular jutsu failed.

Everyone who encountered the Uchiha Clan knew to avoid eye contact; this was one of the common-sense rules of the ninja world.

The initiation of Senju Style: Willow required swinging the ninja blade in place for two or three seconds to form a pattern of blade afterimages resembling multiple willow leaves.

This opening stance was somewhat sluggish; in a life-or-death battle decided in an instant, it was not practical enough.

When facing an evenly matched powerhouse, there was no time to fiddle with a blade; two or three seconds was enough for the enemy to kill you several times over.

Fortunately, the Konoha force was not advancing quickly, giving him ample time to study the newly acquired secret technique.

Ninjutsu was about quality, not quantity; Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha, had mastered thousands of jutsu, yet he only used a handful regularly.

Kakashi had fixed primary jutsu for both offense and defense—using Chidori for attacks and Earth Style Wall for defense—with most of his other abilities designed to complement these two.

How to convert Senju Style: Willow into his own ability was the question.

In the evening, when the troops stopped to rest, Seigetsu Senju jumped onto a large tree and arrived beside Kawadera Uchiha.

"I specifically found the largest cloak prepared for the Akimichi Clan."

She untied Kawadera Uchiha's cloak and pulled him inside her own.

She said, "It's time for today's muscle repair."

The cloak was indeed large; it could fit both of them with room to spare.

The standard-issue Konoha flak jacket of this era had a strong Warring States period aesthetic, not the green canvas vest seen later in the manga.

Kawadera Uchiha's armor consisted of iron shoulder guards, a chest plate, back plate, arm guards, and a bodysuit, identical to the armor worn by the Sannin during their battle against Hanzo.

Come to think of it, entering the Land of Rain this time should allow him to witness the birth of the Sannin title.

Kawadera Uchiha took off his iron armor, wearing only the bodysuit, and let Seigetsu Senju help him with the muscle repair.

Green medical chakra entered his lower back, beginning to slowly nourish his muscles from there.

Lower back, upper back, shoulders, arms, chest, abdomen, and legs—the whole process took at least 20 minutes.

"Captain Seigetsu, you are too good to me."

"It is only right. To the clan, you saved Master Nawaki. To me, you covered my retreat and saved my life. The fact that I can be a disciple of Princess Tsunade now is all because of you," Seigetsu Senju said.

"I am willing to perform muscle repair for you always."

Kawadera Uchiha felt a warmth in his heart at these words.

He calculated against this person and that, yet he feared nothing more than someone treating him with sincerity.

If someone were to offer him their true heart, what was he supposed to do?

Difficult, truly too difficult.

However, with the help of Seigetsu Senju, his own constitution would continue to improve steadily.

Taijutsu was the foundation of all a ninja's abilities.

As Kawadera Uchiha enjoyed the treatment, he chatted idly with Seigetsu Senju:

"Seigetsu, I've noticed that among the wounded in the medical ward, the proportion of the Senju Clan is very high."

"It's true. Take this operation for example; while it looks calm enough following the main force, our reconnaissance squads have already been clashing frequently with the Rain Ninja scouts.

One-third of the wounded in the medical ward are Senju Clan ninjas.

The Senju Clan is always appearing in the most dangerous missions; there are many wounded, and many deaths as well."

Hearing the heavy tone in Seigetsu Senju's voice, Kawadera Uchiha decided not to continue the topic.

Once the muscle repair was finished, he and Seigetsu Senju left the large tree together, as it was now Ken Aburame's turn to be responsible for reconnaissance in this direction.

Arriving back on the ground, Kawadera Uchiha escorted Seigetsu Senju back to the medical tent.

Outside one of the medical tents, two ninjas were welcoming a Senju Clan ninja.

This Senju Clan ninja was named Takashi Senju; his face was deathly pale, and his shoulders and abdomen were covered in thick bandages, with blood seeping through the gauze.

Team member Tombo Sarutobi said, "As expected of our captain! We thought you would be resting for two or three days due to your injuries, but I never expected you to finish your treatment so quickly.

My father always says the Senju Clan is the model of the Will of Fire.

Captain, I think I will be just like my father and tell my son everything I have seen today!"

Takashi Senju smiled and said, "I don't want to occupy precious medical resources. With my constitution, I can return to our tent to rest, and by tomorrow noon, I will be able to continue executing reconnaissance missions."

As the group slowly walked away, Tombo Sarutobi continued to praise Takashi Senju's Will of Fire.

Glancing at Tombo Sarutobi's retreating back, Kawadera Uchiha spoke to Tobirama Senju within his sea of consciousness:

"Second Hokage, birds of a feather flock together. I understand him; I know why Tombo Sarutobi keeps praising Takashi Senju.

He wants to hoist Takashi Senju onto the moral high ground of the Will of Fire so that next time they go on a mission, Takashi Senju will continue to charge at the front.

That way, Tombo Sarutobi can hide behind Takashi Senju and increase his own chances of survival."

Tobirama Senju replied, "If you were him, you would do the same thing, which is why you understand him, isn't that right?"

"Heh heh."

Just then, three Explosive Tag detonations appeared in the sky in the distance.

In the rainy night, the sound of the explosions was somewhat muffled, but everyone's expression turned stern.

Enemy attack! That was the Konoha force's warning signal for an enemy attack!

The Rain Ninja were here!