Charge Ahead, Retreat Behind, and Selfish Motives

"The Uchiha clan is gathering intelligence on the Senju clan? Kawadera! I must report this!" Seigetsu Senju said.

"Rest assured, the person I report to is absolutely reliable; your identity will not be exposed.

Go find our teammates, Kureya Inuzuka and Ken Aburame; our squad will have a new mission soon."

Combined with Kawadera's earlier warning that someone was plotting against the young clan head Nawaki, Seigetsu Senju made up her mind that she had to do something for the clan.

When Kawadera Uchiha found his two teammates, he saw them already sparring.

Ken Aburame's taijutsu was quite decent, though slightly inferior to the taijutsu-specialist Kureya Inuzuka.

Kawadera Uchiha watched the clan emblems on his teammates' gear, lost in thought.

Unlike the situation decades later in the original story, at this time, the Aburame clan and the Inuzuka clan were both major, powerful clans.

Much like the relationship between the Ino-Shika-Chō trio and the Sarutobi clan, the Aburame, Inuzuka, and Kurama clans were all vassals to the Senju clan.

After the Senju clan completely declined, these ninja clans—Aburame, Inuzuka, and Kurama—were reduced to second-rate clans in Konoha, or even faced extinction.

Kureya Inuzuka took the initiative to invite him: "Kawadera! Want to spar with us?"

Ken Aburame's expression stiffened.

To be honest, he loathed Kawadera Uchiha; the Kikaichū inside his body did not like the aura Kawadera Uchiha exuded.

It was dark, cunning, and seemed to harbor a touch of hypocrisy.

Seeing Kawadera Uchiha look his way, Ken Aburame quickly averted his eyes behind his dark glasses.

Kawadera Uchiha's taijutsu was average, and wanting to test his skills, he took turns sparring with both of them.

Without using genjutsu, Kawadera Uchiha was easily suppressed by Kureya Inuzuka.

But once he interfered with genjutsu, Kawadera Uchiha was able to defeat Kureya Inuzuka.

His foundation was still too poor; he wondered if Tobirama Senju had any good methods to improve his physique and taijutsu.

As for Ken Aburame, the effect of Kawadera Uchiha's genjutsu was very poor.

His body was filled with insects, and these insects disrupted the flow of chakra, breaking the genjutsu at any moment.

He felt Ken Aburame's strikes were heavy; this person had a grudge against him.

Ken Aburame's response served as a quiet wake-up call for Kawadera: genjutsu was his greatest strength, but he could not rely on it entirely. There were always ninjas with strange and unusual ways to counter genjutsu.

Seigetsu Senju hurried toward the center of the camp.

For this war in the Land of Hot Water against Kumogakure, the supreme commander was the White Fang of Konoha, and the deputy commander was her father, Ken Senju.

Seigetsu Senju saw that there were still many people in the tent; she waited until her father finished speaking with several squad leaders before stepping forward and saying, "Father! I want to report something to you in private."

Ken Senju had a square, stern face. Recalling the mission scroll that mentioned Seigetsu had encountered several dangerous battles at the border, his heart softened. "Come, let's go outside to talk."

There were many advisors in the command tent, and many things were inconvenient to say there, so the two left the tent and arrived under a large tree in the distance.

Ken Senju said, "Seigetsu, the report scrolls submitted by the border outposts focus mainly on the Kumogakure invasion. How were the battles you experienced? Were they very dangerous?"

"When has the Senju clan ever feared the minor dangers of battle? Father, what I want to talk about is the unusual movement of the Uchiha clan!"

Ken Senju's eyelids drooped, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"With the sacrifice of the Second Hokage and the start of the Great Ninja War, has the Uchiha clan finally stopped sitting still?" Ken Senju said.

"The village is not surprised by this; we just didn't know when the Uchiha clan would make their move.

With Kumogakure invading and Konoha under attack from three sides, their clan head, No Uchiha, has chosen a good time."

Ken Senju looked at his daughter and said, "The village may have anticipated this, but how did you discover it?"

Seigetsu Senju said proudly, "I have my own intelligence channels."

Ken Senju recalled the mission scrolls regarding the Kumogakure invasion and said:

"There is an Uchiha in your squad, Kawadera Uchiha. Unless I am mistaken, it was Kawadera Uchiha who told you, right?

Using intelligence that seems grave but which the village had already guessed to gain your trust—Seigetsu, you must not trust others so easily, especially the Uchiha."

Seigetsu Senju still wanted to keep Kawadera's secret, but she hadn't expected her father to point it out so quickly. She said, "It isn't blind trust. Kawadera Uchiha is different; he is an Uchiha who possesses the Will of Fire, just like Kagami Uchiha!"

"Father, my reconnaissance squad was caught by Cloud Ninja.

The creed of our Senju clan has always been to prioritize the village, charging in first and retreating last.

Kawadera Uchiha was the first to step forward to cover our retreat, which surprised me.

I left with my two teammates first, but later we encountered two Cloud Ninja squads led by a squad leader.

I stayed behind to cover my two teammates. Father, you know that the honor of the Senju clan forbids me from retreating. When I was facing certain death, Kawadera Uchiha arrived to save my life, covering my retreat once again."

Ken Senju said with a pained heart, "You... you should have handed in your squad's mission scroll sooner."

"I already did; perhaps the advisors haven't given it to you yet."

Ken Senju felt a sense of distress in his heart. When he died for Konoha, he wouldn't even frown.

But hearing that his daughter had encountered such danger several times, he finally understood why there were murmurs of discontent within the clan.

In every battle, the Senju clan suffered the highest casualty rate; the Will of Fire proposed by the First and Second Hokage was something they, the Senju, had to lead by example in practicing.

Charging to the front and retreating at the very end—these eight words had caused the Senju clan to endure far too many deaths and disabilities.

Ken Senju spoke again: "Seigetsu, that Kawadera Uchiha might be powerful and intentionally won your trust by acting as the rearguard twice.

If holding the rear posed no danger to him, we cannot rule out the possibility that it was all a performance."

Seigetsu Senju knew that as long as she revealed that Kawadera had mastered the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, her father's doubts would surely vanish.

The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique held a very high security clearance within the Senju clan.

This genjutsu was extremely difficult to master; even Elder Toma had required several years of guidance from the Second Hokage to learn it.

The Second Hokage had secretly passed this technique to Kagami Uchiha, intending for him to use it to counter the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.

And Kagami Uchiha had, in turn, passed this technique on to Kawadera Uchiha.

Kawadera Uchiha was isolated and helpless within the Uchiha clan, and he had to be protected by every means possible, so Seigetsu Senju said nothing.

"I understand. I will continue to observe Kawadera Uchiha. Father, there is one more thing," Seigetsu Senju said.

"Young Clan Leader Nawaki has been very prominent lately, and I fear he might be targeted by the Uchiha clan.

Father, I wish to go to the Land of Grass battlefield to protect the young clan leader."

Ken Senju desperately wanted to keep his daughter by his side, at least to have someone to look after, but he would not dampen her spirits nor interfere with the actions she took proactively for Konoha.

On second thought, having his daughter leave the imminent major war to go to the distant Land of Grass was not a bad idea.

"Very well. I will give you a mission: you are responsible for delivering intelligence regarding the Kumogakure invasion forces and their deployments to the Land of Grass battlefield command, and then you may remain there and do as you see fit!"

Seigetsu Senju nodded happily; her father's unconditional support made her feel very warm.

As she left, Ken Senju watched his daughter's retreating figure and suddenly raised his hand, calling out to her.

"Seigetsu!"

He wanted to urge his daughter not to be the first to charge and not to be the last to retreat.

However, his selfish desires as a father ultimately lost out to the Will of Fire.

In the end, he changed his words: "Seigetsu, you must not trust Kawadera Uchiha easily."

"I understand, Father."

Watching his daughter turn away again, Ken Senju suddenly felt that if that Kawadera Uchiha could act as rearguard for his daughter once or twice more, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, in a sense.

Just then, several figures landed via Body Flicker.

Seiei Senju, Ken Senju's son, shouted: "Vice Commander! The Cloud Ninja have launched a sneak attack while we are still struggling to gain a foothold!"

Upon hearing this, Ken Senju's expression changed: "Move out!"

Seiei Senju lingered for a moment while the others vanished; he turned to Seigetsu Senju and said:

"Little sister, your squad belongs to the Reconnaissance Division. Go find your captain!"

Seigetsu Senju nodded hurriedly.

"Be careful!"

Seiei Senju wanted to add a few more words of caution, but seeing his sister had already hurried away, he shook his head and went to catch up with his father.