Seiei Senju looked desolate.
"I came to the Land of Waves as an escort ninja from logistics, intending to see Shingu Senju and arrange his subsequent training. But... Shingu was already dead?"
"Yes. Not only is Shingu dead, but Xiaojie, who replaced him as a combat ninja of the Senju Clan, is dead too. Now Zhu is fighting on the front lines."
Seiei Senju was deeply pained. He narrowed his eyes slightly, then said after a long while, "I know this sounds cruel, but where is Shingu's body? I have an important use for it."
Kawadera Uchiha immediately understood. Seiei Senju wanted the experimental data for the Muscle Stimulation Serum.
"Then you must have just missed Shingu's hand," Kawadera Uchiha said.
"Whether Shingu was dead or alive, I only found one of his hands. I already arranged for logistics to send Shingu's hand back to be buried behind the Memorial Stone.
"You must have happened to leave the village at that time, so you didn't know about it."
Seiei Senju froze and asked, "Only one arm was left?"
"To be precise, it was a hand missing the outermost metacarpal and one-third of the hamate bone..."
"Stop. Don't say any more. That's enough." After a long pause, Seiei Senju said, "Have Zhu Senju come with me tonight."
"That's fine, but I made a bold promise to Xingyue. I said I'd protect Zhu Senju until she grew up, until young clan head Nawaki came into his own. Whatever you do to Zhu Senju, I need to know."
After hesitating, Seiei Senju nodded in agreement.
When Kawadera Uchiha had been a Two Tomoe, Seiei Senju had regarded him as nothing more than his little sister's blond boyfriend. But now that Kawadera Uchiha was a Three Tomoe, they could stand on equal footing.
In