You Just Tell Me If I Won

"You little brat, how dare you run! Do you want me to beat your butt black and blue?"

"Old man, I already won. Why are you still hitting me?"

"You dare bring that up!"

Five-year-old Senju Shugo was struck on the backside by a switch. He cried out and hit the ground with a thud.

Feeling rather aggrieved, he squeezed out a couple of tears, hoping to awaken the fatherly love he'd lost.

Senju Genma merely snorted. He paid no attention to his son's sorry state. The switch only hurt; it wouldn't actually injure the brat.

He'd been quite pleased with his son until now. The boy was willing to learn and put time into training.

Although his son's idea of developing ninjutsu by buying balloons had struck him as a little frivolous, overall, he was still pretty satisfied.

When he returned from the battlefield today, he heard that his son had beaten Tobirama. At first, he was quite happy. His boy had inherited his own style, after all.

But the reporting ninja's expression grew stranger and stranger. It was only after Genma kept pressing him that he learned what had actually happened:

Tobirama and Shugo had been evenly matched. Both of them had run out of Chakra and started fighting with Taijutsu. After a brief exchange, Shugo used two Taijutsu moves:

Taijutsu Secret Technique: Monkey Steals the Peach

Taijutsu Secret Technique: One Thousand Years of Death

Tobirama had never seen Taijutsu like that. The Senju style was all about wide, powerful movements, so he hadn't reacted in time. Injuries front and back had thrown him off balance, and he'd eventually lost.

Had Shugo won? Naturally. But it would've been better if he hadn't. Senju Genma felt utterly disgraced. What would everyone think? That he, as the boy's father, was to blame.

How could a five-year-old know such underhanded tricks?

"Get up, brat. Go apologize to Tobirama."

"The winner has to apologize to the loser? Old man, I think you—"

The switch whistled twice as it lashed the air in front of Shugo, leaving marks on the ground.

Shugo jumped to his feet at once.

"Ahem. A wise man knows when to yield. It's just an apology, right? I'll go."

Senju Genma nodded in satisfaction and took his son to Tobirama Senju's residence.

Since Tobirama was still young, he lived with his brothers and father, Senju Butsuma. Butsuma was the current head of the Senju Clan.

Of course, as someone who could spar with Tobirama, Shugo's father, Senju Genma, also held a high position.

Genma was Butsuma's younger brother and the Second Elder, one of the three elders beneath the clan head. He wasn't the First Elder because the previous clan head had made adjustments to keep power balanced within the Senju Clan.

As a member of the clan head's branch, Senju Genma had also done something else: he'd changed his son's name.

At some point, the Senju Clan had inherited a tradition: only those whose names included "ma" were eligible to succeed the clan head. And not every Senju ninja had the right to name a child. Only the clan head and the three elders could do so.

Shugo was supposed to be named Senju Shuma. But Genma had later changed his son's name to show he wasn't interested in the clan head's position. As a result, Genma and Butsuma's families got along fairly well.

When Senju Butsuma saw the two of them arrive, he didn't look particularly angry. Instead, he smiled and invited them to sit.

Shugo hated sitting on his knees, but the other man was the clan head, so he'd better behave.

Under his father's gaze, Shugo put on a loud voice and said:

"Clan Head, I came today specifically to apologize to Tobirama."

Senju Butsuma smiled.

"Why do you need to apologize? Because you beat Tobirama, or because you hurt him?"

Before Shugo could answer, Senju Butsuma continued:

"You did nothing wrong. On the battlefield, even if you win through an underhanded method, you've still won."

"Winning means you live. Losing means you die."

Telling that to a five-year-old was downright ruthless.

Shugo grumbled inwardly, but on the outside, he nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

Senju Butsuma looked at his younger brother and said in a calm, unquestionable tone:

"Genma, Shugo is a fine boy. You don't have time to teach him, so why not have him study alongside Tobirama?"

Senju Genma thought it over, then agreed. It would be a good chance to improve the brat's character and keep him from coming up with any more bizarre ideas.

Shugo had no say in the matter. The decision was made then and there.

After Genma and Shugo left, Butsuma opened the door to the next room and went to Tobirama's bedside. "Did you hear what we just said?"

"I did, Father."

Lying in bed, Tobirama wore a somewhat dark expression, but he answered respectfully.

"Those words were meant for him, but they were meant for you too, Tobirama. You only have one life. Once it's gone, it's gone."

"I understand, Father."

"Shugo may do some strange things, but there's plenty you can learn from him. Starting tomorrow, he'll learn from you, and you'll learn from him."

Tobirama furrowed his brow, but in the end, he nodded.

Senju Genma didn't take Shugo home. His position meant he couldn't afford to take it easy, and the Senju Clan Compound was safe anyway, so he simply let the brat go back by himself.

As Shugo walked along, he recalled Tobirama's stunned expression and thought, No matter how you look at it, I've beaten the Forbidden Jutsu Master.

Thinking back to the time when he'd just transmigrated, bound to his father's chest as they weaved through a barrage of ninjutsu, he'd already realized he was in the Naruto World.

He'd thought he could rely on his memories of the plot to keep a low profile and grow stronger. But then he found out his father's surname was Senju! That name felt far less reassuring than Uchiha. In the story he knew, the Senju Clan either declined or was wiped out.

Only later, when his father carried him over to see the white-haired Tobirama Senju, did he realize he'd been wrong. The good news was that the Senju Clan was still powerful. The bad news was that he'd landed in the Warring States era.

What good was knowing the plot? It hadn't even started yet.

The Senju Clan was indeed formidable. One day, it would produce the God of Shinobi and the Forbidden Jutsu Master, and its members would also help found Konoha.

But in the Warring States era, neither of them had grown up yet, and their younger brother would die in a few years. Following the principle that relying on yourself was better than relying on others, Shugo knew he could only survive by training.

Shugo pushed open the door. A scroll lay quietly on the table.

Senju Genma was busy. As the Second Elder, he had plenty to do, so he showed his affection in a simple way: he gave Shugo money and ninjutsu. If he wanted something, he could buy it; if he needed something, he could buy that too...

It was no exaggeration to say that Senju Genma gave him more money than all the children his age combined.

Maybe a childhood without a father's company was incomplete. But for a transmigrator, what could be better than a father who was rarely home and gave him money and ninjutsu?

"Too bad learning the Rasengan is completely impractical."

Shugo sighed. In the Warring States era, there was no way to find so many "useless" items. Besides, Tobirama, who'd invented Shadow Clones, was just a kid like him.

"Someday, when those two 'mechs' start trading blows, I'd better keep my distance. Until then, I should get on Tobirama's good side."

Shugo knew that in a world ruled by bloodlines, the closer someone's bloodline was to their ancestors, the stronger they were. The Senju's Wood Style and the Uchiha's Sharingan were both signs of a return to their roots.

By the time Senju Hashirama summoned a Wood Golem and Madara Uchiha manifested Susanoo, they'd already surpassed the level of ordinary ninja.

Shugo's chance of awakening Wood Style was still a long way off. For now, his Chakra reserves were about the same as Tobirama's, even though his future potential was lower than that of the Forbidden Jutsu Master. After all, Tobirama had invented one ninjutsu after another, and every one of them was designed to counter the Uchiha.

"System, cheat, golden finger—anything! Just give me something!"

Shugo grumbled, then quietly began his studies and training for the day. He'd gotten home when it was nearly nightfall, and tomorrow he'd start learning alongside Tobirama. For the sake of his health, he went to bed early.