Big Pillar

After the battle, Senju Zhenyang evaluated their performance. Overall, he approved of Tobirama's fighting style, but pointed out one flaw in Hiugo's: he could have ended the fight as safely as possible with a long-range jutsu, yet he'd insisted on starting with a Taijutsu exchange.

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with that, but at Hiugo's age, his body hadn't fully developed. Even as a member of the Senju Clan, his immature physique put him at a disadvantage in a Taijutsu fight.

Hiugo nodded half-heartedly. He knew that crushing his opponent with jutsu was best, but his hunger had still driven him into "close combat."

After absorbing the blood of two people in a row, his whole body was now brimming with energy.

Compared to Extra B, who had activated the Sharingan, Extra A's blood tasted so-so, like eating a ration biscuit.

The black branches extracted only the blood's essence rather than draining people dry. They also absorbed the victims' remaining Chakra. Since it didn't belong to Hiugo, it placed no burden on him, and he could control it at will. But it was a consumable that could only be used once: the more he used, the less remained, and without Sealing Jutsu, it would dissipate on its own...

Just then, Tobirama patted Hiugo on the shoulder and said quietly,

"What are you spacing out for?"

Hiugo came back to himself and saw Senju Zhenyang looking at him with some exasperation.

He'd noticed me zoning out...

Hiugo smiled awkwardly.

Senju Zhenyang said nothing more. Instead, he told two clan members to take care of the bodies, then led the boys back to the clan grounds and into the Senju Clan's mission hall.

Every clan in the Warring States had a place dedicated to handling mission requests.

After all, war cost money, training cost money, and daily life cost money too. A clan couldn't produce everything it needed itself; its ninja had to earn money from outside.

This was also one way the Warring States' bloodshed played out: one side paid for protection, the other paid for assassinations. Many ninja died on missions rather than in wars.

The Senju Clan had an excellent reputation in the Warring States. They were not only powerful, but also easygoing, so many people hired them to protect their safety.

The Uchiha, the Senju Clan's sworn enemies, specialized in assassination missions. The two clans could be said to oppose each other in everything.

As they walked, Senju Zhenyang explained,

"The missions here are divided into three grades: white, black, and red. They correspond to Genin, Chunin, and Jonin, respectively. You're both strong enough to be Chunin, so you can take black-grade missions."

"As for ninjutsu and Taijutsu, one of you is the clan leader's son, and the other is the second elder's son. There's not much I can teach you. I can only help you become true ninja in other ways."

Hiugo and Tobirama nodded to show they understood. As "second-generation powerful heirs," they had access to the best training resources, so they had few problems in that regard.

"Go home and rest for today. Tomorrow morning, meet outside Tobirama's house. Don't be late."

After choosing a mission, Senju Zhenyang told them this and turned to leave. He didn't take them straight out to complete it, but sent them home to rest and get ready.

Since their houses were both in the central part of the clan grounds, they were headed the same way.

As they passed Tobirama's house, Hiugo caught sight of a shiny bowl-cut and couldn't help shouting, "Big Pillar!"

The bowl-cut boy froze, then turned and saw that his brother had a smile on his face. As something occurred to him, he hurried over to Tobirama and looked him up and down.

"Tobirama, I heard you were hurt. How are you? Was it serious...?"

Tobirama took a step back.

"Big brother, I'm fine now."

"That's good..."

The bowl-cut boy let out a sigh of relief, then looked at Hiugo.

"And you are?"

It wasn't surprising that he didn't remember him. The children of the Senju Clan usually trained at home and rarely went out, so they changed a lot as they grew up.

Besides, the two of them had only met twice, and the last time had been two years ago.

"Hashirama, I'm Hiugo, Senju Genma's son. Don't you remember me?"

Hiugo dabbed at nonexistent tears, looking "heartbroken."

"I-I'm sorry."

Hashirama quickly apologized.

Tobirama covered his face and reminded him,

"Big brother, couldn't you tell he was pretending?"

At that, a cloud seemed to appear over Hashirama's head. He hugged his knees and sat on the ground, looking dejected.

"As expected, I'm not a good big brother. I couldn't even see through that..."

"No, you're a good big brother. We just haven't seen each other in ages."

Hiugo hadn't expected to silence the future God of Shinobi with just a couple of words, and felt a little guilty.

Who knew Hashirama would immediately get up and grin?

"Hehe, I fooled you too, didn't I?"

"..."

Was this the God of Shinobi's devious side?

"Big Pillar, I didn't see you last time I came by. What were you doing?"

At Hiugo's question, Hashirama blushed and stammered for a long time without answering.

Tobirama thought it over. Since it wasn't a secret, he answered for Hashirama.

"Big brother went to the Uzumaki Clan to form a marriage alliance."

A marriage alliance? Mito Uzumaki?

Hiugo blinked. Anyone who'd watched the anime knew Hashirama's wife, but he hadn't expected him and Mito to have been promised to each other as children.

The Uzumaki Clan had long been distant relatives of the Senju Clan, and Hashirama was being raised as its heir. A marriage alliance wasn't strange, though not many people entered such unions just to preserve the bloodline.

Hashirama had wanted Hiugo to come inside for a meal, but the thought that Senju Butsuma, the clan leader, might be in there made Hiugo politely decline.

Honestly, I'd rather take three lashes from the old man than see Butsuma. Nothing good ever comes from meeting the clan leader. He might give me another mission.

When Hiugo got home and opened the door, he saw a miniature green suit of armor and a katana waiting inside.

Did he know I'd be leaving the clan grounds for a mission?

Hiugo tried on the armor and found that it fit perfectly, as though it had been tailor-made for him.

The katana was about 1.2 meters long, taller than Hiugo himself. It would be a little difficult for a child to wield it nimbly.

But it was clearly meant for him to use when he was older. It was probably some kind of spoils of war that his father had casually snatched and given him.

Hiugo slid it into its scabbard, refined some Chakra, then infused a sheet of Chakra paper with the Chakra he'd just refined.

The paper underwent three changes: one area became damp, another crumpled, and a third caught fire.

As expected, after absorbing the blood of two Uchiha, he had gained a Fire nature in addition to his Water and Lightning natures.

Earlier, while traveling, I could feel that my Chakra control had improved a little too. Maybe I can try forming Hand Seals with one hand now.

Hiugo had tried it a long time ago, but his control hadn't been good enough. Now that it had improved, he could give it another shot.

I'm so jealous of Big Pillar. He just claps his hands and gets whatever he wants. I can't do that, so I'll have to focus on Hand Seals instead.

Hiugo thought it over. Since he was only just starting to practice one-handed Hand Seals, he chose the basic Substitution Technique. Compared to other offensive jutsu, the Substitution Technique had more practical uses, especially since it could catch opponents off guard.