Arrival in Konoha

"Hiss, how terrifying."

Shin hid to the side, watching Tsunade punch a ninja to death and leave the opponent looking like they had been through a car crash, unable to stop himself from gasping in cold air.

Well, a single gasp wasn't enough to express the shock in his heart; Shin decided he needed to gasp again.

This woman's strength is terrifying to this degree, she must never be... pfft, pfft, pfft, have I been influenced by something?

"Shin, what are you muttering to yourself about?" Kushina nudged Shin and asked.

"It's nothing, Kushina. Don't you think she's very violent?"

Shin looked at the miserable state of that ninja, feeling that if he were to take a punch like that, he probably wouldn't fare much better.

"Violent? I think it's alright." A glow bloomed in Kushina's eyes, and there was clearly a hint of yearning in her gaze.

At this moment, Shin subconsciously wanted to distance himself from Kushina. Could it be that in her heart, Kushina also wanted to become that violent?

Shin suddenly remembered that Kushina's temper didn't seem all that great either.

Shin continued to watch Tsunade. Her strength at this moment should be at the level of an elite jonin, yet she was erupting with power far exceeding that of an ordinary elite jonin.

One punch to kill a ninja—it was practically like swatting children.

"Who exactly sent these ninjas?"

Shin's gaze turned toward the ninjas attacking them. Originally, he had assumed their target was them, the members of the Uzumaki Clan.

But now, it seemed to Shin that the opponents were actually coming for the Senju Clan.

Shin saw that the chunin named Uzumaki Hikari had already moved away from their protection. If they wanted to strike at the Uzumaki Clan, they could have just moved to kill Uzumaki Hikari right now.

Shin's expression was somewhat strange. Perhaps these ninjas were from Konoha.

This guess wasn't impossible. First of all, they were within the borders of the Land of Fire.

If twenty-some foreign ninjas had infiltrated the Land of Fire and Konoha, the number one ninja village, didn't know about it, that would be truly inexcusable.

Sigh, I suddenly realize that heading to Konoha isn't that safe after all.

Perhaps the incident involving the Uzumaki Clan in the Land of Whirlpools also had something to do with Konoha, Shin thought to himself.

When the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out, the only reinforcements Konoha sent were Tsunade and nine members of the Senju Clan.

It was fortunate that the invaders had already left; otherwise, the reinforcements sent by Konoha would have been nothing more than fodder.

Now, encountering enemies within the Land of Fire who seemed to be targeting the Senju Clan, and linking this to the fact that in the future, there would be no one left of the Senju Clan besides Tsunade, Shin felt his guess was likely spot on.

However, even if he had guessed it, Shin wouldn't say it out loud. Not to mention that it was all just his speculation without evidence.

Even if there were evidence, so what? Shin understood the principle that trouble comes from the mouth; some things were best left to rot in one's stomach.

He wondered if these were men of the Third Hokage or men of Danzo. Shin guessed they were likely Danzo's subordinates.

Tsunade was the disciple of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Although Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't be considered a saint, he wasn't exactly evil either. Attacking his own disciple was something Sarutobi Hiruzen would absolutely never do.

But that guy Danzo—he was capable of anything.

He had to be careful of Danzo when going to Konoha. However, as long as he didn't stand out too much, Danzo shouldn't notice him.

It was just that when he was dodging the Shuriken and Kunai attacks with Kushina earlier, the speed he had burst out with seemed to have been seen by Tsunade. He hoped Tsunade wouldn't talk about it.

"Damn it."

Tsunade suddenly noticed that a ninja with extremely high strength was in the middle of slaughtering members of the Senju Clan.

Tsunade estimated that the person's strength was likely that of an elite jonin. They might be a bit weaker than her, but compared to the others, their strength was far too high.

In a short amount of time, that person had already coordinated with other ninjas to kill three Senju Clan jonin.

Tsunade's eyes blazed with fire, and she wanted to rush over to kill that guy, but she was intercepted. Even though they were just chunin, they blocked her path with no regard for their own lives.

"Get out of my way! Heavenly Foot!"

Tsunade stomped her foot onto the ground, causing countless cracks to spread and the earth to tremble. The ninjas who had come to block her lost their footing and were shaken to the ground.

Some ninjas even had their legs trapped in the splitting fissures, rendering them unable to move.

Tsunade ignored these ninjas and charged toward that elite jonin.

The elite jonin immediately retreated, gave Tsunade a cold look, and shouted, "Retreat."

The attacking ninjas retreated rapidly without any delay. Tsunade watched the retreating ninjas, but there was nothing she could do.

She had finally managed to catch one alive, but the opponent had committed suicide.

Shin pulled Kushina out and looked at Tsunade, whose eyes were red with fury. He shook his head inwardly; it really was a tragedy.

This time, three jonin of the Senju Clan had died, leaving only six of the original nine, and all of them were carrying some degree of injury.

Jonin, after all, were the backbone of any major ninja village, and their status within a clan was even higher.

The Senju Clan was no longer the great power it once was; excluding Tsunade, they had only had these nine jonin, and now three were gone.

"Take their remains, let's go."

Tsunade lowered her head and instructed the others.

They continued their journey toward Konoha, but Tsunade was much more silent on the road, and the atmosphere of the entire group felt off.

After traveling for two days, they finally arrived at Konoha, the number one ninja village in the ninja world.

Ever since the ambush, the rest of the journey had been very peaceful, and they returned to Konoha without further incident.

"You all go back and bury them. I will take them to see the Hokage," Tsunade said to the other clansmen.

The Senju Clan members nodded and returned to the Senju Clan Grounds, intending to lay their fallen comrades to rest.

Tsunade then took Shin, Kushina, Uzumaki Akiko, Uzumaki Kai, and Uzumaki Hikari—the five survivors of the Uzumaki Clan—and headed toward the Hokage's office.

Upon arriving at the Hokage's office, Tsunade smashed the door into splinters with a single punch. Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was busy with paperwork, looked up, and upon seeing it was Tsunade, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Tsunade, you're back. How is the Uzumaki Clan?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't bother fussing over Tsunade smashing the door; after all, it wasn't the first or second time she had done so.

"The Uzumaki Clan is gone. These are the survivors of the Uzumaki Clan," Tsunade said with a grim expression.

"What? You mean the Uzumaki Clan is gone? How could they be gone?" Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up and asked Tsunade.

"By the time I arrived at the Uzumaki Clan, it was already too late. The Uzumaki Clan had already been destroyed. These are the survivors of the Uzumaki Clan."

As she spoke, Tsunade clenched her fists. It was all because the news had arrived too late; if they had received word sooner, perhaps the Uzumaki Clan would not have suffered the catastrophe of annihilation.

"I see."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat back down, his gaze shifting to Shin and the others, his eyes filled with scrutiny.

Being stared at by Sarutobi Hiruzen made Shin feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze was incredibly sharp; after all, this was Sarutobi Hiruzen in his prime, not the old man of the Third Generation from the future.

That sharp gaze seemed capable of seeing through all one's secrets, and Shin felt uneasy under such a look.