Eating What's Mine? Spit It Out!

The Sarutobi Clan and the Ino-Shika-Cho families had developed a rift, just as expected. They simply hadn't noticed it yet.

The Ino-Shika-Cho families had suffered heavy losses in the ambush, while the Sarutobi Family had lost almost nothing, thanks to Senju Nawaki's orders and their cautious approach.

They escorted the remaining half of the food out of the Land of Fields in a tense retreat, without encountering any resistance.

This surprised the Konoha ninja.

They had already discovered that the ninja who attacked them belonged to the Senju Clan.

After the battle at the City of Wood, the two sides had completely fallen out. Why would the Senju let them leave with the food?

They brought the precious food back to Konoha and took the intelligence with them, then awaited Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders, leaving a small number of ninja behind to protect the Land of Fields.

That was Senju Nawaki's true aim. He had never cared about the food, but about what had originally belonged to the Senju Clan.

Senju Nawaki had already burned the Senju Clan's share of the food. Next came the punishment of the traitors.

And then there was the Land of Fields' most precious asset: its fertile land.

Those lands had become so productive thanks to Senju Hashirama's Wood Release and the Senju Clan's skilled Earth Release users, who had changed the terrain and its nutrient content with their chakra and hard work.

After this war, the Land of Fields had been left in ruins.

The once-prosperous Land of Fields had only a small amount of food left.

The Daimyo was consumed by endless regret.

His country could only hope for a good harvest the following year.

Senju Nawaki wasn't about to give the Land of Fields that chance.

The Konoha force left by an old road in the north of the Land of Fire.

Senju Nawaki and Senju Tojian stood on high ground, watching them go.

At their feet lay a mountain of rubble that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Senju Tojian's eyes were full of confusion. Letting the Sarutobi ninja leave so easily seemed far too generous. They had gotten away unscathed and taken the food they had dreamed of.

"Clan head, are we really just going to let them go?"

At some point, Senju Tojian had changed the way he addressed Senju Nawaki. He no longer treated him as a junior, but as a clan head capable of shouldering the Senju Clan's responsibilities.

As he watched the Sarutobi Clan leave, he worried about what would happen next. The Sarutobi Clan might drag all of Konoha into the conflict. If that happened, the Senju Clan would face all of Konoha, and things wouldn't be nearly as easy as they were now.

"The food they're taking belongs to the Land of Fields. Its misfortune is the result of the Daimyo's poor choices.

"Killing these people alone won't be enough to deter anyone. I intend to destroy the entire Land of Fields."

Senju Nawaki crouched and scooped up a handful of sandy soil.

This land hadn't been transformed by Senju Hashirama and the Senju Clan. It was completely unsuitable for growing food—that was what the Land of Fields had been like originally.

"Destroy the Land of Fields? And keep it dependent on us? I don't think we're strong enough."

A look of shock crossed Senju Tojian's eyes.

The Land of Fields was a bit of a liability now. It was a burden on the Senju Clan, and they would have to wait a year before it produced another harvest.

His gaze settled on the handful of sandy soil in Senju Nawaki's hand, as if it had clenched around his heart.

How could food possibly grow in soil like this?

He seemed to understand.

He had been walking the lands of the Land of Fields lately, and the black soil there was completely different from the sandy earth in Senju Nawaki's hand.

Only then did he recall that it was all thanks to the Senju Clan.

That black soil was fertile earth formed from decaying trees. Back then, it had taken Senju Hashirama's leadership and the entire Senju Clan's efforts to transform the Land of Fields.

"There's no need to control the Land of Fields. If they can betray us once, they can do it again, and we don't have the strength to spare.

"Sunagakure and Kumogakure are already preparing to enter the conflict.

"Within three days of the Sarutobi Clan returning to Konoha, a new force of ninja will arrive as well.

"There's no need for the Senju Clan to suffer losses on such a chaotic battlefield.

"What they want is fertile land.

"We'll turn it back into barren land, restoring it to the way it used to be.

"The entire Land of Fields will return to a state where its people go hungry. It will no longer be a major food producer or a prize fought over by the hidden villages. It will simply be a buffer zone between Kumogakure and Konoha."

Senju Nawaki flung the sandy soil from his hand and patiently explained to Senju Tojian.

This approach would not only demonstrate the Senju Clan's power, but also remove a food-producing region and strengthen the Senju Clan's influence.

Everything he had done was about taking back what had once belonged to the Senju Clan from the traitors.

The food they had burned this time had also been the Senju Clan's share.

The food Konoha had taken was the Land of Fields' own people's rations.

If the Daimyo of the Land of Fields wanted his own people to suffer, then they could go on suffering.

Let's see whether they could make it without the Senju Clan.

"What?"

Senju Tojian was deeply shaken. His pupils contracted, and his voice trembled.

If the Land of Fields really returned to the way it had been before the transformation, its population would fall to less than a tenth of what it was. Back then, its land had been even worse than Sunagakure's.

He kept turning over Senju Nawaki's plan in his mind.

With their Wood Release, the two of them could achieve what Senju Nawaki had described and return the Land of Fields to barren land.

Even if their Wood Release was no match for Senju Hashirama's, destroying things was always easier than building them.

The result would be a Land of Fields that was no longer rich in produce, but so barren that it couldn't even feed its own people.

"I'll do as you say, Clan head."

After only a moment's hesitation, Senju Tojian made up his mind.

Traitors would pay the price.

They had given the Land of Fields many chances, but it had never valued them.

"Sixth Grandpa, you can use this opportunity to become more proficient with Wood Release.

"My great-grandfather, Senju Hashirama, used Wood Release to build nations and transform the environment.

"He helped the Land of Fields and the Land of Fire, reshaping their land and environment to make them more suitable for people to live in. He was putting his ninja way into practice.

"Our Wood Release needs to follow its own path.

"You observed the plants of the Ninja World recently and found a mutated Venus Flytrap. It suits your path very well.

"You could try developing your abilities in that direction."

Senju Nawaki gazed into the distance, toward the mountains and clouds of the Ninja World. He always felt somehow out of place, but soon gathered his thoughts and spoke gently to Senju Tojian.

The Ninja World widely regarded Senju Hashirama's deeds as great, but that greatness had hurt the Senju Clan.

Now he was about to destroy a miracle Senju Hashirama had created, and he felt a little wistful.

He wasn't as noble as Senju Tojian. He only wanted to protect himself and the Senju Clan, and make those who had hurt him or betrayed him pay the price.

He would start by erasing Senju Hashirama's legacy. The ideas and actions of Senju Tobirama and Senju Hashirama that had harmed the Senju Clan and its village had to be corrected, one by one.