Parting

The moment Hidden Leaf Village declared war on Hidden Rain Village, Hidden Sand Village, Hidden Cloud Village, and Hidden Stone Village all received the news.

Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Stone Village followed suit, launching a war against Hidden Rain Village and beginning their mobilization.

In the fifteen years of development since the First Shinobi World War, the various nations had long been dissatisfied with the status quo, leading to constant small-scale armed conflicts.

Previously, they had feared the strength of the Land of Fire and dared not initiate large-scale warfare, but now that Hidden Leaf Village had taken the lead in striking at Hidden Rain Village, they had to step in to claim their share of the spoils.

Hidden Cloud Village, separated from Hidden Rain Village by the Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Water, and the Land of Moon, chose not to participate, opting instead to remain still and wait for an opportunity.

As for Hidden Mist Village, due to their isolationist policy, they did not receive the news immediately.

The gates of Hidden Leaf Village.

On the eve of war, the entire village was shrouded in a tense atmosphere.

Every ordinary villager and ninja was guessing and wondering what kind of catastrophe this war would bring.

Senju Genma looked around; he could still see ninjas saying goodbye to their families, while others stood alone, looking blankly in all directions.

They could not control their present, nor could they foresee their future; they could only choose to wait in a daze.

War always brings fear, pain, displacement, suffering, and disaster...

At the very least, this daze allowed them to temporarily forget these negative perceptions of the battlefield.

They were the temporary medical ninja unit assembled by Hidden Leaf, led by Tsunade.

At this time, the medical ninja system of Hidden Leaf was not yet perfect, so the team was assembled slowly.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya had already led the main force to depart for the battlefield in advance, intending to catch Hidden Rain Village off guard.

Senju Genma carefully tidied Tsunade's clothes; the setting sun stretched their shadows, but in the end, they remained connected.

"You really are something. You're about to head to the battlefield, yet you're still so careless. This is your waist pouch; I brought it for you, and I've already organized the ninja tools inside."

Senju Genma thoughtfully tied the waist pouch for Tsunade and straightened her jonin vest.

Tsunade just stared at him blankly, saying nothing.

Senju Genma smiled as he smoothed out her collar.

"I know that when I wake up tomorrow, I won't be able to see you."

"But rest assured, we will meet again soon, though perhaps the scene then won't be a pleasant one."

Tsunade did not understand what he meant; in her view, the next time they met should be the most beautiful of scenes.

"I will look forward to our next meeting."

She slowly leaned down and kissed Senju Genma on the forehead.

She did not like war, nor did she want to participate in it, but she had no choice.

No one had coerced her; she was voluntarily swept along, and what swept her along was the small figure before her, as well as the companions she spent her days with in the village.

Senju Genma met her gaze and waved to bid her farewell.

She merely avoided Senju Genma's eyes, turned around with a cool, dashing air, and waved for him to go back.

Tsunade had settled her personal affairs and accepted her responsibility.

The ninjas left the vicinity of the gate one after another.

The assembly time was almost upon them; they would gather in the forest ten miles west of the village before heading to the battlefield under Tsunade's leadership.

And before them lay the cycle of life and death.

They did not know what the outcome would be; they only understood what they had to do.

Senju Genma would not mock them for being foolish, for becoming pawns of the powerful without knowing it; he only wished to praise their courage in facing life and death.

Senju Genma did not dislike those who were willing to give their lives to protect certain things or certain people.

He did not return to the clan grounds, but instead went back to the Ninja Academy.

In this campus, war seemed to have nothing to do with them; everything was still orderly, just lacking some of the usual hustle and bustle.

Senju Genma arrived at the teachers' office and found Kato Taka, who was resting with his eyes closed.

The two did not exchange many words; Kato Taka handed the Hidden Leaf ninja headband, engraved with the abstract leaf pattern, to Senju Genma.

One month later, Konoha Arena.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the head of the Senju Clan, Uzumaki Mito, sat high on the platform, surrounded by more than a dozen jonin and dozens of chunin.

There were over three hundred jonin remaining in the village, but only these twelve could spare the time to come and watch the match.

They represented the ninja clans and civilian ninjas respectively to witness the birth of the first new jonin during the war.

The main reason they had squeezed time out of their busy schedules to come here was that this ninja, who might become a jonin, was a famous wielder of Wood Release ninjutsu in Hidden Leaf.

Wood Release was not only the pride of the Senju Clan, but also the pride of Hidden Leaf.

Most of the jonin of this generation in Hidden Leaf grew up listening to the stories of the legendary Wood Release ninja, the God of Shinobi, and the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.

They wanted to see what kind of future this new Wood Style user would have, and whether he could become the next God of Shinobi.

There were two paths for a ninja to advance in Konoha.

The first path, during times of peace, was to obediently attend the Ninja Academy, graduate to become a genin, participate in the Chunin Exams, pass to become a chunin, and finally be promoted to jonin by the Hokage.

The second path, during times of war, was to graduate early as a genin if one's strength was sufficient or if the village was short on manpower; once strong enough, one could become a chunin without taking the exams, and eventually be promoted to jonin by the Hokage.

Senju Genma had taken the initiative to request early graduation from the academy to join the war.

He had many reasons for wanting to participate.

Although he hated to admit it, after living here for so many years, he had developed some genuine feelings for this place; aside from a few individuals, most people treated him very well, even going so far as to treat him like an ancestor to be worshipped.

But most importantly, he wanted to temper himself.

He did not want to become a pseudo-strongman like Kaguya Otsutsuki, who possessed immense skill and power but could not utilize her combat potential as she should.

If Madara Uchiha had the power of Kaguya Otsutsuki, he would surely be able to thrash Naruto and Sasuke with ease.

Uzumaki Mito also agreed with Senju Genma's idea.

She had never opposed children undergoing real-world experience.

She herself, Hashirama, Tobirama, and Madara Uchiha, all the way down to Hiruzen Sarutobi, had all been forged on the battlefield.

Even her most beloved granddaughter, Tsunade, had gone to the battlefield at the age of six.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had a rough understanding of Senju Genma's strength and intended to cultivate him as one of his successors, so he planned to promote Genma directly to jonin to join the war.

He was not worried that Senju Genma would achieve such great merit in this war that it would threaten his own position.

Senju Genma was still young; even if he defeated the Hidden Rain Village, he would not become Hokage immediately. If he found that Genma was becoming uncontrollable in the future, he could simply use other methods to undermine his reputation.