War and Peace

The Senju Kyogawa family sat down to eat together once more, though the atmosphere at the table was excruciatingly awkward.

Senju Butsuma was the type of man who would never bring up business at the dinner table; regardless of his mood, he would never lash out during a meal.

Consequently, Senju Kyogawa found his food tasteless and felt restless throughout the meal. Senju Butsuma's expression remained his usual mask of indifference, leaving Senju Kyogawa unable to glean anything from his unchanging face.

What Senju Kyogawa did not know was that Senju Butsuma was feeling just as awkward—to the point where he could practically dig a seaside villa into the floorboards with his toes.

Senju Kyogawa could only comfort himself by assuming that perhaps nothing was wrong.

Senju Hashirama, however, seemed completely unaffected, continuing to eat with great enthusiasm and occasionally giving a thumbs-up to praise how much better Senju Kyogawa's cooking had become.

Senju Tobirama also finished this agonizing dinner in silence—to him, this meal was likely even less comfortable than the one he had eaten at noon.

When the meal finally ended, Senju Butsuma set down his chopsticks, his face grave, looking as if he were about to begin reprimanding them.

Senju Kyogawa immediately sat up straight, preparing to face Senju Butsuma's sanctions.

"Kyogawa, judging by what the Uchiha boy said today, you know both of them?" Although Senju Butsuma phrased it as a question, his tone was certain; it was clear he already knew the answer and was merely asking as a matter of procedure.

"Yes." Seeing this, Senju Kyogawa had no intention of denying it and readily admitted the truth.

However, he did not expect that the first person Senju Butsuma would question was not Senju Hashirama, but him.

After saying this, Senju Butsuma fell into silence, as if he, too, did not know what else to say.

After a long while, he said in a dry tone:

"Do not associate with the Uchiha boys again in the future. I am afraid you will be deceived by them."

A giant question mark appeared over Senju Kyogawa's head: ???

Was he being serious?

"And you, Hashirama. If you associate with Uchiha Madara again, I will have to consider breaking your legs." Senju Butsuma glared at Senju Hashirama and added.

"If you show trust toward the Uchiha, they will steal intelligence the moment you lower your guard and let your vigilance slip."

"Look at how Uchiha Madara and Izuna Uchiha first tricked you into trusting them, only to use you to successfully awaken their Sharingan. The Uchiha clan are all evil, malicious people; you must never trust them."

"You heard those two Uchiha say they wanted to cut ties with you today. They were simply playing with your emotions."

Senju Butsuma spoke with conviction, seemingly attempting to frighten Senju Kyogawa into abandoning any thought of continuing his association with the Uchiha clan.

Senju Kyogawa's mouth twitched. He felt speechless, unable to help but think:

Father Butsuma, it's one thing to use this line to fool Brother Hashirama, but this level of nonsense won't scare me...

"No, Madara is not that kind of person... He was clearly in pain today as well..." Senju Hashirama actually took Senju Butsuma's words to heart and stubbornly retorted.

However, Senju Butsuma was thoroughly incensed by Senju Hashirama. With deep anger in his eyes, he said with a tone of frustrated disappointment:

"How would you know? It was his clansmen who killed your brother and left Kyogawa severely wounded. You trust him? After all the lessons paid for in the blood of our kin, you still trust him?"

"No one knows what that boy is plotting. If you are deceived, you will plunge the Senju clan into grave danger!"

Senju Butsuma's tone was stern and brooked no argument. Senju Hashirama felt as if he had been scorched by his father's angry gaze; he lowered his eyes and replied in a tone of compromise:

"Yes... Father..."

Senju Kyogawa watched this scene unfold, knowing that all of this was the fault of the current era.

The friendship of youths should not have been questioned. Yet, in this misguided age, the bond between two like-minded boys was ultimately buried by the blood and carnage of their clans.

Senju Butsuma and Uchiha Tajima were not wrong either; they were merely fulfilling the obligations of clan heads, maintaining the most malicious suspicions toward anyone who could be an enemy. This was their way of protecting their people and their naive children.

It was just that Senju Kyogawa could not accept such an era, nor could he accept such reasoning.

If he wanted to change this era, building a village would not be enough.

Perhaps, as he had joked before—perhaps establishing a Land of Shinobi, a nation powerful enough to rival the Daimyo and the nobility, was the only way to change this wretched world and its twisted systems.

But human perception could not be changed overnight. Perhaps only after establishing a Land of Shinobi could he slowly begin to shift the perspectives of commoners and ninja alike.

Senju Kyogawa felt he could no longer sit idly by; perhaps he should start making preparations.

However, before Senju Kyogawa could make any moves, the war began again.

This war came suddenly, stemming from an inexplicable conflict between the Senju and the Hagoromo clan.

That was right, it was inexplicable. The Hagoromo clan suddenly attacked the Senju over a mission, evolving from a skirmish between a few individuals into a localized conflict, and finally into a war between the Senju and the Uchiha.

The Uchiha clan, who were often at odds with the Senju, saw this opportunity to intervene and joined the fray.

From then on, the war became a conflict between the Senju, the Uchiha, and the Hagoromo.

Under these circumstances, the Senju were actually at a disadvantage, as they were facing two ninja clans. Furthermore, while the Hagoromo clan was no match for the Senju or Uchiha individually, they had the advantage of numbers. As the saying went: three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. There was strength in numbers, after all...

This was Senju Kyogawa's second time on the battlefield.

Compared to his first time, Senju Kyogawa now had quite a bit of experience, for instance—

He could now kill an enemy without blinking, thanks to his strong psychological conditioning.

Before heading to the battlefield this time, Senju Kyogawa had spent a long time mentally preparing himself. He gave himself psychological suggestions: if he did not kill them, the enemy would come to kill him. This had almost become a form of self-hypnosis.

And this psychological suggestion did indeed play a significant role on the battlefield; at the very least, Senju Kyogawa was no longer timid.

However, Senju Kyogawa still did not fight on the front lines this time. He defined his role as a medical ninja; he thought that if possible, he still did not want to be an executioner who took the lives of others.

If he had a choice, Senju Kyogawa wanted to be someone who saved lives.

Even if the Senju clansmen he saved might eventually become the blades that killed others.