A Bizarre Worldview

Ever since Senju Kyogawa healed the severely wounded in public—and threw in the treatment of an entire squad for good measure—his reputation within the Senju clan shifted instantly.

Those who had witnessed the scene discussed the miracle over tea and meals; even those who had previously viewed Senju Kyogawa as a "monster" could not help but offer their praise.

The Senju clansmen who hadn't been there were naturally skeptical, yet they couldn't help but marvel at how accomplished Senju Butsuma's sons were, sighing that the man certainly knew how to sire capable children.

In the end, the ninja world respected strength above all else. Senju Kyogawa had been branded a "monster" before only because he had burned several midwives to death at birth, and his arrival had coincided with a day of defeat for the Senju. Fear of Kyogawa was merely a natural human reaction to the unknown.

However, since being released, Senju Kyogawa had done nothing to harm anyone, nor had he displayed that strange flame ability; in fact, he was now saving lives.

By this point, most of the Senju had set aside their prejudices and begun to accept Senju Butsuma's "monster" youngest son.

After all, who would dare offend a ninja capable of medical ninjutsu? In a ninja world where wars were fought every few days, every ninja lived with their head on the chopping block, walking a path of blood. No ninja would be foolish enough to provoke a medical ninja.

Furthermore, after observing him closely for days, the Senju clansmen realized that Senju Kyogawa frequently helped his kin and was, by nature, a well-behaved child.

From then on, whenever Senju Kyogawa walked through the Senju compound, people would greet him.

This life, in such stark contrast to the past, left Senju Kyogawa sighing in relief as he enjoyed a few days of genuine comfort.

As for why it only lasted a few days?

That was because, after a few days, Senju Kyogawa's head had completely healed—not even a scar remained—and he returned to his daily routine of being unilaterally "beaten" by Senju Butsuma.

In fact, knowing that Kyogawa possessed medical ninjutsu, Senju Butsuma showed no "tenderness" at all; instead, he felt even more at ease "pummeling" Senju Kyogawa.

Consequently, Senju Kyogawa, who had only enjoyed a few days of peace, was left wanting to cry without tears, forced to heal himself day and night.

It wasn't until one night, while he was busy healing himself, that Senju Kyogawa suddenly discovered something—

His skills had changed!

Senju Kyogawa opened his "Touch" panel.

[Name: (Senju) Kyogawa Gender: Male Age: 4 Touch Value: 666 (approximately 6 days of lifespan) Skills: "Flame", Advanced Healing ("Thou Shalt Not Die" unlocking)]

That's a rather auspicious lifespan.

Senju Kyogawa tapped on "Thou Shalt Not Die," but it only displayed that the usage conditions had not been met.

Senju Kyogawa scratched his head in confusion:

Is this a hidden skill?

But why isn't there a skill description? How am I supposed to meet the conditions?

Senju Kyogawa asked the system, but the system could not provide an answer.

Senju Kyogawa gave up on further investigation. He decided to let nature take its course; perhaps the unlocking conditions would be met suddenly in the future?

Time passed quickly, the weather grew colder by the day, and winter drew ever closer.

As the days went by, the war between the Senju and the Uchiha remained deadlocked.

Autumn had arrived, and food was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. With winter only two months away, supplies would only grow scarcer.

Every winter was a tacitly agreed-upon truce period for all nations; since few hired ninjas during this time, one of the few ways for ninjas to obtain supplies vanished. To preserve their strength, every ninja clan stopped fighting by mutual understanding.

The current battle between the Senju and the Uchiha was not just a war of pride, but a war for resources.

Whoever won could demonstrate greater strength and secure more contracts from the various nations.

It was a chance to secure a large number of commissions before winter set in—a battle for survival.

However, as the weather grew colder, both clan heads, Senju Butsuma and Uchiha Tajima, simultaneously and tacitly announced a ceasefire to conserve the supplies needed for winter.

To obtain as many supplies as possible and maintain the Senju clan's strength, the compound became increasingly busy. Any ninja old enough to take missions worked against the clock, including Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama.

Senju Itama and Senju Kawarama would turn seven once winter passed.

For ninjas of this era, seven was the age to head to the battlefield.

Therefore, Senju Itama and Senju Kawarama had to seize every moment this winter to learn more survival and combat techniques to ensure they could return from the battlefield alive.

Thus, apart from Senju Kyogawa, Senju Butsuma's other four children were busy from dawn till dusk.

The varying degrees of busyness among his four brothers caused the "salted fish" Senju Kyogawa to begin reflecting on himself.

Infected by the busy atmosphere of the compound, Senju Kyogawa began helping those who weren't out on missions with the distribution and transport of winter supplies, as well as helping to make winter clothes and quilts.

In his spare time, Senju Kyogawa would train his taijutsu in a half-hearted, inconsistent manner.

These days, Senju Kyogawa saw his four brothers less and less, making it nearly impossible to gain a large amount of Touch Value. To survive, Senju Kyogawa had no choice but to grab the rabbit he had caught earlier and milk it for every bit of Touch Value he could get.

When the last leaf fell from the tree, winter finally arrived.

Senju Kyogawa changed into thick cotton clothes; he felt a warmth he had never known before this winter.

Back when he was locked in that small room with Senju Haruko, perhaps because they were far from the crowd, he had struggled to feel warm even under thick quilts during the winter, and Senju Kyogawa would often shiver in the middle of the night.

Perhaps because Senju Butsuma had been training Senju Kyogawa throughout the past year, Kyogawa's physique had improved significantly, and his once-frail frame was gradually covered by a thin layer of muscle.

This winter, Kyogawa could drink hot water and warm soup, and when he felt cold, he could sneak into his older brothers' blankets—a feeling he had never experienced before.

Having been an orphan in his previous life, Kyogawa finally experienced the warmth of a family.

Senju Haruko gave Kyogawa selfless maternal love, and his brothers provided him with meticulous care.

As for Senju Butsuma, perhaps harboring some resentment that Kyogawa's arrival had drained away Haruko's remaining vitality, his attitude toward Kyogawa always remained like that of a superior to a subordinate; he never once took the initiative to get close to his youngest son.

However, Kyogawa did not mind Butsuma's attitude; he felt that it was already good enough that Butsuma was willing to teach him taijutsu. After all, as the clan head, Butsuma still managed to carve out time from his busy schedule to instruct a greenhorn like him.

In short, this was the warmest winter Senju Kyogawa had ever spent.

Even the gloves, which felt hot to wear in the summer, provided Kyogawa with a great deal of warmth during the winter.

Speaking of the gloves, one had to mention the "flame" ability sealed away by them.

In his spare time, Kyogawa had run to the outskirts of the Senju compound to practice his "flame" ability, but strangely, the "flames"—much like his chakra—seemed to be sealed away; no matter what he did, he could not manifest them, even after he took off the gloves.

After many failed attempts, Kyogawa had gradually given up on using the "flame" ability.

Having solved the problem of "warmth," Kyogawa now faced a major dilemma—

"Fullness"!

Senju Kyogawa had not eaten a full meal in several days.

Perhaps because ninjas did not engage in production, Kyogawa had never seen any farmland in the Senju compound, nor had he seen the clansmen raising livestock.

This made winter in the ninja world extremely difficult to endure. Farmers in other countries relied on the harvests from previous seasons to survive the winter, and since most of their grain was handed over to the nobles and daimyo of various nations, there was simply no surplus food to sell to ninjas.

Therefore, there were only two ways for ninjas to obtain the food they needed for winter:

First, accept commissions from various countries to earn food.

Second, plunder the grain reserves of other ninja clans.

But this year, there was an added debuff—the weather had been poor, leading to reduced harvests in many countries, with some seeing no yield at all.

Under these circumstances, the daimyo of many nations naturally would not choose to hire ninjas with grain, and even if ninjas were paid in money, it was difficult to procure large quantities of food.

Because of this, every ninja clan was living frugally this winter, and no one had the spare energy to provoke others, which inadvertently brought about a brief period of peace in the ninja world.

For a large clan like the Senju, while their grain reserves were relatively larger than those of smaller clans, the Senju were composed mostly of strong, able-bodied men, and their appetites were correspondingly large.

Consequently, it was difficult for the Senju clan to ensure everyone was full this winter; they could only ensure that their clansmen did not starve to death.

At this point, Kyogawa couldn't help but ask:

"Why doesn't the Senju clan produce its own food? We are located in an area with fertile soil, good rainfall, and plenty of sunlight; why can't we be self-sufficient?"

To this, Senju Butsuma's explanation was that the able-bodied ninjas of the Senju clan all had to go out on missions, leaving behind only the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, who lacked the ability to farm.

"Then why must we rely on missions to get food? Wouldn't it be better to keep the able-bodied labor force to farm?"

However, when Kyogawa said this, Senju Butsuma replied with righteous indignation:

"Ninjas are born for missions."

To this, Kyogawa was deeply confused and utterly shocked.