The Sun's Ambition (2)

Madara and Izuna also arrived at Mingye's side. Hashirama watched as the three giant snakes formed a triangular cage around the entire area. He knew that even if he exhausted all his strength, it would be impossible to lead his clansmen away safely. He compromised, looked at the three Uchiha brothers, and spoke.

"Tell me, what will it take for you to let my clansmen go!"

"Kill yourself!"

"Third Brother!"

Mingye spoke to Hashirama before Madara could open his mouth. Madara frowned at Mingye; although he disdained Mingye's current methods, he was his younger brother, so he found it difficult to rebuke him openly. Mingye, without a hint of pretense, looked earnestly at where Hashirama stood and spoke again.

"Big Brother, I am speaking the truth. Do not think I am joking; I am very serious now! Hashirama, do you know my next plan? Do you know the Hatake Clan? Just as we planned to ambush you here, the Hatake Clan, along with three or four smaller clans, are heading straight for your clan's settlement. Unexpected, isn't it? That the hiding place of the Senju Clan has long been under my control. Although I issued an order not to kill, have you ever thought about what I would do?"

"Exhausted in body and mind, what can you do even if I let you go now? The moment the Forest Senju Clan chose to aid the Kurohabaki Clan, they had no other choice. Submission is something our Uchiha Clan does not need. Your clan is destined to perish at my hands today. I am faster than you, just as we said in the woods back then. We share the same dream, but it is destined that only one person can touch that dream and bring it into reality!"

Hashirama fell silent. If what Mingye said was true, perhaps the old, weak, women, and children of his clan had already been captured by the Hatake Clan's ninjas. In such a short time, it was impossible to summon other allied ninja forces for help. The most lethal point of Mingye's lightning strike was that it left them with no way to counterattack. From the moment the Kurohabaki ninjas suddenly appeared at the clan, and his father decided to reinforce them, the entire situation of the battle had been completely controlled by Mingye.

Lowering his head, Hashirama searched his mind for a way to break this deadlock. Tobirama's departure could not resolve the situation in the short term. Hashirama could even foresee that if Tobirama made the slightest move to seek reinforcements from other clans in the Land of Fire, Mingye would decisively slaughter the old, weak, women, and children in the clan, along with his clansmen here. His goal was no longer just to force him to his death, but to uproot the entire Senju Clan. Thinking this far, Hashirama stopped. It was either his death or the clan's destruction. Mingye's goal was simple, and he had no way to break it. With a bitter expression, Hashirama looked at Mingye and spoke again.

"Mingye, I didn't expect I would still be this slow. What I expected even less was that you have truly accomplished so much in less than a year. If I die, are you truly willing to let my clansmen go!"

Mingye knew that Hashirama must have already realized in his heart what he would do next. In truth, even he hadn't expected that a simple "luring the tiger from the mountain" combined with "crossing the sea under camouflage"—a scheme that any clear-eyed person could see through—would be so lethal and impossible to break. Gazing in the direction of Hashirama's chakra, Mingye issued his final ultimatum.

"Correct. Aside from Tobirama, I will not specifically slaughter any other member of your clan!"

"Not even Tobirama?"

Mingye's words shattered Hashirama's last shred of hope. He knew of Tobirama's ambitions, and it seemed Mingye understood Tobirama just as well. From the very first time they met months ago, Mingye had been working on various plans to kill Tobirama. It seemed that from the beginning, Mingye only wanted to kill the two brothers. This persistence made Hashirama smile bitterly, and he could not help but admire Mingye's strategy.

Mingye did not think so much. Hearing Hashirama's muttering, he sneered with disdain.

"You know better than I do what Tobirama is capable of. I will not have peace of mind unless he is dead!"

Hashirama looked at Mingye for a long time before finally making his decision. He took off his armor and drew the long blade at his waist. He no longer looked at his clansmen beneath the wooden wall, nor did he listen to their suggestions to keep fighting. He let out a long sigh and spoke to the silent Madara.

"I see. Cutting the weeds and digging up the roots—I should have expected this. It seems the one closest to the dream is, in the end, you!"

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

The suicide was a step too slow. A ten-zhang wave suddenly appeared in the sky. In a place devoid of water, the surging waves formed a massive torrent. Even Manda was instantly swatted away by the impact. Above the towering waves, the figure of Senju Butsuma appeared within Mingye's perception—a figure radiating an extremely violent, red-natured chakra.

"Eight Inner Gates!"

The eruption of ninjutsu brought about by that intense chakra instantly destroyed the previously perfect situation. Mingye no longer bothered to threaten Hashirama; under Hashirama's gaze, he performed a summoning to issue a kill order to the Hatake Clan thousands of miles away.

Hashirama watched Mingye's actions in silence, a premonition already forming in his heart. There was no anger, nor was there sorrow. He had known this bitter fruit would come the moment Mingye tried to force him to his death. Even if he and Tobirama died, how could Mingye possibly let the entire Senju Clan go? Mingye had been deceiving him all along.

After shaking off the Uchiha ninjas, Tobirama brought his father, Butsuma, to a large tree outside the iron prison. Butsuma pressed down on the shoulder of Tobirama, who wanted to keep fleeing, and spoke to him.

"Put me down!"

"Father! Your condition is dire; we need to find a place to treat your wounds immediately!"

Pinned by his father's hand, Tobirama could no longer move quickly. He stopped and looked with concern at the foul-smelling wound on his father's abdomen.

Butsuma chuckled, glanced at his wound, and said to Tobirama, "The prosperity of the world is but an illusion. The Forest Senju Clan must never decline under my watch. You must go quickly to rescue Hashirama, and together, lead the clan to evacuate the central region of the Land of Fire. The recovery and rise of the clan depend on you both!"

"Father, you will be fine!"

Tobirama gritted his teeth as he tried to comfort him, but Butsuma laughed heartily in response.

"Tobirama, do you think I am a three-year-old child? I know my own condition better than you do. This poison cannot be cured. You know what is required to neutralize the virulent toxins of Ryuchi Cave. Can you find those herbs for me within thirty minutes? Tobirama, go find your brother and leave quickly!"

"You had better hurry, or Hashirama and the rest of your clan's ninjas will be slaughtered!"

Just as Tobirama and Butsuma were speaking, Uzumaki Aihara, who should have been killed in Mingye's ambush, appeared behind them. Watching them with a sense of urgency, Tobirama was stunned; he had seen Aihara killed by Mingye and Izuna with his own eyes, and seeing him again made him recoil in shock.

"Aihara? Didn't you just...!?"

Butsuma smiled, patted Tobirama's shoulder, and praised Aihara.

"The sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan are truly unfathomable. Aihara, you were hiding your true strength!"

"If I didn't have a few tricks up my sleeve, I would have died long ago coming to your Land of Fire!"

Uzumaki Aihara walked quickly to Butsuma's side, his hands gathering chakra as he pressed them against the wound on Butsuma's abdomen. A layer of barrier appeared, squeezing the black venom out of his body. However, after finishing, Aihara's expression turned grave as he looked at Butsuma, as if there were words he didn't know how to say. Butsuma, reading his expression, sensed the trouble and asked, seemingly realizing something.

"How much time do I have left?"

Uzumaki Aihara let out a long sigh. In his decades of practicing medicine, he had never seen such a peculiar poison. It was not immediately fatal, but it completely sealed the victim's chakra. Even if the toxin were removed, it would form a strange chakra within the victim's body—a chakra that would grow stronger as the victim used their own, eventually causing them to explode and die like a balloon.

"I have never seen this poison before! It seems only one ability can neutralize it!"

Facing Uzumaki Aihara's words, Butsuma remained quite calm. When Mingye summoned the snakes, he had already guessed the source of Mingye's inheritance. After all, the Senju Clan's intelligence network was vast, and he had a detailed understanding of the three great unknown summoning lands. Faced with a poison that even the medical master of the Uzumaki Clan could not cure, Butsuma immediately voiced his thoughts.

"Sage Art! If I am not mistaken, this is the venom from the fangs of the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave, isn't it?"

Uzumaki Aihara did not deny it. He had never seen Sage Art himself, so he did not know much about it. He sighed, silently placed the Scroll of Sealing on Butsuma, and after doing so, shook his head apologetically.

"I am sorry, Butsuma. I do not have the ability to neutralize this toxin; at most, I can only delay its eruption! Unless we can find a successor from Mount Myoboku, you have at most three months to live."

"That is enough. I do not need three months!"

Butsuma stood up, finding that the effects of the poison that had plagued him were temporarily gone. He looked proudly at Tobirama and spoke.

"You must take Hashirama and leave. Remember, never think of avenging me until you have a powerful force!"

"Father!"

"I am not so old that I need my son to protect me!"

"Forbidden Technique: Gate of View: Open!"