Hashirama and Madara

After returning to the iron mine, the first thing Ryū did was convene a meeting of the higher-ups.

"After this battle, we've dealt the Kaguya Clan a painful blow. They probably won't dare come looking for trouble again for quite some time," Ryū said.

"Our casualties weren't small either," the Second Elder said sorrowfully.

"Honestly, fighting the Kaguya Clan to the death isn't worth it for us. Our goal is no longer war. We should be recuperating and building up Uzushio Village."

The other elders all voiced their agreement.

"As long as Uzushio Village grows stronger, we won't fear going to war with any ninja clan in the future!"

"We need to accelerate our plans to train a ninja army. When we return to the village this time, we must select promising candidates from among the civilians. The battlefield changes by the moment; time waits for no one."

Ryū nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking. To prevent any unforeseen developments, we'll gather our manpower and finish extracting all the iron mine's resources before returning to the village. After that, we'll focus on recuperating and development."

"Agreed."

All the elders approved.

Mito said, "Concentrating our manpower on mining is fine, but the wounded must be sent back to the village hospital for treatment first. Many of them can't afford any delay."

"Mm. You and Ashina will lead part of the clan back to the village and escort the wounded," Ryū said, entrusting the task to his children.

Ashina agreed without hesitation. "No problem!"

He had no desire to stay at the iron mine as a laborer digging ore. Compared with that, escorting the wounded back to the village was more challenging and gave him a better chance to prove his worth.

There were quite a few injured members of the Uzumaki Clan. After days of fighting, eighty-three clansmen had suffered severe injuries and needed to be returned to the village as soon as possible.

Mito and Ashina set off at noon that same day. Ryū assigned one hundred clansmen to accompany them as guards.

Seeing that the fighting had completely settled and there was nothing left for him to worry about, Shusen had originally planned to return to the laboratory and continue fusing his eyes. But on second thought, he decided he might as well see things through to the end.

There were eighty-three seriously wounded people. If they encountered an ambush or some unexpected incident on the road, it would be a tremendous blow to the Uzumaki Clan. Besides, his experiment had been underway for so long that delaying it by a day or two made no difference.

So Shusen followed behind Mito's group and traveled with them, continuing to lurk in the shadows as their bodyguard.

The iron mine was not far from Uzushio Village. Ashina could have made a round trip in half a day at his speed, but half the group consisted of severely wounded people. Naturally, they had to slow down, and their pace was extremely sluggish.

A full two days passed, yet Mito and the others had covered only half the distance.

They slept rough and ate whatever they could find along the way, and many of the wounded worsened. Fortunately, Mito was highly skilled in medical ninjutsu and forcibly pulled them back from death's door.

Shusen sneaked ahead of the group, using the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to scout for them and guard against possible accidents.

The Fire Country had become a complete mess. Over the past two days, Mito and the others had passed at least seven or eight ninja clan battlefields, each one locked in earth-shaking conflict.

The Shimura Clan was the most underhanded of them all. Seeing the large number of wounded in Mito's group, the Shimura clan head got ideas and secretly followed them for quite a while. In the end, Mito could no longer tolerate it and exchanged a few moves with him, frightening him away.

That Shimura Yeluo looks shady as hell. He's probably Danzo's father—no, his grandfather, Shusen cursed inwardly.

The Shimura Clan could at least be considered a major ninja clan, though it had a terrible reputation in the Fire Country. They were consummate fence-sitters, always rushing to ally with whichever ninja clan was powerful and bully whichever was weak. Shusen had a very poor impression of them.

And now they had actually set their sights on the Uzumaki Clan. If not for the fact that Shimura Yeluo had some skill, Shusen would have wanted to go after them in disguise.

"Wait... I seem to have gotten a little carried away lately!"

Shusen suddenly jolted awake, recognizing a problem with himself.

Perhaps because he had spent so many years lurking on battlefields as a behind-the-scenes manipulator, Shusen's mentality had gradually changed. Whenever someone displeased him, he wanted to use one of his disguises to mess with them. That had been the case with Hyuga Rika, then the Kaguya Clan, and now the Shimura Clan.

Shusen realized that this mindset was extremely dangerous. The reason he had stayed low-profile in the village while fusing his eyes was to avoid trouble and live longer. Unless absolutely necessary, he must never actively pick fights or show off his strength. Once there was a first time, there would be a second. If you walked by the river often enough, how could you keep your shoes dry?

Unless I fuse the Rinnegan and Tenseigan. Only then will I have the capital to be arrogant. Before that, I can't go around provoking trouble.

Shusen silently recited the Survival Scripture three hundred times to steady himself and reinforce the core principle that would keep him alive in these chaotic times.

Before he could finish reciting the Survival Scripture three hundred times, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura he had cast suddenly detected a familiar chakra fluctuation.

"This fluctuation..." Shusen froze slightly. "It's brother-in-law—ptui! It's Hashirama."

Shusen had not expected to run into Hashirama in the wilderness. It was quite unexpected. Ever since they had parted at the palace two months ago, he had not seen Hashirama again. Hashirama kept saying he would visit Uzushio Village, but he never came.

"Besides Hashirama, there's another familiar presence. It's Uchiha Madara."

Shusen's expression immediately became animated. Hashirama and Madara were archenemies as well as close friends. If they met in the wilderness, they were bound to have a wild fight. Maybe he could fish in troubled waters and snag a few Sharingan, or collect some Hashirama Cells.

Hashirama and Madara's presences were several miles east, outside Mito's group's route. After hesitating briefly, Shusen decided to go take a look.

He used Earth Release to sneak eastward, activating the Demon Eye in his right eye. Sure enough, he saw two groups in the distant plains: the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan.

The two great ninja clans stood clearly divided, glaring at one another in confrontation. Leading them were none other than Hashirama and Madara.

Shusen saw Hashirama's lips moving but could not make out what he was saying, so he used the Wind Release: Clairaudience Technique and easily eavesdropped on Hashirama's voice.

"Madara, stop. We don't need to fight," Hashirama pleaded earnestly. "We can split this iron mine equally between our two clans."

Madara sneered. "Who wants to split it with you? The Ninjasteel Mine can only belong to the Uchiha Clan. Your Senju Clan can forget about touching it!"

"Why must it be like this? You and I clearly share the same ideals and ambitions. As long as we work together, we can eliminate the conflict between our clans in the future..."

"Shut up!"

Madara attacked directly, no longer wasting words on Hashirama. His hands rapidly formed seals.

"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Madara gathered a massive amount of chakra and exhaled a blazing sea of fire.

Hashirama had no choice but to defend himself. "Hōbi Technique."

A wooden shield erupted from the ground, blocking the inferno.

Hashirama felt helpless. He recalled the days when he and Madara used to skip stones by the river. Was there truly no way back?

Madara pressed his advantage, forming seals again and unleashing another powerful technique.

"Fire Release: Dust Concealment Technique!"

Boom!