Back in Action

"..."

Tobirama felt his father's words were a little too heartless. The blame Black Zetsu had dumped on them was enormous—how could he accept it with a clear conscience?

He wasn't the Senju Clan's scapegoat king!

Glancing back at Hashirama, Tobirama had wanted to signal his older brother to offer an opinion. After all, they would both have to bear this blame. Yet he saw Hashirama acting like a lovesick fool, secretly stealing glances at Mito and utterly unaware of what had just happened.

"Forget it."

Tobirama sighed inwardly. With his brother's brain, he probably could not count on him. He could only rely on himself.

He decided that once this battle ended, he would immediately focus on developing the Flying Thunder God. As long as the Flying Thunder God was successfully created, he could easily escape even the most dangerous situations. Then he would naturally have no reason to fear the Kaguya Clan's wrath.

Ryū said, "Although we defeated the Kaguya Clan and the Uchiha today, the Ninjasteel Mine is at stake. They definitely won't let this go. There are still several fierce battles ahead."

Butsuma Senju nodded. The two clan heads immediately led their clansmen back into the valley to construct defensive fortifications.

Madara's temporary camp.

"Clan Head Tajima, I need an explanation!" Kaguya Izui furiously demanded of his allies.

Behind him, every Kaguya clansman glared angrily. The Uchiha's temporary retreat had caused them extremely heavy losses.

Uchiha Tajima did not shirk responsibility and said apologetically, "What we did today was indeed inappropriate. Black Zetsu affected the overall situation."

"Clan Head Izui knows that we have a blood feud with Black Zetsu. As long as Black Zetsu lived, we could never eat or sleep in peace. Fortunately, we mobilized the entire clan today and successfully blasted Black Zetsu into ashes."

As he spoke, joy could not help appearing on Uchiha Tajima's face, forming a stark contrast with Kaguya Izui's grim expression.

"Though we lost today, our clansmen no longer have anything to worry about. Tomorrow, we can fight without restraint and serve as the vanguard."

The vanguard would endure the fiercest attacks. Uchiha Tajima intended to use this to make up for the Kaguya Clan's losses.

Sure enough, Kaguya Izui's expression improved slightly.

"I hope Clan Head Tajima keeps his word. I don't want to see what happened today happen a second time!" he snorted coldly.

"Of course."

Uchiha Tajima straightened his back. With Black Zetsu dead, no one could affect the Uchiha's state of mind anymore.

He could even imagine tomorrow's battlefield, where the Uchiha Clan would become tigers unleashed from their cages, slaughtering their way across the field.

That night, Uchiha Tajima held a small victory celebration in the camp.

A defeat was a defeat, but Black Zetsu's death was tremendous news to them—something worth celebrating throughout the land.

At the celebration, the Uchiha clansmen laughed endlessly, drinking from large bowls and devouring chunks of meat. The atmosphere was livelier than New Year's.

The Kaguya clansmen were dumbfounded. If an uninformed outsider arrived here, they might think the Uchiha had successfully captured the Ninjasteel Mine.

"We both lost battles. They're holding a celebration, while our entire clan has to mourn in white. Why is the gap between ninja clans so huge?" a Kaguya clansman sighed.

Their young clan head had died, and their entire clan was grieving. The atmosphere had sunk to rock bottom. Naturally, they could not hold a banquet like the Uchiha and could only look on enviously.

"Make do with the food and drink for now. Once we return to the clan territory, we'll hold an even grander celebration!"

"I waited so many years. Black Zetsu is finally dead."

"How foolish of the Hyuga Clan. To guard against Black Zetsu, they spent a fortune buying sealing techniques from the Uzumaki Clan, never realizing that destroying Black Zetsu was the best solution. In that regard, the Hyuga are far inferior to us."

"From now on, Black Zetsu is completely history. We'll never need to fear him again!"

The Uchiha clansmen laughed in exhilaration, venting years of resentment in a single day.

Shusen, hidden in the distance, took in the entire scene. He suddenly felt a little reluctant.

Reluctant to shatter their beautiful dream.

One could only imagine how "pleasantly surprised" these singing and dancing Uchiha clansmen would be when he returned to the battlefield tomorrow in Black Zetsu's guise.

The victory celebration did not last long. It ended shortly after midnight. Uchiha Tajima knew his limits; he was brimming with ambition and wanted to accomplish great things on tomorrow's battlefield.

After a night of rest, the forces of the two clans were ready at noon the next day and once again charged menacingly toward the Ninjasteel Mine.

"You didn't suffer enough yesterday, and you still dare come here to die," Butsuma Senju sneered.

"Kill!"

Enemies meeting face-to-face were especially eager to settle old scores. Uchiha Tajima disdained wasting words and directly led his clansmen in a charge. Kaguya Izui followed behind his allies, letting them take the brunt of the attacks.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

The moment the horn sounded, earth-shaking power erupted. This was war between ninja.

The Uchiha Clan's morale was sharper than ever. Like a blade, they tore open a gap in the Senju Clan's formation. The Kaguya clansmen immediately swarmed forward and engaged them in close combat.

The Senju clansmen possessed monstrous strength, putting the Uchiha at a great disadvantage in close-quarters combat. The Kaguya clansmen had no such weakness; every Kaguya clansman was a natural taijutsu fanatic.

This was the tactic Uchiha Tajima and Kaguya Izui had agreed upon beforehand: focus fire on the Senju Clan, with Hashirama and Tobirama as the primary targets.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"

Ryū naturally would not sit by and watch his allies get focused down. The Uzumaki clansmen created over ten thousand Shadow Clones, surrounding the enemy forces with an overwhelming numerical advantage.

Kaguya Izui's eyes were bloodshot as he relentlessly targeted the Hashirama brothers. Though Hashirama was young, his strength was not much inferior to Izui's. The power of his Wood Release was boundless, and together with Tobirama, he was able to fight Izui evenly.

"Ryū, I'm your opponent today!"

Uchiha Tajima activated Susanoo. Several zhang tall and terrifying as a demon god, it intercepted Ryū. With a casual swing of its blade, it slashed apart hundreds of Shadow Clones.

Shusen, transformed into Black Zetsu, had watched from afar for a long time. Once the battle entered its most intense stage, he began to stir.

To prevent a repeat of yesterday's encounter with the real Black Zetsu, Shusen used the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to sense his surroundings. Only after confirming that he could not detect any trace of Black Zetsu did he dare act. He fled swiftly toward the battlefield.

Mito was like a rose blooming furiously upon the battlefield. She controlled dozens of Adamantine Sealing Chains as she tangled with an Uchiha elite jonin. After several dozen exchanges, one chain scattered his Fire Release and struck his chest dead center.

The Uchiha elite jonin's chest immediately caved in, and he was sent flying backward to his death.

Big sister is incredible.

Shusen secretly praised her. He hurriedly tunneled forward and casually wiped the corpse's face. A fresh pair of three-tomoe Sharingan landed in his hands, his movements so practiced that one could not help feeling sorry for the Uchiha Clan.

Sorry for the Uchiha Clan, that was.

"Hmm?"

Mito suddenly sensed something and turned her head, catching sight of a black shadow flashing away.

"Black Zetsu?"

She pondered it. She did not like Black Zetsu, but she had to admit that his appearance on the battlefield was greatly beneficial to them.