Uchiha's Enemy, the Senju Clan

Uchiha's Enemy, the Senju Clan

"Those Senju bastards! They actually killed my little sister! I'll never let the Senju Clan get away with this!"

"Hey! Stop talking! With injuries like yours, get off the battlefield already. Leave the rest of the fight to us!"

"Clan Head Madara and Lord Shangwu are still fighting up ahead. How can we retreat in disgrace just because we're injured?!"

More than a dozen severely wounded Uchiha clansmen were hurriedly carried off the battlefield by their fellow clansmen.

Yet not a single badly injured Uchiha wanted to rest peacefully. Every one of them wanted to return to the fight. Even if they died, they could not let the Senju Clan have it easy.

On the still-raging battlefield at the very front, flames shot into the sky like an erupting volcano. Their terrifying heat surpassed even lava as they swept toward the Senju ninja.

"Fire Release! Great Fire Annihilation!"

Facing the flames about to engulf him, the long-haired figure slammed his hands together and roared, "Earth Release! Earth-Style: Earth-Flow Rampart!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Walls of earth more than ten meters high rose one after another from the ground, arranged in orderly rows to meet the oncoming blaze head-on.

"Madara!"

"Hashirama!"

The two long-haired figures rushed at each other in an instant.

Uchiha Madara swung the Gunbai down. The savage, weighty force behind it made the fan strike with the effect of a warhammer.

"Madara! Stop! We shouldn't be enemies!"

The Senju Great Sword, passed down through generations, looked as though it weighed hundreds of pounds. Yet in Senju Hashirama's hand, it was as light as a kunai as he swung it horizontally to block the descending blow.

"Don't be naive. I am the Uchiha clan head, and you are the Senju Clan's clan head. Whether we admit it or not, the Uchiha and the Senju Clan are enemies! That is an unchangeable fact!"

"Then let's change that fact together!"

"Naive! How long are you going to remain so naive? If that's the case, take your naivety and report to the Pure Land!"

Uchiha Shangwu's gaze darkened as he spotted Tobirama Senju. In less than a second, he completed the necessary hand seals. With a leap, he soared above Tobirama Senju and breathed down a Great Fireball Technique from above.

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!"

He had thought the sneak attack could seriously wound Tobirama Senju. If he was lucky, he might even kill the future Second Hokage outright.

But the moment he breathed out the Great Fireball, thinking the attack would succeed, Uchiha Shangwu saw his target suddenly dissolve into smoke.

"Was that a Shadow Clone? He actually developed it this early. The B-rank Shadow Clone Technique can create solid clones, and when they disperse on their own or are destroyed, the original body receives the memories from their activities."

"Should I say that he truly lived up to his reputation as a master of forbidden techniques? I wonder what other jutsu he developed. Did he create any forbidden techniques?"

His target had actually been a Shadow Clone. Though surprised, Shangwu also found it perfectly reasonable.

After all, his target was the future Second Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, a man who single-handedly created more than a dozen forbidden techniques. At his peak, he could unleash Water Release on a scale comparable to a tsunami and was called a ninja who had made a contract with the sea.

"It's you again, the Uchiha Clan's star..."

Tobirama Senju was secretly startled by the power of that Fire Release. Had he not developed the Shadow Clone Technique, that incoming Fire Release would have been enough to burn him severely.

Both the timing of the release and Shangwu's control over the jutsu had been impeccable.

"Save the pleasantries, Senju."

Stray projectiles and off-course shuriken flew through the battlefield from time to time.

So even while speaking, they had to stay alert to their surroundings to avoid being injured by unexpected attacks.

"Did you come here alone to die? I admit that you possess remarkable talent, but you haven't matured yet. You're about to die here."

His enemy was a genius who had yet to grow, bearing the title of the Uchiha Clan's "star," and he had already displayed more than enough talent.

An enemy like this absolutely could not be allowed to grow. He had to be eliminated in advance.

Thirteen-year-old Tobirama Senju and Uchiha Shangwu, who was nearly nine, both wanted to kill the other.

"Earth Release! Earth-Style: Earth Spear!"

Uchiha Shangwu used Earth Release to alter the terrain, sharp rocks erupting from the ground without any pattern.

The purpose of the Earth Release jutsu was not to attack, but to force Tobirama Senju away from his position. Countless explosive tags had been buried beneath the ground. If he failed to notice them and rushed forward recklessly, he would be blasted into the air in an instant.

"Did you see through it?"

As the rocks attacked, chakra gathered beneath his feet. He burst forth with astonishing speed, seeming to teleport as Tobirama Senju appeared elsewhere.

He sensed the earth's furious surging, then saw more than a dozen explosive tags detonated by chakra at the same time.

Tobirama Senju's gaze darkened. He gripped a kunai and lowered his eyes, avoiding eye contact with the Sharingan.

"These eyes really are troublesome. Only the evil Uchiha could awaken such a bloodline limit."

The explosive tags he had prepared failed to work, but Tobirama Senju was not disappointed. Instead, the killing intent in his eyes toward Uchiha Shangwu grew even more solid.

Eight- and nine-year-old ninja were common in the Ninja World, but their bodies had not yet matured, meaning they could not afford to squander much chakra. One Earth Release jutsu along with the earlier Great Fireball had likely consumed nearly one-fifth of his chakra.

Suddenly, a kunai shot toward him. Uchiha Shangwu tilted aside, letting it graze past his cheek.

The blade of the kunai, sharp enough to cut through armor, instantly severed two strands of hair.

"Don't even think about getting another chance to use jutsu!"

The kunai had merely created an instant of opportunity. The moment Uchiha Shangwu turned aside, Tobirama Senju crouched low, completely breaking the Sharingan's line of sight, then used the Body Flicker Technique to close in.

With that, Tobirama Senju pressed tightly against Uchiha Shangwu. His fierce, heavy taijutsu gave Shangwu no chance to widen the distance. Taking advantage of their age gap, he did not need to worry about how powerful the Sharingan was; taijutsu alone would be enough to suppress him.

Shangwu's body had not fully grown, and his strength could not compare to Tobirama Senju's. That was something he could not change for now.

But being suppressed by Tobirama Senju's taijutsu was simply impossible. Since his strength was insufficient, he would use his bloodline limit to make up for the difference in age.

"Dead Bone Pulse!"

The cheat ability that let him open treasure chests brought him no small benefit. He could obtain all kinds of jutsu and bloodline limits from the chests. A powerful close-combat bloodline ability like the Dead Bone Pulse had always been kept as a trump card, only now truly revealed before outsiders.