Clash

The original plan had been to have nearby clansmen secretly investigate the pair's movements and gather information about them.

But now the clansmen had shown themselves and blocked their path, something Tobirama had never anticipated.

Hashirama was about to step out and intervene when Tobirama Senju grabbed him. "Wait, big brother."

"Tobirama, didn't you say you were only having our clansmen gather information about them? Why have they come out to ambush and kill them?"

Hashirama's brows drew tight, his face darkening instantly as anger flared in his eyes. He forcefully shook off Tobirama's restraining hand and snapped, "Let go!"

"Big brother! Wait, damn it." Tobirama hurried after Hashirama, determined to stop him from betraying their clan.

His mind raced, trying to figure out how he would explain this once they returned to the clan.

If his brother was to escape punishment, none of the clansmen could breathe a word of this. With his current standing and abilities, there was no way he could silence them.

There was another possibility: none of the clansmen could make it back. But that was something he could not do.

"Stop!"

In that brief moment, Hashirama had already appeared before everyone.

When the Senju ninja saw that it was Hashirama, they merely gave him a surprised glance. They saw nothing wrong with his arrival; he was one of their own, after all.

Indra glanced sideways at Madara Uchiha, raising a brow as he teased, "He really can't bear to let you go."

"You're still making jokes at a time like this?"

Madara Uchiha diverted a sliver of his attention to watching Hashirama, not daring to let his guard slip for an instant.

Nine adult Senju ninja surrounded them. That was no small number.

Worse still, they had brought no weapons with them on this outing.

"And you two, what did you come back for?" Madara Uchiha watched the brothers warily.

"Invincible, go. I'll hold them off." Hashirama stood in front of several clansmen and asked, "What are you trying to do?"

"Hashirama, get out of the way! Are you trying to betray the clan?" One of the Senju ninja's expressions darkened with displeasure.

Letting those two go was out of the question. He had seen that woman making a Space Sealing Scroll with his own eyes.

Just then, Tobirama rushed up to Hashirama and grabbed his arm, pleading anxiously, "Calm down, big brother."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several kunai were already flying toward Indra and Madara Uchiha.

Indra and Madara Uchiha swiftly dodged to opposite sides, each catching a kunai as they charged the nearest ninja.

The Senju ninja had not expected such quick reactions. Rather than attack those who had thrown the kunai, the pair had chosen them. Startled by their opponents' combat experience, they immediately retreated and tried to block the kunai thrusting toward their necks.

Indra and Madara Uchiha made identical one-handed seals for their dōjutsu. The instant their opponents fell under the genjutsu, they changed the angle of their kunai, turning their thrusts into sweeping cuts that slit their enemies' throats.

Hashirama's eyes widened at the sight. He immediately joined the fight to stop them, choosing Madara as his first opponent. "Stop, Invincible!"

"Leave this side to me and my brother."

Tobirama Senju followed close behind, picking up a kunai from the ground as he moved behind Hashirama, preparing to join his brother in surrounding and killing Madara Uchiha, who would be easier to contain.

As for why he had not chosen Indra, he would naturally leave him to several adult ninja. The brothers only needed to hold off the boy in front of them.

The ninja fighting Madara Uchiha immediately withdrew at the instruction and charged toward Indra, ready to work together to take him down.

Madara Uchiha tried to pursue them, but Hashirama and Tobirama blocked him from the front and rear. "Damn you, you underhanded Senju!"

In the past, he would certainly have dealt with the stronger Hashirama first. But his experience in his elder brother's genjutsu told him to take Tobirama down first.

So he decisively abandoned Hashirama and charged at Tobirama, kunai in hand.

Fortunately, Tobirama Senju was not surprised. Kill the weaker enemy first, then concentrate on the stronger opponent.

Facing the slashing kunai, he immediately leaped backward to put distance between them and formed hand seals. "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Madara Uchiha immediately formed hand seals, using wind release chakra alone to redirect the water. He then released lightning release chakra, filling the reversed torrent with lightning as it surged ferociously toward Tobirama Senju.

He had discovered that using chakra alone, without activating a ninjutsu, not only conserved chakra but was also nearly as effective as ninjutsu.

Hashirama immediately used Earth Release to block the attack and rescue Tobirama.

In that instant, Madara Uchiha swiftly formed hand seals. "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

A vast sea of flames swiftly engulfed Hashirama and Tobirama.

"Triple Rashomon!" Hashirama quickly formed hand seals and slapped the ground. Three defensive gates appeared, but even they shattered beneath the sweeping flames.

Hashirama and Tobirama emerged from behind the defenses. Hashirama panted heavily, never having imagined that his opponent could use such a fire release technique.

Even an adult ninja would not have enough chakra to sustain it. His expression hardened as he stared at his friend and said gravely, "Invincible, I will never let you hurt my little brother."

"Big brother, don't worry about me. His chakra is depleted now. Let's kill him together."

Tobirama Senju recovered his breath. His silver-white hair was slightly singed, but his gaze burned with murderous intent as he looked at the boy before him.

Damn fire release. Nothing in this world disgusted him more than the Sharingan and fire release.

"I won't let anyone hurt my brothers, either." Madara Uchiha stared coldly at them, his face utterly expressionless, as though he had known all along that things would come to this.

With both sides running low on chakra, they reached a stalemate.

Just then, a familiar voice rang out nearby.

"Brother, I'm here to help!" Izuna suddenly appeared behind Tobirama Senju and slashed down with a tachi bearing an Explosive Tag.

Instinctively, Tobirama Senju blocked with his kunai. In the next instant, his pupils contracted, and he gathered chakra beneath his feet to leap backward.

A deafening boom erupted, and smoke and dust obscured their vision.

Tobirama Senju was blasted away.

"Tobirama!" Hashirama immediately caught his younger brother. Finding only superficial injuries that would not kill him, he slapped his face a few times to prevent a concussion. Once Tobirama opened his eyes, he relaxed.

Izuna had used a clone for the entire attack. His real body appeared beside Madara, tossing him a Ninja Tool Pouch as he held his tachi and warily watched the people before them.

"Izuna, what are you doing here?" Madara Uchiha caught the Ninja Tool Pouch, deeply worried by his brother's appearance. He had actually left the clan grounds all alone. Once they got home, Madara would have to give him a proper talking-to.

"Hmph, I followed you and our big brother to see what you were sneaking out to do, of course. Neither of you even brought me along."

Izuna puffed out his cheeks in anger, wearing an expression that said, You heartless traitor. I'm never speaking to you again.

Madara could only do his best to protect his younger brother. As for their elder brother...

He spared a sliver of attention to glance over.

Good!

His elder brother had single-handedly surrounded seven of them. Six. Five...

Uh... no need to keep watching.

If his elder brother finished off everyone on his side while Madara made no progress here, he would definitely receive some brotherly "care" once they returned.