And so, after quickly gathering their gear, Uzumaki Gamu, Daigu, and the clan's other experts headed out to reinforce the Senju! (Uzumaki Gamu's father, Ashina, had to guard their clan compound, so he did not come along!)
After arriving at the Senju Clan Compound, Daigu and the other experts joined the Senju adults, while Uzumaki Gamu naturally went to find Hashirama and Tobirama!
When he saw Hashirama, Uzumaki Gamu asked, "So, what's the situation?"
Hashirama sighed. "The Uchiha surprise attack cost us dearly..."
Tobirama took over for his brother. "Only a handful of our clansmen stationed at the Mine escaped alive... Those damned Uchiha!!" His eyes filled with anger as he spoke.
Unlike his brother, Tobirama had no lingering affection for the Uchiha. At this point, all he wanted was to wipe out that evil clan completely!
Hashirama's feelings were far more complicated. Many of the dead had been his friends, and remembering their faces filled him with rage. But the thought of fighting Madara also pained him... Those conflicting emotions tore him apart!
Uzumaki Gamu patted Hashirama's shoulder and said, "There's nothing we can do about it... This is our only option right now!"
"...Yeah!" Hashirama was not unreasonable. He could not stand up now and tell his clansmen to abandon their hatred... He could not pull that kind of sanctimonious crap!
In short, there was nothing more to say. All that remained was to fight!
And so, after briefly getting organized, the allied Senju and Uzumaki forces marched toward the Mine that had been taken from the Senju!
When they reached the vicinity of the Mine, the Reconnaissance Squad that had gone ahead reported what they had observed!
Uzumaki Gamu asked in confusion, "The Uchiha have set up a formation out front? Are they planning to fight us head-on?"
"We have sensory ninjas on our side, after all," Tobirama replied. "Sneak attacks won't easily thin our numbers!" He himself possessed powerful sensory abilities.
"True... It's hard to ambush people when they have sensory ninjas." Uzumaki Gamu nodded in understanding. "So what's our plan?"
As their strategist, Tobirama answered awkwardly, "...It's a little embarrassing to admit, but we really don't have another option right now... We have to attack head-on!"
"Why?" Uzumaki Gamu asked, puzzled.
Hashirama explained, "This Mine is extremely important to the Senju, so apart from the main gate we normally use to enter and leave, every other approach is heavily fortified. Even I would struggle to break through those defenses!" Of course, he meant the current Hashirama. Once he grew up, he could ride a Wood Dragon straight in without caring about those defenses!
Tobirama added, "The Uchiha suffered heavy casualties when they seized our Mine, too." A rare hint of pride crept into his voice.
He had personally designed many of the Mine's fortifications, and he was delighted that they had killed so many Uchiha. Despite his usually cold expression, Tobirama actually liked showing off. That much was obvious from how he kept asserting ownership of his ninjutsu after being brought back through Impure World Reincarnation.
Had he not lived in this era, perhaps he would have become a handsome, sharp-tongued man with a cold exterior and a warm heart?
Uzumaki Gamu asked, "But they still captured it in the end. Now they own the natural stronghold that's easy to defend and hard to attack. What do we do about that?"
"Uh..." Tobirama froze. The defenses he had painstakingly designed now belonged to the enemy, and soon his own clansmen would die attacking them... The more he thought about it, the worse it felt!
Uzumaki Gamu continued, "Only an idiot relies on frontal attacks. We need to find a way to flank them, penetrate their lines, and encircle them!" As a Chinese man, those tactics were practically engraved on his soul!
Seeing that Uzumaki Gamu had an idea, Tobirama asked, "What do you have in mind?"
Uzumaki Gamu laid out his plan. "The three of us form an elite squad and infiltrate the Mine from the rear, then launch a surprise attack on their command. If we cut off the head, we're already halfway to victory. Even if we fail, a surprise attack from behind will throw their lines into chaos!"
"It's a good idea, but hard to carry out. Getting around behind them won't be that easy!" Tobirama said.
Uzumaki Gamu objected, "We won't know whether it'll work until we try!"
Hashirama backed him up. "Exactly. We won't know unless we give it a shot!"
Tobirama fell silent. Brother, aren't I your little brother? Why are you siding with an outsider? His brother's refusal to agree with him left him speechless. Still, Uzumaki Gamu did have a point, so Tobirama decided to try!
And so, after reporting to the battle's overall commander, Butsuma Senju-the clan head had taken the field in person!-the three set off to circle around the rear!
Although Butsuma Senju approved their unconventional idea, he did not actually expect three children to accomplish much. His attention was already focused entirely on the main battlefield!
"Hmph, Uchiha Tajima has come out personally? Perfect. Today, we'll settle every debt you've run up over the years!" Once Butsuma spotted his old nemesis, he had eyes for no one else. More of his clansmen had died this time, and only killing Uchiha Tajima could ease the hatred in his heart!
Standing atop the Mine's wooden wall, Uchiha Tajima also saw Butsuma arranging his forces below. He thought viciously, We've spent a long time preparing for this. This time, I'll send you straight to your grave!!
One wanted the other's life, and the other wanted to send him to his grave. They really were two of a kind!
The arrow was already on the string. There was no turning back-the war began!
-Preparing ninja tools-
Uzumaki Gamu and the other two had already circled around to the rear of the Mine. They hid in the woods to survey the area, only to find themselves facing... a sheer cliff!
"That's one steep cliff. It looks like someone reshaped it with Earth Release," Uzumaki Gamu remarked. The mountain looked like the product of one night, a pack of cigarettes, one old man, and a miracle. It was clearly man-made!
"Yeah, it was reshaped with Earth Release!" Tobirama replied. "That way, anyone climbing it can be spotted at a glance by the patrols above."
"You really thought of everything..." Uzumaki Gamu said. "Could we tunnel straight in with Earth Release?"
"No," Tobirama rejected the idea. "There are Explosive Tags buried inside the mountain, and even I don't know their exact locations. If we tunnel in with Earth Release, they'll blow us up!"
Hashirama chimed in, "Tobirama designed that!"
"...Are you sick in the head?" Uzumaki Gamu asked, speechless. "Who were you trying to screw over with a design like this?"
"The enemy, obviously... Of course, now I've screwed us over!" Tobirama said, looking equally speechless.
"Next time, remember to leave a secret passage only you know about," Uzumaki Gamu said. "Then if something goes wrong, you won't get locked out by your own fortifications!"
Tobirama paused at his words, then replied, "Lesson learned." He really did look as though he had learned something!
Hashirama scratched his head and said awkwardly, "This isn't the time to think about that, is it? How do we get in from here? If we climb normally, the Uchiha stationed above will see us. If we charge straight in, they'll attack us from the high ground... Uzumaki Gamu, can you push through Uchiha Fire Release?"
"Of course not!" Uzumaki Gamu rejected that outright. Even with Sage Mode active, charging up a ninety-degree cliff through Uchiha Fire Release would be suicide... Summoning a toad to send them straight up sounded much more reasonable!
Still, there was no need to go to that much trouble. Uzumaki Gamu already had a plan!
Uzumaki Gamu told the other two, "We do this and that, then this and that~"
After hearing him out, Tobirama pushed his dangling jaw back into place and said, "You... really are reckless!" Could a plan this insane really work?
Hashirama thought for a moment. "Let's try it. If it works, we can prevent a lot of casualties!"
With his brother agreeing, Tobirama had no choice but to agree as well!
And so, the three got to work. First, Hashirama used Wood Release to create a giant slingshot, using flexible plants for the elastic band. Then he and Uzumaki Gamu loaded themselves onto it as ammunition, and Hashirama used his Monster Strength to draw it back!
Then... launch!!
Hashirama and Uzumaki Gamu soared into the sky like carp leaping over the Dragon Gate!
"Whoa~~ This is awesome!!" Uzumaki Gamu exclaimed happily.
"Holy shit, this really feels great!!" Even Hashirama let a curse slip!
Uzumaki Gamu's method was a simple, brutally direct human cannon! If they could not climb the sheer cliff, they would fly over it!
The Uchiha standing atop the cliff also noticed two unidentified flying objects approaching them. Though the human cannonballs left them dumbstruck, this was no time to stand around watching immortals descend from the heavens. They had to intercept them with Fire Release!
The man in command shouted, "Shoot them down with Fire Release! Don't let them get up here!"
Great Fireballs rained down on the pair!
At that moment, Tobirama finally acted from below. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!!" His job was to protect the two above with Water Release!
But could a single Water Dragon Bullet really stop that rain of fire dragon bullets?
No, it was not that simple!
The Water Dragon Bullet flew beneath Uzumaki Gamu and Hashirama's feet. Hashirama then stepped onto it and used his Monster Strength to hurl Uzumaki Gamu even higher-a multistage rocket launch!!
Like a rocket igniting its second stage, Uzumaki Gamu accelerated again, sailed straight past the rain of Great Fireballs, and flew higher into the sky. Then he unleashed a palm technique descending from the heavens... No, a ninjutsu!
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!!" Uzumaki Gamu formed hand seals in midair, and his Shadow Clones rained down onto the cliff, plunging into battle with the Uchiha stationed there!
The Uchiha were shocked. "He can make hundreds of Shadow Clones at once? Do the Senju have that much chakra?"
"Sorry, but having loads of chakra really does let you do whatever you want. Also, I'm an Uzumaki!!" To take the cliff without a hitch, Uzumaki Gamu had created the maximum number of Shadow Clones he could manage-555! (Uzumaki Gamu: Still can't beat twelve-year-old Naruto... That kid is a chakra monster!)
Since this was not a priority defensive area, only ten Uchiha clansmen had been stationed on this side. A fifty-to-one force ratio-the advantage was his!!
And so, Uzumaki Gamu easily and swiftly defeated the ten Uchiha, while Hashirama and Tobirama used that time to climb the cliff!
Once he reached the top, Tobirama sighed in amazement. "A tactic so outrageous it scares you, yet somehow it works... Weren't you worried about becoming a target while flying through the air?" After all, Uzumaki Gamu had simply been thrown up there. He could not move freely in the sky, making him a sitting duck, didn't it?
"Hitting a moving target in the air isn't that easy... Though I guess it is pretty easy for the Uchiha, with their Sharingan," Uzumaki Gamu conceded. "Still, it's not like you're completely helpless in midair. Even setting aside techniques like Wind Release that can propel you backward, isn't the simplest option to make a Shadow Clone and use him as a stepping stone to jump somewhere else?" That was also a move Naruto loved using.
Tobirama felt a sudden flash of understanding. Combined with the earlier sight of Uzumaki Gamu and his brother using his water dragon to soar skyward, it gave him a new tactical idea!
Still, the situation did not allow Tobirama to dwell on new tactics. He looked at the fallen Uchiha and asked, "You didn't kill them?"
"No. I'm keeping them as prisoners to ransom back to the Uchiha," Uzumaki Gamu answered. As he spoke, his clones had already pulled out ropes and begun trussing the Uchiha up like dumplings, adding seals to keep them from escaping!
Tobirama frowned. "We don't have the manpower to handle prisoners right now. Besides... these are Uchiha!" The Uchiha were inherently evil. The only good Uchiha was a dead Uchiha!!
"Sorry, but I don't have a grudge against the Uchiha. Killing them doesn't benefit me, but ransoming them does~" Unlike Hashirama, Uzumaki Gamu did not have to worry so much about where he stood. He would not inherit leadership of the Uzumaki anyway, and he would eventually be an independent wanderer. There was no point killing Uchiha clansmen here and souring his relationship with Madara. He might as well spare them as a favor to Madara!
Hashirama backed him up. "These people are our prisoners. He has the right to decide what happens to them."
Tobirama fell silent. Brother? Are you really my brother? Why have you been taking his side all day!! His brother had truly left him speechless. Still, Hashirama did have a point, so Tobirama said no more.
Just then, Tobirama sensed something and warned, "Danger! Get out of the way!"
The moment he finished speaking, a Great Fireball flew toward them!
Hashirama immediately clapped his hands together. "Wood Release: Fireproof Wood Formation Wall!" It was similar to the fireproof wood technique from last time, but this time it formed a wall that protected all three of them.
After the Great Fireball was blocked, Madara's voice rang out from afar. "That's Hashirama for you. What a beautiful technique!!"
Hearing Madara's voice, Hashirama dispelled the wooden wall and saw Madara blocking their path with his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna.
Apparently, he had anticipated Uzumaki Gamu's group circling around the rear.
Hashirama asked bluntly, "Madara, why are you here?"
"I didn't see you out front, so you had to be attacking from another direction. Especially..." Madara pointed at Uzumaki Gamu. "With him around, anything can happen! No one beats him when it comes to doing the unprecedented!"
"Wow~ You have so much faith in me, I'm almost embarrassed~" Uzumaki Gamu said bashfully.
Madara fell silent. Was I fucking complimenting him? No... I guess I really was! His own words had left him speechless!
Madara's words also drew Izuna's attention to Uzumaki Gamu. Is that the person my brother cares about? He seems to have influenced him a lot. Izuna suddenly had a premonition that the man before him would become an obstacle to the Uchiha's domination of the world...
If so, that obstacle had to be eliminated as soon as possible!
"Brother, we absolutely can't let him reach the battlefield out front," Izuna said. "He'll interfere with Father and the others! Then our..." Izuna was reminding his brother not to entertain any unnecessary thoughts!
Madara sighed dejectedly. There was no helping it-he had to fight his friend again. And when he thought of what was about to happen, he did not even know what expression to wear when facing him!
Across from them, Tobirama frowned immediately upon seeing Izuna's expression. "Something's wrong. Brother, we need to move quickly!"
Hashirama sensed something amiss as well and immediately asked, "Madara, what are the Uchiha planning?"
At Hashirama's demand, Madara's expression turned bitter. He clearly had something he could not say, but he could only grit his teeth and tell Hashirama, "...Beat me, and you'll find out!"
"Enough talking, Brother! Fight!" Tobirama moved first, charging straight at Izuna.
Hashirama gritted his teeth and charged at Madara. Both pairs had found their ideal opponents... So who was Uzumaki Gamu supposed to fight?
Uzumaki Gamu called to both pairs, "Uh, I used up quite a bit of chakra just now, so I'm going to recover first! You two hang in there and buy me some time!" As he spoke, he took out Soldier Pill Pills and began popping them.
Madara fell silent. Damn it, what does this guy think a battlefield is?
Izuna fell silent. This half-assed idiot is close to my brother? I refuse to accept that!!
Hashirama fell silent. I really envy how free he is...
Tobirama fell silent. Damn it, he was going AFK at a critical moment!
In short, Uzumaki Gamu had left all four of them speechless.
Of course, Uzumaki Gamu had not said that just to slack off!
He was intensely curious about what Izuna's words meant.
And so, after taking the Soldier Pill Pills, he sat down right where he was and began refining senjutsu chakra!
Seeing Uzumaki Gamu sit down to meditate on the spot, Izuna thought it was a chance to kill him. But Tobirama held firm, blocking Izuna perfectly and leaving him no opportunity to interfere with Uzumaki Gamu.
After a while, once he had accumulated enough senjutsu chakra to enter Sage Mode, Uzumaki Gamu activated it immediately, then combined it with the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to scan a wide area.
Then... Uzumaki Gamu found the problem!
Uzumaki Gamu thought, There are ninjas rapidly approaching from behind the allied Senju and Uzumaki forces?
He immediately demanded, "Madara, did you bring reinforcements?"
All four were startled by his words.
Izuna clicked his tongue. "Tch, he's a sensory ninja? Brother! We can't let them leave and tell the others! Go all out!"
"Tch!!" Madara cursed irritably, then had no choice but to use his full strength!
Seeing this, Tobirama also shouted, "Brother!! They've prepared an ambush! We can't waste time here! End this quickly!!"
"Tch!!" Hashirama cursed angrily as well. Neither older brother wanted to fight, but both younger brothers were forcing them to go all out... What a helpless situation!
Yet at that moment, Uzumaki Gamu suddenly spoke. "Wait, something's not right... Is that ninja force circling around behind them really your ally? Why are they attacking indiscriminately?"
All four froze. What did he mean?
The quick-witted Tobirama soon realized what was happening and mocked Izuna. "Looks like your allies don't intend to honor your agreement!"
"Impossible!" Izuna immediately retorted. "He's lying to confuse us!"
Ignoring what their younger brothers were saying, Madara asked Uzumaki Gamu directly, "Is that true?"
Uzumaki Gamu told everyone what he was sensing. "It is. Those people... They should be from the Kaguya Clan, right? They're attacking everyone indiscriminately-the Senju, the Uzumaki, and the Uchiha!"
"Those bastards!!" Madara cursed, then told Hashirama, "Hashirama, let's call a truce!"
"Okay!" Hashirama said happily, immediately stopping!
Both younger brothers fell silent. Brother! You can't just stop whenever you feel like it!!! They were utterly speechless!
The two younger brothers had been fighting in earnest, yet their older brothers were treating this like playing house... Was this a game to them?!!
Neither younger brother intended to stop, so the older brothers began issuing orders.
Madara said, "Izuna, now isn't the time to fight the Senju. Dealing with our treacherous allies comes first!"
Hashirama said, "Tobirama, for the sake of our clansmen's lives, we need to set aside our hatred of the Uchiha! Dealing with the Kaguya ambush comes first!"
"...Yes!!" Their older brothers' orders were absolute! However unwilling they were, both younger brothers could only stop fighting for now!
Just then, Uzumaki Gamu suddenly said, "Perfect. Why don't you two shake hands and make peace?"
"Not even if I die!!!" Tobirama and Izuna shouted together. In a sense, the two were actually quite in sync.
Uzumaki Gamu shrugged indifferently. "Fine. Getting you two to reconcile is pretty hard anyway. But until this crisis is over, I hope neither of you thinks about hurting the other... Whoever makes a move can kiss his clan's honor goodbye."
At the mention of their clan's honor, Izuna spoke first. "Hmph, we Uchiha would never stoop to sneak attacks!" (Right, the Uchiha were number one on the list of people who got ambushed.) With that, Izuna sheathed his sword!
"Hmph!" Tobirama gave a cold snort, then sheathed his own sword as well, proving through action that he would not attack!
Now that they had reached an agreement, the five headed toward the main battlefield with Madara leading the way.
Then... they saw a sight that caused all of them, apart from Uzumaki Gamu, immense pain.
And that was... something for the next chapter~
Before you continue