While the Uchiha Clan was organizing its affairs, some major events occurred within the Senju Clan.
The fifth elder of the Senju Clan, Oto Senju's younger brother, revealed his true talent.
At the tender age of six, he inexplicably ended up in the Shikkotsu Forest, learned some kind of Senjutsu whose name he didn't know, and even formed a contract with a spirit beast called Katsuyu.
This thing is amazing! Not only can it split into countless segments, but each one also has its own healing ability! It's receiving rave reviews!
Thus, the name Shura Senju gradually entered the public consciousness of the Senju Clan.
That's the first thing. The second thing is that the Senju Clan has been under a lot of pressure lately.
Because the Uchiha Clan was roughly equal to their nominal military power, they dared not engage in a direct confrontation with the Uchiha Clan.
However, the territory occupied by the Uchiha Clan was not small within the Land of Fire; to be precise, Uchiha was equivalent to a small country.
The Uchiha even established their own Land of Light; being a rebellious group, the Uchiha naturally needed to be suppressed.
The problem is that the Senju Clan, which is cooperating with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, is not confident in defeating the Uchiha Clan, so they are forced into a stalemate, hoping to wear down the Uchiha.
This greatly displeased the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He didn't want to hear any comparisons of military strength or analyses of power; all he wanted now was for the Uchiha Clan to be wiped off the map.
He didn't want to live in the capital, but then another country was right nearby, and he didn't want another country to exist within his Land of Fire.
Meanwhile, the Senju Clan continued to receive a steady stream of supplies and funds from him, yet despite providing so much money and support, the Senju Clan had yet to defeat the Uchiha Clan.
This made the Daimyo of the Land of Fire wonder if Senju Uchiha at all?
The more the Daimyo of the Land of Fire suspected the Senju, the deeper his suspicions grew. He continued to send emissaries to pressure the Senju clan, forcing them to fight the Uchiha Clan.
This forced the Senju Clan to continuously increase the intensity of their friction in order to cope with the pressure; their original light friction was no longer enough to appease the daimyo.
However, if this situation continues to escalate, the Uchiha clan will inevitably be drawn into a full-scale war with the Senju Clan, something the Senju Clan does not want to see.
Even if the Senju Clan manages to win, they will be severely weakened. At that point, the Uzumaki Clan or any other small clan could easily crush them.
To have one's efforts benefit others is something the Senju Clan absolutely cannot accept, but they cannot ignore the daimyo's urging, after all, they still depend on the daimyo for their livelihood.
This put the Senju Clan in a dilemma: if they went in, they would definitely perish during the Uchiha; if they didn't go, their supplies would be cut off by the Daimyo, and they would also perish.
The Senju Clan was suddenly caught in a dilemma. Under such tense circumstances, the Shura Senju's emergence seemed to have no effect.
Are you suggesting that a six-year-old child could unleash extraordinary fighting power and be wiped out by the Uchiha? That's impossible...
" Senjutsu: Wood Release: Gate of the Great God!" Just as Fū Senju was pondering how to respond, a shout came from outside the room.
Fū Senju walked to the window and looked outside. There stood the training ground, where Shura Senju was standing. The shout from earlier was from him.
After he shouted, without even changing his hand position, several arches appeared out of thin air and crashed heavily to the ground, creating several dents.
"What's going on?" Fū Senju was certain he hadn't misread anything; from the moment he shouted until the end, the Shura Senju hadn't Hand Seals.
"No Hand Seals? Is there something wrong with my eyes?" Fū Senju couldn't help but doubt his own eyes. Releasing Ninjutsu without Hand Seals? That was impossible!
Meanwhile, in the training grounds, Shura Senju continued his training, " Wood Release: Chain Forging Technique!"
Countless trees sprang up from the ground, instantly forming a house, which then quickly collapsed.
Shura Senju looked at the collapsed treehouse before him and sighed. His application of Wood Release was still too rudimentary; he couldn't control it with precision.
Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. He slowly turned around and saw that it was Fū Senju who had walked over at some point.
Fū Senju stepped forward and asked, "When you released your Ninjutsu just now, didn't you use Hand Seals?"
Shura Senju thought for a moment, then nodded. "Uh, it seems so. I don't know why, but I only need to think about the flow of Chakra in my mind; I don't need to use Hand Seals to control it."
Fū Senju looked Shura Senju up and down, and was shocked. He was right, this child had released Ninjutsu without Hand Seals!
"Is this something you were born knowing, or did someone teach you?" Fū Senju inquired.
Shura Senju lowered his eyes slightly, and after a long while, he said, "It's innate. I discovered that I don't need to Hand Seals when I was learning Chakra control."
Fū Senju looked at Shura Senju. He sensed that Shura Senju was lying, but he didn't press the matter further.
He had a premonition that if he continued to press the matter, he would not only fail to get what he wanted, but might even lose his life.
So he started searching for reasons in his mind. Maybe he learned it in the Holy Land. As the place where Senjutsu are passed down, it would be reasonable for the Holy Land to have such abilities.
Thinking this to himself, he nodded and said, "Practice hard, and you might just become an elder in the future. You will be the future of our Senju Clan!"
Shura Senju nodded silently, then turned around and continued practicing.
He did lie. He only had two innate talents: one was learning Ninjutsu —he learned everything very quickly—and the other was having an enormous amount of Chakra, though he didn't know exactly how much.
From the moment he began learning and practicing Chakra, it seemed as if his body never lacked Chakra, as if it were inexhaustible.
As for the unsealed Ninjutsu, he learned it from an old man in a dream. That old man looked very different from him, and even different from everyone else.
The old man had two pairs of horns on his head, and his skin was a different color than normal people's. His eyes were wavy, spiral-shaped eyes. He didn't know what they meant, but looking into those eyes, he felt a deep sense of familiarity.
The old man didn't do anything to him, but told him that he would rewrite the future of the Shinobi World, muttering something about going astray.
Although Shura Senju couldn't understand, that didn't stop the old man from teaching him this method of casting Ninjutsu without Hand Seals.
Upon waking, Shura Senju was astonished to discover that what he had been taught in his dream was actually true; he could indeed unleash Ninjutsu without Hand Seals...
( The Shura Senju possesses powerful healing abilities, so the Katsuyu it summons also possess healing abilities.)