Chapter 261: Actors, Take Your Positions

Early in the morning, a figure stepped through the first rays of dawn, speeding through the dense jungle and across the fresh green grass of early spring, finally landing beside a winding, flowing river.

"Whew~ How nostalgic!"

Over a dozen years had passed in a flash; the boy of the past had grown into an adult, but the water of the Nanhechuanhe still flowed on, unchanged by the passage of time.

"I didn't expect the Senju clan to have pushed the front line this far. It seems my eldest cousin and the others really can't hold them back."

Uchiha Gin crouched down, stirred the cold river water, then looked up at the towering Arhat Wood Golem not far away. He sighed, a hint of melancholy in his eyes.

The Nanhechuanhe was only a dozen kilometers from the Uchiha clan's territory. The aftershocks from the massive battle between Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju could be clearly felt within the clan grounds. The ordinary clansmen living there were worried all day long, and the merchants who had lingered in the Uchiha territory had long since fled at the first sign of trouble. Now, the entire Uchiha territory was desolate.

"Sigh~ I hope after this act is finished, I'll be able to see the gates of Konoha~"

Cheering himself on, Uchiha Gin stood up and stretched his limbs. A rare look of seriousness appeared in his dead-fish eyes. He clapped his hands together, split a wooden branch from his body, and it transformed into a Wood Clone upon hitting the ground.

"Ha~ Main body, I want to play the old uncle. Can I just go up there and die immediately?"

The forcibly awakened Wood Clone received the information in his mind instantly. As a tool-man without benefits or insurance, he expressed reasonable dissatisfaction with the main body's exploitation, immediately raising his hand to indicate he would at most accept playing Uchiha Tian Dao, who dies straight away.

"No, I'll play the old uncle. You go play the white-haired one. I'm afraid you'll dispel the clone the moment you get stabbed."

Uchiha Gin shook his head and gave his instructions; he didn't want anything to go wrong with his final performance of the Warring States period.

"Heh, clones have no human rights, is that it?"

The clone sneered at this explanation. With his level of skill, how could he possibly make such a low-level mistake?

"Stop yapping!"

"Fine, fine, fine~"

The clone rolled his eyes helplessly, performed hand seals with one hand, and used the Transformation Jutsu. The Wood Clone was wrapped in emerald green branches, and the next moment, the branches fell away. A familiar white-haired figure appeared in place, opening his scarlet eyes and looking at the main body with a foul expression.

"Yes, yes, yes, that's the expression. Very vivid."

Watching the clone's perfect performance, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but applaud. Then, he cast the same Transformation Jutsu, changing into the weary-looking Uchiha Tian Dao. His tiger-like eyes narrowed slightly, and the pressure radiating from his body was maxed out.

"Did you memorize the script?"

Uchiha Gin, now in the guise of the old uncle, frowned as he asked the reluctant "Tobirama Senju."

"I'm on it, don't worry, I'll follow the script."

Faced with the big picture, the Wood Clone temporarily set aside his dissatisfaction and nodded seriously.

"Good! Let's go~"

Everything was ready, and all that was missing was the east wind. Uchiha Gin looked at the two giants collapsing in the distance and waved his hand.

Let the show begin~

At the very center of the Uchiha and Senju battlefield, members of both clans tacitly cleared a stage for their respective leaders. In the massive clearing, boulders were ground into dust, giant trees were uprooted, and deep pits of varying sizes covered the area. The smoke and dust kicked up by the shockwaves were dozens of meters high, and the two giants that had blotted out the sky were slowly collapsing.

"Hashirama!"

"Madara!"

Two sharp figures leaped down from the heads of the giants. Uchiha Madara swung his war fan and charged excitedly toward Hashirama Senju, who, showing no fear, raised his human-sized broadsword to meet his former best friend.

"Clang! ~~"

A violent metallic ringing sound erupted, and another massive wave surged across the field, causing the ordinary clansmen coming to support to shrink back.

"Fall back quickly, this is not a battle you can participate in."

A flash of golden light suddenly appeared before the members of the Senju clan. In the blink of an eye, a figure clad in indigo armor blocked their path. Tobirama Senju, who had arrived on the scene via the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, panted slightly, his hanging hands trembling faintly. After steadying himself, he turned his head, his scarlet eyes filled with intense intimidation, and spoke to prevent the clansmen from making a meaningless sacrifice.

On the other side, the late-arriving Uchiha Izuna first glared hatefully at Tobirama Senju, who had fled the scene when they were fighting, and then shouted to his red-eyed clansmen:

"Don't disturb Big Brother's fight!"

Having said that, Uchiha Izuna mocked Tobirama Senju not far away:

"Stinky white-hair, did that dead-early father of yours only teach you how to run away?"

"Damn it! The naturally evil Uchiha!"

The current Tobirama Senju was far from the composed man he would become. Facing his nemesis, he gritted his teeth, drew a notched longsword, glanced at his scarred, beloved blade with a pang of heartache, curled his fingers, and vanished from the spot instantly.

"Hmph! Coming to tickle me again?"

Seeing the opponent suddenly disappear, Uchiha Izuna, who knew Tobirama Senju's methods like the back of his hand, snorted coldly. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, scanning his surroundings vigilantly, waiting for the attack.

Just as Uchiha Izuna was scanning left and right, Tobirama Senju, hunched over, suddenly appeared under his ribs. Wielding the longsword in his hand, which was coated in bursts of azure chakra, he stabbed without hesitation toward the opening under the armpit.

"Clang! ~"

A muffled sound rang out. Although the feeling in his hand told him he had hit the target, Tobirama Senju remained troubled, for he clearly sensed the formidable vitality radiating from Uchiha Izuna, and his hand holding the sword was aching from the strange force that had rebounded.

"Hmm~ How many times is this? Why don't you ever learn?"

Uchiha Izuna's mocking voice rang in his ear. Tobirama Senju felt a chill in his heart and immediately used the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to return to his original starting point, frowning as he looked at his unscathed nemesis.

"Snap~"

The next moment, the troubled Tobirama heard a mournful sound from the longsword in his hand. Looking down, the blade that had been with him for a short time had actually split down the middle, breaking into several pieces before falling to the ground.

"Damn it! If you've got guts, take off that weird armor of yours."

Gritting his teeth, Tobirama Senju tossed the remaining hilt aside, his scarlet eyes filled with tangible rage.

"Are you sick?"

Uchiha Izuna, wearing his heavy armor, curled his lip, pointed a finger at his own head, and asked.

"Whew~ I must research a divine sword capable of piercing all things. When that time comes, I'll turn this turtle into a sieve!"

Rubbing his sore wrist and watching the smug Uchiha Izuna, Tobirama Senju, who had been frustrated for years, secretly swore in his heart that he would definitely create an armor-piercing weapon.

"Hey, hey, hey, main body, main body, Tobirama Senju is still on the scene. How are we supposed to act?"

On a small hill not far from where the few were fighting, the prone "Tobirama Senju" looked at the real person who was bickering with his little cousin, feeling a headache, and helplessly typed a question mark in the mental space chat group.

"Tsk! Who would have thought this kid wouldn't properly drag Tobirama Senju away, but instead ran to the main battlefield to join the fun."

Uchiha Gin also had a headache regarding the little brother and Tobirama Senju appearing off-script. Sure enough, after putting the "Despair" two-piece set on this kid, he had become a bit arrogant.

According to the old uncle's intelligence, there were two battlefields today, quite far apart: the main battlefield of the eldest cousin and Hashirama Senju, and the secondary battlefield of the little cousin and Tobirama Senju. Logically, the two shouldn't interfere with each other, so why did they end up together?

Actually, it wasn't that Uchiha Gin's plan wasn't meticulous; it was simply because Tobirama Senju had been beaten into a state of hopelessness on the secondary battlefield by the turtle-shelled, super-hard Uchiha Izuna. Just then, he saw his eldest brother's Wood Golem collapse, and feeling concerned, he arrived at the main battlefield first to check the situation. If there were no major problems, he would fly back to continue grinding the turtle shell.

It was just unexpected that although Uchiha Izuna was wearing heavy armor, his speed was not affected in the slightest. He caught the scent and rushed back to the main battlefield immediately.

"So what now? Should we wrap up for the day and go get our boxed lunches?"

The Wood Clone scratched his head, a look of hesitation on his face. He had finally managed to integrate the soul of the character and was preparing to make a run for the Ninja World Oscar, but he hadn't expected to fail before even starting. He would have to fill his stomach first.

"Don't panic, wait for me to go perform a scene and lure the little cousin away~"

Since he was already here, he couldn't return empty-handed. Uchiha Gin steeled his heart and strode toward the main battlefield.

"Hashirama~"

"Madara~"

Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were unaffected by their younger brothers; they only had eyes for each other. Their fighting styles were like those of gorgeous dancers, dancing gracefully in the center of the battlefield.

"Na-na-na~ You white-haired guy, if you have the guts, come over here!"

Mimicking Uchiha Gin's "Ultraman" provocation, Uchiha Izuna extended a hand toward the gritting-teeth Tobirama Senju, taunting him incessantly with a wicked, wild expression.

"You... Father, why are you here?"

Just as he was about to use a vicious personal attack, Uchiha Izuna had only said half a sentence when he discovered a familiar figure beside him. Looking at the cold-faced Uchiha Tian Dao, the little cousin felt a tightness in his heart, his tone tinged with fear.

"Izuna, why are you here? How is the battlefield in the rear?"

"Uchiha Tian Dao" frowned, his eyes filled with a trace of coldness as he looked at his somewhat conceited younger son and asked.

"Cough, cough... Father, I saw that Tobirama Senju had run off, and I was afraid he would do something to Big Brother, so I withdrew from the secondary battlefield."

Facing his father's questioning, the guilty Uchiha Izuna immediately pinned the blame on Tobirama Senju, who was on high alert not far away.

"Don't make excuses. Go back to the secondary battlefield now. How can a commander desert his post?"

He continued to scold his little cousin with a cold face, urging him to hurry back to the secondary battlefield to command the situation.

"But Tobirama Senju..."

"I'm here, what are you still worried about?"

Patting his little cousin on the shoulder, "Uchiha Tian Dao," whose brow suddenly furrowed, unobtrusively rubbed his red and swollen fingers and continued:

"Don't worry, as long as you leave, Tobirama Senju will follow right behind you."

(End of chapter)