Chapter 7: Target: Itama Senju

My name is Uchiha Gin, I am 24 years old, and I am a piece of trash.

Just a moment ago, while still organizing his memories, Uchiha Gin was arranged by the squad leader, Uchiha Feng Huo, to the very back of the formation, perhaps to look after his injuries which had yet to fully heal.

Of course, a bigger reason was that his strength was truly lacking; having him lead the way would easily allow the enemy to kill him, creating a breach in the squad's formation.

According to the mission briefing distributed by Uchiha Feng Huo, Uchiha Gin learned that their target was Itama Senju, the fourth son of Butsuma Senju.

His eldest and second sons were constantly by Butsuma Senju's side, making them difficult to target, so they had to settle for the next best thing and lock their sights on Itama Senju, who was at the rear of the battlefield.

Taking advantage of the fact that it was not yet dawn, the group carefully groped their way forward behind the Senju clan's territory, but they did not spot any sign of the enemy along the way, and the few camps they passed were already empty.

Perhaps because the Hagoromo clan had killed Kawarama Senju, the Senju clan had heightened their vigilance and begun to tighten their defensive net; after all, the rear lines were mostly filled with fresh blood like young children, and the Senju clan knew they could not afford to be careless.

Suddenly, firelight and roaring sounds came from not far ahead. Uchiha Feng Huo was at the very front of the squad; he jumped onto a high treetop, and Uchiha Gin and the others followed closely behind.

Uchiha Feng Huo immediately activated his Sharingan, and with the aid of his super-strong dynamic vision, he quickly saw the two sides fiercely engaged in battle amidst the smoke and dust ahead.

"It's people from the Hagoromo clan and the Senju clan."

Uchiha Feng Huo said in a deep voice.

"Shall we go over to reinforce them?"

Ryoichi Uchiha was somewhat eager to try, and Tsuru Uchiha and Taro Uchiha beside him also revealed bloodthirsty smiles.

Uchiha Feng Huo narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and said.

"Wait a moment. We'll move in once the other side has exhausted themselves."

"This Uchiha Feng Huo looks like he has thick eyebrows and big eyes, but I didn't expect him to be a camper."

After hearing Uchiha Feng Huo's order, Uchiha Gin complained in his heart.

Compared to the others in the squad who were observing the battlefield with their Sharingan activated, Uchiha Gin, who had not activated his, could only see a few clusters of smoke, with water and fire occasionally bursting out.

Sure enough, without the Sharingan, he was still far too lacking; in a battle of this scale, he could lose his life if he were even slightly careless.

Just as he was considering how to survive, Uchiha Feng Huo seemed to have discovered something and pointed his finger toward the back of the battlefield.

"That kid, is that our target?"

Following the direction he pointed, the group noticed that although the two teams were fighting, the Senju clan members seemed to be fighting while retreating, with no heart for the battle.

At the back of the group, several adult Senju clan members were covering the retreat of a child; the brat with black and white hair was extremely conspicuous.

"That's right, Captain, that is Itama Senju!"

Tsuru Uchiha quickly took out the information to compare and said excitedly.

"Hahaha, truly, one doesn't have to look far when it's right under one's nose. Let's move!"

Since the target had been found, there was no need to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight anymore. Uchiha Feng Huo waved his hand, and except for the half-beat slower Uchiha Gin, the others quickly followed Uchiha Feng Huo as he rushed toward the battlefield, throwing shuriken as they ran.

The two sides, who were in a stalemate, were startled when several people suddenly killed their way in. Among them, the Hagoromo clan members felt relieved the moment they saw the scarlet eyes of the newcomers; after fighting for so long, reinforcements had finally arrived.

The Senju clan, however, felt the pressure upon seeing the Uchiha members. The few Senju clansmen blocking the front line worked even harder to refine chakra and perform Earth Style, raising stone walls in an attempt to stall for time.

After all, this was the Senju clan's territory, and their own reinforcements should be on the way.

Uchiha Gin arrived late; as soon as he entered the battlefield, the pungent smell of blood made him dizzy, and a wave of nausea surged into his heart.

Looking at the corpses and blood covering the ground, Uchiha Gin suppressed the discomfort in his heart, drew the samurai sword at his waist, and vigilantly watched the enemies he had never seen before.

The leader of the Hagoromo clan was a middle-aged man wearing armor with long brown hair; Uchiha Gin vaguely saw a small protruding horn on his forehead, which was covered by his bangs.

At this moment, he was frantically performing hand seals with both hands, slamming one ninjutsu after another onto the Earth Style wall propped up by the Senju clan. Judging from his aura, this person's strength was at least that of an elite jonin.

The Hagoromo clan was also a five-man extermination squad; two people were already lying on the ground, dead or alive unknown, and the leading elite jonin was also panting heavily.

The previous burst of ninjutsu output had consumed a lot of his chakra. If he couldn't take down the opponent even with someone this strong, it seemed the Senju clan were no ordinary people either.

"Hagoromo clan guys, fall back. Leave the rest to us."

Uchiha Feng Huo looked at the panting Hagoromo clan and dismissively told them to retreat.

The pride of the Uchiha clan made them disdainful of joining forces with people from other clans to kill enemies; even if they were allies, they were merely fighting their own battles.

"But we have already exhausted the other side to the point of collapse..."

Seeing that the Uchiha clan did not want to share the fruits of victory with them, the Hagoromo clan jonin said anxiously.

"Do you have an opinion?"

Several pairs of cold, sharp red eyes from the Uchiha turned to stare at him simultaneously.

"No, no, I'll leave the rest to you all."

The Hagoromo clan member, whose scalp was tingling from being stared at, had no choice but to lower his head and accept his fate; power dictates the rules.

Having received a satisfactory answer, Uchiha Feng Huo nodded.

Seeing that the Uchiha and Hagoromo clans seemed to have had a conflict, the leading Senju clansman made a retreat gesture, and the few people behind him quickly prepared to run.

Just as the Senju clan members turned their heads, Uchiha Feng Huo's long sword was already striking toward them. The Senju clan jonin reacted rapidly, raising his hand and relying on the armor on his arm to forcibly deflect the blade aimed at his face.

"Did I say you could leave?"

Uchiha Feng Huo and the others surrounded the Senju clan.

Koji Senju's hand was already numb from the previous shock and could no longer be raised. He had already consumed too much physical strength in the initial skirmish with the Hagoromo clan, and the wounds on his body were bleeding non-stop.

Now that he was surrounded and being hunted by Uchiha Feng Huo and the others, he felt that his situation was dire. However, he could not just sit and wait for death; the future of the Senju clan was still in his hands, and even if he had to sacrifice his life, he had to protect this sapling.

Thinking of this, he forcibly refined chakra, frantically squeezing his own life force to activate a forbidden technique that accelerated the recovery of his injuries and physical strength.

The Senju clan was born with a powerful constitution, possessing chakra reserves and healing power far beyond ordinary people.

In desperate situations, the Senju clan could often erupt with strength far exceeding their usual levels.

Gritting his teeth, Koji Senju met the strongest, Uchiha Feng Huo, head-on, attempting to trade his life for a chance for the others behind him to escape.

Seeing the opponent resist so stubbornly, even as a mortal enemy, Uchiha Feng Huo could not help but feel a sense of respect and began to treat the enemy before him seriously.

Thus, he held his sword and charged, beginning a taijutsu duel with Koji Senju; for a time, sword light and shadows flickered on the field.

There were three remaining Senju clan members surrounded; they circled a child, vigilantly watching Ryoichi Uchiha and the others who were closing in. The one surrounded in the middle was the target of Uchiha Feng Huo's squad this time: Itama Senju.

"If I had known, I should have listened to Father and stayed obediently in the territory."

Surrounded in the middle, the 5-year-old Itama Senju was already shivering, but the pride of the Senju clan drove the child to tremblingly pull a kunai from his waist and hold it horizontally across his chest. As his whole body shook, the ill-fitting armor on his body also creaked.

This was young Itama Senju's first time on the battlefield. Some time ago, his brother Kawarama Senju had been sniped outside the territory, and he had been forcibly confined to the territory by his father.

As a descendant of the clan leader who was slightly different from the others, Itama Senju had always lived in the inner chambers and had not been exposed to combat too early.

However, the accidental death of his third brother left Itama Senju not only heartbroken but also filled with a deeper desire for revenge.

When Butsuma Senju took his two older brothers to the front line, Itama Senju, unable to suppress his desire for revenge, snuck out of the camp overnight, wearing his brother's armor, intending to go to the battlefield to find the enemy.

Although the Senju clan's remaining guard squad discovered him in time, they still encountered an ambush by the Hagoromo clan on the way back after finding Itama Senju.

Under the sneak attack, several ordinary combatants among the accompanying Senju clan members were killed on the spot, leaving only the guard squad leader Koji Senju and three members with chunin-level strength to hold on.

Just as they were fighting while retreating, the Uchiha clan's reinforcements actually arrived. Itama Senju, who had originally had a glimmer of hope for survival, instantly experienced what it meant to have the situation completely reversed.

Now, surrounded by the Uchiha clan, they could only put up a desperate struggle, and at this moment, they could only pray that Koji Senju would defeat Uchiha Feng Huo and come to their aid.

(End of chapter)