Senju Kima led a force of one hundred clan shinobi out of the Senju compound at full speed, racing towards the location Akira had identified.
The clan had dispatched ninety-five jōnin.
The remaining five were captains from the clan guard—all elite jōnin.
Four hours later… The group finally reached the vicinity of Miotoshi Creek.
However, the sight that greeted them was one of utter devastation.
Conspicuous pools of blood stained the ground.
Countless trees had been reduced to charred splinters, and scattered flames still flickered among the debris.
Large numbers of discarded kunai littered the area.
A tremendous battle had clearly taken place here.
“So many shinobi surrounded my younger brother!” Kima understood what must have happened almost instantly.
His eyes reddened with fury.
He wanted nothing more than to tear every last enemy apart with his bare hands.
In truth, Kima had regretted his decision almost immediately after proposing that Shigure be sent to the Uzumaki Clan.
Shigure might have been a lifelong underachiever, but he was still Kima’s biological younger brother.
Although Shigure frequently took verbal jabs at him, Kima understood that this was simply part of his personality.
Having spent so many years unable to improve his strength, Shigure had developed a habit of drawing attention to himself through his words.
If I hadn’t neglected him for so many years, why would he constantly find excuses to quarrel with me?
Kima finally understood.
His younger brother had been lonely.
Over the years, Kima had risen to the pinnacle of authority within the clan, yet he had gradually stopped paying attention to Shigure.
Worse still, the entire Senju Clan had turned Shigure into a cautionary example used to motivate its younger members.
In a sense, the clan had already abandoned him.
Kima could not forget the emotion in Akira’s voice when he delivered the news.
“Elder Shigure stayed behind alone to face several hundred enemies so that I could escape!
I… I…” “Shigure!” Tears gathered in the corners of Kima’s eyes.
He would avenge his younger brother.
After carefully examining the battlefield, the Senju shinobi concluded that the Hōzuki and Kaguya forces had already left.
Their tracks led farther ahead.
“Elder Kima!” one of the clan guard captains reported.
“Judging by the footprints, the enemy left in a great hurry.
It’s highly likely that they were pursuing the Third Elder.” The captain’s expression became somewhat strange as he finished speaking.
Was Shigure not supposed to be a lifelong genin?
How had he escaped after being surrounded by so many enemies?
The captain simply could not understand it.
“What did you say?” Kima’s expression transformed into one of overwhelming joy.
He seized the captain by the shoulders.
“You mean Shigure might still be alive?” “Judging by the current evidence, Elder Shigure was still alive when he left this battlefield!” “Good!
Excellent!
Everyone, pursue them immediately!” Upon hearing this, Kima hurriedly ordered the entire force forwards.
The news had left him stunned.
His younger brother was actually still alive?
That was far beyond anything he had dared to hope.
It seems the message Akira sent back several days ago was true!
Shigure really advanced to jōnin level!
He even escaped after being surrounded by so many enemies!
“Hahaha!
Wait for me, Shigure!
Your older brother is coming to save you!” Kima’s heart filled with joy.
He desperately wanted to see Shigure again—and apologise to him in person.
His pride no longer mattered.
Only after nearly losing his brother did Kima truly understand the value of their bond, including all those arguments they had shared over the years.
The Senju force advanced rapidly.
The trail left behind by the enemy was obvious.
The chaotic footprints covering the ground made it clear that the pursuit had never stopped.
Eventually… The Senju shinobi arrived before a barren volcano.
Every one of them froze, their faces twisting into exaggerated expressions of disbelief.
A crater!
An enormous, terrifying crater!
The pit was several dozen metres wide.
Severed limbs and mangled remains were scattered throughout its depths.
Even more horrifyingly, the bodies looked as though countless tiny blades had torn through them, shredding their flesh beyond recognition.
Judging from the scraps of clothing among the remains, however, every single victim had belonged to either the Hōzuki or Kaguya Clan.
“What in the world happened here?” The Senju shinobi stared blankly at the crater, unable to comprehend the scene.
Kima’s mouth hung open in astonishment.
“Second Elder!
We’ve discovered tracks leading north—away from Senju territory!” the clan guard captain reported.
His lips twitched as he examined the evidence.
“It appears Elder Shigure doubled back during the chase, and the enemy is still pursuing him.” His own conclusion frightened him.
From the state of the crater, Shigure had clearly used an extraordinarily powerful ninjutsu that none of them had ever seen before.
The air was still saturated with large quantities of unstable wind-nature chakra.
The captain could not imagine what kind of Wind Release technique could produce such horrifying destructive power.
“Continue the pursuit!” A possibility briefly surfaced in Kima’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it and issued the simple command.
He absolutely refused to believe that his younger brother could have unleashed such a technique.
This battlefield had most likely been left behind by some other Kage-level shinobi.
It seems I was overthinking it.
Shigure is probably still in terrible danger.
… Fifty kilometres away— A figure stood atop a high slope with his hands clasped behind his back, his clothes snapping majestically in the wind.
Opposite him stood more than thirty shinobi.
Every one of them wore a solemn expression and remained on full alert.
“I never expected this.” Shariki, whose body was covered in wounds, stared fixedly at the figure before him.
His voice was filled with lingering fear and resentment.
“I truly never expected Elder Shigure to have hidden his strength so deeply.
Every one of us underestimated you!” The surviving shinobi were drenched in blood.
Their breathing was weak, and their chakra signatures had become faint and unstable.
They had barely survived an unimaginable disaster.
None of them could have anticipated that Senju Shigure—a man they had dismissed as an insignificant insect—was secretly a Kage-level shinobi whose true power had never been revealed!
A monstrous single-target attack he could unleash instantly.
A bizarre movement technique that was nearly impossible to defend against.
And most terrifying of all— That devastating Wind Release ninjutsu!
Had the surviving shinobi not activated every forbidden technique at their disposal and fled with all their strength, they were certain that the terrifying ninjutsu would have annihilated them without leaving so much as a corpse behind.
The first attack had taken the lives of more than a hundred shinobi!
The second had killed dozens more and scattered the survivors.
And just moments ago— More than eighty shinobi had been caught in the third attack.
Only slightly more than thirty had escaped alive!
Most importantly, every survivor had been severely injured.
Standing with his hands behind his back, Shigure calmly gazed down at the battered shinobi before him.
He wore the smug, self-satisfied expression of a man convinced that no one present could challenge him.
“What does it mean to be invincible?” Shigure paused dramatically.
“I am invincible!” His gaze swept across the terrified survivors.
“Remember this!
From now on, call me Senju Shigure the Invincible!” A blue glow immediately appeared above his right palm.
Circular layers of sharp, pure-white chakra blades rapidly formed around the blue sphere.
At the same time, a piercing hum reverberated through the air, striking fear into the heart of every shinobi present.
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Shariki despaired.
The remaining shinobi were equally horrified.
They knew there was no possibility of evading this attack.
Only Gengetsu Hōzuki reacted differently.
Almost instinctively, he slipped behind one of his clansmen and began forming a rapid sequence of hand seals.
Had Akira been present, he would have cried out in astonishment.
The hand seals Gengetsu was forming were remarkably similar to his own.
Gengetsu Hōzuki had learned the Water Release: Ground-Shrinking Technique!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Shigure stood over the battlefield, looking down at his trapped enemies.
Then, with a single Body Flicker Technique, he appeared directly before the surviving shinobi.
A faint smile curved across his lips.
It was time to finish them.
“Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!” … Author’s Note : Want to keep reading?