The Senju Clan was currently experiencing a golden age of young talent.
As they endured battle after battle, one gifted prodigy after another emerged from the clan’s younger generation.
Senju Akira was among the most outstanding of them.
At only fifteen, he had already become an elite jonin.
Among the clan’s younger shinobi, only Hashirama and Tobirama were considered more talented.
Akira’s mastery of Water Release was exceptional, but the two brothers constantly overshadowed him.
“Granduncle Shigure!” When Hashirama spotted Shigure strolling into the square, he waved and approached with Akira beside him.
“My dear eldest grandnephew!
You only just got married, yet you still dragged yourself out of bed this early?
How could you bear to leave?” Shigure gave him a knowing smile, his wrinkled face displaying an expression that any experienced man would have understood.
“I came to see you off,” Hashirama replied, apparently missing the implication entirely.
“I also asked Akira to accompany you and protect you.” “Ah, my dear grandnephew!
I can hardly bear to part with you.
Once I leave this time, I fear…” Shigure forced several tears from his eyes and sighed heavily, his face filled with reluctance.
Seeing his granduncle like this, Hashirama felt his own nose sting.
He turned towards Akira with a solemn expression.
“Akira, I’m entrusting Granduncle Shigure’s safety to you!” “You can count on me, Hashirama!” Akira promised before taking his place beside Shigure.
Shigure knew that the young man possessed an extraordinarily swift escape technique—Water Release: Ground Shrinking Technique.
It reminded him of a teleportation skill used by a faction in an online game from his previous life.
Akira’s technique could not instantly return him to his home base, but it could still carry him several kilometres in the blink of an eye.
The technique consumed an enormous amount of chakra, but being able to escape several kilometres instantly made it an incredible life-saving ability.
Shigure watched Hashirama reluctantly depart.
The instant his grandnephew disappeared from sight, Shigure’s expression changed.
He clasped his hands behind his back and assumed the dignified air of an unfathomable master.
He could not allow the Uzumaki to look down on him.
Before long, all 150 Senju shinobi had assembled.
An elderly man dressed in the Uzumaki Clan’s traditional attire also arrived at the square.
He nodded to Shigure, who stood with his hands behind his back.
“Mm.” Shigure responded with a faint hum, and the group set out.
As for the clan’s senior leadership, not a single one of them had appeared to see the expedition off.
Shigure knew why.
They were afraid he would embarrass himself.
The Senju leaders already felt thoroughly ashamed about sending him to command this deployment.
How could they possibly bring themselves to appear at his departure?
From a distance, Shigure’s other brother watched the group gradually disappear.
“Regretting it?” Shigure’s eldest brother spoke from behind him.
“Do you think I went too far?” “You’re only realising that now?” Shigure’s eldest brother shook his head and walked away.
Shigure…if you return safely, I’ll apologise to you.
Shigure’s other brother continued staring in the direction where Shigure had vanished, guilt weighing heavily on his heart.
Throughout the journey, Uzumaki Nagakaze repeatedly attempted to speak with Shigure.
What puzzled him was that Shigure remained surrounded by Senju shinobi at all times.
The entire formation appeared to revolve around the elderly man, as though every member of the detachment placed extraordinary importance on his safety.
Nagakaze had no way of knowing that Tobirama had personally ordered them to protect Shigure at all costs.
Akira, in particular, never left Shigure’s side.
This elder must be extremely powerful.
He has even reached the point where he can conceal nearly all traces of his chakra!
As one of the Uzumaki clan’s senior figures and an expert in sealing techniques, Nagakaze had noticed the faint trace of chakra within Shigure’s body.
Instead of suspecting that Shigure was weak, however, he assumed that the old man’s chakra control had reached an unfathomable level.
Had Shigure learned what Nagakaze was thinking, he probably would have spat in the man’s face.
And so, the shinobi continued travelling in a peculiar formation.
Five powerful Uzumaki shinobi led the group.
Behind them came Shigure, surrounded on every side by over a hundred Senju shinobi.
The chunin had been divided into more than a dozen three-man squads that continuously scouted their surroundings.
The journey remained peaceful until they left the Senju Clan’s sphere of influence.
Information from the scouting squads revealed that a force of Uchiha shinobi had bypassed the western defensive line and moved directly into their path.
Their destination was Sunset Valley.
Several scouting teams discovered traces of Uchiha activity in the area.
After combining their reports, Akira concluded that at least a hundred Uchiha shinobi were blocking the route ahead.
Only a single road, a few metres wide, passed through the valley.
Dark green moss covered the towering rock walls on both sides, making their surfaces exceptionally slippery.
The cliffs were also far too steep to climb.
If the Senju and Uzumaki wanted to pass through the valley, they had only one option.
They would have to fight their way through.
Nagakaze approached Shigure to discuss their response.
To his surprise, the Senju elder displayed no concern whatsoever.
Shigure’s composed expression made it appear as though he already had everything under control.
Shigure must already have a plan.
Nagakaze immediately felt reassured and waited for him to speak.
Shigure brushed the dust from his clothes and looked around at the assembled shinobi.
“Since the Uchiha are blocking our path, we’ll build our strategy around the abilities they rely on most.” “The abilities they rely on most?” “What do you have in mind?” Everyone stared at him in confusion.
Shigure turned towards Akira.
“Akira, tell me: what abilities and ninjutsu does the Uchiha Clan specialise in?” Their abilities and ninjutsu?
The Senju shinobi struggled to suppress their laughter.
They had fought the Uchiha for years.
Was there anyone among them who did not know what the Uchiha specialised in?
Nevertheless, they maintained solemn expressions and pretended to listen attentively.
They could not publicly embarrass an elder of their clan.
Nagakaze, however, interpreted Shigure’s deliberate tone as evidence that the question possessed some profound hidden meaning.
“The Uchiha Clan?” Akira paused before immediately answering.
“The Sharingan and Fire Release ninjutsu!” Shigure clapped his hands.
“Correct!” He nodded in satisfaction.
One of the Senju jonin clutched his stomach, desperately trying not to laugh.
The others also fought to control themselves, afraid that laughing aloud would humiliate their senior.
“Therefore, we need tactics that will turn the enemy’s advantages into advantages of our own!” Nagakaze did not fully understand Shigure’s unfamiliar terminology.
However, the moment he heard the phrase turn the enemy’s advantages into our own, he regarded Shigure with newfound awe.
Even the Senju jonin who had nearly burst out laughing became curious.
“Shigure, what exactly is this plan?” Nagakaze asked.
In this age of constant warfare, shinobi battles generally followed the same pattern: an overwhelming barrage of kunai, widespread ninjutsu bombardment, and finally a decisive clash at close range.
Formations, ambushes, and battlefield tactics were already common, but few commanders built entire strategies around neutralising a rival clan’s signature abilities.
That was precisely why Kakashi’s creation of the Chidori and Minato Namikaze’s development of the Rasengan would eventually earn them reputations as geniuses.
Most ninjutsu in the current era consisted of large-scale destructive techniques.
Techniques designed to strike a single target were comparatively rare.
Nagakaze watched Shigure with eager anticipation.
Shigure was extremely satisfied by his reaction.
He began laying out one carefully targeted manoeuvre after another.
In moments, every shinobi present—including the Senju—was staring at the old man in disbelief.
“Could that really work?” “That’s ruthless!” “This…this is…” By the time Shigure finished explaining his tactics, Nagakaze was completely dumbfounded.
Shigure seemed to have been born for warfare.
How could anyone devise such a vicious strategy in the blink of an eye?
The Uchiha Clan was truly unfortunate to have encountered him.
The Senju shinobi stared at Shigure as though he were some unfamiliar monster.
It was almost as if they were seeing the man they had always dismissed as weak for the first time.
Akira’s reaction was even more noticeable.
A faint glimmer passed through his eyes as he studied Shigure.
“Very well.
We’ll proceed according to my plan.
Akira, you will handle the deployment of our shinobi.” “Understood, Elder Shigure!”
Add to library.
Send some Power Stones.