When Shigure’s group reached the far exit of Sunset Valley, they were greeted by a grim sight.
A deathly pale Uchiha Koji stood silently before them.
Beside him lay the body of an Uchiha shinobi who had only just breathed his last.
The Senju shinobi could not help feeling a measure of respect for the man’s resolve.
That respect did not last long.
At a casual wave from Shigure, more than a dozen Senju shinobi surrounded Koji and beat him to death.
Akira’s eye twitched violently.
Shigure’s methods truly were a little… Before he could finish that thought, a system notification appeared in Shigure’s mind.
[The Host has intervened in and completely altered a minor event in shinobi history: the Uchiha ambush.] [Reward: 50 World Points.] Shigure nearly cried out in delight.
For the rest of the journey, everyone kept catching Shigure grinning from ear to ear, as though something wonderful had happened.
“Why is Shigure so happy?” one of the clan’s chunin whispered, nudging the companion beside him.
“Probably because of the battle just now,” the other man guessed.
“Ahem.
I think it’s because this is Shigure’s first time leaving the clan compound in decades.” A chunin in his twenties shook his head behind them, wearing the knowing expression of someone privy to a great secret.
Most of the shinobi present knew about Shigure’s circumstances.
He was Elder Shigure, the clan’s favourite example of what not to become.
Whenever the younger generation trained, the clan elders would use him as a cautionary tale to motivate them.
The two chunin who had asked about him clearly belonged to the small minority who had somehow never heard those stories.
“How is that possible?” one of them asked.
“Shigure is so formidable.
How could he have remained inside the compound for so long?” The chunin bringing up the rear were speaking quietly enough that their conversation only attracted the attention of those nearby.
The older chunin snorted and gave the clueless man a disdainful look.
“Remember this: Shigure is the weakest person in our entire force.
Our mission is to protect him.” That was the instruction Tobirama had given them before their departure.
No one expected Granduncle Shigure to contribute in battle.
Their priority was simply to keep him alive.
“That… That can’t be true.” They were only chunin, yet they had been ordered to protect him.
Did that not mean Shigure was even weaker than they were?
From the moment Uzumaki Nagakaze stepped out of Sunset Valley, he had practically worshipped Senju Shigure.
The Uchiha, the Hozuki, the Kaguya—none of them seemed worth mentioning anymore.
In Nagakaze’s eyes, Shigure’s tactics had laid bare the very essence of shinobi warfare.
A man with such insight had to be one of the Senju Clan’s greatest treasures.
As far as he was concerned, the Senju’s ability to dominate the shinobi world must owe a great deal to Shigure’s strategies.
When Nagakaze failed to coax any more useful information from Shigure, he gradually fell towards the back of the formation.
He hoped the Senju chunin might tell him about some of their elder’s legendary exploits.
Instead, he heard something utterly absurd.
“The weakest among them?
These shinobi are supposed to protect him?” Nagakaze’s mouth twitched.
The mysterious Shigure who had effortlessly wiped out an enemy force had apparently spent decades confined to the clan compound?
Did that mean Senju Shigure had spent his entire adult life away from the battlefield?
Were the Senju insane, or was he?
Someone with such terrifying strategic talent was treated as little more than a ceremonial figure within the clan.
If that was true, just how formidable were the Senju’s real elites?
A chill ran down his back.
Thank goodness we chose to ally ourselves with the Senju!
At the same time, he could not hide his disappointment.
It seemed his earlier perception of Shigure’s chakra had been accurate.
Shigure truly possessed only the strength of a genin.
A mere genin!
In this war-torn age, even chunin died in droves, while jonin were a common sight on every major battlefield.
A genin barely even qualified as cannon fodder.
No wonder Shigure had not returned to the battlefield in decades.
If the Senju sent an elder with genin-level strength onto the battlefield, their enemies would probably mock them without end.
Then Nagakaze reconsidered the matter.
If someone like Shigure had been sent out with this procession despite his weakness, there had to be a deeper reason behind it.
The remainder of the journey proceeded without incident.
In fact, it was so uneventful that Shigure quickly grew bored and began wandering among the other shinobi.
“Akira, I hear your Water Release is even better than Tobirama’s.” Shigure patted the young man’s shoulder and assumed the dignified air of a renowned ninjutsu instructor.
“Come on, demonstrate one of your single-target Water Release techniques.
I’ll give you a few pointers.” “Shigure, my offensive Water Release techniques are designed for large battles.
I’ve never developed one specifically for fighting a single opponent.” Akira bowed slightly as he answered, though his expression stiffened.
“What?” Shigure stared at him in disbelief.
“A young prodigy like you hasn’t developed a single-target technique?
Akira, you still have a long way to go.” Shaking his head with a disappointed sigh, Shigure turned towards another Senju jonin.
The moment the jonin noticed Shigure looking at him, he shrank back with a sudden sense of foreboding.
His instincts proved correct.
“Mokuma, your father calls me Uncle, so I suppose that makes me your granduncle.” Shigure beckoned him over with a friendly smile.
“Come, come.
I hear you’re quite skilled with Earth Release.
Show your granduncle what you can do, and I’ll offer you a few pointers.” Whoosh!
Before Shigure had even finished speaking, Senju Mokuma vanished from the spot and reappeared in the middle of a group of chūnin.
Shigure frowned in displeasure.
“What a waste!
You’ve thrown away such a valuable opportunity.
You’ve broken your granduncle’s heart!” He then turned towards another jonin.
Before Shigure could open his mouth, the man tilted his head towards the sky and began counting the clouds.
“Kazama!
My mastery of Wind Release is unrivalled within the clan.
Don’t you have anything you’d like to ask me?” “What lovely weather we’re having today.” Shigure let out a long sigh.
These juniors were truly hopeless.
He had originally intended to take advantage of his newfound prestige and impress the younger generation.
After seeing the looks in their eyes, however, he reluctantly abandoned the idea.
As they drew closer to the Uzumaki Clan’s territory, the thoroughly bored Shigure opened his status panel and began examining his attributes.
[Host: Senju Shigure] [Age: 39 (+)] [Strength: 50] [Constitution: 50] [Spirit: 50] [Earth Affinity: 50] [Wind Affinity: 50] [Fire Affinity: 50] [Mental Ability: Sensory Perception] [Power Rating: Elite Genin] [World Points: 50] The way his attributes functioned was rather unusual.
It was common knowledge that a shinobi’s chakra was formed from physical and spiritual energy.
On Shigure’s panel, Strength and Constitution represented his physical energy.
The higher those two attributes became, the greater his physical power and resilience would be.
Spirit represented his spiritual energy.
It determined the strength of his mind while also affecting the range of his Sensory Perception.
Finally, his Earth, Wind, and Fire Affinities represented his mastery over those three chakra natures.
The higher an affinity rose, the more techniques of that nature he could learn and the greater their power would become.
As a genin, however, Shigure was restricted by both his chakra reserves—represented by Strength, Constitution, and Spirit—and his limited elemental affinities.
Those restrictions were why he had been forced to break powerful ninjutsu down into weaker, simplified forms.
But now… Staring at the fifty World Points he had suddenly acquired, Shigure could barely contain his excitement.
Add to library.
Send some Power Stones.