Having lost its primary target, the Nine-Tails was being led away by the Hagoromo shinobi, moving further into the distance.
In truth, the Nine-Tails had no desire to stay here either. It had realized by now that this shinobi village possessed decent strength; staying would only mean being subjected to a relentless, annoying barrage of attacks. While a single attack from a lone shinobi meant nothing to it, "many ants can bite an elephant to death." As reckless as the Nine-Tails was, it wasn't about to stand around and be a willing punching bag.
It was a bit of a pity that the fire-using shinobi hadn't been dealt with, but after venting its rage and crushing a massive number of enemies, the Nine-Tails' fury had subsided significantly. Now that a modicum of reason had returned, it felt that this was no place to linger.
Running away? How could that be considered running away? Wouldn't going back for a soak in a hot spring be much better?
As the Nine-Tails drifted further away until its massive silhouette vanished from sight, the Hagoromo shinobi finally breathed a sigh of relief. They were just beginning to tally their losses, unaware that the true moment of peril had quietly arrived.
While a Tailed Beast was a natural disaster, the sudden arrival of the Nine-Tails was undoubtedly a man-made one. It hadn't stayed in the village for long, yet it had left behind a deep, bleeding wound.
Observing everything from a distance, Senju Butsuma suddenly stood up. As an old veteran who had spent his entire life at war, he knew exactly when the most opportune moment to strike was. It was this very moment—the instant the Hagoromo shinobi, having endured a devastating blow, relaxed because they thought the catastrophe had passed.
"Move out!"
The events of tonight may have unfolded in unexpected ways, but at this stage, Butsuma's determination to wipe out the Hagoromo clan remained unshaken. At his command, hundreds of shinobi surged toward the village where the fires of war had yet to be extinguished.
The hidden eyes lurking in the shadows witnessed the Senju forces move. They held their positions for another ten minutes before beginning their own incursions into the Hagoromo village from various directions.
First, the Nine-Tails had crippled them; now, the combined Senju forces were drawing out the Hagoromo's main strength. The enemy's power was stretched thin, leaving them unable to defend everything at once. If they didn't move in now to loot the place, were they really here just for a tour?
The battle erupted once more—or rather, the true battle only began at this very moment. The half-crippled Hagoromo clan was instantly subjected to a brutal group assault.
Sprinting, clashing, engaging—it was a chaotic bloodbath where everyone was beating each other's brains out.
At this time, the shinobi of the Firefly organization remained outside the village. According to the mission breakdown, they were theoretically supposed to act as the vanguard, being the first to breach the village. However, since Genma's actions had yielded results far beyond expectations, it seemed they weren't needed for the frontline assault anymore.
Thirty Firefly shinobi were present tonight: twenty combatants and ten medical support personnel. Recently, the organization had been working hard to train a batch of medical ninjas. Though these medics could only perform basic battlefield first aid, the role they played in this environment was beyond imagination.
The combat team was led by Nara Hideyuki, while the medical team was under Chihori's command. Genma, of course, would never scatter medical resources across the battlefield; that would be too risky and ineffective. He preferred concentrated use.
Hideyuki observed the battlefield. The Senju clan, at full strength, was tearing through the remnants of the Hagoromo like tigers among sheep.
"They certainly don't need us for the assault," Hideyuki noted. "Per Lord Genma's orders, we will pivot to battlefield medical rescue. It seems this kind of task is an easy way to win favor with our allied forces."
Before witnessing a Tailed Beast attack a village, ordinary shinobi wouldn't have considered the chain reaction caused by Genma's "unprecedented" tactic. Therefore, as long as they carried the heavily wounded off the field, they would earn their gratitude.
Hideyuki signaled for everyone to remove their Senju headbands and replace them with their own Firefly insignia. They also donned armbands marked with a red cross.
Attacking enemies breeds hatred, so that required the Senju name; saving allies to gain their favor, however, required using their own name. There wasn't a single thing wrong with that logic.
"Ten men stay to guard the medics. The other ten come with me into the field to carry the wounded."
Realistically, the impact ten people could make was limited, but the demonstration, the stir, and the promotional effect wouldn't be diminished by their limited capacity. This was because almost no one had ever done this before. This was the first time anyone had used medical resources in an organized, large-scale manner on the edge of a battlefield. It let many shinobi know that they no longer had to die like stray dogs in some forgotten corner of the war zone.
In this era, who needed medical ninjas on a battlefield? If a shinobi suffered a minor injury, they kept fighting—no treatment needed. If they were heavily wounded, they simply waited to die—still no treatment needed. Doctors? They were seen as useless.
But after this war, many people's perspectives were bound to change.
Furthermore, by playing the role of medics instead of direct combatants, the Firefly shinobi avoided facing powerful enemies. At the same time, no one could criticize them later for not "bleeding" for the cause. After all, making your own side bleed less is equivalent to making the enemy bleed more, right? If anyone complained, they could just recruit the "wounded" directly into Firefly. By simply changing their headbands, those shinobi could cast off the shackles of their clans and become loyal members of the organization.
Why be so narrow-minded? Sacrificing small love for the sake of the "Greater Love" was the true path.
Alright, things wouldn't realistically be that perfect; the clan leaders weren't that stupid.
As the Firefly shinobi began to move deep into the battlefield, a question remained: where was the key player, Hane Genma?
After shaking off the Nine-Tails and knowing his mission was accomplished, he immediately began to lurk within the village, searching as he moved. Because he had "invited many guests" to ensure the Hagoromo's downfall, he knew he would have many competitors tonight. Thus, the robbery had to happen early.
Even though Genma's primary goal was the destruction of the Hagoromo clan, he couldn't let all his hard work result in nothing but emotional satisfaction, could he? He understood that some things were best done sooner rather than later.
Using the Kagerō (Mayfly) technique, Genma began slipping into buildings that looked particularly prominent. He circled the village, waiting for the sounds of slaughter outside to peak and then fade, before finally slipping into what appeared to be a library or a secret archive.
He saw rows upon rows of shelves filled with scrolls, neatly categorized:
Wind Release, Lightning Release, Water Release, Fire Release, Earth Release...
Genma pulled out a large backpack and began stuffing as many scrolls inside as possible. It was a shame that storage scrolls couldn't seal other scrolls within them, or he could have performed a feat of infinite packing.
As expected of a major clan with a deep heritage, they hadn't just categorized them; they had even color-coded the scrolls based on difficulty and power. This "obsessive-compulsive" organization was doing Genma a massive favor.
After unrolling a few, Genma identified the value patterns. He started shoving the high-tier purple scrolls into his bag, quickly stripping the place of its most valuable contents.
"Wait, where are your Ranton (Storm Release) and Sokuton (Swift Release)?"
Genma was about to leave when he realized something was wrong. Would they really keep only basic elemental ninjutsu here? He used Kagerō to scout the area and quickly discovered a hidden barrier.
Genma didn't need to do much. He simply released a massive amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra, and the barrier formula before him was instantly corroded away. In this era, the various clans were constantly at war, and everyone hoarded their secrets. Things like secret techniques and barrier ninjutsu weren't widespread... and frankly, the Hagoromo's barrier skills seemed mediocre at best.
They weren't even on the Uchiha's level.
After bypassing the barrier and opening the secret chamber, a massive scroll appeared before him. It was half a man tall and as thick as a torso, with a large character for "Forbidden" (Kin) written on the outside. Without a second thought, Genma strapped it to his back.
With a huge backpack on his shoulders and a massive scroll at his waist, he was a sight to behold. Others were here to fight; he was here to restock his inventory.
On the other side, the leadership of the Hagoromo clan, under siege from all sides, was in a state of utter chaos. No matter how many solutions they tried to conjure to fix the crisis, it was all in vain. There are moments when human effort simply reaches its limit.
"There were rumors before that the Senju were gathering forces from across the shinobi world to attack us. Why didn't we respond in time?"
"Because that isn't the Senju style. It wasn't believable."
"Not believable? What about now?"
"Precision strikes against us while we are out attacking other forces isn't the Senju style either! We took a hit once; did we not learn to mend the fold?"
"The Senju style? In this struggle for the world, do you think the Senju wouldn't change?"
"Change? What could Senju Butsuma possibly change?"
"Using the Nine-Tails—is that their way of changing?"
"What, do you look down on such a move? Let me ask you: why are we in this desperate situation? Isn't it precisely because of the Nine-Tails' destruction?"
They argued back and forth, pointing fingers incessantly. Aside from bickering, they seemed to have no concrete measures to salvage the situation.
"Stop arguing!"
The clan leader, Hagoromo Shu, let out an enraged roar, silencing the dispute. What was the point of saying all this now? Would it push the Senju back? Shu didn't even understand how the mighty Hagoromo clan had been pushed to this brink in a single night.
"Clan Leader! It's bad! Someone has breached the barrier of the secret chamber!" someone rushed in to report.
Bad news followed bad news. The report made Shu snap to his feet. He immediately bolted in that direction, shouting desperately:
"Engage the enemy! Stop arguing and go fight! Find Senju Butsuma and kill him—only then can the Hagoromo survive this crisis!"
Well, that was a bit of a pipe dream. In truth, the worst possible outcome had already surfaced in Shu's heart, but he didn't dare let his mind go there.
Shu arrived with two elite shinobi. They were incredibly fast. Just as Genma finished packing his luggage, they burst onto the scene. The Nine-Tails' chakra cloak surrounding Genma made Shu's eyes burn with fury. This person was clearly the one who had led the Nine-Tails here.
No, this thing wasn't even human.
Then he saw the backpack and the scroll on his back. He dared to loot them while the house was on fire?
"Put those things down!"
Shu could no longer suppress his rage. He closed the distance to Genma's side in an instant and sent him flying with a powerful side-kick!
Genma only had time to cross his arms over his chest before the massive force sent his body crashing through wall after wall. The sounds of battle, previously muffled by the building, flooded Genma's ears again. The old man had struck with pure hatred, kicking him right out of the building.
Fortunately, with the chakra cloak active, Shu's attack didn't actually cause any damage.
He's lost his mind to anger. Kicking me out like this... if I just turned tail and ran right now, what would you do? Genma thought to himself.
The answer was that aside from jumping in rage and watching Genma take their secret techniques away, the Clan Leader could do nothing. He couldn't exactly abandon the village right now to chase Genma, could he? That would be quite the joke.
Shu stepped in front of Genma, his voice dripping with venom. "You think you can crush the Hagoromo with these underhanded tactics? Do you know that the history of the Hagoromo is nearly as long as the history of shinobi themselves? As long as elites like us stand, the Hagoromo will live on forever!"
He really has lost his mind...
Genma shook his head. This was his first time meeting this Clan Leader, and he felt disappointed. This man didn't seem to have the qualities of a leader at all.
"To a shinobi clan, high-level combat power is indeed important," Genma replied. "But... if you lose your population base, what use are a few of you remaining? Can a clan even be called a clan then?"
"Or do you simply not understand the meaning of the word 'Clan'? Tonight, we are here to destroy your foundation... At least, that's what Senju Tobirama said."
In case this old man or some Hagoromo shinobi survived, Genma wanted to make sure they had a specific name to direct their hatred toward. Senju Tobirama was a perfect fit.
Hearing this, Shu's face turned pale. The last sliver of hope in his heart shattered. "Destroy the population base"—those words were unimaginably cruel to a shinobi clan. What did it matter if a few elites escaped? Even if they kept the name Hagoromo, could that be considered the survival of the clan?
No. The Hagoromo would be extinct.
"Tobirama also said..."
Just then, footsteps sounded from behind Genma. A white-haired shinobi walked up quickly, coming to a stop right beside him.
"That's enough. Stop talking."
Tobirama was speechless. You're seriously slandering me right to my face?
"Uh, Senju Tobirama... I don't need to relay his words anymore. He's here. He can tell you himself. Tobirama, what were you going to say?"
Genma didn't feel any embarrassment. He wasn't one for gossip, after all; his actions were for the public good. As long as the hatred of the Hagoromo—or any future remnants—was focused on the Senju and not the Firefly organization, what did Genma's small sacrifice matter?
What did Tobirama's "sacrifice" matter, for that matter?
Tobirama, however, chose to ignore the antics for now. Instead, he played along. He locked his eyes on Hagoromo Shu and spoke in a flat, cold tone:
"Tonight, you die. The Hagoromo fall."
He had wanted to say those words for a very, very long time. Now, he finally had the chance.
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