The war horn tore through the forest like a beast waking from hunger.
Senju forces surged out from the tree line, armor clattering, chakra stirring the air. The Konoha vanguard reacted instantly. Steel rang out as every shinobi pulled a weapon, the ground humming under thousands of feet.
It didn't take long for word to spread. Senju mobilizing at this scale was impossible to hide. Within an hour, nearly four thousand shinobi filled the forest, two tides of steel and chakra grinding toward each other. It was the largest clash since Raizen's battles with Hashirama and Madara.
"Senju Hashirama!"
Hyūga Tennin, commander of the vanguard, caught sight of him. A spark lit behind Tennin's pale eyes. Genius met genius, and rivalry bloomed in the space between heartbeats.
Hashirama hadn't expected a confrontation this massive. He'd assumed this would be another skirmish ending in one side pulling back. Instead, both armies stood ready to fight until the forest itself bled.
He exhaled quietly. But Konoha's shinobi didn't give him time to reflect.
"Forward!" Tennin roared.
The forest erupted.
Two armies collided like crashing waves. Tennin cut straight through the chaos, searching for Hashirama to test himself against the man already whispered about in battlefield rumors. But no matter how far he pushed, Hashirama was nowhere in sight, as if the First Hokage-to-be had vanished between breaths.
"Hateful," Tennin muttered, diving deeper into the Senju ranks. If he couldn't find Hashirama, then any Senju would do.
Hidden within the chaos, Hashirama reappeared. He hadn't fled—he'd been tracking someone.
Amamiya Shinsuke.
The boy fought fiercely among the Konoha line, flames flickering across his hands as he cut down Senju attackers with a cold precision that didn't belong to a child.
"Is this really the same innocent kid?" Hashirama murmured. The Warring States had no mercy for innocence. The Shinsuke he remembered had already been ground into something sharper.
Hashirama surged into the fray. Anyone reckless enough to attack him fell in a single strike. The forest transformed into a battlefield of spinning kunai and exploding chakra, corpses piling beneath broken branches.
He moved like a shadow. He never attacked first, but the moment anyone cast a jutsu toward him, he struck back with crushing force.
Without noticing, he drifted toward a massive tree, where a desperate fight raged.
A Senju jōnin grappled two Konoha shinobi at once. The Senju fighter was powerful, steady even while pinned. His opponents fought hard: one weaving ninjutsu with practiced skill, the other supporting him with flawless timing. Neither side gained ground.
"Shinsuke!"
The ninjutsu-user shouted, and Shinsuke answered with a sharp nod. Crimson flame burst from his lips, washing toward the Senju jōnin.
Hashirama prepared to intervene, but what happened next stunned even him.
The Senju jōnin severed his own right arm in a single brutal motion, breaking free from the binding jutsu. With blood spraying, he lunged at Shinsuke.
"Shinsuke, look out!"
The supporting Konoha shinobi threw himself between them, driving his kunai forward even as the Senju's blade plunged into his chest.
Two hearts stopped at once.
The Senju jōnin hit the ground with a dull thud, eyes wide with disbelief. He hadn't expected his enemy to choose death so easily.
"Uncle Kei!"
Shinsuke caught the collapsing Konoha ninja. He wasn't a famous shinobi—just one of the countless nameless fighters who had taken care of Shinsuke on the battlefield, offering guidance, food, warmth.
Now his life drained away in Shinsuke's arms.
"Why… why save me?" Shinsuke choked. Blood soaked Kei's clothes. The kunai buried in his chest trembled with each fading breath.
Kei smiled faintly.
"Because we're comrades. Isn't that what Konoha stands for…?" His voice was thin, but steady. "Before I came here, I spent ten years wandering this broken world. All I wanted was to survive. Konoha gave me a home… so I protect the people in it."
His hand twitched, reaching toward Shinsuke's cheek.
"You're like a younger brother to me. Isn't it natural… for an older brother to take the hit?"
The light in his eyes flickered.
"Master Raizen… carved the Will of Fire onto a stone tablet years ago." Kei's breaths came shorter. "Back then, I didn't understand it. I chased after it, but I never knew if I could ever reach it."
His eyes blurred, focusing desperately on Shinsuke.
"Tell me… Shinsuke… do I have that Will of Fire…?"
Shinsuke's heart clenched so hard he thought it might tear. Tears ran down his face, dropping onto Kei's armor.
"Yes… Uncle Kei… you inherited it," he whispered. "You truly… carried the Will of Fire."
A gentle smile formed on Kei's lips. As if finally seeing the meaning behind the words Raizen had carved.
"The fire burns where the leaves fly… and its shadow protects the village… so that new leaves may grow…"
His voice faded.
"I'm nothing special… but even an ordinary ninja… can be a flame that lets new leaves sprout…"
And then he was still.
Shinsuke held him, shoulders shaking, while the battle raged on around them like a storm.