Chapter 57: The Plight of the Senju
Uchiha Raizen's words hung in the council chamber, their pragmatic weight settling over the assembled elders. The truth in them was undeniable.
Uchiha Tajima considered it deeply. The Hyūga's surprise attack had been a scythe through their younger generation. Of the juniors, only Madara and a handful of others showed true promise; the rest of their budding talent had been extinguished in that single, treacherous night. To launch a war now, they needed guaranteed, swift victory. A protracted conflict would bleed them dry, leaving a generation gap that their many enemies would be all too eager to exploit. The Uchiha, for all their power, were a prized target. Annihilation was a very real threat.
"I concur with the Sixteenth Elder," Uchiha Oki stated, rising to his feet and breaking the silence.
His endorsement opened the floodgates. One by one, other elders voiced their agreement. The collective will was clear: preservation over expansion. Seeing the unified front, Uchiha Tajima made his decision. Their path was not conquest, but consolidation. They needed to heal, to regrow their strength, and to ensure they could not be broken.
Meanwhile, within the Senju compound, a similar tension filled the air, tinged with confusion.
"Father, I told you we shouldn't have moved against the Uchiha! Now look at the mess we're in!" Hashirama's voice was fraught with frustration.
"Enough, Hashirama," Senju Butsuma replied, his brow furrowed in deep thought. "This matter is... aberrant. We may have been played. All three of our clans were manipulated."
"Manipulated? By who?" Hashirama exclaimed. "No one would dare! We are the three strongest clans in the world! Who has the power or the audacity to scheme against us all?"
"Hyūga Tōgen sent a final message before closing his borders," Butsuma explained grimly. "He claims the one who delivered the initial plan to him was our own Elder, Mizushin. But Elder Mizushin has now disappeared. Someone used a face-stealing technique or genjutsu to deliver false intelligence using our name. The intelligence we received, however, appears to have been genuine. My belief is that Hyūga Tōgen, unable to swallow his pride, sought to drag us into his fight. But that is a concern for another day. Right now, we must prepare. Uchiha Tajima will not let this insult stand. He will come for us with his full force. Mobilize the clan. Prepare for war."
The Senju commanders bowed and hurried out to carry out their orders, leaving only Butsuma and his sons.
"Father," Hashirama pleaded, stepping closer. "If we were all manipulated, shouldn't we try to break the cycle? If we fight the Uchiha now, we are just falling into our enemy's arms!"
"This is no longer a matter of what I alone decide," Butsuma said, his voice heavy with the burden of leadership. "The Uchiha are coming. We must defend ourselves. It is that simple."
"What if I could stop them?" Hashirama's voice was suddenly earnest, his eyes alight with a desperate hope. "What if I could persuade the Uchiha not to attack? Would you stand down then?"
"Persuade them?" Butsuma almost laughed, but the sheer conviction in his son's face gave him pause. "You think you can reason with those Uchiha fanatics? Very well. If you can achieve the impossible and stop Tajima's march, I will not send out a single warrior. I would pay a price for that peace. Even I am tired of this endless fighting."
"Truly? You swear it?" Hashirama's eyes widened.
"I swear it."
Without another word, Hashirama turned and sprinted from the hall, a blur of determination.
As his son's form disappeared, a slow, grim smile touched Senju Butsuma's lips. He had given the boy an impossible task, a fool's errand to keep him safely away from the front lines. But a small, hidden part of him dared to hope that his idealistic son might just surprise them all.