Land of Whirlpools.
The Senju Clan.
Compared to other clans and citizens who were actively preparing for the upcoming war and contributing their share of effort, the Senju Clan appeared unusually quiet.
All clan members had received orders from the Clan Head and Lady Tsunade, and they had gradually returned to the clan villa.
They originally thought something major was happening, but never expected it to end up like this...
"Lady Tsunade..." Senju Shukuma looked at Tsunade, who was lying lazily on the carpet with her eyes closed, and said with a bitter smile, "We..."
Before he could finish...
"Hmm!" Tsunade opened her eyes, glanced faintly at Senju Shukuma, then made a nasal sound, closed her eyes again, and said nothing.
She knew what Senju Shukuma wanted to say, but...
The Senju Clan absolutely could not become enemies with Konoha. This was a matter of principle.
Moreover, she couldn't bear to see her own clansmen fight against the ninja from the village. Even just injuries were something she didn't want to see.
Let alone war...
This was a life-and-death struggle!
Although this was very unfair to the Land of Whirlpools, she could only silently apologize to the Land of Whirlpools in her heart...
At most...
Next time she taught class, she would be more serious and stop slacking off.
Seeing Tsunade like this, Senju Shukuma sighed helplessly and shook his head with a bitter smile.
Indeed...
Lady Tsunade would not let them leave.
To be honest, he still had feelings for Konoha. After all, it was a ninja village founded by the Senju Clan, and he himself had lived in Konoha for so many years. These feelings weren't something that could be forgotten just like that.
So his heart was filled with conflict, but...
The new generation was different.
They left Konoha when they were very young. Having even witnessed the annihilation of the Senju Clan, it would be good enough if they didn't harbor hatred towards Konoha, let alone have any feelings for it.
Even though the Clan Head back then led the clan's experts to their deaths precisely to prevent the Senju Clan from developing hatred towards Konoha, but...
How could hatred simply not arise just because one said so?
Especially these Senju children who received education in the Land of Whirlpools and grew up there. Their hearts were oriented towards the Land of Whirlpools. As for Konoha...
They had no feelings whatsoever!
If it weren't for the authority of himself, the current Clan Head, and Lady Tsunade, the daughter of the previous Clan Head and granddaughter of the one before that, the people below would probably rebel.
"Return to your respective rooms," Senju Shukuma sighed, looking at the group of clansmen with displeased expressions beside him, and said, "During this time, just stay here obediently!"
With Lady Tsunade blocking the entrance, who could possibly escape?
...
"What should I do?" Mokushukuma returned to his room, lay on the bed, stared quietly at the ceiling, and murmured, "Clan Head, Lady Tsunade..."
It's just that you have feelings for Konoha, but they don't!!
He remembered that his father and mother both died in battle alongside the Clan Head.
Back then, he wondered...
Why did the Hokage push the Senju Clan to such an extent?
The Senju Clan was one of the two great clans that founded Konoha and had always loved the village deeply.
And Brother Shukuma...
Last time, when he led the clansmen to aid the Land of Whirlpools, he was almost captured by the Konoha Anbu in the end...
They all remembered that.
He, Mokushukuma, grew up in the Land of Whirlpools and received its education. Why now...
When the country was in danger, did he have to hide at home?
You must know...
He was a soldier!!
"Probably Iketo is somewhere laughing at me for being a deserter right now," Mokushukuma shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "And the squad leader..."
Although the squad leader agreed and didn't say anything when he requested leave, he could see...
The squad leader was very disappointed at that time!!
"I..."
Mokushukuma looked at the ceiling, his gaze lost as he murmured, "I'm really sorr..."
However, before he could finish...
"You should say that to the squad leader, to your teammates."
A voice sounded in the room.
Mokushukuma jumped in fright, quickly sat up, saw someone standing by the window, lay back down, sighed, and said indifferently, "So it's Iketo!"
"Shouldn't you be with the troops preparing for war right now?"
"Why do you have time to come here?"
"And..."
Mokushukuma said irritably, "Next time you come here, can you not climb through the window?"
It's not like you aren't allowed to enter. Can't you just walk in through the door?
"I sneaked out," Uchiha Iketo looked at the listless Mokushukuma and said flatly, "Are you really not coming back?"
As for climbing through the window...
This time it was intentional.
After all, sneaking someone out, what kind of operation would it be to use the main door?
"I..." Mokushukuma opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. Finally, he sighed and said, "The Senju Clan is different from the Uchiha Clan."
The First and Second Hokage were both from the Senju, and one of the Legendary Sannin, Lady Tsunade...
Their Senju Clan couldn't act recklessly.
"How is it different?" Uchiha Iketo looked at Mokushukuma and said, "Even if it's different, do you really not want to come back in your heart?"
"Do you want to be a deserter?"
"Or..."
"Do you want to return to Konoha?"
Uchiha Iketo walked up to Mokushukuma, his calm gaze fixed on him...
"I remember it was you who dragged me to join the army back then."
I originally wanted to be a police officer and follow the Clan Head.
"Now you want to be a deserter!!"
How ridiculous!!
"Sorry!" Mokushukuma fell silent for a moment, looked up at Uchiha Iketo, and said with a bitter smile, "I really don't want to be a deserter, and I don't want to return to Konoha either."
"I want to be with you all too, but the Senju Clan..."
However, before Mokushukuma could finish...
"Stop making excuses!" Uchiha Iketo directly grabbed Mokushukuma by the collar and shouted, "Your Clan Head won't let you go, so you can't just sneak out?" Pointing at the window, "Climb through the window!"
"I got here by climbing through the window!!"
"You're just a coward!!"
"You keep saying sorry without doing anything. Who are you sorry to?"
"You're only sorry to yourself."
Uchiha Iketo looked at Mokushukuma with disappointment and said, "The Senju Clan is full of cowards!"
Even after saying all this, Mokushukuma remained silent. He had really misjudged him.
He sighed, turned around to jump out the window and leave, but then turned his head to look at Mokushukuma and said faintly, "This time..."
"The Senju Clan has lost, truly lost!!"
"And..."
"They have lost for a lifetime!!"
...
"Lord Madara, it's time for war." Tobi peeled an apple, then took a bite himself, looked at Lord Madara who was reading a book, and said, "Should we do something?"
"The Theory of Redism"
What was Lord Madara doing reading this kind of book?
He took another bite of the apple...
"Crunch!"
Lord Madara's teeth weren't good, he couldn't eat hard things, so he had to eat these apples himself.
And honestly, the apples from the Land of Whirlpools were really crisp and sweet.
"Shut up!" Madara said faintly, glancing at Tobi, "Don't eat that kind of thing in front of me."
This Tobi was becoming more and more insolent!!
"Just stay here quietly."
He turned his head back to look at the book in his hand...
He sighed inwardly.
No wonder the Land of Whirlpools had become the target of everyone.
The guiding ideology of Redism...
How interesting!
A slight smile curled at the corner of Madara's mouth as he murmured, "I wonder what Hashirama would think if he saw this?"
His One Nation, One Village policy was simply a joke.
Gathering so many ninjas, making the status of ninjas higher and higher, while the power of ordinary people became less and less, until finally even their lives were controlled by ninjas. It evolved into what it is now, where the strong could act arbitrarily, kill indiscriminately, and take the lives of ordinary people at will...
If this continued, class contradictions would inevitably erupt sooner or later!
What he, Uchiha Madara, pursued was true peace, where both civilians and ninjas could coexist peacefully, not false, one-sided peace.
So...
Uchiha Madara's lips curled into a slight smile...
"That idiot Hashirama!!"
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