The right hand man of the Senju Patriarch slowly turned to address the rest of the Senju force behind him. Katsuro was not one for goodbyes, the Senju could see their leader leaving but assumed it would only be temporary. Little did they know, it would be nearly a year since they saw him again…
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Katsuro's focus for his journey was the Uzumaki clan, so he made his way where it was natural, Uzushiogakure. He travelled through the Land of Grass, which had also seen some fighting throughout the second Shinobi war, making sure to set his Flying Raijin markers throughout for the future.
He took little rest as he moved, but travelled at a moderate speed without any enhancements using just his natural physique. But that alone was several times faster than ordinary Shinobi allowing Katsuro to beeline toward the Land of Whirlpools in just under a day. But as he passed Kanabi bridge, and neared a village near the border his sense picked up on 5 rather large chakra presences, unusual for ordinary civilians and even Shinobi. Keeping his purpose in mind, he checked it out, flickering to the village.
On a rooftop, Katsuro saw a young lady, older than Kushina, but younger than himself, with dark hair, crouching down as she inspected the wounds of a crying child. The child had the normal chakra amount for a simple villager, but the lady nearly had as much chakra as a Jonin. Katsuro suspected that the presences he had sensed were Uzumaki clan members given their proximity to the Land of Whirlpools. Even though the lady's hair was dark, it was reasonable to assume they had dyed it to avoid being captured and killed. The next thing he saw confirmed the girl wasn't ordinary, she seemed to whisper into the young boy's ear and in the proceeding moment the child bit into her wrist softly with some hesitation.
Katsuro was somewhat weirded out by the scene, but when the boy's wound started to visibly heal he was in shock. In his disbelief, he noticed a pair of eyes lock onto him, then more. He turned to see 3 more dark haired youths looking at him, somewhat anxiously but refusing to back down. Katsuro was impressed, even if he wasn't really trying to hide he was noticed quickly, and while still wearing his full combat gear from the war, with the chestplate, shoulder pads and arm guards with his Katana on his back he was sure he looked quite menacing. But even then, the teens refused to back down.
Katsuro kept his arms crossed, letting them call over their friend to their side as they noticed him looking. It was understandable to be apprehensive, Shinobi in the war would often take advantage of their power especially against civilians in war torn countries, abusing the lack of oversight. It was even more understandable for who Katsuro assumed were Uzumakis, they had seen their clan wiped out by 3 great villages, and likely pursued by them as well.
After a moment, Katsuro flickered down, surprising the youths somewhat, as they reacted jumping backwards, ready to defend themselves. Before they could, Katsuro spoke with amusement in his voice, "No need to be so wary, if I had wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now."
They all visibly tensed at his words, with even the last member having sensed the commotion and coming outside. The other villagers saw the confrontation with Katsuro's equipment and headband, recognising him as a Shinobi from the Leaf village before hurrying into their homes.
The young man at the front who had sensed him first spoke, "What is a Shinobi from Konoha doing here? We are just a simple village, there is not much we can give you."
Katsuro smiled at his attempt, "Villagers? I don't think so, you all have large chakra capacities and apparently special abilities as well. Perhaps a Kekkai Genkai?" Katsuro said, looking at the young girl now being shielded by the rest of the group. They all grew even more wary hearing his words, but still chose to not attack perhaps from the chakra they had sensed, the speed at which he had moved or his identity as a Konoha Shinobi.
Seeing them staying silent, Katsuro continued, almost having fun with the situation. "So tell me, what are members of the Uzumaki clan doing here?"
With that the reaction was instantaneous, the young males came at him together, led by a particularly fierce and defiant one, who in Katsuro's eyes was still a boy, using their strong physiques to engage in Taijutsu before realising they were severely outmatched. Katsuro effortlessly dodged their attacks countering with just some throws and light hits, while giving faint words of advice.
"Playing to your strengths is good but make sure that it is also not your opponent's strength. And if it is, make sure you're better than them."
"Don't come so directly, weave feints into your attacks, you're too predictable."
"You're rigid, you need some work in flexibility."
"The most important lesson, don't start a fight you cannot win. Know thy enemy."
The girls also tried to help as they could, the girl with the healing ability allowing her friend to bite her, and the other making seals as quick as she could. At one point Katsuro had even created some water to wash out one of the boys' hair dye revealing the red hair underneath.
"Ho ho, just as I thought, you are Uzumakis."
The comment and the reveal only made them fight harder.
The boys tried their best to hold him down to allow the girl to attach the seal to him, unfortunately it seemed her abilities were only around the advanced levels. The seal looked like a chakra sealing one but had to be drawn on paper first unlike what Katsuro could do. But he liked their efforts and perceived sacrifice, allowing the seal to be attached. Just when they thought they had won, Katsuro proceeded to continue to give them a good thrashing, but avoided the young women. They were still technically his relatives after all, and not enemies. They laid on the ground helpless with bruises after being thrown around so much, now realising that the enemy they were facing was going easy on them. Not once was the sealing tag not taken off, and Katsuro had not used any Jutsu or weapons. In their frustration, one of them threw a chakra explosion seal attached to a kunai, but Katsuro caught it before launching it in the air.
As it exploded above them, Katsuro grew more serious. He knew that these youths weren't regular kids. They had all witnessed and had first-hand experiences of a war involving 3 of the Great Villages. All this time the 'fight' could be at most be considered a spar, neither was going for the kill, even the youths were trying to capture him over killing him. But this changed things. He easily undid the seal to their shock and took it off without having to brute force it.
He riled his chakra, with its overbearingness physically weighing down the youths. Katsuro's smile was gone, and his expression was serious, "I have been going easy on you, but understand that if you try something like that again it may be the last thing you do."
Frightened and helpless before his power they gave up and Katsuro seemed to revert back to how he was not too long ago. "Well, you guys are not bad at all, definitely worthy of the Uzumaki clan."
One of the boys spoke, "Who are you?"
Katsuro's eyes swept over them and with a smile he replied, "Me? I'm the one they call the Stormbreaker, the Bane of the Bijuus themselves, the one named Emperor of the Wind by Demigod and the Patriarch of the Senju Clan. But you may call me Senju Katsuro."
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