This visit to the Senju Clan brought both good and bad news for Yūshin.
The bad news was that the current Senju leadership indeed harbored extreme wariness and hostility toward the Fireflies organization. The warnings from the "Five Heroes of the Senju" were one piece of evidence, and Hashirama Senju's deliberate prevention of contact between the Senju high command and Yūshin was another.
Theoretically, Yūshin's purpose in coming to the Senju was to rescue clan leader Butsuma Senju's son. Given that they had successfully brought Tobirama back from death's door, Butsuma should have at least made an appearance—otherwise it would be unreasonable both emotionally and logically.
However, Yūshin never saw Butsuma. He didn't think Butsuma would be so outrageous, so it seemed Hashirama Senju had already become the Senju Clan's full representative for this matter.
After conversing with the two brothers, Yūshin quickly adjusted his mindset. Wasn't his strength sufficient? As long as he didn't compare himself to cheat characters, everything was fine... And don't underestimate Tobirama Senju—he was also a first-rate talent monster.
Or rather, Hashirama's absurdity was mainly manifested in being extraordinary from birth, while Tobirama's growth came from his ability to develop ninjutsu and forbidden techniques.
From Flying Thunder God to Edo Tensei to Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags—each technique seemed impossible for humans to develop.
Yūshin began contemplating the upcoming power balance between the Senju and Uchiha Clans.
If, in the previous battle, Tobirama had further mastered Flying Thunder God while facing a superior enemy in a life-or-death moment, then the offensive-defensive relationship between Senju and Uchiha might reverse again.
The Senju would once more suppress the Uchiha, and the battlefield situation would become even more unbalanced—Flying Thunder God was a technique that could produce an extremely dramatic qualitative change in one person's strength.
This technique was almost a guaranteed "first-encounter kill." Izuna Uchiha would most likely still die by Tobirama's blade.
After realizing Hashirama had already mastered Sage Art, Yūshin felt he had been "holding back" when fighting the Uchiha—at least when battling Madara Uchiha. After all, ordinary Uchiha ninja couldn't force Hashirama to use Sage Art, and Madara's Sharingan currently remained at the Mangekyō level.
But Tobirama was different. Show mercy? He'd never practiced those four words in his lifetime. He was the type who could poison his own food, go to the bathroom afterward, then mix the poisoned excrement into Uchiha rations.
Izuna Uchiha was a standard traditional Uchiha ninja with that unlikable arrogance in his character. With his little brain, could he handle the cunning, dangerous Tobirama Senju who also mastered Flying Thunder God?
In terms of power rankings, the Uchiha Clan's second strongest was now the independently drifting Uchiha Sasuke, but the Senju Clan's second strongest remained Tobirama Senju. Number two versus number three—there was hardly any suspense.
The imbalance between Senju and Uchiha stemmed from Tobirama's suppression of Izuna. From the moment of "curse the fate of lacking Sharingan" onward, the Uchiha never again had a master who could match Tobirama.
Uchiha Sasuke couldn't fill this gap either—he couldn't integrate into this era's Uchiha.
Therefore, it was hard to say whether Sasuke nearly killing Tobirama was good or bad for the Uchiha. It was precisely because he stimulated Tobirama that the latter developed Flying Thunder God early... Wait, this also involved Yūshin's interference. If not for his space-time ninjutsu tutorial to Tobirama, the latter's mind might not have turned so quickly.
But in any case, in the original timeline, Tobirama mastering Flying Thunder God, Izuna being instantly killed, Madara evolving Eternal Mangekyō, being beaten by Hashirama, and Konoha's establishment should all have happened in the same year—Izuna died in "Konoha Year One."
Now, if Izuna wanted to maintain his originally not-so-"long" lifespan, the upcoming operational difficulty might be somewhat high... Sasuke was ultimately a Konoha ninja. While claiming to prevent Uchiha from joining Konoha, he was actually accelerating Konoha's formation through his actions.
Why can we be certain that the year Tobirama masters Flying Thunder God is the year Izuna dies? The reason is simple: for a technique like Flying Thunder God, when it's first used on the battlefield is when it's strongest—someone as cunning as Tobirama couldn't possibly not understand this principle.
Even Hashirama would hide his trump cards, let alone Tobirama.
As for why Tobirama couldn't hide Flying Thunder God longer—say, learning it years before killing Izuna?
This was impossible, because although Tobirama was cunning, loved hiding trump cards, and would launch despicable sneak attacks at any moment, his urge to kill Uchiha was impossible to suppress. As long as he had the opportunity to act, he would definitely act.
Eliminating Izuna Uchiha—guess who would be happiest? Of course, whoever did the deed would be happiest.
But that was fine. By then, Tobirama would surpass Yūshin to become Madara Uchiha's most hated person. After all, the revenge for killing a father couldn't compare to the revenge for killing a brother.
Moreover, Yūshin had never admitted to directly killing Tajima—the father's revenge was indirect, while the brother's revenge was direct.
What a good brother—Tobirama was so eager to help Yūshin take the heat. What if Yūshin's Madara hatred level was too high? No problem, Tobirama would be even higher, and he'd gladly accept it.
"So the Uchiha's fate is still difficult to change. This damned sense of destiny."
Would Yūshin feel sorry for the Uchiha? No. At this stage, his thinking aligned with Black Zetsu's.
"As for... Uchiha Sasuke..."
Regarding Sasuke, Yūshin felt things were somewhat out of control. Although Sasuke could hardly obstruct the big picture—he might even accelerate it—this unstable factor instinctively made him feel uncomfortable.
How did he learn Sage Art?
Yūshin reviewed his various abilities and found he indeed had difficulty dealing with Sage Mode.
So next, it would depend on when Sasuke would fall into Hashirama's or Tobirama's hands again. There was a difference between the two: under the former, Sasuke's fate might be becoming meat paste; under the latter, it would be backstabbing.
"Or perhaps..."
Speaking of Sasuke, Yūshin felt this person's desperate desire to change the Uchiha's fate might stem from self-imposed pressure. Did Sasuke really love the Uchiha so much that he had to bear the clan's destiny?
Wasn't this just adding drama for himself?
Or more accurately, Sasuke's love for the Uchiha very likely stemmed from hatred for his brother—progressing from hatred to regret to guilt, escalating emotions that made him feel he should shoulder the responsibility of saving the Uchiha, since this was what his brother had died trying to accomplish.
Human hearts were indeed complex. Though Sasuke was a hothead acting on instinct, beneath his expressionless face lay a complex process of emotional transformation.
Of course, this was all Yūshin's psychological analysis of Sasuke based on the original timeline. As for what this world's Sasuke had actually experienced, that would have to be asked of the accursed Fourth Hokage.
After thinking it through, Yūshin still felt there was no need to worry about Sasuke—he had no reason to target Fireflies Village anyway.
Next, Yūshin brought the Kurokime ninja to conduct free medical consultations throughout the Senju Clan. Having come all this way, he couldn't just turn around and leave... What? Asking if the Senju Clan had any seriously wounded?
Come on, which ninja clan wouldn't have seriously wounded members?
Consider it repayment to those "Five Heroes of the Senju" who provided information. Giving money was impossible—that would insult these righteous people. Only by rescuing their clansmen could he repay the nobility in their humanity.
...
Meanwhile, in a deep mountain cave, another righteous person was leaning pale-faced against the rock wall, coughing continuously.
Uchiha Sasuke had taken a slap from Hashirama's Wood Human but hadn't died. At this point, paying any price short of death was appropriate.
There were seven or eight other severely wounded Uchiha ninja in the cave—all people Sasuke had rescued from the battlefield.
"Lord Nameless, are you alright?"
An Uchiha ninja in slightly better condition asked Sasuke with deep concern.
This "Nameless" had no relation to Lan's "Nameless"—Sasuke had consistently refused to reveal his name, so everyone could only call him Lord Nameless.
"I'm fine. I'll be better after resting."
Sasuke remained as economical with words as ever. He felt his injuries weren't really serious—though Hashirama Senju's strength was terrifying, hadn't he still escaped?
However, compared to his physical wounds...
Sasuke unconsciously reached up to cover his left eye. His vision was already quite blurred... Only now did he understand what Yūshin had meant by "Mangekyō ocular power is a scarce resource."
Thinking back to his previous squandering of ocular power...
Regret was too late now.
Persuasion effects varied under different circumstances with different people, but superior-to-subordinate persuasion was often much more effective than subordinate-to-superior.
Sasuke's background couldn't convince Madara Uchiha, but after rescuing these Uchiha ninja in the cave, they had come to believe Sasuke's "future person" persona and understood his purpose in traveling through time.
Moreover, after seeing the Uchiha's fate through Sasuke's genjutsu projections, they had all pledged themselves to Sasuke, prepared to strive for the same goal—to change the Uchiha's destiny.
After all, without Sasuke, they would have already died on the battlefield. Having survived, they should rightfully dedicate their lives to the great cause of changing the Uchiha's fate.
"Lord Nameless, you severely wounded that Tobirama Senju. With injuries like that, he basically couldn't survive. Under these circumstances, will the prophecy of 'Lord Izuna dying at Tobirama Senju's hand' still occur?" someone asked.
Sasuke directed his gaze toward what should have been bright outside but appeared dim and lightless in his vision. After a moment of silence, he finally said:
"I... don't know."
Theoretically, Izuna Uchiha's fate had already changed, but why did the history he knew from the future still record Izuna dying at Tobirama's hand?
Could history truly not be changed?
"No, it definitely can be changed."
However, the history future Sasuke knew was the result of all timeline variables being recalculated and consolidated.
This wasn't something he could change just by saying so.
...
The reason the Earth Grudge Fear ninja accepted the mission to assassinate Yūshin wasn't just the exceptionally generous reward—there was another reason: the Fireflies organization had stolen the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique and mass-produced it.
Piracy—pure piracy, with no respect for intellectual property, not even paying a penny in licensing fees.
They couldn't allow their clan's survival-dependent secret technique to become commonplace. If it lost its uniqueness and secrecy, could it still be called a secret technique?
In their understanding, as long as they could successfully eliminate Yūshin and throw his head into that village, Fireflies Village would descend into chaos. Then they could take advantage of the confusion to recover the Earth Grudge Fear mass-production method... because this method was much more efficient than their traditional cultivation approach.
A leader-like figure emerged from a secret room, wiping his hands while asking the others:
"Have you determined the target's movements?"
"We have. We're quite lucky—he's currently out on a mission. We can strike during his return journey... Regardless, interception has a much higher success rate than storming a village."
Yes, they had even considered directly assaulting Fireflies Village.
These people had grown too accustomed to their small-scale operations, completely unaware that the Shinobi World was on the eve of dramatic change, still employing the same unimaginative combat methods as before.
"Sir, we've asked so many times already—surely there's nothing new to learn?" This ninja meant they should dispose of the person and stop wasting time.
"I just wanted to see if he was still concealing anything," the leader said.
Through the crack in the door behind him, the secret room's interior was visible: a ninja was bound tightly to a wall, already tortured beyond recognition.
If Yūshin were here, he would definitely recognize this unfortunate soul, because the current victim was a former victim... This person was the first experimental subject to successfully receive flesh bud implantation.
Clearly, the legitimate Earth Grudge Fear had purposefully captured this unlicensed bootleg ninja.
But what valuable intelligence could they extract through repeated interrogation?
Almost nothing.
"Is Ri still opposed to this mission?" the leader asked again.
Not everyone agreed with accepting this mission—the Earth Grudge Fear member who had been to Kikyō Castle had clearly expressed opposition.
"Yes. He believes that since we only need to pay a trivial price to obtain those flesh buds, there's no need to risk attacking them... He thinks those people are very powerful."
"Powerful?" The leader scoffed. "Short-sighted. As long as we can recover the flesh bud creation method, we can mass-produce secret technique users and soon develop into a true ninja clan... How could we possibly miss such an opportunity?"
"Of course I know the target is powerful—otherwise Ryo of the Earth Grudge Fear wouldn't have died... Here's what we'll do: to be cautious, let Ri stay behind to guard the base. The rest of us will go together."
Yes, he had uttered the famous line "we'll go together," prematurely removing all suspense from what should have been a thrilling, perilous assassination.
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