Chapter 23: The Situation in the West
The next morning, Masahiko got up early for his morning exercises. He planned to run a couple of laps around the Senju compound to get his body moving.
However, just as he left the compound, he saw Hashirama returning alone.
"Hashirama? You were... out last night?" Masahiko was confused. At a time like this, Hashirama should have been at home with Mito, especially since he would have to set out for the west to fight for the mine soon.
"Ah, Great-Uncle! Out for a run?" Hashirama said with a smile. "Yesterday, Lord Hyuga asked us to mediate with the Uchiha, right? I went to mediate last night."
"You went... alone? Where's Tobirama?" Masahiko asked.
"Tobirama went west himself to scout the situation. Great-Uncle... when he gets back, please don't tell him I went to the Uchiha by myself..." Hashirama said, as if sharing a top-secret.
"Oh. Got it," Masahiko replied.
At this point, Masahiko fully understood what had happened. Hashirama had definitely gone to "meet up" with Madara last night. And, as expected, Hashirama, who had now learned Sage Mode, had completely thrashed Madara. That must be why Hashirama was in such a good mood.
"As for Madara... he's probably sulking somewhere in his compound right now." Masahiko felt happy just thinking about it.
Another boring week passed. Tobirama finally returned to the Senju compound.
But when he saw Hashirama, his expression was awful.
"Big brother, the situation in the west is... troublesome," Tobirama said after a moment's thought.
"It's a complete free-for-all over there now. Too many clans have gotten involved. If we jump in, we'll probably be ganged up on by everyone."
"Which clans are involved?" Hashirama asked.
"Right now, the west is split into three main factions. First, the weakest, is a small clan alliance, including the Sarutobi, Shimura, Fuma, and others. They're all allies the Sarutobi called on to protect the chakra-conducting metal."
"In the middle are three medium-sized clans: the Inuzuka, the Aburame, and the Hatake."
"The strongest is also a group of three medium-sized clans: the Akimichi, the Nara, and the Yamanaka. Their secret jutsu all complement one another, so they're known as the 'Ino-Shika-Cho.' That makes them a bit stronger."
"We don't have to make enemies of all of them. We can just ally with one of the factions," Masahiko said with a smile.
Tobirama glanced at Masahiko. "That's what I was thinking, but who to ally with is the problem. If we choose the strongest, they already have the advantage and probably won't want us joining in. The middle three are still too strong; they'd likely demand a huge portion of the metal. And the weakest clan alliance... they're too weak. They don't have a single Clan Head-level shinobi. We'd have to face the other six Clan Heads by ourselves."
In truth, if the timing were different, the Senju clan wouldn't think twice about facing six Clan Heads. The awkward part was that the older generation of Clan Head-level shinobi was in semi-retirement, and their age meant one more war would probably be their last. Meanwhile, the next generation, led by Senju Ten'yu, wasn't quite at that level yet.
And the Senju couldn't mobilize their full army, not with the Uchiha clan still needing to be watched.
"It's fine," Hashirama said. "They might have six Clan Heads, but our side has the three of us."
"Big brother, Great-Uncle and I can probably only tie down one Clan Head each," Tobirama said, worried. "That means you'll have to face four at once. And the Ino-Shika-Cho's teamwork will be very difficult to deal with..."
Masahiko smiled. "You're underestimating your brother... And what's worse, you're underestimating me. I could take ten of you."
Tobirama selectively ignored Masahiko and continued speaking to his brother. "Even if you can handle four, if you go personally, the Uchiha clan will likely get antsy. Our elders can handle their elders, but Uchiha Madara..."
"Don't worry about it, Tobirama," Masahiko interjected again. "Madara is probably off in some corner, training his heart out right now!"
"Training?" Tobirama was confused.
But neither Masahiko nor Hashirama elaborated, leaving Tobirama without an answer.
Although he didn't know what had happened, Tobirama figured it out. His big brother must have done something again.
With a look of resignation, Tobirama said, "Fine. In that case, I'll go gather the men. We leave tomorrow? Also, who are we taking?"
"We leave tomorrow. As for who... for the Peak Jonin, just bring Ten'yu. He's close to a breakthrough; he needs the experience. For the others... a few Elite Jonin, and more Chunin and Genin. Let them get some experience, too..." Hashirama said after a moment.
"Only one Peak Jonin? Our high-level forces will be too thin!" Tobirama protested.
"It's fine. You and Great-Uncle will be there. As for their six Clan Heads... just leave them to me." After thrashing Madara last week, Hashirama had a very clear understanding of his own strength. Even against six, he didn't think he would lose.
"But..." Tobirama still wanted to say something.
"Relax. In the current Warring States, your big brother can 'walk sideways' (dominate) anywhere he goes. In a few more years... it'll probably be an era where one man can change the entire battlefield," Masahiko said with a smile.
"Fine," Tobirama replied unenthusiastically. He walked out slowly to gather the men, clearly still unconvinced by his unreliable older brother.
Only Hashirama and Masahiko remained in the hall. Hashirama thought for a moment and said, "Great-Uncle, you did sign the contract with Katsuyu, right?"
"That's right, I did. I'll use her in this war. You can leave the healing of the Senju clansmen to me." At this point, Masahiko's chakra reserves were probably not much less than the future Fifth Hokage Tsunade's.
"No, I meant..." Hashirama said, looking embarrassed. "If... if I can't hold back against those six Clan Heads... at the critical moment... can you... save their lives?"
"No problem!" Masahiko agreed readily. He understood exactly what Hashirama was asking.
'So he's already trying to avoid creating more hatred? Hashirama is already working toward the founding of Konoha...' Masahiko thought.
Seeing the look of immense gratitude on Hashirama's face, Masahiko quickly walked out of the hall. While earning the gratitude of the "God of Shinobi" was a nice ego boost, with Hashirama...
Well, he'd gotten so much of it that the "achievement" feeling was long gone. Now it was just awkward.
Seeing the Senju clan, which had just enjoyed a period of peace, buzzing with activity again, Masahiko shook his head. He went back to write a letter to his own clan, finding someone to deliver it to the Uzumaki.
The letter's general idea was: "Don't worry about me. I'm doing great as a freeloader over here. If I go back, I have to be the First Elder... As an in-law of the Senju, I'd like to request a position from the Clan Head, something like 'Uzumaki Ambassador to the Senju Clan'..."
He had no idea what the Uzumaki Clan Head would feel when he read that.
And so, after two days of travel, Masahiko, along with the Senju forces, arrived at the Sarutobi clan's location...