By dusk that same day, the Second Elder returned from the Hyuga Cn.

  “They refused? …I see.” The cn leader sighed, as expected—it hadn’t gone smoothly.

  “Seems like the Hyuga are still licking their wounds from that beating the Uchiha gave them a few years back,” Masahiko Uzumaki commented.

  “Most likely. Otherwise, they wouldn't have passed up an opportunity like this,” the cn leader said with quiet frustration. “Looks like our pn to minimize casualties won’t be working out after all…”

  “It’s alright. With Second Uncle around, I’ll make sure our people are protected,” Masahiko reassured him.

  The Second Elder and cn leader shot him a look in perfect sync, making Masahiko flush with embarrassment.

  As he walked out of the cn hall, Masahiko muttered to himself, “I’m not the same person I used to be. This war… it’s going to surprise them all.”

  The next morning, after breakfast, Masahiko packed up and headed to the front of the cn hall.

  A rge number of cn members had already gathered, and more were steadily arriving.

  After about half an hour, the Second and Third Elders arrived behind the cn leader.

  The cn leader scanned the crowd. “Looks like everyone’s here. I won’t say much—just come back safe, all of you.”

  “I’ll leave the rest to the two elders,” he said, turning to the Second and Third Elders.

  “Understood, Cn Leader,” they said in unison.

  “Move out!” After a few more words, the Second Elder turned sharply and barked the order to the assembled ninja.

  “Yes, sir!” came the unified reply. The ninja force surged forward, marching toward the Eastern Pins battlefield. Masahiko moved with them.

  As they advanced, Masahiko observed the lineup—over a dozen elite jonin, two peak-level jonin, and several hundred experienced chunin and genin.

  “This is nearly half the cn’s strength… They’re serious about teaching the Kaguya a lesson,” he thought to himself.

  They traveled the entire day, finally arriving at the Senju encampment on the battlefield by nightfall.

  Along the way, they ran into numerous scouts from the Senju and Kaguya cns, but didn’t bother to engage. With a force this rge, secrecy was pointless. Let the enemy know—they were coming in broad daylight.

  Sure enough, as they neared the Senju camp, Hashirama and Tobirama came out to greet them.

  “Thank you for answering our call. You’ve come a long way—get some rest and food first. We’ll talk strategy ter,” Hashirama said warmly, clearly relieved to see them.

  After setting up camp and eating, the Second and Third Elders were led by Hashirama to meet the Senju elder overseeing the Eastern front. Masahiko tagged along with a grin on his face. The elders gave him a gre but didn’t stop him.

  What they didn’t expect was to find the Senju elder bedridden.

  “Apologies for the sight. These old bones aren’t what they used to be,” the Eastern Elder said weakly.

  Turns out, the Senju and Kaguya had already cshed earlier that morning in a probing skirmish. The Kaguya First and Second Elders had both appeared on the battlefield. Hashirama and Tobirama had managed to hold off the Kaguya Second Elder, but the Eastern Elder had been utterly overwhelmed by the Kaguya patriarch—Kaguya Takeitori—within ten minutes.

  “I was outmatched… Damn that Takeitori. If Hashirama hadn’t broken through at the st moment, I wouldn’t have made it back alive,” the elder said, then chuckled softly—clearly proud of Hashirama’s progress despite the pain.

  “Now that the two of you are here, I can rest easy. I’ve been worried the Kaguya might unch a surprise attack…” His words ignored Masahiko entirely, but Masahiko didn’t mind.

  Tobirama, however, narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. After fighting side-by-side with Masahiko against Madara and working on the Flying Thunder God technique, he no longer believed the rumors calling Masahiko a talentless heir.

  “This war’s going to be a real mess,” Masahiko thought. He’d expected the reinforcements to tip the scales—but with the Eastern Elder in this state, things just got complicated.

  The elders finished their discussion and headed out. Masahiko followed.

  After a full day of marching, the Uzumaki troops were exhausted. The camp quickly quieted as they drifted off to sleep.

  At dawn the next day, Masahiko was still groggy when a loud shout pierced the air:

  “Enemy attack! Kaguya approaching!”

  He shot upright, fully awake in an instant. They knew the Senju had reinforcements and still dared to strike? They must be hiding something...

  Rushing out of his tent, he saw the two Uzumaki elders already rallying their troops. Even the injured Eastern Elder had been helped out of bed to lead.

  Moments ter, the Kaguya forces appeared outside the camp. But at the head of the formation—wasn’t Takeitori.

  “You madman! Kaguya Shourai! You’ve come to the frontlines yourself? Aren’t you worried about leaving your home unguarded?” the Eastern Elder shouted.

  It was the Kaguya Cn Head himself. No wonder the attack came so quickly.

  “Hmph. I’ll wipe you all out here and make it back before anyone notices,” Kaguya Shourai sneered.

  The Eastern Elder’s face darkened. On this battlefield, no one could stop Kaguya Shourai—not even him, at full strength.

  The two Uzumaki Elders exchanged gnces, equally grim.

  “Damn lunatic. Their homend’s so exposed now, even a mid-sized cn could ftten them,” one muttered.

  “Hashirama, pin him down for a bit—then leave him to us!” the Second Elder called.

  “Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!”

  Hashirama responded not with words, but action. His jutsu erupted, huge trees tearing through the battlefield. Though aimed at restraining Kaguya Shourai, it still caught many of the Kaguya’s lower-level nin in its grasp.

  At the same moment, the two Uzumaki Elders and their two peak jonin vanished in a blur, reappearing around Shourai.

  “Ninja Art: Four Violet Fme Formation!”

  The double-yered barrier sealed Shourai and the four inside, cutting them off from the battlefield.

  “Good!” the Eastern Elder roared, brushing off the hands supporting him. “Hashirama, Tobirama—hold off Kaguya Takeitori! As for their Second Elder… I’ll stake my life to stop him. Everyone else—kill them all!”

  “Wait, Elder!” Tobirama turned to Masahiko. “Second Grandpa… Can you hold off the Second Elder?”

  Masahiko nodded slowly. “Leave Kaguya’s Second Elder… to the Uzumaki.”

  The Eastern Elder looked baffled—but before he could speak, Masahiko had already cshed with the enemy Second Elder. The fight was brutal, and Masahiko was constantly on the edge, but his mastery of substitution jutsu, pinpoint shuriken throws, and sudden Rasengan ambushes kept him alive. The Kaguya elder, despite his power, couldn’t nd a decisive blow.

  The Eastern Elder didn’t understand what was going on, but seeing Masahiko holding his own, he quickly adjusted and turned to command the battlefield.

  With superior numbers, the Uzumaki-Senju alliance pushed the Kaguya forces back, inflicting heavy losses.

  “Damn it! You think some measly formation can hold me?! Dance of the Clematis: Vine!”

  Enraged, Kaguya Shourai unleashed the forbidden Dead Bone Pulse technique, normally sealed to prevent bloodline sickness. Massive skeletal spikes erupted from the ground, forcing the four inside the barrier to break it and scatter.

  Now free, Shourai tore through the battlefield like a hurricane.

  “Cn Head! We’ve taken too many losses. We should fall back and regroup!” shouted Kaguya Takeitori.

  “...Fine! Retreat!” Shourai growled, clearly reluctant.

  Once the Kaguya troops had fully withdrawn, both Senju and Uzumaki forces exhaled in relief. The pressure from Shourai’s presence alone had been immense.

  “The battle’s over… for today,” Masahiko muttered, gncing up at the rising sun.

  “How many more of my cn did we lose this time…”

  War…

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