My name is Uchiha Gin. I'm 24 years old… and I'm a failure.
Still sorting through his memories, Gin found himself quietly assigned to the rear of the formation by his captain, Uchiha Fenghuo — ostensibly to protect his still-healing injuries.
But more than that, everyone knew he simply wasn't strong enough. If he took the lead, he'd just die and create a hole in the line.
From the mission intel Fenghuo had distributed, Gin learned their current target: Senju Butsuma's fourth son, Senju Itama.
Butsuma's two elder sons never left his side on the frontlines, making them impossible to isolate. So the squad settled for the next best thing — the youngest, stationed toward the rear.
Before dawn, the squad crept through Senju territory, moving cautiously through abandoned outposts and empty camps. Clearly, the Senju had tightened their defenses after the Hagoromo clan assassinated Wajima, knowing their youngest were at risk.
Suddenly, firelight and explosions flared ahead. Fenghuo leapt into a treetop, Sharingan spinning. The others followed.
"It's the Hagoromo fighting the Senju," he reported.
"Should we join in?" Ryouichi asked eagerly, while Hie and Tarou grinned bloodthirstily.
Fenghuo narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Let them wear each other down first. Then we strike."
Gin rolled his eyes from the back. "This guy looks all noble but he's really a damn opportunist," he muttered.
Unlike the others, his unawakened Sharingan left him nearly blind to the action — just clouds of dust, flashes of water and fire. It drove home how fragile he was. One wrong step here could mean death.
As he fretted about how to stay alive, Fenghuo suddenly pointed deeper into the battlefield.
"There — that kid. Our target?"
Sure enough, behind the Senju lines, several adults were shielding a black-and-white-haired boy as they retreated.
"That's him!" Hie confirmed after checking the dossier. "Senju Itama!"
"Perfect," Fenghuo barked. "We move!"
The squad surged forward, Gin stumbling behind. Shuriken glinted as the Uchiha cut into the already battered melee.
The Hagoromo cheered in relief at seeing fellow crimson eyes arrive. The Senju, however, gritted their teeth and dug in, flinging up stone walls to slow the advance, praying their reinforcements would arrive in time.
Gin finally set foot on the battlefield, gagging at the thick stench of blood and the corpses strewn about. Forcing down his revulsion, he drew his blade and kept his eyes on the enemies ahead.
At the center, a brown-haired Hagoromo jonin with a faint horn jutting from his hairline was hammering the Senju defenses with jutsu, but even his elite-level strength hadn't broken through.
"Back off. We'll take it from here," Fenghuo ordered, disdainful.
"But we've already worn them down—" the Hagoromo protested, but a dozen Uchiha Sharingan turned his way and he fell silent.
Satisfied, Fenghuo refocused on the Senju. Seeing the discord among their enemies, the Senju leader signaled a retreat, trying to extract their young charge.
But Fenghuo was already on him. His blade slashed down, blocked just in time by the Senju jonin's armored arm.
"Did I say you could leave?"
The Uchiha closed in, surrounding the Senju squad.
The jonin — Koji — was already spent, his body numb and bleeding. But even at death's door, he forced his chakra to surge, activating a forbidden technique to heal and restore himself. The Senju's monstrous vitality flared as he launched himself at Fenghuo to buy time for the others.
Seeing such determination even in an enemy, Fenghuo smirked grimly and squared up, the two clashing in a deadly dance of steel.
Meanwhile, the remaining three Senju circled a shivering child in mismatched armor — Senju Itama.
"If only I'd listened to Father and stayed home," the five-year-old whimpered, gripping a kunai in trembling hands as his ill-fitting armor creaked.
This was Itama's first time on the battlefield. He'd been confined to the compound after Wajima's death, but his grief and thirst for revenge had driven him to sneak out wearing his late brother's armor.
The Senju guard had caught him mid-escape, but before they could bring him back, they'd been ambushed by the Hagoromo and now the Uchiha.
Now surrounded, they could only pray Koji somehow defeated Fenghuo and came to save them.
(End of Chapter)
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