My name is Uchiha Gin. I'm 24 years old, and I'm a waste of space. Just now, while still sorting through his memories, Uchiha Gin was assigned to the back of the team by Captain Uchiha Fenghuo, possibly to accommodate his still-healing injuries. Of course, the main reason was that he truly lacked strength; leading the way would make it easy for the enemy to kill him, creating a gap in the team formation.

According to the mission information dispatched by Uchiha Fenghuo, Uchiha Gin learned that their target was Senju Hashirama's fourth son, Senju Banjian. His eldest and second sons had long been by Senju Hashirama's side, making them difficult to deal with, so they could only set their sights on Senju Banjian at the back of the battlefield.

Taking advantage of the dim light before dawn, they cautiously advanced into the Senju clan's territory, but along the way, they found no trace of the enemy. Several stationed camps they passed were already deserted. Perhaps the Yuya clan's killing of Senju Wajian had raised the Senju clan's vigilance, prompting them to tighten their defenses. After all, the rear lines were mostly filled with fresh blood like children, and the Senju clan knew they couldn't afford to be careless.

Suddenly, bursts of fire and the sounds of explosions came from not far ahead. Uchiha Fenghuo was at the front of the team; he jumped to the treetops, with Uchiha Gin and the others following closely behind. Uchiha Fenghuo activated his Sharingan at once, and with his enhanced dynamic vision, he quickly saw two groups of people fiercely battling amidst the dust and smoke.

“It’s the people of the Yuya clan and the Senju clan,” Uchiha Fenghuo said in a deep voice.

“Should we go provide support?” Uchiha Liangyi asked eagerly, while Uchiha He and Uchiha Daro also showed bloodthirsty smiles.

Uchiha Fenghuo squinted and thought for a moment before saying, “Let's wait a bit. We'll move in once the enemy has exhausted themselves.”

“This Uchiha Fenghuo looks strong and imposing, but who would have thought he’s such a coward?” Uchiha Gin internally complained after hearing Uchiha Fenghuo's orders.

Compared to the other team members who were using their Sharingan to observe the battlefield, Uchiha Gin, who had not activated his Sharingan, could only see a few clouds of smoke with occasional bursts of fire and water. Indeed, without the Sharingan, he was far too weak. In such a large-scale battle, one careless mistake could cost him his life.

Just as he contemplated how to survive, it seemed that Uchiha Fenghuo discovered something and pointed towards the back of the battlefield, “That kid, is he our target?”

Following the direction he pointed, the group noticed that although the two opposing teams were fighting, it seemed that the Senju clan members were fighting while retreating, unwilling to engage further.

At the back of their team, several adult Senju clan members were covering a child as they retreated, and the distinctive black-and-white hair of the little boy was particularly eye-catching.

“That's right, Captain, that's Senju Banjian!” Uchiha He quickly took out the documents to compare and said excitedly.

“Hahaha, what a stroke of luck! Let’s go!”

Having found their target, there was no need to sit back and watch the fight. Uchiha Fenghuo waved his hand, and apart from the slower Uchiha Gin, the other members quickly followed Uchiha Fenghuo towards the battlefield, throwing shurikens as they ran.

The two opposing groups, already in a tense situation, were taken by surprise as the Uchiha clan members suddenly charged in. The Yuya clan members, seeing the crimson eyes of their attackers, immediately felt relieved, thinking they had finally received reinforcements after fighting for so long.

However, the Senju clan felt the pressure from the Uchiha clan's appearance; the few Senju members blocking the front exerted themselves to channel chakra and used Earth Release techniques to raise stone walls in an attempt to buy time. After all, this was the territory of the Senju clan, and their reinforcements should be on the way.

Uchiha Gin arrived late to the battlefield. As soon as he entered, the overwhelming smell of blood made him dizzy and a wave of nausea surged in his stomach. Looking at the corpses and blood all over the ground, Uchiha Gin suppressed his discomfort, drew his katana, and cautiously watched the unfamiliar enemies.

The leader of the Yuya clan was a middle-aged man dressed in armor, with long brown hair. Uchiha Gin faintly noticed a small horn protruding from his forehead, covered by bangs. At that moment, the man was frantically forming hand seals, unleashing one Earth Release technique after another against the earthen walls raised by the Senju clan, indicating that this man was at least an elite jōnin in strength.

The Yuya clan also operated in teams of five, and two of their members were already lying on the ground, their fates unknown. The leading elite jōnin was panting, having expended a considerable amount of chakra in his recent attacks. If such a strong individual couldn’t take down his opponent, it seemed the Senju clan was not to be underestimated.

“Hey, Yuya clan members, step back. We’ll take over from here,” Uchiha Fenghuo said disdainfully as he looked at the gasping Yuya clan members.

The pride of the Uchiha clan made them disdainful of teaming up with members of other clans to kill enemies; even an alliance would only mean each fighting their own battles.

“But we’ve already worn out the opponent quite a bit...” The Yuya clan jōnin said anxiously, seeing that the Uchiha clan members did not want to share the spoils.

“Do you have any objections?” The Uchiha members turned their cold, piercing red eyes on him simultaneously.

“Nothing, nothing, we'll leave the rest to you,” the Yuya clan member, feeling the pressure, lowered his head in resignation.

Satisfied with the response, Uchiha Fenghuo nodded.

Seeing the Uchiha and Yuya clans seemingly in conflict, the leading Senju clan member made a retreat gesture, and the people behind him quickly prepared to flee.

Just as the Senju members turned to escape, Uchiha Fenghuo’s long blade came crashing down. The Senju jōnin reacted swiftly, raising his hand to deflect the blow with the armor on his arm, forcing it off to the side.

“Did I allow you to leave?”

The Uchiha clan surrounded the Senju clan.

Senju Hao Er, who had just been stunned, couldn’t raise his hand anymore. He had already exhausted too much stamina in the earlier skirmish with the Yuya clan, and his wounds were bleeding profusely.

Now, surrounded by Uchiha Fenghuo and others, he felt the situation was dire, but he couldn’t just sit and wait to die. The future of the Senju clan was in his hands, and he had to protect this young seedling even if it cost him his life.

With that thought, he forcibly refined his chakra, crazily extracting his own vitality and activating forbidden techniques to accelerate the healing of his wounds and the recovery of his stamina.

The Senju clan had a naturally strong constitution and an unusual amount of chakra and healing ability.

In dire straits, the Senju clan could often unleash powers far beyond their usual capabilities.

Gritting his teeth, Senju Hao Er faced off against the strongest Uchiha Fenghuo, attempting to use his own life to buy time for the others to escape.

Seeing the other side resist so fiercely, even as a rival, Uchiha Fenghuo couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect and began to take the enemy seriously.

Thus, he advanced with his blade, and he and Senju Hao Er began to engage in a physical confrontation, with flashes of blades and swords illuminating the battlefield.

Among the remaining surrounded Senju clan members were three, who were protecting a child and keeping a wary eye on the approaching Uchiha Liangyi and others. The child they were encircling was the target of Uchiha Fenghuo’s team this time: Senju Banjian.

“I should have listened to my father and stayed safely in the territory,” the five-year-old Senju Banjian trembled in the center, but the pride of the Senju clan drove this child to shakily pull out a kunai from his waist and hold it in front of his chest, the ill-fitting armor clattering as he shivered.

This was Senju Banjian’s first time on the battlefield. Not long ago, his brother, Senju Wajian, had been sniped at the edge of their territory, and his father had forced him to stay behind, grounded in their lands.

As a slightly different heir among the clan, Senju Banjian had always lived a sheltered life and hadn’t been exposed to combat too early.

However, the unexpected death of his third brother filled Senju Banjian not only with sorrow but also with a deeper thirst for revenge.

When Senju Hashirama took his two elder brothers to the front lines, unable to contain his desire for revenge, Senju Banjian stealthily fled the camp overnight, dressed in his brother’s armor, heading to the battlefield in search of his enemy.

Although the Senju clan’s remaining guards discovered him in time, they were still ambushed by the Yuya clan on their way to retrieve Senju Banjian.

In the surprise attack, several ordinary combatants from the Senju clan died on the spot, leaving only the guard captain Senju Hao Er and three Chūnin-level teammates to hold on.

As they fought while retreating, the Uchiha clan’s reinforcements arrived, and Senju Banjian, who had moments ago felt a glimmer of hope for survival, suddenly experienced a reversal of fortune.

Now surrounded by the Uchiha clan, they could only fight like cornered beasts, praying that Senju Hao Er could defeat Uchiha Fenghuo and come to their rescue.