Hokushin's sincere gratitude actually made Hoshiyomi feel a bit awkward. Sure, he had brought father and daughter back together, but from another perspective, he had also brought Kuugetsu into a dangerous situation.
Hoshiyomi gave Hokushin a brief explanation. But Hokushin wasn't upset with him at all. He understood very well—once his daughter's talent had been recognized, it was only a matter of time before she ended up on the battlefield. Given the current war situation, she would've been deployed right after graduation anyway.
And who knew if he'd even survive that long, or if they'd end up stationed in the same unit? Compared to that uncertainty, meeting his daughter here and now on the battlefield was the best possible outcome. Not to mention, Hoshiyomi had taken her in as his student.
Hokushin had a clear sense of Hoshiyomi's strength. For his daughter to become his disciple? That was something worth celebrating.
Seeing that Hokushin had no objections, Hoshiyomi felt at ease. He had Hokushin take Kuugetsu and Minato to get their tents assigned, then returned to the main command tent to wait.
Twisting a pen between his fingers to kill time, Hoshiyomi mentally estimated the schedule. Should be about time now.
Sure enough, a moment later, a black-haired middle-aged man entered the tent. As soon as he stepped inside, he bowed deeply to Hoshiyomi—not with the standard military formality of superior and subordinate, but with the respectful bow of a clansman toward his clan head.
"Hoshiyomi-sama, the records are all ready."
Hoshiyomi took the intelligence scroll and began to unseal it, speaking with a sigh:
"Uncle Kōhei, how many times do I have to say this? There's no need for such formalities with me. If anything, that kind of respect should be reserved for Tsunade."
But Kōhei chuckled and replied:
"No can do. The rules are the rules. Besides, you and Tsunade-sama… well, that's just a matter of time, isn't it?"
This man's name was Sanada Kōhei, a regular jōnin in the village. What few people knew was that "Sanada" was a name he had taken on himself. His real name was Senju Kōhei.
That's right—he was one of the direct participants in the "Eliminate the Senju Clan Plan." Back then, he had only been fifteen or sixteen. In the blink of an eye, three decades had passed.
When word of Mito's death spread, he had thought the day would never come when he could reclaim the proud name of Senju.
He never expected that, here on the battlefield, Hoshiyomi would find him. Only then did he realize the plan from all those years ago was still in motion. There was still hope for the Senju Clan.
Locating Kōhei had been no easy feat. Hoshiyomi had thought that, with the list he obtained from Mito's will and the unique opportunity offered by wartime conditions, it would be relatively simple to reactivate a group of Senju.
But the actual process proved far more difficult.
The elders older than Kōhei had already passed away—most of them, at least. They took the dream of the Senju's revival to their graves. Bound by the duty to keep the clan's secrets, they had been deliberately vague even with their own children and grandchildren.
As a result, many carried Senju blood without even realizing it.
The few elders still alive were far too old to fight.
Meanwhile, those from Kōhei's generation had waited too long to be recalled. After witnessing some of their peers mysteriously die once their Senju heritage was exposed, many lost heart and decided to bury the truth deep within themselves. They accepted the life of civilians—and some even gave up being shinobi entirely.
Someone like Kōhei—who fully understood the past, retained his strength, and remained steadfast in his loyalty to the Senju—was incredibly rare.
After over six months of screening and searching, Hoshiyomi found only twenty or thirty viable individuals among the thousands stationed on the Iwa battlefront.
That alone was evidence of how deeply the Senju had been wounded by the "Eliminate the Senju Clan Plan."
The once mighty Senju Clan, once filled with elites, had dwindled to the point where even the core members may number less than a hundred.
But there was hope. Once Tsunade rose to power, a large-scale revival of the Senju would finally be possible. While returning to their former glory was unlikely, a combined force with the Uzumaki Clan would still be formidable.
The two dozen or so Senju rediscovered on the battlefront had, after being reawakened by Hoshiyomi and Tsunade, already begun treating the two of them as de facto clan leaders. Calling them a private force wouldn't be far off.
And Hoshiyomi certainly didn't let that resource go to waste. A few had been promoted to high-ranking positions.
The rest, while not publicly elevated, had been carefully scattered across various units on the Iwa front—essentially covering the entire battle line.
They were Hoshiyomi's true eyes and ears, secretly managing and overseeing all activity on the front while he and others were away.
That included monitoring Danzo's schemes.
Danzo thought he was clever. He believed he had cracked open a hole in the "fortress" that Hoshiyomi had built. But what he didn't know was that those so-called "vulnerabilities" were planted on purpose.
Sure, he managed to sway a few of Hoshiyomi's less steadfast admirers. But the majority? They were Senju, handpicked by Hoshiyomi from the beginning.
Their role: to act as double agents.
To Danzo, it looked like they were feeding him valuable information about Hoshiyomi. In reality, they were gathering dirt to help Hoshiyomi bring him down.
And as for Danzo's infamous "Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal"? Please. The entire Uzumaki Clan had been looped in—what was there to fear?
Yes, those "spies" bore curse seals on their tongues, but those seals had long been removed and then re-inscribed by Uzumaki seal masters. They couldn't leak any information—not because of Danzo's seal, but because their very identities as double agents were never at risk.
Every one of Danzo's actions—who he tried to recruit, what shady reshuffles he carried out—had all been meticulously documented by Senju Kōhei.
After giving the list a quick scan, Hoshiyomi couldn't help but smirk coldly.
That old bastard really is a schemer. He almost completely figured me out
If Hoshiyomi hadn't known the canon history of this world, if he hadn't been prepared for Danzo from the start—someone else in his place would've been taken down without even knowing how they died.
Danzo's setup was clever—worthy of someone with a background in intelligence. No wonder he was able to rise so high in the Second Great Ninja War under Hiruzen's favor, nearly achieving a half-step Hokage status.
After skimming the records, Hoshiyomi sealed them away and looked back up at Kōhei.
"I understand everything now. Don't worry. He won't be able to outplay me."
"By the way, Uncle Kōhei—how's the situation with Iwagakure shaping up?"
Kōhei paused to gather his thoughts before answering:
"Direct combat's not much of an issue. Our forces are just as strong as theirs. Without a full-scale war, neither side can get the upper hand."
"But they do have an earth-release burrowing unit—that one's a headache. They've already disrupted some of our supply lines to Hanzō, and a lot of our rear logistics have been attacked during transport. The damage has been severe."
(Author's Note: For readers feeling a bit blindsided by this setup, go back and check chapters 152, 154, and 196. This arc has been foreshadowed. Slight spoiler: This operation is a necessary move to bring down Danzo after the war. As for what happens to Danzo next… well, no spoilers yet—hehe.)