"Really? We're going to war tomorrow?"
Hitomi was greatly surprised to hear Shigenen's words.
"Yes, the clan's resources are already a bit short. Yoshitaka has reported to me many times that if we don't get a large sum of money soon, the family will fall into a financial crisis," Shigenen said in a deep voice.
At the meeting just now, as the butler, Yoshitaka didn't participate much in military affairs, but Shigenen saw the worried look in his eyes.
"That's enough." Hitomi sighed and said, "With the Senju clan on our side, we should have a certain degree of confidence."
"Don't worry, my lady. Tomorrow, I, the Second Elder, the Fifth Elder, and the Sixth Elder will depart with the main force of the clan. During this time, you and the other elders must be careful and vigilant," Shigenen instructed.
When the clan leader is absent, the clan leader's wife or heir has the right to represent the clan leader in clan affairs. Since Hanzo, the first heir, is only four years old, Hitomi naturally steps forward.
"I will." Hitomi nodded heavily... That night, all families with ninja were instructing their loved ones and giving them instructions.
Every time they went to war, these ninja would instruct their loved ones as if they were giving their last wishes.
The next day, Clan Leader Shimada Shigenen led three great elders and five hundred elite ninja of the Shimada family to the battlefield.
Hanzo held his sleeping younger brother and watched his father's receding back. As for Hitomi, she had already gone to discuss the clan's patrols with the Great Elders.
This was not the first time Hanzo had seen such a scene.
Ever since he transmigrated, he had long been accustomed to the sight of Shimada Shigenen leading the family on missions. In his memory, every time a mission returned, there would always be a few families holding funerals.
Among them were not a few teenagers slightly older than Hanzo, which was why Hanzo had always paid little attention to the children his age in the clan.
Besides finding them childish, he also didn't want to experience the feeling of losing someone he was close to.
After all, he came from a peaceful, stable, and lawful world.
Regarding the cruelty of the ninja world, he understood it, but accepting it was another matter entirely.
Shaking his head, Hanzo carried his younger brother back home.
Since his parents were not home, Hanzo naturally couldn't leave a child just over a year old at home alone.
Sitting on the mat, he refined his chakra, while Genji crawled around beside him... On the other side, Shigenen was leading three elders and five hundred ninja in a rapid assault.
Since there were still many genin in the team, the overall marching speed was not too fast.
After all, the battlefields of the Senju, Uchiha, and Hagoromo clans were within the Land of Fire and not too far away. Even at the speed of genin, it would take at most half a day to reach them.
If they rushed too much, the clan members would inevitably be fatigued, and if there were too many casualties, it would not be good.
Over five hundred ninja marching in a grand procession was very conspicuous in the Warring States period.
Some traveling merchants, samurai, and rogue ninja along the way would hastily hide as soon as they saw the Shimada clan's ninja from afar.
Some merchants even abandoned their goods on the spot, but Shigenen, who was rushing to the battlefield, couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
..."Phew, it's a good thing these ninja didn't attack us, otherwise we would probably all be dead. Judging by their clan crest, they should be from the Shimada clan, right?"
A traveling merchant in ordinary clothes wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to his companion with some relief.
His companion also nodded and said, "Yes... I don't know what they're doing making such a big move, but it's a blessing that we weren't affected."
Although they dared to be traveling merchants, they also hired many ninja as guards, but against these great ninja clans, these few guards were not enough.
Just as a large group of people hiding nearby were sighing, no one noticed that a rogue ninja who had also hidden there quickly disappeared into the forest, his speed even far exceeding that of the ninja who had just passed by... "Lord! The main force of the Shimada clan has left."
Deep in the forest, the rogue ninja who had just disappeared quickly was kneeling on one knee before a ninja wearing plate armor.
Although this ninja's attire was very ordinary, a closer look would reveal that he had no clan crest on him.
"Are you sure?"
The lord's gaze narrowed as he stared at the rogue ninja.
The rogue ninja buried his head even lower and said, "I saw it with my own eyes, at least several hundred ninja, there's no mistake."
"Very good." The lord's mouth curled into a cruel smile. "The Daimyo is weak and useless. Only the General can bear the future of the Land of Fire. Once the General eliminates these ninja clans, the entire Land of Fire will be ours."
"Your General's strategy is admirable, my lord," the rogue ninja said respectfully.
"Alright, go and inform everyone to gather here within ten minutes. We're going to raid the Shimada clan's stronghold," the lord commanded.
"Yes!" The rogue ninja quickly disappeared.
Watching the disappearing rogue ninja, the lord muttered to himself, "Although these ninja clans are cancerous tumors that cause chaos in the Land of Fire, their individual strengths are not to be underestimated. The General has exhausted his efforts this time to create such an opportunity, and we must not miss it."
...After a brief discussion with the elders about patrol matters, Hitomi returned home.
With Hitomi at home, Hanzo naturally no longer needed to continue taking care of the child.
He took the scroll his father had left him and returned to the place where he had trained yesterday.
Now that Hanzo had just begun his training, everything was naturally based on fundamentals. After completing tree climbing and water walking, he focused on taijutsu training. As for ninjutsu and kekkei genkai, he would begin learning them after some time.
"Ninety-nine... One hundred... Hmph."
After completing a hundred push-ups, Hanzo began to practice his horse stance again.
It must be said that chakra's transformation of the body is very obvious. In his previous life, it would be impossible for a four-year-old child to do a hundred push-ups. Even if they forced themselves to do it, it would leave hidden injuries and endless troubles.
With chakra as a base, it's different. People with chakra have far greater endurance and recovery power than ordinary people.
Maintaining a horse stance to train his waist and leg muscles, Hanzo closed his eyes.
A bird landed on his shoulder, chirping, and Hanzo could faintly sense the bird's emotions.
This was a new ability Hanzo had recently discovered. In his memory, Jūgo from later generations had the ability to communicate with birds.
Hanzo was a bit less skilled than Jūgo; he couldn't speak bird language, but he could sense the birds' emotions.
As for why he had such an ability, he wasn't too sure, only attributing it to his golden finger. He just didn't know what to say about this somewhat useless golden finger.
However, today, Hanzo felt something unusual.
Birds have simple minds, and their emotions are basically quite positive, but today, the birds passing by were all uniformly filled with fear and panic.
"What's going on? Is there some kind of natural enemy?"
"But it shouldn't be a natural enemy."
Hanzo was a little puzzled. As the saying goes, when things are abnormal, there must be a demon. He focused his attention, trying to understand the birds' thoughts.
With his mind focused, Hanzo finally understood some fragmented meanings.
"Many... jumping in trees... coming..."
Hanzo was shocked. Although it was just a few words, it was enough for Hanzo to understand their meaning.
He immediately disregarded his training and quickly ran towards the clan's stronghold.
"Did the destruction of the Shimada clan begin now?"
Hanzo felt a little panicked. He only knew the general trends of the Warring States period, not the details. Suddenly, a large group of ninja attacked the Shimada clan's stronghold, and the Shimada clan was empty. Naturally, he couldn't help but panic.
"If I die now, I'm probably the most embarrassing transmigrator in history, right?"
He gave a bitter smile, and his footsteps quickened a bit...