Naruto: The Immortal Sage Chapter 126 126: [126] : Lit Like a Lantern

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Sowhere else.

"Father! If you take everyone to reinforce the rear, what happens to Kikyō Mountain?"

Senju Tsuru stared at his father, who was already preparing to leave, and asked in a rush.

The Senju Clan Head looked anxious enough to tear through the camp with his bare hands. Without thinking, he snapped back, "Kikyō Mountain? You stay here and hold it alone!"

"...Huh?"

Tsuru's face stiffened.

..............

At the Senju border, war had broken out without warning. The tension in the air was almost unbearable.

The Senju Clan Head led the main force back at full speed, leaving no room for rest. The scouts he had sent out had already returned, and their report confird one thing: the Uchiha had no intention of attacking Kikyō Mountain.

"Then Tsuru was telling the truth!"

The Senju Clan Head's expression turned grim. All he wanted now was to get back faster.

He rushed across the battlefield with his troops, their chakra cutting through the air. Luckily, Kikyō Mountain was near the Senju holand, almost at their doorstep. Soon, they arrived at the scene of the battle.

What he saw made his eyes widen in shock.

Many Senju clansn were already caught in fierce fighting against the Uchiha and Hagoromo shinobi. Ninjutsu echoed across the field. Uchiha fire techniques swept forward, while Senju warriors used their strength and chakra to hold their ground. Several had already fallen, lying in pools of blood.

"DAMN IT. THEY REALLY CA!"

The Senju Clan Head arrived with reinforcents, and his powerful chakra spread across the battlefield at once.

Uchiha Sa, leading the attack, and the Hagoromo clan head beside her both looked shocked and then disbelieving.

"How is he here?"

They had planned on the Senju Clan Head and his main force staying at Kikyō Mountain. That was why they attacked the Senju holand together. They never thought he would return so quickly.

"The Senju Clan Head??" The Hagoromo clan head muttered in shock, his hands pausing halfway through a seal.

Uchiha Sa's brows tightened. Her surprise disappeared almost as fast as it ca, replaced by cold killing intent. "Since he ca all this way, we'll bury him here."

There was no talk or threats. As soon as the three sides t, the battlefield exploded into a brutal fight.

When their clan head returned, the Senju warriors' spirits rose. They shouted and charged at the enemy. The Uchiha activated their Sharingan and attacked with shuriken and Fire Style techniques. The battlefield lit up with chakra, blood, and loud war cries. Ninjutsu blasts tore up the ground, broke trees, and sent rocks flying.

The Senju Clan Head fought at the front. His chakra-powered fists knocked enemies aside with every hit. But Uchiha Sa and the Hagoromo clan head focused on him and would not back down.

Both were top fighters in their clans, with elite skills and experience. One attacked while the other supported. One was clever, the other fierce. Their teamwork was so precise that they pushed the Senju Clan Head onto the defensive.

After many attacks and counters, an opening finally appeared.

The Senju Clan Head was exhausted and had not recovered his strength when Uchiha Sa's steel blade broke through his guard.

The Hagoromo clan head followed at once.

Chains shot forward and punched through his chest.

Spurt!

The Senju Clan Head's large body fell to the ground. A leader of his era died on the spot.

Uchiha Sa stood over the body, breathing heavily. Relief showed in her eyes for a mont, but she quickly regained her composure.

"We still need to be careful," she said in a low voice.

She knew well that the Senju Clan was strong and deeply rooted. Even without their leader, the rest could still fight hard. Wiping them out would not be easy or quick.

Even Uchiha Kitsune had failed to defeat them before. She knew she could not expect to do it now.

Still, killing the Senju Clan Head was a victory big enough to shake the whole clan.

"Take the win and stop here."

"The Senju holand has already locked down its defenses. We can't keep this fight going too long. Pull back first," Uchiha Sa said decisively to the Hagoromo clan head beside her.

"No objection," the Hagoromo clan head said, knowing the stakes just as well.

The two leaders quickly ordered a retreat. The Uchiha and Hagoromo shinobi regrouped, left the battlefield, and set up camp at the base of the mountain.

..............

Night fell, covering the battlefield in darkness.

The Uchiha and Hagoromo shinobi carried the Senju Clan Head's corpse to the open ground between the two camps. Uchiha Sa looked coldly at the body, already stiff with death, and raised a hand.

"Begin."

Her clansn set up a tall wooden pole and tied the Senju Clan Head's body to it. Flas rose and began to burn the body. The fire shone brightly in the dark night.

They hung up the Senju Clan Head and burned him, making him look like a sky lantern.

The firelight flickered on the faces of the Uchiha and Hagoromo shinobi. It was a direct insult, ant to provoke the Senju Clan. In the quiet night, the sound of burning flesh was even more disturbing.

The Uchiha and Hagoromo cheered.

They were not horrified by what they saw. If anything, the violence excited them.

When the news reached the Senju holand, the entire clan fell into a deathly silence.

The air felt so heavy that it was hard to breathe. Every Senju bowed their head, their chakra weak and dull. The courage they were known for was gone.

Losing their clan head was already a disaster. Seeing his body humiliated after death crushed the clan's spirit.

In the world of shinobi clans, the clan head was always the strongest mber, the spine and soul of the entire family. Once the clan head died, the clan lost its central pillar. Hearts scattered. Fighting strength collapsed.

The Senju Clan now stood on the brink.

Senju Tsuru was the youngest son of the Senju Clan Head. When he learned his father had been killed, and even worse, that the Uchiha and Hagoromo had burned his body like a lantern, he was stunned.

Always soft-hearted, he instantly wanted to rush out and fight the Uchiha and Hagoromo, even if it ant dying.

If Black Zetsu had not stopped him and finally knocked him out with a bit of power, Tsuru might have run straight to the Uchiha camp and thrown himself into a hopeless battle.

Inside the Senju mourning hall, the clan had no strength left to arrange a proper funeral for its fallen leader. Not in the middle of war.

There was only a plain wooden morial tablet standing on the altar, carved with the Senju Clan Head's na. Thin incense smoke curled in front of it.

Senju Tsuru knelt alone on the cold floor, wearing simple mourning clothes. His back was hunched, and he looked completely drained.

He was the Senju Clan Head's only close blood relative.

After his father was killed by the Uchiha and Hagoromo, Tsuru shut himself away. He stayed inside and refused to see anyone. His old excitent for ninjutsu and his shaky sense of duty as a shinobi were both destroyed by the terrible news.

Deep down, he started to feel fear and disgust toward being a shinobi.

Earlier, he had made himself ask Black Zetsu, who had always helped him, to leave for a while. He wanted to be alone, curled up in the small mourning hall, hiding from the harsh reality outside.

A dark figure entered the hall without a sound.

It was Black Zetsu.

Black Zetsu actually has a humanoid form. I've seen that many readers picture him as a puddle of sludge. In the Naruto mobile ga, he really is almost just a puddle of sludge.

"Haah..." Black Zetsu looked at Tsuru, who knelt before the morial tablet with empty eyes and a lifeless look. In Black Zetsu's shadowed gaze, a faint sigh finally appeared.

Tsuru had said he wanted to be alone, so Black Zetsu had temporarily detached from him.

Sensing movent, Tsuru slowly turned his head. There was no light in his eyes.

"Sage, what are you doing here?" Tsuru asked in a hoarse, dry voice, numb to the bone.

He had always respected and cared for Black Zetsu. But after his father's brutal death and seeing how cruel the shinobi world was, he beca afraid of this life. That fear even reached Black Zetsu, leaving Tsuru withdrawn and tired.

Black Zetsu's mouth tightened almost imperceptibly.

'What am I doing here?'

'Obviously, I ca to check on you... What else would I be here for, to congratulate you?'

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