Seeing Lady Renmei arrive at the shelter with such composure, the clansmen immediately realized the crisis had been averted and burst into cheers.
After briefly reassuring the clansmen, Renmei hurried over to Hanzo and Genji.
Looking at her two unharmed sons, Renmei let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. No matter how strong she was, she was still a mother.
Even if she tried to convince herself that her children would be fine, a trace of unease would always remain until she saw them with her own eyes.
Genji, who had been crying, gradually quieted down upon seeing his mother.
"Everyone!" Renmei exclaimed, holding Genji. "The invaders have been repelled by the clan's ninjas! We can go home!"
"We're going home!"
"Hahahaha, that's great."
For a moment, the clansmen were exceptionally excited. Those accustomed to war understood the preciousness of peace even more.
Looking at the excited clansmen, Hanzo suddenly understood why generations of brilliant figures, from Nagato to Obito and then to Madara, were all fixated on eliminating war and creating permanent peace.
"Perhaps, even peace within an illusion has its merits," Hanzo mused, enlightened.
This was essentially the contention between mind over matter and material eternalism.
Obito and Madara believed in mind over matter; if one could forever immerse themselves in peace and happiness, even if it was an illusion, it didn't matter.
However, from the perspective of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, this was clearly unacceptable.
Of course, as a transmigrator who knew everything, Hanzo was well aware that the so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi was actually just a trap.
While Kishimoto's design undoubtedly made the Naruto storyline more convoluted and dramatic, it also turned Obito and Madara, two classic villains, into laughable clowns, especially Madara... it was practically akin to being force-fed a pile of dung... Leaving aside Hanzo's wandering thoughts, on the other side, Shigetoshi was currently leading three elders and five hundred ninjas to the battlefield.
At this moment, Senju Butsuma was leading the Senju clan ninjas in a fierce resistance against the combined assault of the Uchiha clan and the Hagoromo clan.
Due to their numerical disadvantage, the Senju clan was completely suppressed.
However, the Senju clan had a special physique; not only was their chakra immense, but their recovery ability was also quite excellent.
In contrast, both the Uchiha clan and the Hagoromo clan had shorter chakra reserves.
Butsuma clearly understood how to use his strengths against their weaknesses. Most of the Senju clan possessed water-style chakra.
These people, relying on their abundant chakra, effortlessly used various Water Release ninjutsu, quickly forming a large area of standing water.
They then used the environmental advantage to entangle with the two allied clans.
Most of the Uchiha clan ninjas excelled at Fire Release ninjutsu, so their combat effectiveness was naturally reduced.
While the Sharingan was a powerful bloodline limit, its role in large-scale ninjutsu clashes was rather limited.
Of course, neither the Hagoromo clan nor the Uchiha clan wanted to hard-press the Senju clan, this tough nut to crack. Although all three parties had some grievances, no one wanted to take on a mutually destructive fight.
From the perspective of the two clans, even if the Senju clan had thick chakra, they definitely wouldn't last too long under such attrition.
Given this, the two clans were naturally happy to drag it out, which would also reduce their casualties.
But all of this was predicated on the Senju clan having no reinforcements.
With Shimada Shigetoshi's five hundred fresh troops forcefully intervening, the Uchiha clan and the Hagoromo clan naturally faced a tragic outcome.
Caught in a pincer attack, the already somewhat fatigued Uchiha and Hagoromo clans were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses.
The originally high-spirited Uchiha Tajima and Hagoromo Ran, burning with rage, intercepted Shigetoshi.
"Shimada Shigetoshi! Today, I shall use your life to console our clansmen!"
Uchiha Tajima's Sharingan spun in his eye sockets as he charged forward.
Hagoromo Ran, though silent, had an even fiercer look in her phoenix eyes.
"Hahahahaha, excellent! Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
Shigetoshi laughed loudly, simultaneously forming hand signs quickly.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Consecutive Waves!"
A dense barrage of vacuum projectiles flew towards them.
Uchiha Tajima merely snorted coldly, his gaze flickering as he moved several times, dodging all the vacuum projectiles, while quickly forming hand signs.
Hagoromo Ran, on the other hand, sank her body and directly burrowed into the earth.
Shigetoshi didn't expect his minor techniques to have much effect, especially against Uchiha Tajima with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
With the Sharingan's observational abilities, dodging these attacks was child's play, even with the amplification of the Blue Dragon Crest on these vacuum projectiles.
After dodging the vacuum projectiles, Uchiha Tajima formed a tiger hand seal.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A massive flame, over fifty meters in size, enveloped Shigetoshi.
Just as Shigetoshi was about to dodge, he found himself unable to move.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
A clear, cold voice echoed in Shigetoshi's ears. A pair of delicate hands firmly gripped his feet, trying to drag him into the earth.
A simple C-rank Earth Release couldn't pull Shigetoshi into the ground, but this momentary delay made Shigetoshi's escape an impossibility.
Attempting to cast a ninjutsu to defend himself in such haste was even more wishful thinking.
It seemed there was no other choice but to endure the attack.
"Endure?" Shigetoshi sneered.
"Then I'll show you how I endure it!"
Instantly, a brilliant blue light erupted from Shigetoshi's body.
Hagoromo Ran, who was gripping Shigetoshi's feet, immediately felt a sense of dread. Without hesitation, Hagoromo Ran submerged herself into the ground again.
The next moment, a firestorm struck, but a colossal azure dragon head had formed around Shimada Shigetoshi. The raging flames roared, yet they were helpless against the dragon head, eventually dispersing in frustration. Seeing Shigetoshi completely unharmed, Uchiha Tajima's expression turned grim.
Hagoromo Ran also burst out of the ground, her hands slightly swollen at this moment.
Although her reaction had been very quick, she had still sustained some minor injuries.
"This is... a dragon?"
Uchiha Tajima's tone was unreadable.
Shigetoshi, however, declared domineering way: "That's right, it's a dragon."
"How is that possible? Our clan records clearly state that this jutsu can only be used by those with the Black Dragon Crest!"
Upon hearing Shigetoshi's answer, Hagoromo Ran subconsciously retorted.
"Hahahahaha, how could you outsiders truly understand the bloodline limit of my Shimada clan?" Shigetoshi said disdainfully.
Hagoromo Ran was about to say something more, but Senju Butsuma, who had stabilized the battle nearby, suddenly joined the fight.
"Hahahahaha, Uchiha Tajima, Hagoromo Ran, what's so great about ganging up on someone? Why don't you count me in?"
The Second Elder and Fifth Elder, who were directing the troops, also rushed over.
"Clan Head, the Uchiha clan and the Hagoromo clan have been routed."
The elders of the Uchiha clan and the Hagoromo clan also arrived with grim expressions, shaking their heads at their respective clan heads.
"Senju Butsuma, Shimada..." Uchiha Tajima was somewhat unwilling and was about to say something more, but Hagoromo Ran, no longer hesitating, decisively said, "Hagoromo clan members, retreat!"
With that, she sank into the earth, and several elders followed suit.
Shigetoshi and Senju Butsuma, however, paid no mind to Hagoromo Ran's departure. Instead, they looked at Uchiha Tajima with a playful expression.
Uchiha Tajima's expression immediately grew even uglier. Hagoromo Ran had clearly anticipated that the two clans wouldn't pursue her and deliberately sold him out. After all, as the benchmark of the Warring States period, the Uchiha clan was simply too conspicuous.
"Retreat!" Uchiha Tajima also quickly ordered.
"Don't even think about it!"
"It's not that easy!"
The strong members of the Shimada clan and the Senju clan also swarmed forward, and a great battle immediately erupted once again...