Naruto: Tsunade’s Reincarnated Older Brother

In the dimly lit forest, Tatami kicked off from the thick tree trunk and leaped from branch to branch. From his blind spot as he raced through the canopy, a wooden kunai flew toward him. Tatami flipped mid-air and deflected the kunai with his wooden sword, but the impact threw off his balance and sent him tumbling toward the ground.

However, just before hitting the earth, Tatami managed to right himself, landing safely before quickly ducking behind the massive roots of an ancient tree.

"As expected, Sakumo still has the edge in weaponry and perception," he muttered with a sigh before dashing off again.

Currently, Tatami and his team were engaged in a mock battle spanning the entire forest. Each participant had scattered to prepare for combat, and after a set amount of time, the battle would begin. The rules were simple: capture your opponent, force them to surrender, or render them unable to fight, any of these meant defeat.

Shortly after the battle commenced, Sakumo had ambushed Tatami. Despite being confident in his hiding spot this time, Tatami had been caught completely off guard, losing his chance to counterattack and forcing him to flee. No matter how well he concealed himself or how far he ran, Sakumo pursued him relentlessly.

Senju Tatami descended from the Uzumaki clan, renowned for their vast chakra reserves. Additionally, as a direct descendant of the Senju, widely regarded as the strongest ninja clan in the world, his potential chakra capacity was immeasurable. Among his peers, no one could match his chakra reserves, and even among the ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, hailed as the strongest of the five great ninja villages, few could surpass him. That was precisely why Sakumo, known as a "sensor-type" ninja skilled at detecting and tracking chakra, could pinpoint Tatami's location with such ease.

Meanwhile, Ina lurked in the shadows, seeking to gain an advantage by observing the other two. Detecting and discovering Ina, who had completely concealed his presence, was impossible not only for Tatami but even for Sakumo.

The Yamanaka clan was renowned for their expertise in perception and stealth, so it was understandable that Sakumo, a young ninja still developing his skills, couldn't track Ina's whereabouts no matter how talented he was. Furthermore, perception and stealth were indispensable elements in mastering the secret ninja techniques passed down through the Yamanaka bloodline. Children of the Yamanaka clan underwent rigorous training in these skills above all else. Ina's abilities in perception and stealth far exceeded those of his two companions, not only due to his bloodline talent but also because of his dedicated effort and training.

That was why Sakumo had chosen to deal with Tatami first.

While Ina was undeniably superior to the other two in stealth, his training had been somewhat one-sided, leaving him lacking in other areas, particularly physical combat. Though Tatami, who favored technique over brute force, might be on par with Ina in this regard, he fell several levels below Sakumo.

If Ina and Sakumo were to engage in hand-to-hand combat, Sakumo would undoubtedly emerge victorious, and the same would hold true in a ninja technique duel.

The only thing Sakumo needed to be wary of was the Yamanaka clan's secret technique: the Mind Transfer Jutsu. This technique, which allowed one to control another's mind and take over their body, was far more dangerous than genjutsu or transformation techniques, which were relatively easy to detect if one remained alert. Sakumo recognized it as an extremely perilous ability.

It definitely wasn't a technique you'd want an enemy to possess. However, due to its potency, the Yamanaka secret jutsu required considerable time to activate. Additionally, it had the critical weakness of leaving an enormous opening if it failed. Even Ina, skilled as he was at concealment, couldn't maintain his stealth while performing ninjutsu. If he attempted to activate the technique, Sakumo would inevitably detect him.

And if Sakumo could sense it in advance, avoiding the large-scale Mind Transfer Jutsu would be child's play for him. In other words, to Sakumo, who was a sensor-type ninja, Ina was merely a skilled stealth fighter. Unless Sakumo showed a significant opening, Ina had virtually no chance of victory.

Originally, the Yamanaka clan had prospered by collaborating with the Nara clan, which possessed secret techniques that could bind enemy movements, making it undeniable that their abilities were unsuited for one-on-one combat.

On the other hand, to put it bluntly, Tatami's greatest threat was Ina.

Against Sakumo, Tatami could rely on his massive chakra reserves and tenacity to launch a relentless barrage of attacks. When Sakumo and Tatami clashed, battles inevitably escalated into close combat, where Tatami had to quickly bring Sakumo within range of his ninjutsu attacks while Sakumo needed to deplete Tatami's stamina before that happened. Though Tatami had been losing to Sakumo recently, his seemingly limitless chakra didn't deplete easily, giving him a slight advantage.

However, due to those vast chakra reserves, Tatami, who was poor at the subtle art of sensing others, found Ina's stealth the most terrifying. The secret jutsu Ina employed from a distance, exploiting his stealth skills, left Tatami with no way to dodge them since he wasn't a sensor-type. He'd been caught off-guard by Ina more than once when he thought he'd defeated Sakumo, but if he focused on guarding against Ina, he'd end up losing to Sakumo, it was a vicious cycle.

If only I had some kind of sensing ability, I could detect air currents, scents, and sounds, Tatami thought, gritting his teeth in frustration every time he lost to Ina.

Tatami wanted to eliminate Ina because he kept losing due to their poor compatibility. Sakumo wanted to take out Tatami because he had the highest chance of losing to him. And Ina wanted to pit Tatami and Sakumo against each other until they wore each other down.

"There's no choice. This is a losing battle if I don't act. Time to show them my trump card."

The perfect three-way standoff was, however, a thing of the past. After countless defeats, Tatami had finally obtained the decisive weapon to end this stalemate. That was why he'd lured both of them into this forest with such confidence.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

As he ran, Tatami formed the hand seals, leaped into the air, and activated his Water Release technique. The condensed water expelled from his mouth defied gravity, surging upward toward the sky before forming a protective barrier. Tatami spun around as a wall of water materialized around him.

The water wall deflected the kunai that Sakumo had thrown from behind, and Ina, who was hiding and observing the situation, saw Tatami disappear from Sakumo's line of sight for an instant. Tatami quickly formed another set of hand seals while Sakumo was distracted.

Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey...

★

As his consciousness faded, Sakumo was filled with astonishment. He couldn't understand what had happened or how the roles of hunter and hunted had been reversed so suddenly. When had Tatami developed such keen perception abilities?

Sakumo had thrown his kunai and immediately concealed himself, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but Tatami had spotted him instantly. No, Sakumo wasn't even certain if Tatami had truly detected him. When his friend had finally grown tired of their game of tag and began unleashing Water Release techniques in all directions, relying on his chakra reserves, Sakumo had merely thought, Finally.

In situations like this, Tatami, who was weak at perception, had no choice but to use the tactic that best suited his abilities: overwhelming his opponent with sheer numbers through shadow clones.

Sometimes this strategy would successfully overwhelm Sakumo, but other times he'd be caught off-guard and lose. However, after many battles, Sakumo had learned how to counter this approach and had become the most successful of the three at dealing with it.

This time as well, Sakumo had approached the battle intending to win, believing he could emerge victorious. He'd let his guard down.

While Tatami had been casting techniques in every direction, multiple shadow clones, actual physical duplicates, had suddenly appeared and directed a massive water dragon toward Sakumo. Before he knew it, earth-based barriers had been erected along every escape route, and multiple copies of Tatami waited in the gaps between them.

Though he couldn't say he wasn't disappointed by his defeat, Sakumo couldn't hide his excitement at his friend's new tactics.

I wonder if he'll tell me how he figured out my location... Sakumo thought as his consciousness sank into darkness, already anticipating their next battle.

★

As Ina watched Sakumo being engulfed by the Water Dragon Bullet technique, he thought, This is bad.

If things had proceeded as they had before, Ina's victory would have been assured at this point. He could have used genjutsu and clones to distract Sakumo, then taken control of his body with the Mind Transfer Jutsu. Indeed, even now, if he used that technique, Ina could defeat Sakumo—but he had to be even more cautious now.

"I knew it. You're too competitive to just give up like that."

Initially, Tatami had overwhelmed the other two with sheer numbers, but once Ina had learned to hide effectively and Sakumo had begun developing countermeasures, Tatami had started losing more frequently.

Ina knew that Sakumo had officially become a disciple of Senju Tobirama, the Hokage's advisor, and had joined the Hokage's personal guard as a junior student under Sarutobi Hiruzen. However, he'd never imagined that Sakumo was skilled enough to conceal such a "sharp" technique until he was certain of victory.

Until now, Tatami had relied on basic techniques like Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, Water Release: Water Formation Wall, and Fire Release: Great Fireball, using his massive chakra reserves to achieve overwhelming attack coverage. But now he was mastering techniques with directional precision and lethal effectiveness.

Could someone really learn so many techniques and grow so strong so quickly? Ina wondered if perhaps Tatami had been hiding this all along, following some advice from his master Tobirama.

But this... Ina's gaze turned toward Sakumo, who lay unconscious on the ground.

Tatami was a kind-hearted boy. Despite being the grandson of the Hokage, he never boasted about it, and even Ina found his occasional emotional outbursts to be a charming quirk. Ina appreciated Tatami's easygoing kindness, which differed from Sakumo's more pointed kindness, the way Sakumo would gently point out flaws and occasionally make cutting observations.

However...

"Actually, I've been holding back quite a bit..."

To be honest, once Tatami had completed his barrier of earth walls and encirclement of shadow clones, Sakumo had no chance of winning. Instead of following standard protocol and asking for surrender, Tatami had thoroughly defeated him, revealing the extent of frustration that had built up from his recent losses.

Will I end up like that too? Ina's lips twitched as he watched Sakumo lying in a puddle of muddy water with his eyes rolled back.

Seeing Tatami create a vast number of shadow clones to fill the forest, Ina decided to raise both hands in surrender.

★

"Is this okay? His eyes are completely rolled back."

"I... I don't know."

When Ina appeared with a drawn-out call of "I surrender," Tatami welcomed him and they both headed toward Sakumo, who was still unconscious with his eyes rolled back. Ina looked pityingly at Sakumo, still lying in the mud, while Tatami broke out in a cold sweat, realizing he'd gotten too carried away in his enthusiasm.

To prevent Sakumo from catching cold, the two of them moved him beside a fire they'd lit using Fire Release and stared intently at his pitiful, mud-covered form.

"Well, he'll be fine," Ina said, drinking from his canteen in one gulp. He exhaled with a satisfied puff and then looked away from Sakumo with apparent disinterest.

What's so great about that attitude? Tatami wondered as he bit into an apple.

"Hey, Tatami. When did you learn so many techniques?"

"Recently."

"Recently? That's a lie! We've practiced together many times, but you never used so many techniques before!"

"It's a secret. Ninja have many secrets."

"I see. But there's no point in keeping secrets from me. Come on, tell me. Or else!"

"Stop it! I'll tell you!"

The Yamanaka clan specialized in techniques that affected the human mind, and Tatami knew there were also jutsu that could steal a person's thoughts. While Ina wasn't the type of child who would do such things to his friends, Tatami was different. Spoiled by his grandfather and overflowing with love and generosity, Tatami had a tendency to pamper other children, partly due to his mental maturity as a reincarnated soul.

This was a sign of his adult-like maturity, but to children his own age, it made him seem like someone with an unimaginable capacity for patience and kindness. As a result, Tatami spoiled Ina, and Ina, within acceptable limits, tended to take advantage of this dynamic, which usually led to Sakumo scolding them both when things went too far.

In the end, Tatami spilled everything.

"By the way, those things that detected Sakumo's location, were those summoned creatures?"

Tatami's heart raced. He'd planned to keep this secret for a while longer to expand his tactical options. To be exposed so easily made him marvel at Ina's perceptive abilities.

"It's okay, I won't tell Sakumo."

Ina laughed, and Tatami sighed in resignation.

"How did you—"

"It's sage chakra, isn't it? Something animalistic, or maybe you've just gained access to different types of chakra. I already knew about summoning techniques."

How did he know? Tatami was about to ask, but Ina's words cut him off. Feeling caught off-guard, Tatami mumbled awkwardly while blushing. Ina pointed at the flustered, red-faced Tatami and laughed.

Tatami's face turned even redder as he quickly stood up.

"Hey!"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Tatami, embarrassed and angry, suddenly went pale. His eyes darted around nervously as he tried to endure some kind of fear, giving Ina a sense of urgent alarm.

"I'm sorry..."

"No, it's not that. This is... this is bad..."

"What's wrong, Ina?"

Interrupting Tatami's apology, Ina's shoulders began to shake. Concerned by his friend's unusual behavior, Tatami wrapped his arms around Ina's shoulders, locking eyes with his trembling gaze.

"I think there's an enemy approaching. A very strong one."

"Sakumo, since when were you awake?"

Sakumo, who had been unconscious, sat up suddenly. He shook his head a few times and lightly tapped his forehead with his palm.

"Just now. A sinister chakra is heading this way at incredible speed."

"We have to escape! This feeling... they're much stronger than us."

Ina shouted, but Sakumo shook his head grimly.

"We won't make it if we try to escape together. You know that. They're already very close, we have no choice but to fight."

"..."

Sakumo's expression was resigned, and Ina couldn't hide his fear. Though he couldn't sense it himself, Tatami vaguely understood they were in serious danger.

"Are they definitely enemies?"

"I think so. Their movement pattern is too deliberate to be someone who's just lost. They're definitely ninja."

"And they're terrifying bastards with murderous intent."

"Alright, I understand. I'll handle this. You two get out of here."

Tatami stood up with determination.

Unlike the other two, who could feel the monster-like chakra approaching, Tatami, who wasn't a sensor-type, couldn't fully grasp the current crisis. But even if he didn't understand it completely, even if he felt fear, if his friends were scared, Tatami knew exactly what he had to do.

"But—"

"Ina, hide and retreat to call for reinforcements. Sakumo, protect Ina."

"Let's go together!"

"If I'm with you, they'll detect us immediately."

Ina fell silent at Tatami's pointed observation.

"Besides, they might not be enemies. Could be hunters or something."

"No way."

"Besides, I'm the grandson of Senju Hashirama."

"I understand. I'll go. There are six enemies, so be careful."

"Damn it... I'm definitely bringing back an adult."

"Don't be late."

Seeing Tatami's resolute expression, Sakumo stood up with a solemn look. He restrained Ina, who was about to protest, with his authority and hurriedly left the scene.

Three people can't escape, that's what Sakumo said. So if one person acts as a decoy, the others can get away. If Sakumo is that afraid, then whoever's coming must be incredibly skilled.

Alone in the suddenly silent world, a leaf rustled ominously.

"I thought it was the Hokage himself, but you're just a kid."

He's here.

A distinctive, low voice with a nasal tone—a tall man dressed in black and gray, with half his face hidden by a mask. He looked thoroughly suspicious, but Tatami knew immediately who he was.

"That forehead protector, are you a ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village?"

"You are... a relative of the Hokage? Your chakra signature is similar, so I mistook you for him."

One of the man's subordinates apologized, but the tall man replied dismissively, "It doesn't matter."

"I am a direct descendant of Senju Hashirama."

"I see. Then would you take me to the Hokage? I'd like to do some sightseeing in Konoha."

"You've formed a six-man squad and are sneaking around this forest just to sightsee in Konoha? I'm calling for reinforcements. Try saying that again in front of Konoha's adults."

At those last words, the man's demeanor changed completely. Tatami recoiled a step under the crushing pressure of the man's enormous chakra.

"Kakuzu-sama, we can't make any moves now!"

The man—Kakuzu—seemed to register the change in his own aura as a ninja dropped down from a tree. Rustling sounds indicated that the four ninja still in hiding were stirring. Though unnoticed by Tatami, the four concealed ninja were worried about their comrade who had tried to stop Kakuzu.

If there was any misfortune in that ninja's life, it was his youth. Despite being young, he was talented and had been chosen for this mission. Even at his age, if he had been in peak condition, he might have been able to hold his own against Sarutobi Hiruzen. That was precisely why he had misjudged Kakuzu, whom he was working with for the first time.

Though quick-tempered, the young ninja had never imagined Kakuzu would kill a comrade. His argument had been completely valid, and it was precisely that youthful disregard for his senior's temperament that became his downfall and his fatal "weakness."

Flecks of flesh scattered through the air, and crimson fireworks marked the beginning of the battle.

———

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