Naruto: The Senju Patriarch

Just before the attack by Kiri, Kumo made their move using the chaos and war started by Sunagakure. They attacked Iwa, with A son of Third Raikage A and Killer B leading the charge. The distance meant that Konoha got the news slightly later, but it arrived nonetheless and truly signalled a world wide war.

Katsuro's initial attack decimating the vanguard of Kiri forced them to seriously consider their invasion, especially because they had lost 2 of the 7 Ninja swordsmen and their blades. Despite only hearing rumours of his power, and seeing his bounty in the Bingo book reaching 2 billion Ryo after the Second War they had thought it wouldn't be an issue, especially as Konoha was also distracted by Suna. But by experiencing it first hand, they were forced to take a much slower approach. This bought more than enough time for the forces under Katsuro, led by his reliable second in command and the brothers of the Hyuga, to make their way to the Land of Hot Water.

The success of the Suna front led by Tsuande and the White Fang with Konoha still holding the majority of their forces in reserve made the situation even worse. The White Fang's strength was well known and strong for even those of the Kage rank, but the development in strength of Tsunade was particularly damning; it also put her beyond the ranks of typical Kage level Shinobi even if not yet on the level of Sakumo. But what was worse, was it hinted at the strength of the rest of the Sannin also reaching similar levels. It made the other villages wary of Konoha's growing strength; if they let them continue to develop, they would all be wiped out. The fear of Konoha's cradle of geniuses incentivised the villages to target them to curb their growth even beyond their land.

Regardless, the level Kiri couldn't even wait for Suna to create an opportunity for them at all - even if they somehow reversed their situation, Konoha would just draw from their village rather than pulling from the Kiri front.

But while the Mist was regretting their situation, it seemed they had not reached rock bottom yet. Using the damage to their numbers, strength and morale the aggressive Kumo launched their attack. Led by the Raikage himself, they tore through the Land of Water, forcing the Mizukage and 3 of the 5 Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to hold him back. Even then, they were struggling, slowly losing ground. It put a large pause on their plans to take the fertile and bountiful lands of Konoha. But the fact they had already started the war meant they were forced to keep their already deployed forces and even more to defend against a counter attack led by Katsuro. Their greed had meant they were truly stuck between a rock and hard place.

Thus those placed in the Land of Hot Water, were forced to act way more cautiously especially as the Konoha forces arrived.

Noticing the lack of movement from the Kiri forces, Katsuro began to slowly back away. Until around another two days later, there was no action, and the Leaf forces lead by Hiashi still hadn't arrived, giving Katsuro time to set up more markers for his Flying Raijin, as well as scouting the surrounding area for a more efficient attack later on. Finally, he caught eye of Hiashi Hyuga, along with the rest of the Konoha forces at the Kiri front,

"Lord Senju," the leader of the Hyuga clan nodded at Katsuro, "I'm sorry for the late arrival, but I'm assuming you were successful with your preemptive attack?"

Hizashi, the head of the Hyuga branch family and brother of Hiashi, appeared next to them nodding at Katsuro firmly, not interrupting the conversation.

Katsuro smiled at Hizashi, after all, he respected the man highly considering what he had to endure as a Hyuga branch member, as well as being subject to ostracization from his own brother. That alone took strength to come out of the same, and still loyally worked for the good of his clan. Their brotherly will that crossed even those traditions of their clans was inspiring and to Katsuro key to breaking the cycle of subservience.

"Ah of course, no need to worry, we didn't expect the Kiri forces to mobilise so quickly. Will you call a meeting for me please?"

"Certainly," Hiashi nodded before turning to walk away.

Suddenly, Katsuro caught the eye of Might Duy walking around the campsite, among the many Uzumaki, Senju and several Uchiha and Hyuga Shinobi, placing various large objects around and grinned seeing his former sparring opponent.

"Hey Duy! Care to join the meeting? It's starting soon!" Katsuro called over.

Duy spun around, shocked to hear Katsuro's voice and the words he had just said.

"Lord Senju! How have you been! When I heard I would be a part of your force I was thrilled!" grinned Duy as tears swelled in his eyes, "I am honoured to be a part of this meeting and I will gladly attend! An opportunity like this cannot be passed… especially for a Genin like myself..."

"I'm happy to hear that Duy, you're not some random Genin, though, you've proven that much to me!" Katsuro smiled, walking alongside Duy towards the main tent.

After a few minutes, all the necessary leaders and important figures, including Kaito and Duy now, were present in the tent around the war table and Katsuro started the meeting.

"Hello everyone, time is running out so let's get straight to the point. The Kiri vanguard has been wiped out along with two of their Seven Ninja Swordsmen!" Katsuro smiled, seeing those present visibly quite shocked. While it was well known that Katsuro was likely one of, or the, strongest ninja in the world, taking in two of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and coming out of the fight with barely a single scratch was still a highly impressive feat, that basically no one in the world could claim themselves.

Lord Senju, you never cease to impress us. Duy smiled.

"Now, their vanguard was destroyed, but I sense that more Kirigakure forces will arrive soon, once they realise there's no communication between them and the initial force they sent ahead that was meant to engage us. It's been around two days since the battle in which their vanguard was defeated, so I presume we have at least another four days to set up camp and prepare ourselves. Now, let's discuss the battle plans…"

As the meeting concluded, everyone nodded dutifully, and parted in different directions without saying a word, including the Hyuga brothers, to which Katsuro raised an eyebrow.

"Lord Senju," Duy spoke before leaving, while everyone other than the Senju and Uzumaki Patriarch and Kaito, "I really appreciate you not only including the meeting but also giving me a unit leader role. I won't disappoint you! The spirit of my youth burns with passion and your hopes riding on me!"

Katsuro laughed, "I know I can count on you, Duy. Now, it's just a matter of execution of our plans. Let's hope for our victory."

—

In preparation for the upcoming battle, Katsuro met with his 6 Uzumaki students. They were still young, children in his eyes and if it was up to him they would be at home and wouldn't even need to fight. But, they had decided to follow him and at some point Katsuro had to allow the cubs to leave the nest and grow up.

But that didn't mean he couldn't watch over them, and besides under his tutelage even the weakest of them Minari already had the combat power of a Jonin despite mainly being a healer.

Not including his advice, Katsuro had come to them because of a sword he had picked up, the Kabutowari. After some thinking, Katsuro gave the weapon to Tenaki. The boy had developed towards a strong style of fighting, and had the most robust physique of them, and thus would be most suitable for the sword. Using the weapon would take some getting used to, but once he was proficient, alongside the Fire and Earth Jutsu he had been taught he would easily be an Elite Jonin.

A few days later…

The main action from Konoha stemmed from squads that were centred around Hyuga clan members that were focussed in gathering intel while they were protected by other Shinobi including the Senju and Uzumaki. The intel suggested that around 5000 Kiri Shinobi had accumulated in the Kiri camp, slowly gathering and consolidating. It aligned with the information from the Kumo and Kiri battlefield suggesting Kiri had been forced to invest nearly 8000 Shinobi there.

Once a plan had been formed based on their positions, and the day had come the Konoha forces began moving into their positions, hidden by the natural terrain and special Chakra suppressing seals designed by the Uzumaki and Katsuro. They were ready, closer than Kiri could have ever expected, with their weapons out screaming for blood.

AN: If you would like to view up to 20 more bonus chapters, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The next target is 200 POWER STONES for the next BONUS CHAPTER!