Tobirama Senju had actually been forcing himself to stay on his feet all along. His injuries were severe, and he was only holding on thanks to his last reserves of chakra.
Under normal circumstances, he would've been able to manage the current situation with what little chakra he had left. Unfortunately, this situation was anything but normal.
As dizziness overtook him, he instinctively looked down at the wound in his abdomen. Did I misjudge how bad the injury was?
"I've lost too much blood… no, that's not it. It's… my chakra…"
While his weakness was certainly due in part to blood loss, the real issue was that he should never have come into close contact with Yujin.
It was only after Tobirama had "restrained" him that they were in close enough proximity for Yujin to seize the opportunity to drain his chakra.
With continuous fighting, constant pursuit, and now a bleeding wound, Tobirama was in terrible shape—his senses had dulled.
That was a fatal mistake. The lack of chakra left him unable to react in time. And now that he had lost what little he had, it was nearly impossible for him to stay upright.
He had been barely hanging on—and now, he simply couldn't hold out any longer.
Clang.
The long blade he could no longer grip slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.
Yujin easily broke free from Tobirama's grasp. He slowly straightened up, then turned around and gently pressed his hand against the swaying "Second Hokage."
"You were too careless. Lucky for you, I'm a nice guy, so I won't hurt you. But I know you've got a strong personality and a tendency to assume the worst… so—no, you're not going to die, but you do owe me a life."
Before he could finish his sentence, Tobirama's eyes had already rolled back.
Yujin let go of his shoulder, and Tobirama collapsed to the ground, thoroughly unconscious.
Honestly, this was probably the one moment where Tobirama would've actually listened to someone.
"Someone come over and move him. Get his wounds treated," Yujin ordered.
Two ninja rushed over and carefully lifted Tobirama, carrying him into a nearby makeshift shelter. Following a strict "handle with care" approach, they placed him gently on a crude wooden cot.
They were clearly treating him like a fragile and rare artifact.
Well, to be fair, the Senju were pretty rare in their eyes.
The two began working together to remove Tobirama's armor and clothes, inspecting his injuries and cleaning and bandaging them with painstaking care.
Truthfully, without a trained medical ninja, the help the camp could offer was quite limited. But for someone like Tobirama Senju, even simple first aid—just stopping the bleeding—was enough. When it came to resilience and healing, the Senju clan could be trusted.
"So this is a Senju… is this for real? It's my first time seeing one alive."
"Whoa, he's really pale…"
"Yeah, super pale."
"Hey… is that a tiny acorn?"
What kind of conversation is that? Yujin winced and moved farther away, unwilling to hear more.
Hayasaka Ryunosuke followed after him. "Captain, I didn't think that move of yours would actually work on a Senju."
Yujin didn't seem proud—he was honest. "I caught him off guard, that's all. On top of that, he was in awful shape… That move only works the first time anyway."
Everyone had noticed the changes in Yujin over the past few days, especially the growth in his strength. But since it involved his personal abilities, no one dared to ask directly.
Regardless, Yujin becoming stronger was good news for everyone.
Ryunosuke nodded, then asked, "But Captain, is he really a Senju?"
Yujin paused, then decided to be straightforward: "Definitely. And… if I remember correctly, this ninja is Tobirama Senju, the second son of the current clan head."
"The clan head's son?!" Ryunosuke's expression immediately shifted. "Captain, how do you know him?"
From what anyone knew, Yujin shouldn't have any ties to the Senju clan.
Faced with the question, Yujin simply shook his head and said nothing.
Questions that come from below don't always deserve full explanations from above. Whether he explained or not depended entirely on Yujin's own will.
Seeing that he wasn't going to answer, Ryunosuke wisely chose not to press further.
"Captain, is there any way we can use this connection to build a relationship with the Senju?" he asked, quickly moving on to strategizing.
You had to admit—he was quick on the uptake. The moment he heard who Tobirama was, his mind was already thinking of how to "cling to a big shot."
"Don't oversimplify it. At his age, Tobirama can't decide anything for the clan," Yujin replied, shaking his head. You couldn't just fleece a great ninja clan that easily.
Seeing Ryunosuke hesitate as if he still had something on his mind, Yujin asked, "What is it?"
"I was just thinking… what about a marriage alliance?" Ryunosuke offered tentatively.
"… …"
Yujin had prepared himself for a dumb suggestion—but not this dumb.
"Ryunosuke, the only woman in our camp is Granny Takamatsu."
Auntie Takamatsu was over forty. And sure, a forty-year-old woman had every right to pursue love. But the right to pursue love did not include the right to commit a crime.
Tobirama was only fourteen. The pairing… didn't seem quite right.
Ryunosuke glanced over at Auntie Takamatsu, who was rummaging around the camp for bandages, and couldn't help wondering if the Senju kid had an Oedipus complex.
Yujin decided to ignore his subordinate's fake-deep musing. He turned back to the group and shouted:
"Anyone want to try out some genuine Senju chakra?"
...
The next morning, rain had started falling at dawn and showed no signs of stopping.
Tobirama Senju suddenly awoke. He sat up with a jolt, instinctively reaching for his weapons.
Unsurprisingly, he came up empty-handed. The sharp movement tugged at his wounds, and the pain in his side and abdomen made him suck in a breath. Cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
The sound of steady rainfall filled his ears. The chill in the air cleared his head in an instant.
Looking around, he found himself lying beneath a leaky, drafty shelter. A thin, worn blanket was draped over him. Lifting it, he saw that he was wearing only pants, and his upper body was wrapped in bandages.
His forehead protector, ninja pouch, and clothes had been neatly folded and placed on a wooden stump to his right. His long blade lay next to the stump.
Memories of the previous day floated back to him. Bit by bit, he pieced together what had happened.
The bad news: he had fallen into enemy hands. The good news: he didn't know yet that he'd been treated like a rare specimen on display for everyone to admire.
"Oh, you're awake."
Sensing the movement, Yujin appeared immediately, still carrying the same large scroll from yesterday.
Of course, it wasn't a coincidence. In fact, Yujin had been keeping constant watch over him, which was why he could appear so quickly.
It just had to be said—Tobirama was still too young and inexperienced. If this had been the older, mature version of him, he would've kept pretending to be unconscious.
Or he would've tried to discreetly assess his surroundings… or faked being harmless and looked for a chance to take out the leader.
One day, Tobirama might become that cunning—but right now, he was just a kid without all the layers.