Chapter 171 Hashirama realizes the importance of strength

When Hashirama found that his usually sharp perception was of no use when facing Ling, his scalp instantly tingled and he no longer had the slightest desire to talk to anyone. He ran away without hesitation, using all his strength.

When the conflict broke out between the two sides before, no one would pay special attention to a child like him, so he was able to kill several people while retreating. But now - after witnessing the [competition] between Ling and Uzumaki Yi that day, Hashirama said that he really couldn't muster the intention of fighting Ling in close combat.

He couldn't even believe that there was someone who could take action without any hostility!

Another lazy donkey rolled over to avoid Ling's attack. Hashirama looked at Ling who had landed precisely on a tree branch and quickly analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.

In terms of combat capability alone, he was certainly no match for Uchiha Ling. The reason why he could still escape with his limbs intact was all thanks to the large-scale ninjutsu released by the elders of his clan earlier - Earth Flow River - which severely interfered with the opponent's perception ability, forcing him to find high points again and again in this noisy venue to reconfirm his position.

But as time passed, the surging earth waves had subsided a lot. Although the ground beneath his feet was still muddy and soft, it had become hard due to the continuous loss of chakra within it, and Hashirama's escape speed also increased accordingly.

But his expression became increasingly ugly - he knew clearly that the moment the ground became hard, that would be the moment when Uchiha Ling would exert his full strength, and it would most likely be the last second of his life.

[Run to an open area? No, as long as I leave the effective range of this ninjutsu, I will just be a sitting duck. Run to places with complex terrain? No, that will be too advantageous to Uchiha Ling, and I will only die faster...]

Big beads of sweat oozed from Hashirama's forehead. His mind was rapidly analyzing all the information he had obtained so far. Finally, he gritted his teeth, dodged Ling's attack again, and rushed back in the direction he came from.

[If you keep running like this, you will die! If you go back, you can try your luck and meet the elders who are no longer in the clan, and find a way to survive! ]

"Oh, what a wise decision... If I can make it back alive this time, I must remember not to lend a helping hand to the enemy - especially when I am not as strong as the enemy, it is stupid."

Hashirama, who was already panting like a bellows, had no way of spareing any extra energy to pay attention to what Ling said. He only knew that when the piercing sound of metal clashing rang out behind him, he was saved.

The moment he relaxed his mind, Hashirama nearly fell to the ground. He slowed down his pace slightly, panting and turned his head to look at Ling who was stopped by an elder from the clan. Although he was pressed into a dangerous situation, there was only a satisfied smile on his face - he was enjoying it.

【madman.】

This word kept coming up in Hashirama's mind, and he finally understood a little bit of what the elders in the clan always said - [Don't try to understand the Uchiha, just hold the weapon in your hand tightly at all times, because they are Uchiha, so no matter what they do, it is reasonable. ]

"Stop being in a daze! This is not a battlefield for you little brats! Run!"

Hashirama suddenly came back to his senses and tried to move his heavy legs to run away from the battle circle - he really learned his lesson this time. Unless he could guarantee his life, he would never try to talk to an Uchiha alone again! He swore to the sky!

But while alerting himself, another doubt also surfaced from the bottom of Hashirama's heart - [What's wrong with Brother Yi that he likes this crazy warrior so much that he tells everyone he meets? ]

After hesitating for a while, Hashirama gave up thinking and secretly decided to carefully examine what Uzumaki Yi said in the future - at least he should ask Tobirama before believing it!

After assigning his younger brother a destined heavy workload without any guilt, Hashirama turned his attention back to the battlefield, carefully dodging the indiscriminate attacks that flew over, and ran towards the nearest gathering point he remembered - rather than dragging his overly exhausted body to force help, it would be better to find other adults as soon as possible.

The disappearance of Hashirama made both sides in the battle breathe a sigh of relief at the same time, but the angles of their sighs were obviously different.

The Senju ninja breathed a sigh of relief - they finally found their young clan leader who had disappeared since the battle began.

Ling sighed half with emotion and half with regret - he didn't know whether it was right to let him go again.

However, even though he had been receiving ninja education since childhood, he still yearned for peace in his heart and took actions for it, which was really amazing in every sense - although his understanding of peace was very shallow and his actions were too reckless.

[If he can grow up, I can live to that time, maybe I can use him to try to fulfill that unrealistic wish...]

When Ling thought of this, the smile on his face spread wider. He raised his long sword to block the attack of the Thousand Hands Ninja, exerted force on his feet, and almost stuck close to the enemy. The long sword that was not suitable for close combat was now like a spirit snake under his control, slashing at the opponent at a tricky angle.

"This long-lost feeling of the unknown is really exciting! It's like guessing each opponent's potential ninjutsu and fighting style before the battle! Don't you agree? Uncle Senju!"

Thousand Hands Ninja: ...

[Who the hell knows what you, a little Uchiha, are trying to say by suddenly saying this! Will you die if you just shut up and focus on fighting?! ]