Naruto: The Senju Patriarch

The rest of the Konoha troops going to the Iwa front were ready and unshaken by the threat of battle, considering they had 6 highly skilled Shinobi leading them, with one being the Third Hokage, and regardless of all the news about him, his strength and prowess in Ninjutsu was undeniable. Furthermore, the Uchiha clan was renowned throughout the world for good reason, and it would take a huge force to defeat them and the infamous Ino-Shiko-Cho clans known for their teamwork even since the warring clans era. But knowing this only emphasised Hiruzen's concerns about the Uchiha becoming less and less in favour and loyal to him and the village. Yet another problem shoved at him as a result of the Senju Patriarch.

But with just 4000 Shinobi attacking Konoha, acting in a way which would make their force seem larger being led by just the Jonin Commander, people who knew the facts would question what Onoki was thinking. That force would crumble under the response Konoha had administered. But to understand Onoki's thoughts, to understand the plan you need to look further back.

On the day Kumo attacked Konoha, Onoki had the same idea as the Raikage. Konoha was looking far too strong, constantly producing monsters with the top monster being someone like Senju Katsuro. He thought back to his youth when with the Tsuchikage Mu he had felt the power of an unrivaled figure, Uchiha Madara. To this day those scarlet pin wheel eyes scared him more than he wanted to admit. It was from this fear, that he refused to see the rise of another Madara - and this time there was no Hashirama to stop him. Rather than defeating Konoha, Onoki put even more emphasis on Katsuro - a figure which would assure their place in the Shinobi world for years to come.

Onoki, who was at the village with the 5 Tails, had initiated his plan, designed to ultimately take Konoha, the biggest threat, out of the war while trying to target Katsuro. He analysed the situation, and when he saw Konoha send a modest force easily deduced that Katsuro would likely arrive on the battlefield to help out.

Therefore on the very same day that Kumo and Konoha first met, he ordered for the Jonin Commander of Iwagakure to return to the village as he took his place to replace him.

The Kumo forces realised that Onoki had only appeared once he found out the Raikage was not present and could clear the battlefield much more easily. However, this was only a small part of the Fence sitter's idea. Using his Particle Style jutsu, the Tsuchikage wreaked havoc on the battlefield where Cloud and Stone fought, along with the 4 Tails Jinchuriki, forcing the Cloud army to back off and become more passive since they had no real answer other than the 8 tails. Both A and B leading that front were not able to effectively counter Onoki without resorting to a full scale confrontation which would require a heavy investment - but considering that the Raikage was already heavily investing and fighting in Konoha they were content to act passive and conserve their strength which would also make the Tsuchikage's Jutsu much less effective if forced to target smaller groups.

Meanwhile, a large portion of the Iwa Shinobi retreated, under the Tsuchikage's orders and cover he provided with his presence, but this movement was not noticed by the Kumo forces, as they had been unable to push back against Onoki and the 4 Tails due to their passivity and therefore lacked information. As the Shinobi retreated from the Kumo front quietly, Onoki had also instructed the Iwa Jonin commander to slowly take around 4000 Shinobi that were in reserve in their village and attack Konoha. Such an attack was one he knew that they would suspect due to his nature, and without it acting as a distraction he could not conceal his true goal. The attack even if half-hearted would ensure Konoha or even Kumo did not think too deeply about an ulterior motive if he seemed to follow the script.

Eventually, within just a few days, Onoki too retreated with the 4 tails, choosing a risky approach where he left just 2000 Shinobi with no real powerhouses on the Kumo front. He hoped that their lack of aggression would mean that Kumo wouldn't realise their vulnerability until his plan would complete. It was a necessary risk for his plan, but hopefully the 2000 would maintain the image of their presence and deceive the Kumo forces.

As a result of Onoki's careful planning and risk taking putting many of his Shinobi in dangerous positions, he had amassed a force of 12,000 Shinobi with him - the Tsuchikage, and both the 4 and 5 tails Jinchuurikis outside of Iwagakure. They moved quickly knowing their secret couldn't be kept for long heading straight towards the Kumo-Konoha battlefield. During this time, Hiruzen and his Konoha force engaged the Iwa Shinobi on their front on a preliminary basis with a high amount of guerilla warfare, unaware themselves of what was happening or that the enemy they fought was much weaker than they seemed.

Their objective was to take out both of their biggest enemies at once, but if they had to choose, they would undoubtedly choose to target Konoha more.

We must eliminate Senju Katsuro, he is the biggest threat from Konoha. Even the Raikage cannot compare to his potential - he is not like Hashirama, if he lives Konoha may very well grow to a point we cannot hope to touch.

Eventually, the massive Iwa army arrived. Shinobi from both the Cloud and Lead shouted and exclaimed in shock and waves of fear. When? How? Neither side had received reports of this. Such a large army, and not a single report?

Onoki, smugly and proudly, smiled, leading from the sky. He was more than pleased seeing Konoha and Kumo brawl it out, with both suffering heavily. It made it all the more likely that Iwa could take them both out in one go, with a shameless third party.

As he flew closer to head into the fight, the sight he saw before him stopped him and his Iwa battalion, leaving them in shock. Ahead, amidst the battle, they saw the bloodied, charred, figure of the Third Raikage collapsed on the ground, and towering over him was Senju Katsuro who looked in a much better condition.

He thought he had evaluated the Wind Emperor appropriately, maybe even overestimated him by prioritising him over the Raikage. But now he saw clearly, the man already was a far more dangerous threat than the Raikage who he saw no way to defeat without immeasurable sacrifices. Such an overwhelming victory in their confrontation meant that Katsuro was far stronger.

How is this possible, I… underestimated him! This man isn't going to become a Madara! He already is one!

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