"One thousand eight hundred ninety nine." A black haired boy supported himself with one hand on the ground, murmuring. "One thousand nine hundred."
"Still 100 left, one thousand nine hundred one."
"..."
The boy continued his physical training, murmuring, "I wonder if training like this will let me graduate?"
Then, a silly smile appeared on his face...
"Hehe, seems like I haven't been going to school at all!!"
"How could I graduate?"
He didn't notice the old man standing behind him leaning on a cane.
Madara quietly watched Shiro training in front of him, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. This world ultimately belongs to the talented. A bloodline limit, a pair of eyes, might instantly turn a genin into a jounin, even a Kage!
In Madara's eyes, he could clearly see this boy had no ability to perform ninjutsu.
Such a person basically had no hope of becoming a ninja.
Because taijutsu...
Lacks staying power!
Even someone like him who had fought across the world... cough, a taijutsu genius, still needed to combine ninjutsu to dominate the ninja world!
So...
"Give up, kid!" Madara said coldly. "You can't become a ninja if you can't use ninjutsu."
"Who?" Shiro did a backflip and stood up, but seeing it was just an old man who needed a cane to walk, he relaxed his guard and said cheerfully, "Old man, why aren't you home so late?"
"..."
He really was old.
Madara was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Don't mind me."
"Taijutsu has advantages early on, but lacks staying power. Someone who can't use chakra will at most become a genin."
"Plus..." Madara glanced at the training marks around and knew this kid had been persistently training here for a long time.
"Intense long term training will severely damage your body. In the future you might not even get the chance to use a cane."
"Hehe, I know." Shiro scratched the back of his head. "Aniki Keita told me this too, but..."
"Lord Jun said..." Shiro's face showed determination. "If you give up on yourself, then there really is no chance."
"I believe I will become a great ninja!!"
"..."
You, a ninjutsu failure, actually believe what a genius who became Kage at seven said??
Madara suddenly felt a stomachache.
Was this kid an idiot?
"Do as you wish!"
Madara shook his head and decided to say no more. He only had one wish left in his heart...
To bring true peace to the ninja world!
Everything else...
Had nothing to do with him!!
Just as he turned to leave leaning on his cane, waiting for Tobi to come home and cook...
Madara heard the training sounds resume behind him. He sighed inwardly. Back then, he and Hashirama trained like this too, very late. At that time, the Senju and Uchiha were still enemies!!
But the only difference was, they were both geniuses, while this foolish boy was just trash!
But...
Madara turned to look at the still training boy and said helplessly, "You're not using your strength correctly!"
...
"Orochimaru, tell me why you did this?" Jiraiya grabbed Orochimaru's collar and roared. "You actually challenged three ninja villages??"
And damn it...
Two of them were from the Five Great Ninja Villages!!
"Do you think you're the God of Shinobi?"
"Let go!" Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya with a bitter smile. "I didn't provoke them!"
"Didn't you hear anything when you returned?"
"This is what happened..."
"Hehe~" After listening, Jiraiya let go, embarrassed. "When I got back to Konoha, the old man immediately sent me here, so I didn't pay attention."
Then he looked around.
"Where's Tsunade?"
Did she see how cool he looked just now?
She must be shocked!
Because he, Konoha's deadlast, had gotten strong!!
"Tsunade isn't here." Orochimaru asked curiously. "Isn't she at the Kumo front?"
And...
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya's silly happy face, hesitating whether to tell him...
Tsunade already had a boyfriend?
"Forget it!!" Orochimaru sighed inwardly. Let him be happy for a while longer.
"Besides you, did the old man send any other reinforcements?"
If not, they really couldn't hold out!!
Though Jiraiya had indeed gotten stronger...
Having one more or less of him made no difference now!
"She's not here!" Jiraiya said regretfully. "I don't know either!"
"I came as soon as I heard you were in danger."
Just didn't meet Tsunade...
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead helplessly. "But now it seems even I'm in danger!!"
Hearing this, Orochimaru smiled faintly, then immediately hid it, saying calmly, "Konoha has too many enemies now. Without reinforcements, we can only..."
...
Uzushiogakure...
"La la la!" Tobi waved at some kids while heading home.
Madara-sama must be getting impatient!
First day at work, Tobi felt pretty good. Except the supervisor wouldn't let him draw poop, everything else was fine!
Very happy, so many kids played with him. When he was with Madara-sama before, no one played with him. Zetsu was always out wandering, and even when around wouldn't play.
Tobi touched the money in his pocket. "Now I can pay the rent."
Madara-sama wouldn't need to worry about money anymore. He, Tobi...
Would earn money to support Madara-sama!!
Arriving at a nice two story house, Tobi opened the door. "I'm home!"
...
"Pfft~!" Uzumaki Jun wiped tea from his mouth, putting down the cup, looking incredulously at Uzumaki Hibiki. "That old man went out?"
Only a few days and Madara couldn't stand staying in?
Jun hadn't told anyone who lived in that house.
After all, the name Uchiha Madara was quite frightening.
"Yes, he wandered around aimlessly." Hibiki nodded. "He seemed very interested in the working people."
Jun understood. Madara's later life was spent striving for peace. Though his ideas...
Were ridiculous!
But his passion for peace was undeniable. Probably why he observed Uzushiogakure's civilians.
Wanting to understand how they coexisted peacefully with ninja.
"What's he doing now?" Jun shook his head helplessly. Originally he most wanted to recruit Madara. As one of the previous generation's top talents, Madara's ninja knowledge was excellent, perfect as an academy professor. But...
Ended up recruiting Tobi, not Madara.
Wonder if Tobi had it hard supporting them?
Jun's face showed a strange expression. When Zetsu found out about Madara and Tobi's changes, he'd probably rage.
Hibiki pretended not to see Jun's odd look, adjusting his glasses. "He's at Shiro's training area now. As for specifics..."
"Following your orders, we didn't send anyone to watch closely!!"
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