Madara Uchiha was thoroughly infuriated by Uchiha Sasuke's string of mystical nonsense.
After this meeting, both gave each other incredibly precise descriptions: "unreasonable person."
What the future Uchiha would look like—Madara Uchiha had thought about this before. He'd even considered the concept of multi-clan alliances, but reality was forcing him away from that direction.
Allying with the Senju Clan...
If he were ten years younger, perhaps he'd fantasize about such a future, but now he was no longer so naive. The two sides had been mortal enemies for so many years—could the conflicts between them really be resolved with a simple word like "alliance"?
Alliance was impossible unless there was a power imbalance where one side completely overwhelmed the other. But the problem was, if such overwhelming dominance occurred, would alliance be easier or extermination be easier?
Most ninja thinking carried inertia. In this chaotic world, they always pursued simple, brutal, and efficient ways to solve problems... If you could solve a problem once and for all, why bother with alliance? It was just a matter of spilling some blood—were ninja afraid of blood?
Assuming that ninja calling himself "Hawk" was describing some future possibility—the Uchiha Clan frequently suppressed and treated unfairly in a Senju-led village—but...
In fact, Sasuke never once said the words "extermination."
Being suppressed seemed better than their current precarious situation, but based on psychological factors, Madara Uchiha's bone-deep pride wouldn't allow him to accept others' leadership, even if that person was Hashirama Senju... Hashirama Senju's strength could continue growing, but he could never become Tajima Uchiha.
Madara Uchiha had lived this long, and only Tajima was someone he couldn't oppose. Now Tajima was dead.
Since Madara didn't wear a forehead protector, the empty space on his forehead could be tattooed with four words: "Lawless and Unrestrained."
So if there was to be an alliance, it would be the Uchiha allying with other ninja clans. Following this line of thought, Madara discovered the most suitable alliance partner was actually the Hagoromo Clan, but due to previous events, Madara found the Hagoromo Clan somewhat distasteful.
Moreover, the Hagoromo Clan was equally arrogant—would they peacefully accept Uchiha leadership?
This showed Madara Uchiha's thinking was still problematic. A two-clan alliance naturally wouldn't mean the Uchiha suppressing the Hagoromo, but the Uchiha and Hagoromo coexisting as equals, with Madara Uchiha himself rising one level to unify, suppress, and dominate these two ninja clans.
The highest governing body after alliance would be centered on Madara, with ninja selected from both clans forming a leadership group around him—not one ninja clan primary and another secondary.
If one was above and one below, even if you used super glue to stick both sides' ninja together, they couldn't achieve alliance.
Just as Madara was considering whether to absorb the Hagoromo Clan and let them accept the Uchiha's glorious leadership, Izuna Uchiha hurriedly came to his side.
"Big brother, something's happened... The Hagoromo Clan has been attacked."
"The Hagoromo were attacked again? Who's the enemy this time?"
Madara initially didn't realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Senju, Sarutobi, Uzumaki, Hyuga, plus over ten small unidentified squads. The Hagoromo are surrounded and seem to be in mortal danger."
Madara Uchiha shot up, feeling something was wrong. Proud as he was, he knew they couldn't let the Hagoromo Clan be exterminated, or the Uchiha would lose their external strategic support point and become isolated.
"When did the battle start?"
"Last night. It's been going on for a day and night now."
"What was Hagoromo Shu doing? Why did the news come so late? Their defenses were breached so easily—last time they held out."
Izuna opened his mouth, ultimately revealing an incredible piece of news.
"It was the Nine-Tails."
"What?"
"The Nine-Tails just happened to pass by the Hagoromo village and smashed their defenses to pieces, then the Senju took the opportunity to attack."
Madara: "..."
Come on, dear brother, translate for me what "just happened to pass by" means.
"Gather everyone, we're leaving immediately!"
With things urgent, Madara only gathered forty or fifty people before hastily departing. But before they'd gone far, a hawk began circling overhead.
Izuna raised his left arm, waited for the hawk to land, took the intelligence tied to its claws, and handed it to Madara.
Madara stared at the brief contents for a while, then looked at the Uchiha ninja following behind him, finally only able to say:
"Things are beyond salvaging. Let's go back."
He might be different, but he couldn't let his followers die in vain.
"Big brother, could we take advantage of the enemy's main force being away to attack the Senju Clan instead?"
Madara quickly shook his head—he'd obviously thought this through already.
"The intelligence doesn't mention Hashirama Senju, proving he's likely stationed at the Senju Clan village. A sneak attack wouldn't achieve much and might fall right into a trap."
Madara had considered withdrawing his subordinates and charging alone onto that battlefield, but he couldn't do so... because once he appeared alone on the battlefield, he couldn't judge what Hashirama Senju would do.
Want to dance? Sorry, someone dances better than Madara.
Madara Uchiha, you wouldn't want the Uchiha village to become someone's stage, would you?
The Hagoromo Clan's situation was indeed beyond salvaging. Madara could only retreat to the Uchiha village.
Though Yūshin could criticize Butsuma Senju's war deployment from the sidelines, the cunning old man wasn't completely wrong... Having the highest combat power serve as general reserve created an obvious deterrent effect.
The Uchiha Clan had no maneuvering room, and their support action was forced to terminate. Though they were just "not doing what they knew was impossible," it looked like they were sitting back and watching allied forces get wiped out.
When allies are in trouble, remain unmoved as a mountain.
Mm, very good, such strategic composure.
...
Yūshin actually hadn't given much thought to the Uchiha Clan's movements, mainly because the scale of forces he'd committed to the battlefield was too small—no matter what situation arose, they could maneuver very flexibly.
Even if there were Uchiha reinforcements, that was something Butsuma Senju should consider.
So even at this moment, Yūshin could remain calm and composed, because Sasuke Sarutobi could also become his beloved friend.
"Lord Sasuke Sarutobi? Fame is truly less than meeting in person. First meeting, I'm deeply honored."
Facing the legendary ninja renowned throughout the Shinobi World, Yūshin's emotional expression was very appropriate—excited yet restrained. How to describe it specifically... mm, just like someone with a clear conscience.
"Lord Yūshin, I've heard of you and your Fireflies organization before. In this extermination battle against the Hagoromo Clan, your act of bringing medical resources to the battlefield edge for concentrated rescue was very creative."
Sasuke Sarutobi shook hands with Yūshin. He carried an elder's steadiness, with an earnest yet enthusiastic attitude... See, he also understood the art of communication.
Yūshin had also creatively used a Tailed Beast to break through the Hagoromo's defenses in this battle—why didn't Sasuke Sarutobi praise that point?
"This was just a hasty attempt. We're training more medical ninja and having them continuously improve their skills, so they can be more useful in the future and save more wounded."
Yūshin's smile became increasingly sincere. Without thinking, using medical aid to develop or maintain friendly relations was simply foolproof.
"It's already very good. Several ninja from our Sarutobi Clan received your timely treatment and survived because of it... This time I came here specifically to bring the wounded back to the Sarutobi Clan."
Good, good—what's with you ninja clans? None of your best fighters participate in frontal combat, right? Narrow-minded, truly narrow-minded... Yūshin was still internally fixated on this point.
But his words were very polite.
"No, no, we're still not doing well enough."
"No, no, you're already doing very well."
"No, no, no..."
Watching from the side, Tobirama Senju's mouth twitched. He'd originally wanted to see Yūshin's embarrassed expression—after all, Yūshin's previous treatment of the Sarutobi Clan wasn't friendly enough, having robbed Sarutobi supplies and even impersonated Sasuke Sarutobi's brother.
But he hadn't expected Yūshin's face to be so thick, showing no abnormality when facing the person involved.
Could only say Tobirama still didn't understand Yūshin enough. Guilty conscience? Why should he feel guilty?
He and Tobirama had split the Sarutobi supplies, with Tobirama taking the bigger share—they were birds of a feather, neither could criticize the other. As for impersonating Sarutobi Yūsuke, come on, now that the Hagoromo Clan was exterminated, this small matter had become water under the bridge.
After extensive pleasantries, the Sarutobi wounded were "packaged up." Given this reality, Sasuke Sarutobi couldn't stay long... after all, the "field hospital" could only provide emergency life-saving treatment; subsequent aid and recovery were best handled back in familiar surroundings.
Even just considering psychological factors, home was always more reassuring than the battlefield.
However, before departing, Sasuke Sarutobi seemed to remember something and handed Yūshin an invitation.
"By the way, Lord Yūshin, I'm having my wedding in a few days. I hope you can honor us with your presence."
"Uh..."
Now Yūshin was truly stunned. How did the topic shift here? Is this still the Shinobi World?
"If I have time, I'll definitely attend."
Oh right, marriage—ninja also need to get married. In fact, due to extremely high casualty rates, every ninja clan was currently encouraging reproduction.
Faced with this oncoming "realism," Yūshin was somewhat dazed. But if he were a qualified "Narutologist," just from Sasuke Sarutobi's words, he could specifically deduce what era he was in.
Sasuke Sarutobi would marry this year, then work diligently, and next year a human cub would be born—unsurprisingly, this would be "Hiruzen Sarutobi."
So next year would be historically Konoha Year -5.
Yūshin came to this world at Konoha Year -10, became the "White Zetsu-Man" at Konoha Year -9, and now it was Konoha Year -6.
Unfortunately, Yūshin wasn't a "Narutologist," and he temporarily didn't extend his thinking from Sasuke Sarutobi's marriage to Hiruzen Sarutobi's birth.
Sasuke Sarutobi invited Yūshin to improve relations between both sides. On one hand, the Fireflies village was developing vigorously, their organizational structure was worth learning from, and maintaining good relations with new forces was a potential need; on the other hand, some of Yūshin's actions were too crazy—being his friend was definitely better than being his enemy.
Thus, after a simple meeting, Sasuke Sarutobi left the wounded camp with several injured and began returning to the Sarutobi Clan.
Other ninja still hadn't withdrawn—they were busy cleaning up the battlefield.
A ninja village with such long heritage—if you picked through carefully, you could always gain some rewards.
...
Sasuke Sarutobi escorted the wounded on their return journey. Because fighting was inconvenient, their route avoided major ninja clan territories along the way.
However, after leaving the wounded camp at considerable distance, an unexpected situation occurred.
A sensory ninja named Nobuhiko beside Sasuke Sarutobi suddenly said:
"Sasuke, someone's coming toward us... I think it's an Uchiha ninja."
He couldn't confirm the other's identity, but intuitively felt it was an Uchiha.
"Coming toward us... No, this direction is toward the Hagoromo Clan. He should be planning to support the Hagoromo Clan." Sasuke Sarutobi thought briefly, then reached this judgment.
"This... According to our intelligence, didn't the Uchiha abandon supporting the Hagoromo? Their actions were a whole beat slow—abandoning was the wise choice. Under these circumstances, let alone an Uchiha ninja going alone to support now." Nobuhiko expressed confusion.
"Indeed, such behavior equals suicide..."
Soon, Sasuke Sarutobi began imagining: a righteous Uchiha ninja who, after learning his clan abandoned supporting the Hagoromo, argued with the clan head, then in anger acted alone, willing to die to prove the bond between the two clans...
Well, Sasuke Sarutobi appeared steady but sometimes had very wild thoughts. Except for guessing "argued with the clan head," none of his imagined content matched reality.
This kind of classical romantic spirit—how could it not inspire respect?
Sasuke Sarutobi's eyes grew slightly moist. He took a deep breath and said:
"No need to ask. That's a righteous man, a righteous man from the Uchiha."
"Uh, so what should we do, Sasuke?" Nobuhiko was used to this, just asking what to do next.
"You all go around him and continue forward. I'll intercept him. A righteous man cannot be lightly insulted, yet we cannot let the camp suffer attack, so... let me, Sasuke Sarutobi, fulfill his righteousness."
Nobuhiko glanced sideways at Sasuke—so what you're doing is no different from encountering enemies before, so why all the talk?
As the saying goes, only Stand users attract...
Uh, only Sasuke attracts Sasuke.
Uchiha Sasuke had no intention of heading toward the Hagoromo Clan. After hitting a wall, he didn't know what to do next, so he wandered the Shinobi World while thinking.
Then things got coincidental.
"Stop, you..."
When Sasuke Sarutobi appeared, he wanted to exchange a few words with this Uchiha righteous man.
But Uchiha Sasuke thought he already understood this era's ninja behavioral style... Met someone outside? No need for talk—directly go with "you die, I live" scenarios.
Lightning flashed, Chidori sang.
Sasuke charged toward Sasuke trailing lightning.
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