Just as Uchiha Mu was preparing to return to the village, a vast chakra presence sent a chill down his spine.
Mu immediately turned around.
Uchiha Madara stood there.
The man who had left Konoha a month ago without a single clansman choosing to follow him.
“Those eyes are interesting,” Madara said.
“When did you awaken them?”
He had always taken his late brother’s wishes seriously.
Otherwise, he never would have asked the clan to leave Konoha with him before his departure.
“During…
one of the wars between the Senju and Uchiha,” Mu answered.
“I’ve forgotten which one.”
This was a genuine heavyweight standing in front of him.
“Awakened in battle, then.”
Madara studied him.
“You must have lost a great deal as well.
Why did you choose to leave alone?”
Madara had watched Mu’s battle from a distance.
There was no doubt in his mind that Mu could produce a Complete Body Susanoo.
His ocular power was already extremely close to Madara’s Eternal Mangekyo.
With eyes that strong, Mu had probably been able to read much of what was written on the Uchiha stone tablet.
Madara wanted to know why he had chosen to purchase countries and build a nation.
Mu scratched his head.
He didn’t feel like he had lost anything particularly dramatic, but there was no reason to argue with Madara over that.
“Madara-sama, I observed Konoha for a while before I left.
In its current form, it’s basically just a very large ninja clan.
If it continues developing according to the old model, the wars of the future will only become more severe.”
Mu looked back toward his territory.
“I want to build a country that can achieve real peace.”
“You read the stone tablet, didn’t you?”
Madara’s gaze sharpened.
“Perhaps your country can remain peaceful while you’re alive.
What happens after you die?
I’ve spent this past month traveling through the ninja world.
The more I see, the more convinced I become that peace is impossible.
Only the path recorded on the tablet can create true peace.”
‘Just as I thought.’
Mu finally understood exactly where Madara stood at this moment in history.
At first, Madara had not planned to take Hashirama’s cells.
But as he wandered through the ninja world and witnessed more and more ugliness, he gradually decided that Konoha itself had been an empty dream.
Eventually, he would capture the Nine-Tails and fight Hashirama.
Then would come the First, Second, and Third Shinobi World Wars.
Every conflict would reinforce Madara’s faith in the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Which meant that right now, it might still be possible to pull him back.
“Madara-sama, eternal peace doesn’t exist,” Mu said, shaking his head.
“It can.
The stone tablet says so.”
Madara’s conviction had not yet been tempered by decades of later wars, but it was already taking shape.
“A giant genjutsu covering the entire ninja world?”
Mu shook his head again.
“Madara-sama, if you live inside an illusion, are you still Uchiha Madara?”
He extended a hand.
“Instead of betting everything on the vague promise of the Eye of the Moon, why not join me?
We can build a peaceful nation on top of the ruins of this world.”
“Mu, you just fought a war yourself.”
Madara shook his head.
“You should understand better than most that true peace does not exist.”
He no longer saw any point in continuing the discussion.
Mu’s convictions were firm.
Unless he personally encountered enough darkness to break those convictions, he would never believe in the Eye of the Moon Plan.
But that also meant Madara needed to keep a close eye on him.
At the very least, before Madara fully committed to executing his future plan, Uchiha Mu would need to be dealt with.
A man like this could easily become an obstacle capable of ruining everything.
That could not be allowed.
Madara’s determination toward the Eye of the Moon Plan was not yet absolute.
Mu, meanwhile, had realized that words alone would never bring Madara back.
Madara had traveled through the world with his own eyes and reached the conclusion that peace could not exist in reality.
Neither man could persuade the other.
The conversation ended naturally.
“Uchiha Mu, one day you’ll believe me.”
Madara turned away.
“I’ll wait for the day you come looking for me.”
“Madara-sama!”
Mu raised his voice after him.
“I believe there’ll come a day when the growth of the Nation of a Hundred Clans makes you turn back instead!”
He genuinely didn’t want the man who had once fought on the front lines for the sake of his clansmen to end up the way he did in the original story.
Madara’s footsteps paused for the briefest instant.
Then he continued walking.
He would witness the darkness of the ninja world for himself.
Peace was impossible.
“Sigh…
figures.”
Mu rubbed his chin.
“Though I guess this means I’m officially on Black Zetsu’s radar now.”
The future of the ninja world looked increasingly troublesome.
Whatever.
First, he would develop his country.
Then he would make money from the coming wars.
After that, he could decide which country to buy next.
The Lands of Grass and Rain were both in awkward positions.
One bordered three great nations, the other two.
Then again, his current territory wasn’t much safer.
When Mu returned to the village, Ryono was explaining the country’s rules to the newly captured ninja.
He waited until she finished.
“Follow me.
Because you participated in an invasion of our country, twenty percent of your pay will be deducted as compensation for one year.
After that, you’ll receive the normal rate.
Any objections?”
“None.”
After hearing what ordinary compensation in the Nation of a Hundred Clans looked like, the group had already developed a much better impression of the place.
And with Mu’s overwhelming strength looming over them, losing twenty percent for a year seemed perfectly acceptable.
More than anything, they wanted to settle somewhere safe.
Mu led them to a development zone where other ninja were already working.
“Lord Mu, the fighting’s already over?”
The ninja at the construction site visibly relaxed when they saw him.
It seemed their country wouldn’t see another war for quite some time.
“Don’t get complacent.
War always comes eventually.”
Mu’s voice carried across the site.
“Before, many of you fought without knowing why.
I’ll give you a reason.
From now on, fight for yourselves and for your country.”
The words entered the ears of every person present.
Most of these people had never belonged to major ninja clans.
Some were civilians who happened to learn ninjutsu and became wandering ninja.
Some came from tiny clans.
Others were the surviving remnants of clans that had already been destroyed.
After Konoha was established, people like them had gathered under various leaders and formed small ninja settlements of their own.
They had never possessed any real ideology.
They simply believed that sticking together improved their chances of survival.
Now Uchiha Mu was telling them that their future battles could have meaning.
They could fight for this country.
Even the newly captured ninja serving their year of reduced pay looked conflicted.
“Sharl, you’re responsible for these people.”
Mu looked toward a middle-aged ninja.
“Yes, Lord Mu.”
Sharl happily accepted the assignment and led the group away.
Mu had his own work to handle.
After today’s battle, the Nation of a Hundred Clans would become famous throughout the ninja world.
Clans still wavering over where to settle, wandering ninja looking for stability, and civilians desperate to survive would all begin arriving.
Mu’s job was to build a city large enough to receive them.
Hashirama, your Wood Release really was the best construction technique ever invented.
As the newcomers followed Sharl, one former Takigakure ninja hesitantly asked a question.
“Sharl-sama…
does Lord Mu really intend to honor the compensation he promised?”
“Of course.
Here, you can earn money without risking your life on dangerous missions.
The more you work, the more you earn.”
Sharl gestured around them.
“What do you think we’re doing right now?”
“Mostly…
cutting down trees?”
“That’s only one part of it.
We also build roads with Earth Release.”
Sharl began explaining their duties and took the newcomers through a full work cycle.
Only then did they discover something they had never seriously considered before.
Ninjutsu wasn’t only useful for killing people.
“Lord Mu said that ninja aren’t tools,” Sharl said with feeling.
“We need to change the way we think and learn to live for ourselves.”
When the country was first founded, Mu had gathered every ninja under his command for a meeting and emphasized exactly that point.
For people who had spent their entire lives being told the opposite, the words had hit hard.