During one fierce collision, Madara was at a disadvantage head-on.
He stumbled and fell to the ground, and the stone in his hand flew out with him.
Seeing Madara fall, Hashirama secretly felt pleased.
He straightened his body, his face brimming with the smile of victory as he boasted, “Madara, looks like I’m stronger than you!”
Madara lay on the ground, panting heavily without speaking.
His eyes revealed a trace of unwillingness, but even more, recognition of Hashirama’s strength.
Just as Hashirama was feeling triumphant, before he could react, there was suddenly a “bang.” The stone Madara had thrown earlier actually curved back around and smashed hard into his head.
Hashirama only felt a sharp pain in his head and his vision went black.
His body, which had already been barely holding itself upright after the intense spar with Madara, could no longer support itself, and he also fell to the ground.
Seeing this scene, Madara was first stunned, then immediately burst into hearty laughter.
“I’m not that easy to deal with!” His laughter echoed by the river, full of childish pride and joy.
Hashirama lay on the ground, touching his aching head, and smiled helplessly.
“You bastard, when did you throw that stone?”
Madara answered with a smile, “At the very last instant.”
His eyes flashed with a sly light, the wit and mischief belonging to a youth.
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter again.
Their laughter echoed over the river, startling a flock of birds into flight.
At this moment, the cruelty and hatred of war seemed never to have existed.
They were like a pair of carefree close friends, enjoying this rare happy time to their hearts’ content.
“Hashirama, from now on, this will be the place where we meet!” Madara looked at Hashirama, expectation shining in his eyes.
“All right!” Hashirama did not refuse and agreed without hesitation.
Senju Hashirama suddenly remembered that Tobirama seemed to be discussing ninjutsu knowledge with him today, and immediately climbed up.
“Madara!
I think I have something urgent, so I’ll leave first!”
Without waiting for Madara to reply, Hashirama hurriedly left.
The smile from the spar and play just now still lingered at the corners of Uchiha Madara’s mouth, and his eyes carried a trace of anticipation for their next meeting.
Just then, you slowly walked out from behind the bushes nearby, your figure light and silent as you stood before Madara.
Madara turned to look at you, and his gaze instantly became as gentle as water, as if it could melt the surrounding air.
“That is a new friend I made, though I don’t know which family he belongs to.”
His voice carried joy difficult to conceal, like he was sharing a precious secret with you.
Raising your head to look at Madara, ripples rose in your heart.
But when you heard Madara speak of this new friend so defenselessly, your brows furrowed slightly, and hesitation flashed through your eyes.
You opened your mouth as if wanting to say something, but hesitated, struggling inwardly over whether to say the truth that might shatter Madara’s beautiful mood at this moment.
Madara keenly noticed your abnormality.
He tilted his head slightly.
“What is it?”
His eyes seemed able to see through every thought, leaving you nowhere to hide.
You took a deep breath, raised your head, and looked straight into Madara’s eyes.
“He is the young clan head of the Senju.”
You did not want to see Madara deceived by Hashirama’s seemingly honest and harmless appearance.
After all, the hatred between the two clans had existed for a long time.
Perhaps this friendship had been forbidden from the very beginning.
At the same time, after saying farewell to Madara, Hashirama hurried toward the Senju clan grounds.
Along the way, his mood was both excited and somewhat uneasy.
The moments he had spent with Madara kept surfacing in his mind.
That energetic, powerful youth made him feel friendship from outside an enemy clan for the first time.
When he returned to the clan grounds, Tobirama had already been waiting there, his eyes revealing dissatisfaction and anxiety.
“Big Brother, where did you go?” Seeing Hashirama drenched in sweat and panting, Tobirama’s brows furrowed tightly as he questioned him.
He had always paid special attention to clan affairs, and held even greater expectations for Hashirama, his elder brother.
Seeing him like this, worry inevitably rose in his heart.
Hashirama was startled by Tobirama’s sudden questioning.
Panic flashed across his face, but he quickly recovered his composure.
He avoided Tobirama’s sharp gaze and pretended to answer lightly, “Nothing!”
He knew that if Tobirama learned he and Uchiha Madara had become friends, it would certainly cause a great uproar, and he did not want to break this newly sprouted friendship so soon.
Seeing Hashirama speak evasively, Tobirama’s suspicion deepened.
He stared tightly into Hashirama’s eyes, trying to find the answer there, but Hashirama kept avoiding his gaze.
“Big Brother, are you hiding something from me?” Tobirama asked again, his tone already carrying a trace of dissatisfaction.
Hashirama smiled helplessly and patted Tobirama’s shoulder.
“It really is nothing.
Don’t worry blindly.”
After saying that, he hurried away, leaving Tobirama standing alone in place, his eyes revealing deep suspicion.
Tobirama secretly made up his mind that he had to find out what exactly Big Brother was hiding from him.
Next time, he would definitely secretly follow him and take a look.
After Madara heard you reveal Hashirama’s identity, the smile on his face instantly froze, and shock and complex emotions flashed through his eyes.
No matter what, he had never expected that the youth who skipped stones with him, sparred with him, and talked with him about everything was actually the young clan head of the Senju Clan, his own family’s archenemy. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Although he had already guessed Hashirama’s identity, having it confirmed now made his mood feel as if a bottle of five flavors had been overturned, every kind of feeling surging into his heart.
He and you silently returned to the Uchiha clan grounds.
Along the way, neither of you spoke, and the atmosphere became unusually heavy.
After returning to the clan grounds, Madara, burdened with thoughts, said goodbye to you and went back alone to his residence.
He sat by the window, looking at the sky outside, scenes of his time with Hashirama constantly appearing in his mind as his heart sank into deep struggle.
And Madara’s lost, dispirited appearance naturally did not escape Izuna’s eyes.
Seeing that his brother had been silent ever since returning, with confusion and bewilderment he had never shown before in his eyes, Izuna could not help becoming suspicious.
He knew something important must have happened to make his always strong and confident brother turn into this.
“Brother, what’s wrong?
Did something happen?” Izuna asked cautiously, his eyes full of concern and worry.
Madara turned his head and looked at Izuna’s young face filled with worry, then gently shook his head.
“Nothing.
Don’t worry about it.
Go do your own things.”
He did not want Izuna to be drawn into these complicated emotional entanglements and family conflicts as well, and only wanted to quietly think alone about what to do next.
Although Izuna’s heart was full of doubt, seeing that his brother did not want to speak, he could only leave helplessly.
He decided to investigate in secret.
He would definitely find out what had made his brother so troubled.
You walked alone along a small path in the clan.
Dim yellow lights gradually lit in the houses on both sides.
A figure turned out from the alley entrance and blocked your path.
You raised your eyes and saw Uchiha Ryoei.
You usually had little interaction with each other, so you nodded slightly and prepared to go around him and continue forward.
“Big Sister.” Ryoei’s voice carried a trace of trembling, especially clear on the silent street.
Your steps abruptly stopped, and you turned back in disbelief.
“What did you call me?”
Ryoei gently clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force.
“At first, I felt an inexplicable familiarity from you, and thought it was only an illusion.
But from these Sharingan, I saw Asuku’s obsession.”
“Asuku’s obsession?”
In an instant, an invisible force enveloped you, and the surrounding scenery abruptly changed.
When you came back to yourself, you found yourself standing in a cherry blossom forest.
The afterglow of sunset passed through layers of petals, scattering mottled light and shadow across the ground.
Not far ahead, a youth stood with his back to you.
Seeming to sense someone’s appearance, the youth abruptly turned back, and his eyes instantly lit up like two brilliant stars.
“Onee-san!” the youth called, running toward you with light steps, stirring a breeze that sent pink cherry blossoms fluttering down.
Before you could react, the youth tightly hugged you.
A familiar aura rushed toward you.
Your body stiffened slightly, then you tremblingly raised your hand and gently ruffled the youth’s hair.
“Asuku.”
Uchiha Asuku raised his head.
Seeing your reddened eyes, his heart ached.
“Don’t cry.
I’ve always missed you.”
You lowered your eyes, and several clear tears slid down your cheeks.
“I missed you too.”
You gently touched Asuku’s face, as if touching an incomparably precious treasure.
After calming down, the two of you sat beneath a cherry tree and watched the sunset together.
The sky was dyed orange-red, like an exquisitely beautiful painting.
“Is the ninja world peaceful now?” Asuku suddenly asked, his voice carrying a trace of expectation.
“Not yet.”
“Then did Uchiha Yoshio succeed in usurping power?” Asuku hesitated for a moment, worry flashing in his eyes.
“I killed him.” Your voice was calm as water, but carried decisiveness within it.
“Good kill.
With him around, the Uchiha would never be peaceful!” Asuku clapped happily, his face brimming with an innocent smile.
After quite a while, the smile on Asuku’s face gradually disappeared.
He turned his head and looked at you seriously.
“Big Sister, are you lonely?”
You did not answer immediately.
After a long silence, you slowly said, “No.
I have always been searching for power, searching for an ability to revive the dead.”
Asuku gently leaned against your shoulder.
Big Sister, don’t suffer so much.
I will love you forever.”
Feeling Asuku’s warmth, a warm current surged in your heart.
Suddenly, you wanted to sink forever into this genjutsu, where there was no pain or despair.
“Big Sister, perhaps the next time we meet will be in another world.
I only wonder whether you will still recognize me?”
Uchiha Asuku sensed his sister’s thoughts and was unwilling to let her lose herself in illusion, so he slowly released the genjutsu.
You woke from the genjutsu and looked at everything around you, a trace of confusion showing in your eyes.
“Forgive the offense, Elder Nagi.
I only wanted to fulfill Asuku’s final wish.” Ryoei’s voice came from behind you.
He knew you needed time to organize your emotions, so he turned and left, his figure gradually disappearing into the dusk.
Sunlight struggled through the carved window lattice, casting a few faint rays.
Two long blades were crossed on your back, the cold, hard material of their sheaths forming a sharp contrast with your graceful figure.
The hem of your white samurai robe fluttered slightly in the wind.
Your black high ponytail was tied neatly, and you quietly guarded a corner of the Internal Affairs Pavilion.
Perhaps because of your identity as a death warrior, you had always rarely interfered in political schemes and power plays.
This quiet did not last long.
Madara raised his head, his gaze passing over the mountain of documents and landing on you.
His eyes were firm and persistent.
“Nagi, come with me.”
Madara looked straight at you like that, his gaze carrying power that allowed no refusal.
You hesitated for a moment, but in the end, still moved your feet and walked to Madara’s side.
“From now on, sit beside me and handle the old faction’s affairs within the clan.” As Madara spoke, he picked up a thick stack of documents from the table and stuffed them into your hands without hesitation.
Holding the documents, you found it somewhat unbelievable and looked at them at a loss.
You had just wanted to refuse, but seeing that Madara had already sat at the desk and was focused on handling government affairs, his serious attitude made you swallow the words that had reached your lips.
Helplessly, you could only do as Madara said.
You took a deep breath, calmed yourself, and began flipping through the documents in your hands.
You seemed at a loss before the documents not because you were unintelligent, but because you had long focused on death warrior training and missions, and truly lacked experience handling internal clan affairs.
Yet the stubbornness and toughness in your bones quickly calmed you down, and you began reading the contents word by word, understanding the structure and key points within.
Inside the Internal Affairs Pavilion, there was only the rustle of pen tips rubbing against paper and the occasional sound of documents being turned.
Time passed unknowingly, and the sunlight outside the window gradually slanted west.
Madara handled affairs extremely quickly, and the work in his hands was nearly finished.
He put down the pen, gently stretched his body, then turned his gaze toward you, who were still lowering your head and seriously reading documents.
Your brows were slightly furrowed, your eyes focused and firm, as if you were completely immersed in the documents.
Madara watched silently like this, not speaking to disturb you, only quietly enjoying this brief comfortable time.
After who knew how long, you finally finished reading the last document in your hands, lightly breathed out, and raised your head, meeting Madara’s gaze exactly.
“How does it feel?”
“Not bad.
These affairs are just much more complicated than I imagined.”
Hearing this, he chuckled softly.
“I believe these are not difficult for you.”
After leaving the hawk faction, neither of you spoke along the way.
Only the wind whispered beside your ears.
You subconsciously glanced toward the ground and discovered that Madara’s shadow had drawn close to yours at some point.
The two shadows almost overlapped.
Your heart tightened, and you looked doubtfully at Madara beside you.
Uchiha Madara’s face remained cold and stern, but the tips of his ears were slightly red.
Before you could react, Madara suddenly reached out.
His warm palm wrapped around your wrist.
His action seemed forceful, yet his fingertips trembled faintly.
Immediately afterward, a white jade flute was placed in your palm.
You froze for a moment, your gaze falling on the flute.
The white jade gave off a gentle luster, and the body of the flute was carved with exquisite patterns.
From material and color to craftsmanship, every aspect was top quality.
This flute was even more exquisite than the original.
You subconsciously shook your head.
Madara did not release your hand.
Instead, his brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of nervousness surged in his heart.
He unnaturally turned his face away, though his voice pretended to be calm.
“You don’t like it?”
“It is too precious for me.”
Madara secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense shoulders relaxed as well.
He chuckled softly, his thumb brushing over your fingertips.
“As long as you like it, there’s no need to think too much.”
Hearing Madara’s words, you said nothing more.