The streets of Konoha were littered with scattered household items, and every door and window had been tightly shut.
All of Konoha’s shinobi had retreated to their respective clan compounds, while the Military Police Force had quietly hidden themselves away.
The village’s overall military response appeared completely disorganized.
When Hashirama and Tobirama emerged from the Hokage building, Hashirama’s Wood Clone finally relaxed.
So the Tailed Beasts had arrived according to plan after all.
Five days earlier, Hashirama’s Wood Clones had visited eight different locations to engage in some “friendly discussions” with the Tailed Beasts.
As their conversations became more lively, the beasts had even begun jumping about with excitement and happily firing Tailed Beast Balls.
In any case, their original habitats were no longer suitable for habitation.
As the self-appointed “friendship ambassador,” Hashirama naturally couldn’t ignore their plight.
So he had kindly invited them to the Land of Fire.
“Why are there only eight?”
The Wood Clone frowned.
“Did my original body actually fail?
That’s impossible.”
“Brother!”
Tobirama shouted anxiously.
“We’ll stay behind and hold them off!
Have Monkey evacuate the civilians!”
“Ahem.
That’s not necessary.”
Realizing he’d neglected Tobirama’s feelings, the clone patiently explained everything.
“You’re saying all of these Tailed Beasts were gathered by you and that guy Madara?”
“Exactly.”
Hashirama smiled.
“If our timing is correct, they should be arriving soon.”
He immediately turned toward the surrounding shinobi.
“Inform everyone—there’s no need to panic.
Return to your normal routines.”
“These are all guardian beasts that Lord Madara personally brought back from outside the village to defend Konoha.”
“Hmph.”
Tobirama snorted.
“Of course we’re publicizing Madara again.”
At that moment, the ground began shaking once more.
An enormous orange-red fox slowly approached from the distance.
Its nine tails were deliberately raised upward to avoid causing additional destruction.
Two tiny figures could barely be seen standing atop its head.
Once it finally reached the village gates, they jumped down.
Tap.
Tap.
The two landed almost simultaneously and stood quietly before the entrance.
Hashirama sighed with relief.
“Thanks to you, I’ve finally recovered all of my close-combat experience.”
Perhaps because of the system reward, he’d trained with extraordinary effort.
In the end, he had barely managed to earn Madara’s approval.
Still, he had no intention of equipping the “Rose of the Battlefield” title.
Otherwise, he’d spend every day asking people to dance like a lunatic.
Hashirama looked at Konoha and sighed.
“There’s nothing quite as reassuring as returning home.”
Madara, however, immediately identified the problems.
“The villagers are far too complacent.”
“The shinobi act independently without unified command.”
“They’re nothing but loose sand.”
“Where are the Uchiha?”
“Where is the Senju Clan?”
Hashirama nodded.
“You’re right.”
“The village definitely needs reform.”
“Especially the clans.”
“I’m looking forward to your drastic reforms.”
“Naturally.”
At that moment—
Tap.
Hashirama’s Wood Clone flashed over from the distance and landed smoothly.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“So have you.”
Hashirama immediately dispelled the clone.
At once, all of the clone’s memories from the past ten days flooded into his mind.
It felt as though he had personally experienced everything all over again.
After a moment, Hashirama rubbed his aching temples and opened his eyes.
“Everything is proceeding according to plan.”
“Brother!”
Tobirama emerged from the village gates and hurried forward.
His gaze remained fixed on Hashirama, his body leaning forward slightly.
He habitually raised a finger and tapped it once.
The operation had been successful.
However, when Tobirama’s gaze drifted toward Madara, contempt flashed in his eyes.
He snorted and turned his head away.
Madara likewise ignored him.
“Brother, you already understand the situation.
Let’s talk inside.”
“There’s no rush.”
Hashirama pushed the man beside him forward.
“Don’t forget our primary objective.”
“Madara.”
“The stage belongs to you.”
“Dance to your heart’s content.”
“Hashirama…”
Madara paused briefly.
“Then let’s go.”
Hashirama dragged Tobirama behind him as they followed Madara into the village.
The entire village had gathered to welcome them.
Though their expressions varied, most wore genuine smiles.
For the first time in a very long while, Madara felt something within his heart begin to heal.
His fingers brushed against the Uchiha clan crest.
For a brief instant, Izuna’s hateful expression at the moment of his death flashed through his mind.
He murmured softly:
“Izuna…
can you see this?”
“Hatred isn’t everything.”
Cheers and cries of welcome echoed continuously.
As much as Tobirama disliked Uchiha Madara, he had completed every task Hashirama entrusted to him flawlessly.
By the time of their return, Madara’s popularity had nearly caught up to Hashirama’s own.
When Madara saw the members of the Uchiha Clan, his expression became noticeably more serious.
The Uchiha themselves looked awkward.
It was easy to imagine that their future lives were about to become very interesting.
Gradually, Madara stepped onto the village plaza.
In a commanding voice, he announced that he and Hashirama had gathered the Tailed Beasts.
They would become Konoha’s guardian beasts and reside throughout the Land of Fire.
Under his leadership, Konoha would become the greatest shinobi village in the world.
He would create true peace.
He would eliminate all injustice.
And if any enemy sought to invade their homeland—
They would have to step over his corpse first.
Afterward, he announced that he and Hashirama had secured summoning contracts from the Three Great Sage Regions, as well as opportunities to learn Senjutsu.
Any villager with sufficient talent who contributed to Konoha would be eligible to study.
At Hashirama’s urging, Madara awkwardly demonstrated his new power.
He clasped his hands together.
The flame-shaped markings on his chest glowed.
Black patterns spread around his eyes.
Sage Mode.
Activated.
Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang!
A violet beam erupted from his mouth and shot toward the horizon.
In an instant, it pierced a mountain five kilometers away.
Then Madara tilted his head slightly.
The beam effortlessly sliced the mountain peak in half.
The crowd exploded into astonished cries.
The great clans, in particular, revealed expressions of greed.
An Uchiha elder clenched his fist.
“We’ve won.”
Meanwhile, the Senju advisor, Senju Tōka, unconsciously rubbed her finger while contemplating the future.
The civilians, however, burst into deafening cheers.
“Lord Madara!”
“Magnificent!”
“Lord Madara is the strongest!”
Afterward, Hashirama briefly discussed the future arrangements for the Senju Clan.
Tobirama then announced several new policies and development plans.
With that, the welcome ceremony concluded.
The shinobi immediately began distributing ballots so everyone could cast their votes.
“Feeling satisfied?”
Hashirama teased.
“Not bad.”
Madara deliberately suppressed the corners of his mouth from rising.
“We’ll proceed according to our original division of responsibilities.”
“No objections?”
“I never break my promises.”
Madara folded his arms.
“As long as Tobirama doesn’t make any mistakes.”
“You—”
Tobirama immediately started to object, but Hashirama interrupted him. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Speaking of Tobirama, his research into the Impure World Reincarnation Technique is nearly complete.”
“When the time comes, you’ll be able to meet Izuna again.”
“And if we can find White Zetsu, he may even be restored to his full strength.”
Madara’s eyes widened.
“Excellent.”
If Izuna could truly return, then even Tobirama’s forbidden techniques would be worth using.
He turned back to look at the thriving village.
Then at the people standing behind him.
“Being Hokage…”
He murmured quietly.
“Perhaps it isn’t such a bad choice.”
He instinctively glanced toward Hashirama.
Only to discover that the man was standing there with a foolish smile on his face.
“Tch.”
“That ridiculous expression again.”
Soon afterward, the three of them entered the newly constructed conference hall.
Following them were Konoha’s senior officials, the clan heads, and miniature chakra manifestations of the Tailed Beasts.
As Kurama’s small tails brushed the floor, natural energy unconsciously leaked from his body.
Tiny green sprouts emerged from the dry ground.
No one noticed.
Meanwhile…
Far away, among the shattered mountains…
A certain black being was having an exceptionally unfortunate day.
He was in the middle of regenerating himself.
Fortunately, he had split his body apart in time and avoided fatal damage.
Though he had suffered a minor injury, surviving at all was already a blessing.
Eventually, he reformed into a humanoid shape.
It was Black Zetsu.
His original intention had been to visit Konoha and observe the reincarnations of Asura and Indra once again.
He had hoped to continue sowing discord between them.
Instead, he discovered that the Tailed Beasts were all converging upon Konoha.
Naturally, he accelerated his Mayfly Technique and headed toward the village.
Then—
A violet beam suddenly shot toward him.
Its speed was unlike anything he had witnessed in a thousand years.
Although he split apart in time, the beam still grazed his left shoulder.
Even his Yin-Yang Release body experienced a burning pain.
It was the first real pain he had felt since his mother had created him.
“AAAAH!”
Black Zetsu roared.
“Who?!”
A terrifying madness appeared in his eyes.
“Someone actually damaged the body Mother gave me?!”
“Whoever you are…”
“I’ll make you wish you were dead!”
Recalling the direction of the attack, he concluded that it had originated from Konoha.
His instincts told him the same thing.
He immediately accelerated his recovery and resolved to investigate personally.
But because of this unknown threat, he knew he would need to be even more cautious.
After all, caution and patience had been his means of survival for over a thousand years.
A short while later, he finally reached Konoha’s gates.
As he bypassed the guards, he vaguely overheard several words.
“Lord Madara…”
“Three Great Sage Regions…”
“Voting…”
Black Zetsu frowned.
Madara?
Senjutsu?
Those two things appearing together is very bad news.
He stopped and listened carefully.
“So it really was Uchiha Madara who used that Sage Art…”
“I’ll remember this.”
“They’re voting?”
“The First Hokage is being decided today?”
Using the chakra signatures he sensed, he locked onto his destination and traveled underground.
Along the way, he pieced together the fragmented information he had gathered.
The conclusion he reached was disastrous.
“Uchiha Madara not only visited the Three Great Sage Regions and mastered Senjutsu…”
“He’s also likely to become Hokage?”
“How is that possible?”
“He never had any chance at all!”
“Senju Tobirama…”
“What exactly have you been doing?”
“How could everything change so drastically in only a month?”
“I have to stop this immediately.”
Filled with confusion and unease, Black Zetsu prepared to make his move.