Taking a Disciple * Deep in Thought
The game continued, the cards being passed from hand to hand among the children, laughter rising in waves.
During this time, Madara also received a Daimyo sign. He did not make things difficult for the juniors, but simply assigned Takuma to run ten laps around Konoha.
Takuma wailed, "Spare me, Lord Madara!" and resignedly rushed out of the Training Ground amidst the jeers of the other children.
Izuna watched Takuma's departing figure, silently mourned for him for three seconds, and then continued shuffling the cards with great enthusiasm.
As the game progressed, the boys became increasingly uninhibited, and commands like "Kiss number three" and "Confess to number five for thirty seconds" began to appear, causing their expressions to contort.
Because everyone except Lian was a boy, every time someone drew this kind of lot, a strange, gloating scream would erupt from the crowd.
After a few more rounds, the Daimyo card landed in Wakako's hand. She turned the card over for everyone to see, then her gaze slowly swept over the children and two adults sitting around.
She had Daimyo a few times before, but it was nothing more than asking someone to meow like a cat or recite a poem. It was always a brief mention, and she never embarrassed anyone.
But this time she touched her chin and then pointed her fan at Madara.
I choose you.
"I choose Truth or Dare." Madara said without hesitation.
Wakako lightly tapped the fan against his palm. "Very good, I order you to take Number Three as your disciple."
When Izuna heard this request, he found it quite interesting.
Wakako probably thought that having Madara Uchiha teach a child a few moves on the spot would both liven up the atmosphere and give that child a tremendous opportunity.
If it's a child from the Uchiha clan, that's icing on the cake; if it's a child from the Senju Clan, the scene will be even more interesting.
But whoever it is, it's a good thing.
"Alright, who's number three?" Izuna asked cheerfully, glancing around at the group.
Ōnoki silently raised the cards in his hand, his expression blank.
It clearly says 3 above.
No one expected it to be him.
Wakako let out a soft "Oh!" and the half of her face visible behind the fan was filled with joy.
The other children were also stunned, and all turned to look at the short child.
Izuna's smile froze on his face, "Ah... well, Lady Wakako, how about we change our number?"
However, before he could try to turn the tide, Madara spoke up, "Kid, would you like to learn something from me?"
Ōnoki froze for a moment, then abruptly stood up, and without a word, performed a full-on doge (a deep, prostrate kneel), his forehead almost burying into the ground. "Lord Madara! Please take me as your disciple!"
"Okay, sure."
"Bandit?!" Izuna stared at him, her eyes wide.
Madara turned to look at Izuna, his expression completely natural, as if asking, "Is there a problem?"
Looking at his matter-of-fact face, Izuna felt a turmoil in his heart.
This is a huge problem! This is Ōnoki! A direct disciple of Ishikawa from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth! A candidate for Tsuchikage! Not some random stray Ninja picked up off the street! He was just recruited by Lady Wakako with a single sentence in the game?
"You really accept?" Izuna asked with difficulty.
"Didn't you just hear that? Rules are rules." Madara answered matter-of-factly, then looked down at Ōnoki, who was still kneeling on the ground. "Get up. Come to the Training Ground at five o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Yes!" Ōnoki replied with a strong voice.
Tobirama hearing all this was quite interesting.
"It's that simple? Just bad luck?"
Izuna, with his Dead-Fish Eyes, calmly corrected, "You can't say it was bad luck; that kid seemed quite happy."
Tobirama covered his Tobirama. Rokuhiko had said the same thing earlier, and the truth was, those Envoy seemed quite happy.
"You Uchiha are truly born troublemakers."
"You can say that about me, but you can also say that about Brother Ban."
Tobirama paused for a moment, then said, speechless, "You're quite proud of yourself?"
Izuna, however, showed no sign of laughter. He chuckled knowingly, "Enough said. Those who understand know what I'm talking about."
"I don't understand what you're talking about, so what's this about the Land of Whirlpools?" Tobirama. "Rokuhiko said they sent a formal Formal Note, specifically requesting a face-to-face meeting with you, and wanting to sign Long-Term Technical Cooperation Agreement. Sealing Jutsu are the foundation of the Uzumaki Clan's nation, and they're just going to share them like that? What kind of spell have you cast on them?"
"Speaking of which, they probably realized they were going to die."
Tobirama frowned. "Huh?"
"The Land of Whirlpools be destroyed," Izuna said matter-of-factly. "After all, they monopolize the technology of Sealing Jutsu. Before, no one had time to deal with them, but now that the Five Great Nations are all building their own Shinobi Villages, who would want to be held hostage by Sealing Jutsu? It's better to just rob them than to buy them."
This was the conclusion Izuna drew from his analyses of his past lives. Moreover, in the original work, the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools was a foregone conclusion. He subconsciously reversed cause and effect, believing that the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools was only a matter of time. The so-called Sealing Jutsu was just a way for him to rationalize this destruction in his mind.
But after hearing Tobirama, Tobirama immediately thought of something more.
The conclusion that the Land of Land of Whirlpools was destroyed is correct, but not because of its monopoly on Sealing Jutsu, but because the Land of Whirlpools was the only country in the world founded by Ninjas.
It stands out starkly among nations ruled by Ordinary People.
Those nobles may not understand Ninjutsu, Sealing Jutsu, or Tailed Beasts and Jinchūriki, but they understand power.
The very existence of a nation ruled by Ninjas is a denial of the legitimacy of all aristocratic rule.
This reason alone is enough to bring the Land of Whirlpools to its doom.
The last time the Envoy from the Hashirama of Land of Whirlpools came to persuade Hashirama to lead Konoha away from the Land of Fire and establish himself as king, it was partly because he felt it was a waste for someone with such power to be subservient to others, and partly because he wanted to find a true ally for himself.
This ally cannot be Land of Fire, ruled by Ordinary People; it must be a country of Ninjas.
Only Ninjas can truly understand the plight of Ninjas, and only Ninjas would send troops to rescue the Land of Whirlpools when it was besieged.
But they failed.
The Big Brother knew that the Ninjas of today had no strategists, Ninja didn't worry about things like farming for food, so they couldn't rule over the common people.
They are too far removed from the lives of ordinary people. If they forcibly elevate their status, coupled with the vast territory of the Land of Fire, they will inevitably breed a bunch of useless people who only know how to enjoy themselves but wield great military power. Their military strength and ignorance will sooner or later plunge the world into chaos.
So he refused.
However, this made the Land of Whirlpools' situation extremely dangerous.
The world situation is now relatively stable, and the more stable it is, the more conspicuous their presence becomes.
They must find a new way to survive before everyone else realizes what's happening, or they will be destroyed because of a mere Sealing Jutsu, just as Izuna said.
After a few seconds of thought, Tobirama looked at Izuna and asked, "You said these things to the people of the Land of Whirlpools?"
"I didn't say it that bluntly. I just mentioned to Hideki that monopolizing Sealing Jutsu would inevitably cause trouble sooner or later. He probably went back and told his Delegation about it." Izuna shrugged. "Anyway, they're now offering themselves up for cooperation, isn't that perfect? We've secured a source for Sealing Jutsu."
This is putting the Land of Whirlpools and Konoha in the same boat...
Tobirama fell into deep thought.