The Thing I Feared Most Still Happened

At night, Renye lay in bed, pondering the cause of the Battle of the End Valley.

After Konoha was founded, the Uchiha Clan found themselves in an awkward position within the village.

The two men's ideals had diverged.

Madara predicted that after Hashirama, Tobirama Senju would inherit the Hokage seat, and the Uchiha might face annihilation.

He worried about Konoha's future, believing only his own path could protect the Uchiha Clan.

Years of war had made the Uchiha Clan Members loathe conflict and fear power.

Madara, who had always revered strength, earned no recognition from the villagers, and even the Uchiha Clan didn't trust or support him.

This left Madara isolated and adrift, so he decided to leave Konoha and seek "true peace."

That so-called peace was Black Zetsu's tampering with the Uchiha Stone Tablet—the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

A jutsu that plunged everyone into an illusion.

To Madara, wasn't that a form of peace?

And the Battle of the End Valley was the key to Madara Uchiha awakening the Rinnegan.

According to the Stone Tablet's contents, to unlock the Rinnegan, he needed Hashirama's cells.

So Madara controlled the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, sparking a battle with Hashirama.

That fight was also his farewell to the past.

"The peace of the Shinobi World is about to end..." Renye murmured softly.

After the Battle of the End Valley, he had little time left to grow stronger.

Barring surprises, in that battle, Hashirama Senju would suffer severe injuries and die within a few years.

By then, the other ninja villages eyeing the Land of Fire, upon hearing of Hashirama Senju's death, would launch war without hesitation to seize that fertile land.

The First Shinobi World War would erupt.

War was brutal; without enough strength, survival was hard.

If Renye remembered correctly, the First Shinobi World War dragged on for years, claiming several Kage-level fighters.

Tobirama Senju died in that war...

The war lasted a long time. Renye only knew a few major battles, but that knowledge couldn't change the war's course.

For instance: the Second Raikage attacked Konoha, Tobirama Senju resisted, and after a prolonged fight, both sides agreed to an alliance.

At the alliance ceremony, the Gold and Silver Brothers staged a coup, killing the Second Raikage and gravely wounding Tobirama Senju.

To cover his subordinates, Tobirama Senju stayed behind alone to hold off the Gold and Silver Brothers.

In the end, both sides perished together.

Also, the Mist Village and Stone Village fought fiercely, with the Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage killing each other in battle.

Knowing these things was useless to Renye; with his strength, he couldn't change the war's direction.

At best, he could warn Tobirama Senju that the alliance was dangerous, have him prepare defenses, or keep him from attending the ceremony...

Changing Tobirama Senju's fate wouldn't be bad.

That Old Man's political skill was at least better than Hiruzen Sarutobi's.

With his leadership, Renye's survival rate on the battlefield might be a bit higher.

But he couldn't rule out that the Old Man might send him on suicide missions.

From Renye's understanding of Tobirama Senju, that probability was low, though not impossible...

To Tobirama Senju, the village's safety came before everything.

If Renye's death brought value to the village, he'd likely send Renye to die without hesitation.

In the end, personal strength was what mattered most!

"I still have a few years—I will get stronger!" Renye clenched his fist. "Starting now, double my training!"

Elsewhere, in Tobirama Senju's room.

Tobirama Senju tossed and turned in bed. His sleep quality was usually excellent, but tonight he was unusually sleepless.

His Elder Brother's strange behavior today left him puzzled and uneasy.

He didn't know what his Elder Brother was worried about.

Right now, the village was thriving, the villagers living happily.

Under his Elder Brother's deterrence, other countries dared not start wars, and the Shinobi World had achieved its first peace since the Warring States Period.

In such an environment, he couldn't understand what his Elder Brother was anxious about.

Tobirama Senju sank into thought. "What could make my Elder Brother lose all appetite?"

Suddenly, a person flashed through his mind.

If there was any variable, it could only be that Madara Uchiha.

Tobirama Senju's expression grew heavy as he murmured softly:

"Could it be that Madara Uchiha is plotting something?"

Ever since Madara had defected from Konoha, he had heard no further trace of him—as if the man had vanished from the face of the earth.

He had even sent people to search the Shinobi World for signs of Madara, but unfortunately, they found nothing.

Tobirama knew the terror that Madara Uchiha represented.

If Madara were to do something extreme, only his Elder Brother could stop him.

"I hope my guess is wrong..." Tobirama said.

The Uchiha Clan was a pack of dangerous lunatics, and Madara Uchiha was the most dangerous of them all.

There had originally been two, but one of them had accidentally been killed by him.

So only the last one remained.

It was hard to imagine how many innocent people would be caught in the crossfire if Madara attacked the village.

With that thought, Tobirama immediately sat up from his bed and strode toward the door.

Tobirama was a suspicious man. As long as something had even a slight possibility of happening, he would not sit idly by, no matter how low the odds.

To prevent this from happening, he needed to gather the Sealing Squad to reinforce Konoha's barrier and keep Madara from breaking in.

The dusk sky was dyed blood-red, as if heralding something ominous about to unfold.

The moment Tobirama opened the door, a deafening roar erupted in the distance, piercing his eardrums with pain.

Hot on its heels came a surge of immense, violent Chakra.

He instinctively turned toward the sound.

There, a colossal crimson fox was walking toward Konoha Village, its nine massive tails sweeping through the forest, snapping trees in half wherever they passed.

"That... is that the Nine-Tails?" Tobirama leaped onto the rooftop.

The instant he saw the Nine-Tails, his pupils sharply contracted.

He had heard rumors about the Tailed Beasts.

He had also heard that Cloud Village had tried to capture the Nine-Tails, but the beast was so powerful that nearly everyone they sent had died.

Two of them had been accidentally swallowed into the Nine-Tails' belly.

There, inside its stomach, they survived by devouring the Nine-Tails' flesh—a miracle in itself.

The two held out inside the Nine-Tails' stomach for two weeks before finally being expelled.

But they gained a blessing in disguise: they acquired the Nine-Tails' Chakra.

Tobirama was baffled. "Why would the Nine-Tails appear here?"

Just then, the Nine-Tails' blood-red vertical pupils locked onto Konoha.

Tobirama noticed the beast's eyes, and his breath caught in his throat.

"The Sharingan?!"

He saw the Three Tomoe Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes!

Not only that—a familiar figure stood atop the Nine-Tails' head.

Clad in Red Armor, wielding a Scythe and a War Fan.

"Madara Uchiha!" Tobirama's face turned grim.

The very thing he had feared was happening...

Madara Uchiha had truly come.