"So."
Ryoichi jogged after the Great Elder and asked in surprise.
"Why do you look like you're marching off to die? Didn't I tell you? Cousin doesn't care about the clan anymore. As long as you don't provoke him, he can't be bothered with you."
The Great Elder shot Ryoichi a glance and declared righteously,
"If I don't act like this, how will the younger generation know of This Old One's fearlessness? How will they know what This Old One did for this matter back then? It's not that This Old One isn't afraid of death—it's that fearlessness has conquered death.
"This Old One will definitely make it into the clan history books because of this."
Ryoichi frowned and asked,
"What did you do?"
The old man pointed at himself, then at Ryoichi, his aged voice slow and measured.
"Although This Old One did nothing.
"By knowing about this and doing nothing, This Old One has done the greatest thing of all.
"On a small scale, it saved the clan from disaster. On a larger scale, it saved Konoha and the Ninja World.
"If he makes a move, the two of us will definitely be the first to die.
"If he doesn't, then we'll be the clan's greatest contributors."
Ryoichi looked at the Great Elder as though he were an idiot and sneered.
"You've got quite the imagination. 'We'? I'm the one taking the biggest risk here. What does it have to do with you?"
"You can't put it that way."
As he spoke, the Great Elder turned to glance at Ryoichi's courtyard and lowered his voice.
"This Old One has kept it hidden from the entire clan. For those clansmen who saw Uchiha Madara back then and have opinions about him, This Old One found ways to keep them