After a long time apart, Kyosuke finally saw Tajima Uchiha again.
He still looked gloomy all day long, as though everyone rubbed him the wrong way. There was nothing likable about him.
People said the Uchiha produced nothing but handsome men and beautiful women, but this clan leader's looks... were really hard to describe.
Kyosuke grumbled inwardly, while maintaining the bare minimum of respect on the surface.
"Excellent. I knew I hadn't misjudged you." Tajima patted the boy's shoulder, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he had something to do with Kyosuke's rise.
His shamelessness made even Madara Uchiha turn his head slightly away, thinking, Father, please stop embarrassing yourself.
After a few casual exchanges, the clan leader suddenly asked with interest, "You two just sparred. Who won?"
Kyosuke and Madara exchanged glances, both feeling somewhat astonished.
To Kyosuke, Madara truly lived up to his status as the reincarnation of Indra's chakra. His strength was shooting up like a rocket.
His physical strength in particular had improved dramatically. At eleven and a half, the Dance King had already entered a period of rapid growth.
During their first head-on clash, Kyosuke had nearly lost his grip on his weapon.
Madara's physical strength and chakra had both reached jonin level. His mental strength was harder to judge, but Kyosuke couldn't recall anyone ever trapping Madara Uchiha in genjutsu.
Combined with his Sharingan, which had evolved to who knew what stage, Madara's current strength was close to the pinnacle of jonin level.
His progress was no less impressive than Kyosuke's own.
Meanwhile, Madara was just as amazed.
This boy was more than two years younger than him. Had they fought at the same age, Madara might have lost within a few exchanges.
With that sharp swordsmanship and terrifying speed, Madara couldn't afford even a moment's distraction when fighting him.
He had heard that Kyosuke had also created an extremely powerful Lightning Release technique, one particularly suited to the Uchiha Clan.
Madara wanted to see it for himself. He could use Lightning Release too; he simply preferred to study Fire Release.
"A draw," Madara answered his father.
"I see." Tajima's smile remained unchanged, as though he was genuinely delighted.
Unfortunately, Kyosuke didn't buy his act at all.
The old man was shameless and ruthless, exactly the sort who would stab you while smiling.
Kyosuke had no idea how he had managed to father a son like the Dance King.
After glancing around, Kyosuke suddenly asked curiously, "Where's Izuna? Why didn't that brat come to welcome me?"
Madara, who doted on his little brother, immediately chuckled. "Him? Once he heard how many victories you'd won, he started demanding nonstop to go to the battlefield himself."
Glancing at his helpless father, Madara continued, "After Father refused, Izuna shut himself away to train. Even I hardly see him now."
"Hahaha." Kyosuke laughed, his voice full of gleeful mischief. "I'll go see him sometime and give him a little more motivation to get stronger."
What sort of motivation?
An outright beating, of course. Competitive as Izuna was, he would surely train even harder afterward.
As long as he knew to work hard, that was good enough. It would save him from getting cut down with a single strike someday.
That would be downright embarrassing.
The thought of Tobirama Senju brought another figure into Kyosuke's mind.
Looking at the increasingly composed Dance King, Kyosuke knew he must have started meeting Hashirama in secret.
How far have those two gotten?
I'm really curious.
Scratching his chin, Kyosuke slapped his thigh and decided to try a little otherworldly tailing.
It would be such a shame not to witness the meeting of those two gods firsthand.
Soon, the major figures of the Main Battlefield began arriving one after another.
With over two hundred ninja under his command, Kyosuke had already become a highly sought-after figure with real power within the clan.
Apart from the elders, no one dared put on airs in front of him.
Perhaps Tajima also wanted to use this opportunity to flex his muscles and warn Kyosuke against entertaining any troublesome ideas.
Kyosuke couldn't have cared less.
With Chidori in hand, he had the means to recruit anyone. As long as his strength continued to improve, no one could stop his rise.
In the future, the Uchiha were destined to belong to him and Madara.
Everyone else would either submit or leave the battlefield and return to the clan to enjoy retirement.
Tajima Uchiha was powerful and politically skilled. Unfortunately, he was too small-minded to ever achieve anything truly great.
During the feast, Kyosuke drank freely without the slightest hesitation, even challenging Madara to a drinking contest.
His age?
What a joke. No one present truly dared treat him as a child.
Anyone who had thought that way had already become another soul claimed by his short sword.
That night, Kyosuke and Madara strolled through the darkness, chatting intermittently about their experiences on the battlefield.
"When will the war finally end?" the Dance King suddenly asked, sounding a little melancholy.
Kyosuke glanced at him and replied calmly, "Once all our enemies are dead, the war will end on its own."
"Right..." Madara looked up at him, hesitating in a way he rarely did.
The sight of him struggling to speak greatly surprised Kyosuke.
"If you have something to say, say it. Since when did you become so wishy-washy?"
"Oh." Madara Uchiha nodded blankly and finally voiced something he hadn't even told his little brother. "Kyosuke, do you think there's any chance we could settle our feud with the Senju?"
Huh?
Has Hashirama brainwashed you?!
Kyosuke remained silent for a long while before giving him an affirmative answer. "Settling the feud isn't actually that hard. We've been killing each other for a thousand years. Even if we aren't tired of it, they are."
Madara Uchiha gave him a strange look. He probably never expected Kyosuke to offer an answer like that.
Ignoring the Dance King's startled reaction, Kyosuke continued explaining his thoughts.
"Let me ask you: how many people still bring up the grudges of the previous generation? And the generation before that?"
"Very few, right? Do you know why?"
"Uh." The young Madara answered hesitantly, "Because they've all... grown old."
In truth, he had wanted to say they had all died, but he felt that would be disrespectful to the clan's fallen heroes.
For a moment, he seemed to understand what Kyosuke meant.
No matter how deeply hatred was etched into their hearts, it would slowly fade with time. Before anyone realized it, hardly anyone still mentioned the older generations' grudges.
To resolve that hatred, or even build their ideal village together, there was no need to worry about so much. They simply had to force the two clans to unite.
Anyone dared cause trouble?
One word: kill!
Thirty to fifty years would be enough to resolve the conflicts that had built up over the years.
The reason was simple: everyone who couldn't let go of their hatred would be dead.
The new generation of ninja would have lived in the village from birth. It would be difficult for them to feel the same way.
Kyosuke stopped, though he still had more to say. His views had actually all come from how the original story unfolded.
Living in hell, many people could fight for survival.
But once they had experienced heaven, it was hard to return to hell.
That was also why Madara Uchiha had ultimately ended up abandoned by everyone.
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