I'm Scared!

"Lord Madara~?"

"Lord Madara~?"

After returning to the underground cavern, Spiral White Zetsu called softly into the depths a few times.

When he saw that Lord Madara did not respond, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Looks like Lord Madara hasn't woken up yet!"

Then he...

Wouldn't be discovered.

The moment he finished speaking.

With a smug look on his face, just as his right foot carefully stepped into the cavern.

"Back already?"

A cold voice drifted out from within the cavern, startling Spiral White Zetsu so badly that he shuddered. He hurriedly pulled his foot back, stretched his head inside for a look, then immediately withdrew it. But before long, he poked it in again.

When he saw Lord Madara inside, his cloudy eyes open and his face expressionless as he looked at him, he immediately put on an awkward grin. "Lord Madara, you're awake?"

He quickly hid away his precious drawing board, then scampered over with a skewer of tri-colored dango in his hand. Grinning, he said, "Actually~, Lord Madara, I didn't sneak out to play, and I wasn't curious about the festival outside. I just wanted to buy Lord Madara a skewer of tri-colored dango!"

As soon as he finished.

"..."

Madara froze slightly.

He silently stared at the tri-colored dango in Spiral White Zetsu's hand. The stern expression he had worn, ready to severely reprimand this fellow for sneaking out again, gradually softened without him realizing it.

As if he had remembered something.

His cloudy eyes... sank into memory.

That was...

When Konoha had just been established.

That year.

It had also been the first festival Konoha had held.

That year.

Hashirama had stood beside him, and the two of them had looked over all of Konoha with satisfaction.

That year.

They... had walked together through Konoha's streets, looking at the village they had built together.

But compared to him... everyone in the village liked Hashirama more.

In the end, seemingly noticing his displeasure, Hashirama had grinned and treated him to a skewer of dango.

That idiot...

"Lord Madara~, Lord Madara~!"

Seeming to hear someone calling him, Madara returned from his memories. His vision blurred for a moment, as if he saw Hashirama's foolish grin again, until... that swirl face came into focus, and he finally came back to himself...

"You idiot!" Madara glared coldly at Spiral White Zetsu. "Have you forgotten what I told you? Don't run around! Don't run around! You know we're doing this to bring peace to the ninja world! To prove that we're right! What if we're exposed? What if we lose?"

Then he snorted, shook his head, and muttered resentfully, "Why did I ever put that idiot Hashirama's cells into you?"

As soon as he finished.

Spiral White Zetsu continued to look at Madara with a grin, waving the tri-colored dango in his hand. "I understand, Lord Madara. Want some?"

"Childish! Boring! I don't eat that sort of thing anymore!" Madara glanced at the tri-colored dango and curled his lips disdainfully. Then his wrinkled face turned toward Spiral White Zetsu again. He slowly closed his eyes, looking as though he were half-dozing, and said flatly, "Did you find any useful intelligence during all that time outside?"

"...Useful... intelligence?"

Spiral White Zetsu froze. If he had eyeballs, he might have blinked blankly right then.

But.

He had only gone out to play.

He hadn't investigated any intelligence!

Besides... intelligence had always been gathered by White Zetsu's main body and clones.

Madara noticed this as well. He frowned slightly, looked at Spiral White Zetsu for a moment, then let out a slow sigh. "Forget it! Why am I even asking an idiot like you?!"

Just as he finished speaking.

"Yes!!!" Spiral White Zetsu hurriedly said. "I found some very important intelligence!"

"?!" Madara froze, then looked at him curiously.

This fellow had actually found intelligence?

"What intelligence?"

"Well..." Spiral White Zetsu held the dango in his left hand and scratched his head with his right. "A high-ranking official in the Land of Grass betrayed the village!"

"...That's it?" Madara frowned, but seeing Spiral White Zetsu nodding repeatedly, he fell silent for a moment. Then his tone shifted as he said flatly, "As expected... ninjas are the root of all chaos!"

With disdain and a cold sneer.

"Even a tiny country like the Land of Grass has ninja betraying it. How laughable!"

"Mhm, mhm, mhm~" Seeing that Madara was actually listening to his intelligence, Spiral White Zetsu quickly nodded. "I heard he was one of the Land of Grass's high-ranking officials. He made many contributions when the Land of Grass was being rebuilt. I never thought someone like that would also betray—"

Before he could finish.

Seeing Lord Madara fall silent again, as if he had remembered something, he quickly added, "That guy isn't like Lord Madara! Lord Madara is doing this for peace in the ninja world! Lord Madara is great!"

"Enough, shut up!" Madara gave Spiral White Zetsu an expressionless glance. "Get out of here already. The sight of you irritates me!"

"I'm going, I'm going! I'll leave right now!" Spiral White Zetsu nodded. "Lord Madara, if anything comes up, just call for me..."

"Get out!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Wait!"

However.

Just as Spiral White Zetsu was about to leave, Madara called him back. Spiral White Zetsu immediately stopped and turned around curiously, looking at Lord Madara, who had already closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair. After hesitating a moment, he asked, "Lord Madara, were you calling me?"

He called out once, but received no response. Scratching his head, he thought he had misheard and was about to leave again when.

"Leave... that skewer of dango behind."

A faint voice sounded out.

"???" Spiral White Zetsu froze. He looked at the dango in his hand, then raised his head and looked at Madara, whose eyes were still closed. "Lord Madara... didn't you say you didn't want it...?"

"Leave it, then get out!"

"Sure!"

The moment he heard that Lord Madara was truly angry, Spiral White Zetsu did not hesitate for even a second. He quickly placed the dango on a plate on the stone table, then darted outside with swift movements.

Only after he disappeared from the cavern entrance...

Did Madara slowly open his eyes. With a complicated look in them, he gazed at the skewer of dango before him, then extended his old, wrinkled hand and gently picked it up.

Then.

He silently stared at it... for who knew how long. After hesitating, he slowly put it in his mouth. His jaw moved slightly as he bit off one piece and muttered faintly, "It's not as good as Konoha's..."

Before he could finish.

Suddenly.

"Whoosh."

A figure burst up from underground. It was Spiral White Zetsu, who had returned after leaving. With a grin, he said, "Oh right! Lord Madara, you're up already. Want to take a poop while you're at it? You'll sleep better afterward, and I can even help Lord Madara suppor—"

As he spoke, he seemed to notice something was wrong. Looking at Lord Madara, whose face had gone pale, who held the skewer in his right hand and clutched his throat with his left, he froze. "Lord... Madara?"

Then he seemed to understand. "Lord Madara! Lord Madara! You choked? What do we do? What do we do? Did you like it too much? Honestly, Lord Madara, you're so old already. How can you still be so careless?"

Just as Spiral White Zetsu flailed around in panic, not knowing what to do.

Madara seemed to have finally swallowed it. His weak yet cold voice sounded out. "Get out! Get out of here right now!"

At the same time.

Kusana looked complicatedly at Mujie, who had his head lowered and wore an equally complicated expression. After hesitating a moment, he said, "The Land of Grass has treated you well, hasn't it, Mujie?"

As soon as he finished.

Mujie's eyelid twitched. Looking somewhat frightened, he stared at Kusana with a voice on the verge of tears. "Chief! Don't talk like that right now! I'm... scared!"

It really made him sound like he had betrayed his country!