The Uchiha Clan withdrew to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Unlike the tragic resolve and blazing desire for revenge that had marked their departure, the returning group was shrouded in a strange silence. Had they won? It seemed so. They had driven back the Senju, and their clan leader had displayed godlike power, overpowering Hashirama Senju. But why was there so little joy in their hearts? Instead, they were filled with deeper confusion and an indescribable weariness.
The clansmen's gazes involuntarily fixed on the aloof figure at the head of the group—Uchiha Madara. He walked in silence, radiating a chilling aura that warned others to keep their distance, as if he had locked away every emotion inside his powerful frame. No one dared approach him, and even cheering seemed out of place. He had avenged his younger brother with his own hands, yet he had also stopped the revenge with those same hands. This contradiction left every clansman at a loss.
After returning to the compound, Madara went straight to Naka Shrine and shut himself away once more. Several elders were temporarily entrusted with handling clan affairs.
The victory banquet was held hastily, its atmosphere oppressive. The topic most often discussed over drinks wasn't their hopes for the future, but fear and reverence for that divine power, along with worries about the clan's future now that Lord Izuna was suddenly gone.
"Lord Madara's power... it was practically divine..." "But Hashirama Senju actually managed to stop him..." "What happens now? Will we negotiate? With the Senju?" "Are you joking? Tobirama killed Lord Izuna! How can we just let that go?!" "But the clan leader stopped fighting..." "That was because of Hashirama..."
All sorts of speculation and unease, along with a trace of bewilderment at Madara's decision and veiled complaints, quietly spread in private. With Izuna, the clan's de facto administrator, gone, the voices within the Uchiha that had been temporarily suppressed by their overwhelming military strength began to emerge.
Uchiha Sou silently observed it all. He could clearly sense that the feeling of "Dissonance" permeating the clan hadn't eased with the halt in hostilities. Instead, it had grown more complex and subtle. Hatred, fear, confusion, a desire for power, uncertainty about the future... These emotions intertwined, making the entire Uchiha Clan Compound feel as if it were shrouded in an invisible, restless web.
He knew Madara hadn't stopped because he had forgiven them. It was more like a brief pause after an extreme surge of pain and confusion, along with perhaps a lingering attachment—one he might not even have noticed himself—to the illusory dream Hashirama had described. But how long could this fragile balance last?
As for Sou, he used this relatively peaceful period to immerse himself even more deeply in his training in "Weaving Logic."
He repeatedly recalled and savored that strange moment on the battlefield, when his power of "Inner Harmony" clashed with the immense "Dissonance" around him—the fleeting glimpse of those crisscrossing "lines."
What were they, exactly?
Were they threads of "Causality"? Strings of fate? Or the "veins" produced by the world's rules as they operated, something one could perceive, or even use?
He tried to enter that state again while calm, but found it exceptionally difficult. It was as if he could only just barely touch that level of perception when intense enough "Dissonance" existed around him to serve as a reference and "fulcrum."
So he made a bold decision.
He began deliberately and extremely cautiously walking around the compound, seeking out clansmen whose emotions were turbulent and whose hearts were filled with conflict. He didn't intervene; he simply observed in silence while entering the state of "Weaving Logic," trying to sense the faint ripples of "Dissonance" emanating from them and once again gently "touch" them with his own power of Inner Harmony.
This was even more difficult than on the battlefield, because an individual's "Dissonance" was far weaker and more complex than what was produced by the clash of divine powers. He failed again and again, and the strain on his mind was immense.
But Sou didn't give up. He knew that if he couldn't even sense and understand the subtle "Dissonance" of individuals, there was no way he could touch, let alone influence, grand forces of "Causality."
His persistence finally paid off. One day, as he approached an elderly woman who had lost her son and spent every day weeping, her heart filled with grief and hatred, he summoned all his strength to enter the state of "Weaving Logic" and cautiously extended his power of Inner Harmony.
This time, he didn't try to touch her overwhelming grief. Instead, he tried to sense the "connection" between her sorrow and her surroundings.
In an instant, it seemed he saw them again!
Though extremely blurred and gone in the blink of an eye, he had truly "seen" an exceedingly faint, dim "line" extending from the elderly woman and connecting to a distant place. It pointed unmistakably toward the battlefield! The line carried an intense air of grief and desolation.
At the same time, several even fainter "lines" connected her to other members of the clan—perhaps her relatives or friends—and conveyed emotions such as concern and pity.
He had succeeded! He couldn't interfere, but he had truly sensed them! He had sensed some invisible "connection" between an individual's emotions and the outside world!
This confirmed his theory! The path of "Weaving Logic" wasn't an illusion!
He suppressed his excitement and continued his silent attempts. He found that he could sense more and more "lines." Although most remained blurred and difficult to understand, he began to roughly distinguish the emotions or intentions they carried—grief, anger, joy, killing intent, protectiveness...
He even tried, when he sensed a "line" carrying a faint trace of killing intent from one of the clansmen toward him—perhaps the man was merely in a foul mood and taking it out on him—to subtly channel his power of Inner Harmony. He didn't resist it; he merely "disturbed" the line, as gently as a breeze passing by.
The clansman only felt a sudden, inexplicable flutter of unease and irritation. He glared at Sou, then walked away without taking any real action.
The effect was so slight as to be almost negligible, but this was undoubtedly a milestone! It meant that his power could indeed have an extremely subtle effect on the outside world's "causal connections"!
While Uchiha Sou was engrossed in this novel exploration and training, the situation outside had not truly calmed down.
The Senju Clan were also licking their wounds and coming to terms with the terrifying fact that Uchiha Madara had gained new power. Tobirama Senju was deeply wary and distrustful of the possibility that "Uchiha Madara might agree to peace talks." He was convinced that the Uchiha's evil nature could never change, and began secretly accelerating his research into certain Forbidden Jutsu, especially countermeasures against the Sharingan and Uchiha Madara's new power. He believed peace was merely an illusion, and that only sufficient strength could ensure the Senju's safety.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Madara sat alone in Naka Shrine, staring at the Stone Tablet, his expression shifting unpredictably. Izuna's death, the power of the Eternal Mangekyou, Hashirama's words, the undercurrents within the clan... It all intertwined in his heart. His resolve wavered violently between hatred and a faint longing for another possibility.
Beneath the brief calm after the war, the embers of hatred had not gone out. Instead, they quietly smoldered in the shadows, becoming entangled with the newly sprouted, fragile seed of peace.
Undercurrents were beginning to churn beneath the tranquil surface.
Sensing it all, Uchiha Sou knew this fragile balance wouldn't last much longer. Before the storm came again, he had to press on and go as far as he could along the path of "Weaving Logic."
His gaze turned south once more, as though it could pierce every obstacle and see the blood-soaked land, and the opportunity that might be buried beneath it—the key to unlocking an even deeper level of power.
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