Cackling Away

By this point, Uchiha Madara had actually begun to believe what Ito Hirofumi had told him. He just couldn't quite accept it...

The Uchiha Clan had betrayed him back then, but they were still the Uchiha!

His former clan!

A clan that had once been tremendously powerful during the Warring States period!

And now they'd been wiped out just like that?

They were really gone?!

For a moment, Uchiha Madara's feelings were impossibly complicated.

"Kid, I know you know a lot of things, so... how exactly was the Uchiha Clan wiped out? What happened along the way? Who did it?!"

As he said the words "who did it," the chakra inside Uchiha Madara grew oppressively intense!

Even though Ito Hirofumi was only a clone formed from a wisp of chakra, he could still feel wave after wave of terrifying pressure inside the Summoning Space!

Seeing Uchiha Madara sitting there, Ito Hirofumi simply sat down on the ground too.

"Well, it's a long story. You know how they say a story's so long that a kid's mother's gone before it's over? And then the kid's mother is gone because the story took so long..."

"Then keep it short!!!"

"It all started in the Warring States period..."

Hearing this, Uchiha Madara froze.

The Warring States period?! Wasn't that the era he'd lived in?!

The Uchiha Clan had been thriving back then!

How could their downfall have anything to do with that era?!

Ito Hirofumi continued...

"Now, during the Warring States period, there were two incredibly powerful ninja! One was named Senju Hashirama, and the other was named Uchiha Madara..."

The longer Uchiha Madara listened, the stranger his expression became!

Was this kid actually about to recount the chaos of the Warring States period and the founding of Konoha to him?!

"Kid! I'm asking why the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, and who wiped them out! Why are you going on about the Warring States period?! I'm from the Warring States period! Don't you think I know what happened back then?!!!!"

"See? You're getting worked up again..."

"Argh!!! Kid!!! I have my limits!!!! Keep dragging this out, and you can forget about me teaching you ever again!!!"

"Fine, fine. I'll keep it short! Basically, after the Second, Senju Tobirama, took power, he started suppressing the Uchiha Clan!"

"I know that! That evil Senju Tobirama! He was always going on about how the Uchiha were evil! If you ask me, that bastard Senju Tobirama was the most sinister person in the world!!!"

"Right. Well, the current Third Hokage of Konoha is one of Senju Tobirama's former students, and Shimura Danzō, whom you saw today, was also his student. Once the two of them took power, they carried on Senju Tobirama's brilliant ideas!

Namely, that the Uchiha Clan were all evil!

That the Uchiha Clan were all unstable!

So, with the Third Hokage's tacit approval and Shimura Danzō's planning, the Uchiha Clan Massacre began. In the end, the entire Uchiha Clan was slaughtered, and Uchiha Sasuke was the only one left in Konoha!

You can probably guess the rest. The eyes of all the dead Uchiha were dug out, and that old schemer Shimura Danzō had a whole pile of Three-Tomoe Sharingan implanted in his arm!"

After hearing all this, Uchiha Madara's expression turned grim...

"Kid, so the ones behind this were Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō?!"

"That's right!"

"Then who actually carried it out?! Did the whole of Konoha launch the massacre against the Uchiha Clan?! The Uchiha weren't weak, were they? I don't believe those two alone could have wiped them out!"

"You guessed wrong! Not a single other person from Konoha took part. In fact, neither Sarutobi Hiruzen nor Shimura Danzō took part themselves!"

"Then who did it?!"

"Uchiha Itachi."

"What???!!! Uchiha Itachi?! You mean the Uchiha who survived outside Konoha, the one you mentioned earlier?! But wasn't he an Uchiha himself? Why would he attack his own clan?!"

Uchiha Madara was so furious he could barely think straight!

He'd never imagined that the one who wiped out the Uchiha would be an Uchiha!

That was even harder to believe than Senju Hashirama suddenly becoming smart!

"I only agreed to tell you what happened to the eyes on Shimura Danzō's arm. I never agreed to tell you anything else. More information costs extra!"

"Kid! What else do you want?!"

"You'll have to pay more!!!"

"So what do you want?!!"

"Help me out once!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!!"

Hearing Uchiha Madara's answer, Ito Hirofumi felt a little disappointed. He'd known that a single piece of information probably wouldn't be enough to get Uchiha Madara to help him out once.

But there was always a chance, right?

Unfortunately, Uchiha Madara hadn't agreed...

"Fine, forget it. I've already told you what you wanted to know! From now on, you'd better teach me properly!

I'm sure the great Ghost of the Uchiha wouldn't go back on his word, right?

After all, I might be able to summon Senju Hashirama someday. You wouldn't want him to find out that you, Uchiha Madara, are a two-faced liar, would you?!

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

"Hmph! You insolent brat, what kind of person do you take me for?! I already promised to teach you, so I'll give you proper instruction! But... my training will be brutal! Let's see if you can handle it, kid!!!"

"As long as you've agreed. All right, I'm almost home. We'll talk later!"

Ito Hirofumi's figure disappeared from the Summoning Space, leaving Uchiha Madara sitting there alone, his expression suddenly unreadable.

The Uchiha Clan's destruction had shaken Uchiha Madara deeply. To him, they were a clan of traitors, but even so, they were still his former family!

After a while, Uchiha Madara stopped thinking about the Uchiha Clan.

"Hmph! Insolent brat!!! You want me to teach you properly, do you?! Heh... I'll teach you all right!

That special power of the contract means I can't lay a hand on you, but when it comes to training you... I can make you suffer all I want, can't I?!!!

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

After letting out a strange laugh, Uchiha Madara hurriedly covered his mouth.

"Damn it! That laugh is so weird. How did that annoying brat's laugh rub off on me?!

Though it does feel pretty good to laugh like that...

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."