Chapter 2

"If it were Senju Hashirama, he'd definitely agree."

The air in the Council Chamber froze for a moment. The elders couldn't understand why Senju Hashirama had suddenly come up.

Uchiha Tai, however, spoke meaningfully. "Heh. A genius, and a great talent, too. His future is limitless. It's just a pity he's still a little young."

The elders grumbled inwardly: Young? Senju Hashirama was three years older than the clan head!

Madara had read the information delivered by the intelligence department, and they understood each other without needing to say it outright. "That's right. Though he's surpassed the ordinary shinobi, he's still a shinobi."

The other elders had sweatdrops at their temples, roaring inwardly: Are you two talking in riddles to look down on our intelligence? Could you be any clearer? Could you?!

"Uchiha Etsu." "Yes!"

"Withdraw one billion. Use any means necessary to secretly win over the nobles of the Land of Fire and isolate the daimyo. Reduce the supply of goods to the Land of Fire from other countries. Conduct public business in the name of the Uchiha along the border of the Land of Wind. The clan treasury will cover any profits or losses for the next five years. Make sure the people benefit, and win their hearts."

"Understood!"

Give someone the benefits they want, provide a reasonable excuse to justify their actions, and hold a knife to their throat. Tell me, who wouldn't betray you? Especially greedy, cowardly nobles?

In less than three years, the daimyo would be begging the Uchiha to extend their influence into the Land of Fire. Senju Hashirama, let me teach you a lesson: what benefits are, what the bigger picture is, what a scheme in plain sight is, and what the human heart is... The only opponent in this world who could stand against me, a presence as if ordained by fate—don't disappoint me!

"Brother! H-how can you do this?!" Senju Tobirama stared in disbelief at the signed order in his hands.

"This is our only chance." Senju Hashirama spoke gravely. "The feud between our clans has gone on for too long. If this continues, we'll only suffer more casualties. Our ancestors have already paid enough for this. One side has to take the first step toward peace. Uchiha Madara..." He pressed his lips together. "He's already shown goodwill. We should meet him halfway."

Tobirama was at a loss for words. Shown goodwill? Was this really the Uchiha, who believed, "If someone offends me, I repay them tenfold"? All right, even if Uchiha Madara was, as the rumors claimed, a gentle, elegant, peace-loving (?) young noble, and had indeed adjusted many missions that would have brought him into conflict with the Senju after becoming clan head, convincing a Senju that the Uchiha meant them well was harder than believing that a Tailed Beast had vowed to protect world peace!

"His motives certainly go beyond that." Hashirama smiled. "But it's still an opportunity to make peace."

"Old grudges don't disappear overnight. Aren't we inviting a wolf into our home?"

"It's fine." Senju Hashirama had his own considerations. "The Senju have held sway in the Land of Wind for a long time. The Uchiha's newly established forces aren't strong enough to shake that. Besides, they're openly doing business under the Uchiha banner. If they make any rash moves, this will no longer be a matter of business. I don't believe Uchiha Madara would do anything so irrational."

Senju Tobirama hesitated. "I understand. But to guard against spies, they can only operate along the border. Otherwise, I won't be able to convince the clan elders."

Hashirama nodded. "You'll be in charge of this, from start to finish."

Tobirama said in surprise, "Shouldn't you handle the negotiations with the Uchiha?"

"This isn't a formal partnership, so the Uchiha won't send anyone important. You just need to review the documents they submit and take precautions."

Tobirama looked a little more relaxed. "Oh, I was hoping to meet Uchiha Madara."

Hashirama ruffled his younger brother's white hair. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Uchiha Madara is out of your league."

"Huh? He's that strong? He hardly ever goes on missions, does he?"

—Uchiha Madara had always thought too highly of himself to define himself as a "weapon" or a mere source of "combat strength." In his view, killing—especially with his own hands—was the lowest form of action. Since becoming clan head, he had only gone on a mission once every three months or so—rank A at minimum, with no upper limit—and that was only to maintain his combat instincts in this godforsaken shinobi world. That was why outsiders thought he kept to himself.

"I'm talking about his brains." His younger brother was good in every way, except that he was too straightforward. He was suited to charging into battle, but not so good at plotting and scheming. "Besides, he has the Mangekyō Sharingan."

Tobirama sucked in a breath. "The Mangekyō?!!" That shut-in who was such a hot topic of analysis among the Senju every time he left home had the Mangekyō?!

Hashirama delivered another bombshell. "He awakened it when he was thirteen."

Tobirama was speechless. No words could express how shocked he was.

Everyone knew that awakening the Sharingan required waiting for an opportunity amid countless trials of blood and fire. Even then, not every Uchiha could reach the Three-Tomoe stage, and the Mangekyō was utterly out of reach. Don't be fooled by what happened in Itachi's generation; that was because of the plot and the point of view. Or perhaps Fugaku's and Mikoto's genes happened to mesh perfectly? Otherwise, if everyone had the Mangekyō, that sort of cheat-level ability would leave no other shinobi a chance to survive. Would AB even have enough money to eat?

Uchiha Madara, you're so absurdly powerful that it doesn't even make sense. The other shinobi are going to cry! They really are!

Tobirama finally murmured, "What a monster..."

"What a monster!" Uchiha Xingyi, the grandson of Uchiha Tai, stared at the report in disbelief. "Wood Release can create life. It makes no sense! Senju Hashirama isn't a god. How could he create something out of thin air?!"

Among the Uchiha, whose stubbornness and chūnibyō tendencies were practically hereditary and liable to flare up at any moment, Tai's branch was a real oddity. At least it had kept the transmigrated Uchiha Madara of the past from losing all hope in the clan. As Tai's grandson, Xingyi was all but certain to inherit the Second Elder's seat. So his grandfather often dragged him in to handle intelligence and write reports, claiming it was "good practice."

Assistant Number One, Uchiha Amano, yawned. His red eyes, habitually open with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, were half-lidded as he lounged over the desk. "Why compare them? The clan head will take care of everything."

"You can't become dependent just because the clan head can do anything!"

"Maybe there are lots of dormant seeds buried underground, and chakra brimming with life woke them up?" Assistant Number Two, Uchiha Shizuka, touched her long hair and offered a more plausible theory.

"He used it in the desert, too! Would there be seeds for tropical crops under the desert? Would there?!" Xingyi scratched his head. "How am I supposed to compare the strength of the two clans when none of this makes sense?"

"That's obvious." Uchiha Amano tossed him a scornful look. "No matter how you look at it, our Uchiha are stronger. We control the lifelines and the upper circles of more than a dozen countries. We can make the clouds gather or the rain fall, and there'll always be someone to take the fall when things go wrong. Just thinking about being a mastermind behind the scenes gets me excited! Our old fights with the Senju were just a matter of wounded pride. We were treated like pawns and thought it was an honor, risking our lives to get things even ordinary civilians could earn. It was ridiculously stupid!"

Xingyi slapped him. "What nonsense! A few years of everything going smoothly have gone to your head, huh? Strength is what matters, idiot! Without strength, people will take everything you have!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

"You!"

"Hahaha, you idiot!"

"Uchiha. Amano!"

Uchiha Shizuka's forehead twitched. She finally couldn't take it anymore. Wham! Wham! Ah—!

"Both of you, shut up!!!"

"Okay, okay, milady, I was wrong!" Xingyi grimaced, sporting a pair of freshly made buns on his head. Honestly, were all the gentle, virtuous girls dead these days?

Amano lay sprawled across the desk, pretending to be dead. There was no point in tattling. Shizuka's grandmother had been his own grandfather's first love. If he complained, he might actually die...

"I'm taking the new report to the clan head. You two stay here and work properly!"