Chapter 34

He touched down with his toes, his robes fluttering like a blue butterfly. Using the uneven, jagged rocks as footholds, Madara drifted gracefully upward and landed in front of Senju Hashirama.

Madara smiled faintly. "You've got sake. Couldn't you save me a little?"

Compared to two years ago, Senju Hashirama seemed steadier and more composed. A large scroll was strapped to his back, and red armor covered his black shinobi clothes. He looked far more battle-ready than before. "Sorry, I didn't know you were coming today."

"When did you get here?"

"The morning before yesterday."

So he'd been waiting for three days? Madara was surprised. This place was remote, with no villages or shops nearby. Had Hashirama spent two days alone in the mountains?

As if he could guess what Madara was thinking, Hashirama explained, "The Nine-Tails is too destructive. I arranged for people to evacuate the surrounding area."

Madara gave him a sidelong look, half-smiling. "You're sure word won't get out?"

Hashirama paused, then shook his head. "There aren't many people here to begin with, and they've all been taken somewhere safe."

The Senju Clan had obtained the information about the Nine-Tails through questionable means, while the Uchiha Clan had its own agenda. Given those factors and the broader situation, neither clan wanted to publicize this operation.

"So, the Nine-Tails is nearby?" Madara looked around. As the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails was difficult to track. It was often discovered only after causing immense destruction. In recent years, it had been relatively quiet; its most recent activity had been near the Land of Earth's border.

"The intelligence points to this area. I've spent the last three days searching, and there are clear traces of the Nine-Tails here. Unfortunately, it's hiding too deep underground. We'll have to draw it out with the Senju Clan's special summoning technique." His investigation had shown that this cliff was the best place to perform the summoning.

Madara considered it. "No rush. Let's rest first. We'll start tomorrow." He frowned as he spoke. The area was nothing but desolate wilderness, with no rooms or beds. Shinobi were used to sleeping rough, but the Uchiha Group had businesses all over the continent, and Madara rarely had to rough it. Besides, to fight the Nine-Tails, he'd set his senses to their most sensitive. There was no way he could sleep out in the open with the wind blowing.

With that thought, Madara turned to Hashirama, his eyes full of expectation... Expectation?

Hashirama wasn't used to Madara looking at him like that. He turned his head a little, a bad feeling rising in his chest.

Sure enough, Madara smiled warmly at him. "Hashirama, use your Wood Release to build us a tent!"

Hashirama formed Hand Seals, and a ring of vines sprang from the ground. They grew rapidly, their branches and leaves winding together as they climbed higher and grew denser. Before long, the vines had formed a small wooden cabin.

Madara went inside to check it out. It was perfect: no wind, and it blocked most of the sound. Wood Release really was convenient!

The thought of claiming it for himself circled through Madara's mind before he pushed it aside. He turned to Hashirama. "For safety's sake, you take the first half of the night, and I'll take the second." After all, the Nine-Tails was still somewhere in the area.

Hashirama fixed his gaze on him. "You trust me?"

Though the two clans had formed an alliance, their relationship hadn't progressed much in practice. In just a few brief encounters, Hashirama had already learned how suspicious and cautious Madara could be. It was better to be clear about certain things in advance.

Madara lifted his chin and smiled. "Of course. Because you're Senju Hashirama." Hashirama, with his unwavering principles and iron will, who would fight him openly if they ever fell out, but never stab him in the back.

The dark night passed without incident. Even the wild beasts had good instincts and didn't come near them. When Hashirama woke, the first pale light of dawn was just appearing on the horizon.

Madara, who had taken the second watch, stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out at the distant, still-blurred landscape. His eyelids were lowered, and no one could tell what he was thinking. He'd changed into a simple outfit of white with blue-green trim and embroidery. His black hair fell loose, and the strong wind lifted the hem of his clothes. The first ray of sunlight fell perfectly across his profile.

Hashirama was momentarily dazed. Suddenly, he understood why Madara rarely wore light colors.

He looked as if he might be carried away by the wind...

"Awake?" Without turning around, Madara tossed something over his shoulder. Hashirama caught it and opened the paper wrapping. Inside were a few pastries and... "Eat up, then we'll get started, Hashirama."

The sun slowly rose from behind the mountains. Its pale, dim light instantly turned into brilliant golden rays, bathing the two men on the cliff in gold.

Hashirama's Wood Release cleared away the tangled trees around them. Under Madara's watchful gaze, he took the large scroll from his back, bit his finger, and pressed it against the scroll. The blood spread, and dense patterns and Cursed Seals quickly appeared on the blank surface. A flash of red light sank into the earth, and the two men held their breath.

For a moment, the world seemed to fall silent.

Suddenly, a strange weight pressed down on their shoulders, making it hard to breathe. The earth trembled faintly beneath their feet, and a low rumble seemed to come from far away. The wind around them erupted into a frenzy, cold and sharp as blades, spinning and tearing through the trees in its path. The light dimmed again, and it seemed the sky had fallen into darkness, leaving only the flames erupting in the distance.

An immense pressure came hurtling toward them, carrying with it an aura of violence, heat, and destruction, swallowing the clouds and blotting out the sun. It crushed everything in its path. From above, the beautiful landscape was being replaced, from west to east, by an expanding swath of desolate gray.

Compared to this, the pressure of the Three-Tails had been child's play.

Hashirama waved his hand and withdrew the scroll. Wood Release chakra circled his body, shielding him from the storm outside, while his long hair stirred in the energy field despite the lack of wind. His dark eyes gleamed as he faced the flames rushing toward them, brimming with fighting spirit.

The violent aura stirred Madara's Uchiha blood, and the battle-hungry instinct passed down through his clan began to surge. He couldn't control his excitement and trembling. In a state beyond reason, a person could reach heights that were otherwise impossible! He simply let go of his rational restraint and surrendered his body to the instinct to fight.

He looked up and met Hashirama's gaze. His crimson Mangekyo unconsciously took on a sinister glint.

Wood Release...

Sharingan...

The Nine-Tails was here!

"Are you kidding me?!" Tobirama shot to his feet, bracing both hands on the table as he shouted. "My brother couldn't have gone missing!"

Even as he denied it, Tobirama couldn't control his growing unease. If their opponent had been anyone else, even Uchiha Madara, he could have loudly rejected the report. But... the Nine-Tails...

It was the Nine-Tails, said to have infinite chakra and to be the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts!

"Lord Tobirama..."

After steadying himself, Tobirama sank back into his chair and took a deep breath. "...Tell me everything you know!"

The area had been cleared, so outsiders had no idea what had happened. Members of both clans had also been kept away to prevent them from being caught in the crossfire. Afterward, the Senju and Uchiha who entered the area to search found it almost completely destroyed. Their clan heads and the Nine-Tails had vanished.

The Nine-Tails being gone wasn't the problem. But what about their clan heads?! Neither Madara nor Hashirama was the sort to wander off without telling anyone.

With no sign of life and no bodies, the Intelligence Division could only conclude that they were missing.

On the Uchiha side, every elder was pale. When Izuna heard the news, he staggered, unable to control his body, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

The report said they were missing, but what could possibly keep two of the strongest people in the world from returning? The truth... Everyone knew it.

"Lord Izuna!" Uchiha Minyue said anxiously.

Izuna shook his head, spat out the blood in his mouth, and rasped, "What else?"

"Senju Hashirama is missing too."

"What happened to the Nine-Tails?" His voice was thick with restrained killing intent.

"...We don't know."

"Lord Izuna." Uchiha Tai collected himself and said gravely, "Please take care of your health. Nothing has been confirmed yet. You must believe that the clan head will be all right."

At his words, unease still lingered in the elders' hearts, but their expressions eased a little. Anyone who had worked with Uchiha Madara shared the same psychological scar: unless they saw his corpse, got a DNA test report, and then personally watched his body burn to ashes, they would never believe that a monster like him could die!

"Whatever happens, don't forget the clan head's instructions," Uchiha Tai said at last.

"Please remain calm!" the elders said together, bowing.

Izuna stood dazed and silent. The urge to destroy everything screamed in his heart. He wanted to rush to the Land of Wind and die alongside the Senju Clan! And, if he had any strength left, kill the Nine-Tails too!

"Please remain calm!" the elders repeated, their voices echoing through the Council Chamber.

His fist slowly clenched, his nails piercing his palm. The pain was unforgettable. For the first time, Uchiha Izuna hated his own clear-headedness so much.

"...While the clan head is away, I'll act as clan head."

"But my brother will be back soon! Remember that!" He lifted his chin. The blood-red Mangekyo swept over the elders, and the coldness in Izuna's voice carried a hint of Uchiha Madara.

Back at the Clan Head Residence, Izuna slumped onto the tatami, staring at his bloodstained hands as tears silently slid down his face.

Brother...

The two clans independently suppressed the news, but word that their clan heads had died somehow spread across the nations. A new wave of plots and turmoil was brewing on the continent, yet the two men at its center knew nothing about it.

Hashirama had just woken up, still groggy. He was exhausted... His whole body felt like it had been torn apart! The Nine-Tails really was something else!

It seemed to be morning. Sunlight filtered through the trees and fell across his face, birds chirped on the branches, and he could feel the damp chill in the air. He moved, then suddenly realized Madara was beneath him, lying motionless with his eyes shut and his breathing faint. Most of his simple white outfit with blue-green trim and embroidery was stained red with blood.

Hashirama hurriedly rolled off him and sat up. He took Madara's hand and sent him a steady stream of gentle Wood Release medical chakra, but the chakra sank into him like a stone into the sea and had no effect at all.

How could this be...? Panic threatened to take hold. He forced himself to stay calm and pulled Madara's clothes open to examine his injuries. Besides a minor burn on his lower abdomen and a few scratches on the back of his hand, there were no other wounds. Madara had activated his Mangekyo's full killing mode, and together with Senju Hashirama, the pinnacle of Wood Release in the Ninja World, they had nearly beaten the Nine-Tails into the ground. Then... what happened after that?

Hashirama frowned and tried to remember.

The Nine-Tails had been terrifying, but it hadn't been a match for the two of them together. Madara's genjutsu had distracted it, and he'd occasionally attacked from the shadows, leaving it covered in wounds. In the end, Hashirama had used the Wood Dragon to restrain the Nine-Tails and unfurled the scroll to seal it. Everything had gone smoothly... until a huge black hole suddenly appeared and sucked them both inside! The Nine-Tails had seized the opportunity to escape!

Right, what was that hole?

And where were they now?!