Chapter 4

The Land of Water had a mild, rainy climate, with gentle terrain and many swamps. Yet most of the houses they passed along the way had thatched roofs and wooden walls, making them prone to mold and collapse. Brick and stone buildings would have been better suited to this environment, but years of war had left the common folk struggling to get by. Who had the time or money to spend on that? In an age of chaos, just staying alive was already a blessing.

A young man in black strolled down the muddy streets of a small town, holding a flat-topped umbrella decorated with a design. His clothes were plain and unadorned, but clearly made of excellent fabric. The wooden soles of his sandals were raised slightly, and even after walking for some time, they showed no trace of mud.

This was the border of the Land of Water, and there was a stretch of farmland nearby to the west, so plenty of ninjas and commoners passed through.

The rain looked like it was about to grow heavier. The young man stopped beside a shop, slightly lifting the front of his umbrella as he read the sign aloud. "Taro Dumplings?"

There was a fan emblem in the lower-left corner of the sign. Good, it was one of his family's businesses. But that name—

...Uchiha Etsu, you really do have a twisted sense of humor.

"Please, come in, sir." The girl at the entrance lifted the curtain and bowed respectfully. She had taken the young man for a noble's son.

Elegant in word and manner, with striking good looks, a serene bearing, and a clear gaze—Uchiha Madara's appearance was certainly deceptive, especially since he wasn't even wearing a ninja uniform.

Madara returned her greeting with a polite nod, folded his umbrella, and chose a clean private booth. The commoners in the shop lowered their heads awkwardly at the sight of him. Class distinctions were taken seriously by commoners in those days. The few ninjas gave him a wary once-over, then relaxed when he seemed to be nothing more than a young nobleman of unremarkable strength. They couldn't help glancing at him a few more times. What a rare beauty!

A bunch of idiots... A ninja in the corner twitched his mouth and shrank back, trying his best to make himself less noticeable.

A carved wooden tray held an assortment of dumplings: pink ones with a cherry-blossom flavor, green ones with the fragrance of tea, yellow ones flavored with egg yolk, white ones with a milky sweetness, and others filled with different fruits. They were piled together in a heap of round little balls. Madara sipped tea and ate dumplings, resting his chin on his curled fingers as he listened to the shop's songstress sing softly.

"Sir, we've just added rose pastries to the menu, and they're very popular! Would you like to try one?" asked a girl in a pale pink kimono patterned with cherry blossoms. Her face was still young, with a faint blush.

Madara raised his chin slightly, a faint smile on his handsome face. "Sorry for the trouble, miss."

The girl blushed. "It's no trouble." What a gentle, refined gentleman.

Madara looked around, then turned his gaze back to the window. The ninja in the corner tried to keep calm, his palms sweating.

With such beautiful scenery before them, the customers spoke much more softly. Only the songstress's delicate voice and the soft patter of rain beyond the curtain remained.

After finishing the sweets on his plate, Madara saw that the rain had begun to let up. He left a large-denomination bill on the table and, just before leaving, glanced nonchalantly toward a certain corner.

A strong life force... Heh. Someone from the Senju Clan.

The other person silently lowered his head, pretending nothing was amiss.

Twisting the handle of his umbrella, Uchiha Madara's amused smile gradually deepened. Right, what was this mission again? Two-Tails Matatabi?

Since he'd come all this way, he might as well make things more interesting.

Senju Saki took a deep breath, then another, before letting out a harsh exhale. Why? Why did he have to run into Uchiha Madara, who rarely ever left home, just because he'd gone on a little trip? This blasted Land of Water! He'd come here to do a mission and enjoy a vacation on the side, not to get himself killed! Had his little government-funded vacation really become so outrageous that even the heavens couldn't stand it?

—No, wait. Why was Uchiha Madara in the Land of Water?!

Once he'd calmed down, Senju Saki regained the composure expected of an elite member of the Senju Clan. He immediately figured out how to send word back to the clan compound, then hurried toward the underground black market in a nearby town. The Land of Water's black market ranked first among the nations, and Uchiha Madara had never known the meaning of disguise or keeping a low profile. He should be able to buy information about him there... right?

The sky over the Land of Wind was a clear, cloudless blue. The long gusts blowing through the clan compound were blocked by rows of trees, gradually fading into a breeze. A white dove perched on a yellow rooftop, cooing now and then. Senju Tobirama looked up. Another urgent message?

"Brother?" Tobirama pushed open the door.

Hashirama was looking down at a report, his dark hair brushing the paper. The atmosphere in the room was unusually tense.

"What happened?" Tobirama rarely saw his elder brother look so grave.

Hashirama pressed his lips together, his handsome brows drawing together. "Uchiha Madara is collecting Tailed Beasts."

"What!"

In the southwestern part of the Land of Water.

The altar that had once sealed the Tailed Beast lay in ruins. The surrounding area had been scoured by the Tailed Beast's malevolent chakra, making it difficult for animals to survive. Tufts of wild grass had managed to stubbornly cling to life. With no large-scale vegetation to protect it, the ground had become one vast field of mud, bleak and desolate.

Uchiha Madara spent a full three hours examining the altar's formation and seal, and couldn't help feeling surprised.

Which family had put together this shoddy job?! There was no sustained, automatic replenishment of external energy, no suppression of the soul, and even the most basic chakra seal was far from perfect. How could a formation of this caliber possibly restrain Matatabi?

Thinking about the Tailed Beasts' endless lifespans, Uchiha Madara silently smoothed the corners of his mouth. Tailed Beasts and the like really were boring, weren't they?

Still, the chakra traces that lingered in the area showed Madara the way. Uchiha Madara stood in the center of the altar, closed his eyes, and focused on sorting out the scents of chakra around him. Then he set off west without hesitation.

Since coming to this world, Madara had never faced a Tailed Beast directly. He'd only found a few records in the clan's secret archives: bodies made of pure energy, boundless chakra, cruel and violent, a scourge to mankind... More or less. Oh, and there were also the glorious tales of various heroes sealing Tailed Beasts throughout history.

After more than ten years of missions, aside from Senju Hashirama, whom he'd never met, Madara felt that humans could no longer satisfy him... (Madara, where's your dignity?!) Thank goodness Tailed Beasts existed!

Nine Tailed Beasts, from weakest to strongest, sealed again and again, escaping and being sealed once more... They were basically boss monsters in a game, there to be beaten so you could clear the level, weren't they? Sage of Six Paths, were you really just a bastard of a game designer?!

One-Tail Shukaku was in the Land of Wind, a distant place with a harsh environment, and on Senju territory to boot. Madara didn't feel like entering the country and taking on the entire Senju Clan by himself, so that was a PASS. Two-Tails Matatabi was a little stronger than Shukaku, skilled in illusions and mental attacks, and known as the emissary of Hades—a perfect choice.

The Uchiha Clan's signature skills were also illusions and mental attacks, and the Sharingan was the natural counter to Tailed Beasts. Add to that Madara's overwhelmingly powerful mental strength, which could sweep across the continent. Matatabi stood no chance.

"Then... should we...?"

Hashirama sighed. "He's in the Land of Water, and his target is the Two-Tails. There's no one nearby who can hold him back. We won't make it in time."

Tobirama said worriedly, "What does the Uchiha Clan want with the Tailed Beasts...?" The brothers fell silent. The same guesses flashed through their minds: "destroy the world," "conquer the Ninja World," "invade a major nation and start a war," and so on. Hashirama knew more, like the "Eye of the Moon" plan... That naive, beautiful plan had actually been rejected and shelved by Madara long ago. Madara understood human nature too well by now to believe in something so absurd like the original version of the story's chuunibyou self. Hashirama's intelligence was a little out of date, but that didn't stop him from judging the personalities of most members of the Uchiha Clan.

"Tobirama." Hashirama made his decision. "We'll start collecting Tailed Beasts too."

"No matter what the Uchiha Clan intends to do, there has to be someone in the world capable of holding them in check."

"We'll start with... One-Tail Shukaku."