As the door was gently pushed open, the two slowly entered the room. Tsunade's restless heart gradually calmed, like a stone settling into a lake.
She didn't ask what had happened. Instead, she obediently walked over to the table and began preparing tea with practiced ease.
Uzumaki Mito was chatting with Uchiha Xiao about everyday matters.
Uchiha Xiao smiled and handled the conversation with ease, responding to every remark just right and never letting it falter.
What's more, his witty, humorous remarks often made Uzumaki Mito burst into laughter, filling the entire room with a warm, cheerful atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Tsunade stood quietly to one side, focused on brewing the tea.
A faint smile tugged at her lips. She gazed fondly at Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Xiao as they chatted happily, as if she were completely immersed in the warmth of the moment.
But just then, a sudden shout shattered the peaceful atmosphere. With a loud bang, the door flew open, and someone rushed inside, shouting, "Grandma, Sis! My master finally agreed to let me fight on the front lines!"
At the sound of his shout, the expressions of everyone in the room changed at once.
Uchiha Xiao raised an interested eyebrow, a faint smile on his lips. Tsunade frowned, her face filled with worry, while Uzumaki Mito's expression darkened. She was clearly unhappy with the news.
At the same time, Uchiha Xiao turned his gaze toward the boy—Senju Nawaki.
He had met Senju Nawaki once before at the camp in the Land of Rain, but hadn't gotten a good look at him then. Now that he studied him more closely, he couldn't help thinking, Yes, he really is a lively, spirited young man!
Tsunade knitted her brows, her heart full of worry. Her younger brother Nawaki was already twelve and had become a Genin, but in her eyes, he was still just a child.
Even though Nawaki was now Orochimaru's student, deep down, Tsunade was still terribly worried about whether he could survive the brutality of the battlefield.
Uzumaki Mito's face had darkened so much it seemed water might drip from it. After all, the only younger members of their family were Tsunade and Nawaki.
Now that Tsunade had gone to the battlefield, she was simply fulfilling her duty as the Hokage's student. Uzumaki Mito wouldn't say anything about that.
But her precious grandson—the grandson of Senju Hashirama, the First—was only twelve! What sense did it make to send someone so young to the front lines of a war?
And if anything happened to him, who would take responsibility? Orochimaru? Clearly not.
Orochimaru knew Nawaki's status was special and would never casually send him to the dangerous front lines.
But this time, Orochimaru had unexpectedly agreed.
Uzumaki Mito would never believe that nobody with ulterior motives had meddled in this.
Uchiha Xiao saw Uzumaki Mito's concern and chuckled. "Nawaki, do you remember me?"
Senju Nawaki looked over at Uchiha Xiao, his eyes lighting up. "It's you! The God of War! We were in such a hurry the last time we met that we didn't get to talk properly. What brings you to my house today?"
Every ninja who had fought in the Second Shinobi World War on the Land of Rain front knew Uchiha Xiao. There was even a growing sentiment in Konoha that he should be called the God of War.
Uchiha Xiao froze. God of War? What's that about? But he shook his head and smiled. "Nawaki, I came to your house because I have something important to discuss with your sister and your grandmother."
"Oh!" Nawaki nodded.
"Nawaki, I want to ask you something. Were you the one who asked Orochimaru to let you go to the front lines?" Uchiha Xiao asked. He was puzzled. Why had the First's grandson died such a senseless death?
He'd been caught in an Explosive Tag blast, and his internal organs had been ripped out. There hadn't even been enough left of him for a proper burial. It was baffling.
Nawaki nodded. "Yeah! I'm the First's grandson, and I'm going to become Hokage one day. I have to be tested on the battlefield if I want to grow stronger!"
Uchiha Xiao froze, then said coldly, "Who told you that?" He finally understood. Someone must have been luring Nawaki onto the battlefield.
Nawaki had always wanted to grow stronger and become Hokage, but he'd never thought this way before. So there was only one explanation: someone had manipulated Senju Nawaki.
Nawaki froze. Looking at Uchiha Xiao's stern expression, he couldn't help shivering. "I-it was an old man. He..."
He tried hard to remember, then looked at Uchiha Xiao, his pupils contracting. "He had a face like yours, God of War. Just...older!"
Uchiha Xiao froze, then dropped heavily into a chair. His sudden movement startled Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade.
Tsunade was especially alarmed. "Are you all right, Xiao?"
Uchiha Xiao shook his head. "I'm fine." He had only lost his composure for a moment. He'd seen his own face before, and it looked eighty percent like Madara Uchiha's. Nawaki had said the man looked a lot like him—only older.
The man's identity was clear: the Rose of the Warring States, the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha.
Uchiha Xiao had never expected Madara to still have a hand in things after all these years. And Madara probably hadn't acted of his own accord; Black Zetsu must have manipulated him.
Otherwise, given his relationship with Hashirama, how could he have tried to push Nawaki onto the battlefield?
Uzumaki Mito sensed something was off. "Xiao, did you figure something out?" She had a feeling Xiao had guessed at some secret—a huge one.
Otherwise, Xiao was too composed to lose his composure like that.
Uchiha Xiao looked up and was about to say something, but stopped himself. He didn't know how to explain it to Uzumaki Mito.
But Uzumaki Mito seemed to see through his thoughts. Forcing a smile, she said, "It's all right, Xiao. If you have a theory, you can tell us."
Uchiha Xiao nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, the man Nawaki met was Madara Uchiha."
"Madara Uchiha? That's impossible! Great-Grandfather..." Tsunade exclaimed. She couldn't believe that a ninja who had been dead for more than ten years could suddenly appear in Konoha.
Uzumaki Mito's gaze sharpened. "Xiao, what evidence do you have that the man was Madara?" She frowned. She'd once thought Madara couldn't have died so easily, but she had seen his body on the day of his burial and believed he was truly dead.
"I don't know if you've heard of Izanagi," Uchiha Xiao said gravely.
Uzumaki Mito's gaze sharpened, and her pupils contracted. As a member of an old, prestigious Warring States clan, she had naturally heard of the Uchiha Clan's Izanagi.