Uchiha Natsu: Are You Willing to Create a New Era with Me?

For peace? Peace is Illusion, a fleeting bubble.

For his younger brother? His closest relatives had long since passed Kitsuchi, and he couldn't even hold onto a sliver of his attachment.

The cold metal slipped from his loose fingertips, falling with a soft "clang" onto the blood-splattered bluestone slab.

"Hahahaha----!!! Hehehahaha----!!"

The next second, a maniacal laugh echoed throughout the entire mansion. Madara Uchiha looked up at the moon and laughed loudly, with only two very faint lines of moisture quietly sliding down from the corners of his eyes, falling onto his clothes, and instantly turning cold.

Not for defeat, not for pain, not for life or death.

In the deathly silent courtyard, he sat quietly, letting the evening breeze flutter his robes and letting the blood flow freely from his palms.

The cold moonlight illuminated the mess on the ground, and it also extinguished the light that he had held onto for half his life.

You give your all and pour everything into pursuing your ideals, only to be told in the end that your efforts were meaningless, your obsessions were a joke, and your life was nothing more than a farce in someone else's script for entertainment.

He slowly raised his hand to wipe away the wetness from the corner of his eye. When he looked up again, the collapse and dishevelment in his eyes had completely disappeared, leaving only a silent and cold indifference.

Weakness is fleeting; what remains is the chilling cold after crushing all naivety, and the ultimate clarity after seeing through the deception of fate.

Then he would no longer be that fool who chases after illusory light.

Perhaps, that is the only right path.

They gambled only on power, on their escape route, and on the Uchiha Shin.

This time, there was no trace of the tender expectation he had in his youth in his eyes.

Madara Uchiha sat quietly under the eaves, the old wound on his palm still unhealed, warm blood slowly seeping out along the lines of his hand, gradually cooling in the cool night breeze.

He Kunai on his lap. The cold moonlight spread across the sharp blade, reflecting a chilling light that shone directly into his eyes, illuminating the lingering gloom.

The despair and absurdity that had just surged and shattered still lingered in his heart. He was just about to suppress all the chaotic emotions back into his heart and seal away his pride again when a series of light footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

With unhurried steps, they broke the silence of the night and came to a steady stop outside the courtyard gate.

Ban looked up.

Uchiha Natsu stood at the edge of the moonlight, his gray-white robes fluttering gently in the night breeze, his posture upright and serene.

A pair of scarlet Sharingan broke free from the cover of night, gleaming with a clear yet cold, eerie light. They met his gaze openly and without hesitation or probing.

Madara slightly tucked his fingertips Kunai into his robes, then slowly rose to his feet.

In an instant, the vulnerability and confusion he had just shown vanished, and he reverted to the aloof and cold Madara Uchiha that everyone knew.

"What, are you here to laugh at me?" His voice was cold, carrying his usual aloofness and sarcasm.

Natsu stepped into the courtyard, his footsteps silently catching the bluestone pavement.

He stopped a few steps in front of Ban, his gaze clear and calm, without a trace of mockery.

"No."

His words were calm, yet carried a certainty that seemed to pierce through the long night.

"I've come to invite you; come with me."

Ban frowned slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "Where to?"

Natsu gazed at him quietly, her voice low but each word resonant, carrying the absolute confidence of someone who had weathered many storms.

"I can create a truly peaceful era."

He slowly raised his right hand, palm up, his five distinct fingers gently unfurling in the moonlight, his posture open and honest, without a trace of condescension or control.

"I have long since transcended life and death. As long as I remain in this world, there will never be war or strife in this realm."

The courtyard fell silent instantly, with only the evening breeze lingering and brushing against the empty wind chimes on the eaves.

Ban lowered his eyes, staring silently at the hand reaching out to him.

Clean, composed, without calculation, without pity, and without condescending condescension.

Those crimson Sharingan held pure earnestness, an absolute confidence that had settled after witnessing the purgatory of a chaotic world and seeing through the deception of fate.

He remained silent for a long time, until the wound on his palm had stopped bleeding, and the myriad thoughts churning in his heart slowly settled.

"The era you speak of," Madara finally spoke, his voice husky with the patter of late night, "Can the Senju Clan and Uchiha truly put aside their hatred and coexist peacefully?"

This was the crux of his lifelong obsession, the deadlock he couldn't untangle despite his best efforts, and his final, bottom-line questioning of all lies about peace.

Natsu met his gaze calmly, her tone even, yet it shattered all illusions.

"It's not just the Senju Clan and Uchiha."

"All Ninja World, all civilians, and all those who have fought and vengeful against each other for generations will be brought under the same order."

He slowly withdrew some of his strength, his tone becoming increasingly resolute. "I am that order. As long as I live, the order will never collapse, and this peace will never end."

Ban slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cool night air.

He suddenly remembered Hashirama.

Hashirama his entire life pursuing peace, gambling on the inherent goodness of humanity, on the fading of hatred over time, and on a future shrouded in uncertainty.

Even knowing that the road ahead is fraught with difficulties and that people's hearts are unpredictable, he still holds on to his mission with unwavering sincerity. His peace has always required countless strokes of luck and unpredictable changes to be achieved.

But Natsu is different.

Hashirama, while Natsu had already secured the victory.

He opened his eyes, the last trace of hesitation in them completely gone. The Izuna Uchiha in his arms Kunai against his chest, its cool touch exceptionally clear, like his younger brother's silent expectation and relief.

Ban loosened his grip on her clothes, raised his hand, and firmly grasped Natsu's hand.

The moment their palms touched, the cool temperatures mingled, breaking the loneliness and constraints of half a lifetime.

"Take me to see it." His words were steady and unwavering, without the slightest hesitation. "I want to witness with my own eyes whether the world you speak of is truly without deception."

Natsu gently closed her fingers behind her back and firmly grasped his hand.

A faint smile curved his lips, a smile that held a profound and unwavering conviction that transcended millennia of fate—a composure that only those who have seen through all darkness and traversed all despair can possess.

"Welcome to the era of the Uchiha."

The night was still as dark as ink, the evening breeze still chilly, and the distant sound of the Naka River still echoed faintly, unchanged year after year.

But at this moment, Madara Uchiha, standing hand in hand, clearly sensed that the wound in his heart that had spanned half his life and ached every night, the scar of being toyed with by fate and betrayed by his ideals, had finally completely lost its piercing pain at this moment.

The warmth of their clasped hands still lingered in Madara Uchiha's palms, Natsu's steady and resolute strength lingered for a long time.