At this moment, quite a crowd had gathered before the gates of the Uchiha Clan Grounds. Hashirama stood at the entrance with Madara's corpse in his arms, waiting for Madara's clansmen to come collect him.
"...Lord Hokage?"
Hashirama looked up. Seeing that it was Uchiha Gen, he nodded. Uchiha Gen stepped forward and silently took Madara's body from him. He said nothing to Hashirama; nothing would have been appropriate at a time like this. He simply turned and entered the Clan Grounds.
Uchiha Gen carried Madara's body all the way to the shrine. Many clansmen stopped along the road to watch, yet not a single one stepped forward to talk about avenging Madara or anything of the sort.
As he walked, Uchiha Gen's steps suddenly grew heavy. A question surfaced in his heart. Was it truly right to keep muddling through by following the established course? Could the original Naruto and Sasuke really still stand against the Ōtsutsuki? But... what could he do?
After entering the shrine, Uchiha Gen placed Madara's body beneath the many Uchiha memorial tablets. Madara had once been clan head, after all. By custom, his body needed to remain before the mourning hall for half a day, so that his soul could return to the Uchiha's embrace.
Uchiha Gen simply knelt quietly before Madara's body with his head lowered. From time to time, clansmen came to peer in from afar outside the shrine hall. Most left after a single glance; only a few old brothers who had followed Madara for a long time lingered for quite a while.
Late at night.
The lights in Naka Shrine flickered. White lanterns had been hung inside, along with white mourning drapes. In Madara's black-and-white memorial portrait, he still wore that stern, unsmiling expression. For some reason, the longer Uchiha