A long moment passed.
Madara Uchiha let his smile fade and turned toward Urashiki.
"So, what now?"
Shinji looked at the terrified Urashiki Otsutsuki and fell into thought. "Lord Madara, First, you two can return to Konoha. I'll follow shortly. As for what to do with him, I need to think before I decide."
Madara Uchiha frowned.
Shinji's answer rubbed him the wrong way.
He was Madara Uchiha.
After several clashes and less than two days together, he had come to think highly of this young man.
So highly that he had willingly abandoned the Eye of the Moon Plan, set aside his pride, accepted that Shinji was stronger than him, and agreed to follow Shinji's plan for now.
It might seem natural for the weak to follow the strong.
But for Madara Uchiha, it had taken tremendous courage to overcome the proud part of himself that refused to stand beneath anyone.
And now?
He had worked so hard to prepare himself, opened his heart, and laid everything on the table—only for Shinji to shut him out the next moment?
Honestly, he was being a little sensitive.
He admitted it.
But still...
Madara Uchiha folded his arms and glared at Shinji, sounding like a sulking spouse. "Is there something Hashirama and I aren't allowed to know?"
"Huh?"
Hashirama Senju hadn't thought that far into it, but Madara's question naturally piqued his curiosity too.
"Yeah, kid. Maybe we can help."
Shinji glanced between them. His smile stayed in place, but it had turned perfunctory.
Sure, you're my seniors.
But—
Could you two show some boundaries? Why do you feel like anxious mothers watching a kid every second, afraid he'll make a mistake?
If you weren't reincarnations of Indra and Asura, perfectly suited to becoming Otsutsuki...
*If you weren't bound to make