Boohoo

"Boohoo... several phones... thousands of yuan... all burned up in one fire. Boohoo..." Dave ignored the three charred bodies and looked instead at the burning black chunks of metal and scraps of plastic on the ground, his heart full of grief and indignation.

Do you know how much money you cost me?!!!

Do you?!! Boohoo!

"Dave, are you all right?" A rush of wind sounded, and Madara Uchiha appeared, looking at the sobbing Dave before him.

"Uncle Madara... I'm fine. Those four were from Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. They were trying to take the village's phones outside, and th-they threw kunai at me... I killed them." Hearing that familiar voice, Dave slowly stood and threw his arms around Madara, choking on his words.

Those arms trembling for show, that deathly pale face, those two trails of tears shook Madara Uchiha to his core... Naturally, he never suspected Dave was acting... Of course, his fear after killing someone was real... Across two lifetimes, this was his first time killing anyone... He really was scared...

"It's all right now, Dave... I'll carry you home." Madara offered Dave a rare word of comfort.

To him, Dave was just an adorable child of five or six. For such a young child to kill someone with his own hands... anyone would have been frightened...

The Land of Lightning... Kumogakure... want to find out what the Asura of the Ninja World means? How dare you scare my Dave?

"Mm-hmm. Thank you, Uncle Madara." Dave wiped the tears from his face and smiled through them. But the sight of that forced, childish smile only made Madara's heart ache more...

Then Madara created a Shadow Clone, which hoisted Dave onto its back.

"Uncle Madara, aren't you going back?" Dave asked in confusion when he saw Madara sending him home with a Shadow Clone.

"Yes, I still have something to do. You go back first. That little girl Tsukimi is worried about you, too." Madara nodded, and his Shadow Clone left with Dave.

"Come out," Madara said coldly, looking toward a corner.

"Hmph." A white-haired figure in blue armor slowly emerged from the corner. It was Tobirama Senju.

Dave was his son, and he normally doted on him beyond measure. He always sent a Shadow Clone to follow him, though after talking to Tobirama about the earlier incident, Dave had assumed there were no more clones trailing him. Once Dave followed those people out, Tobirama's Shadow Clone immediately dispelled itself. Receiving its report, Tobirama set aside his experiment and hurried after them.

But he had never placed a Flying Thunder God mark on Dave, so he could only follow using the Body Flicker Technique. He arrived just in time to see Dave holding a phone and bursting into tears, and then Madara arrived as well.

"Where are you going?" Tobirama asked coolly, his arms folded across his chest.

"The Land of Lightning. Kumogakure." Madara Uchiha turned his face halfway toward him. The tomoe spinning in his eyes made Tobirama pause.

"What, are you going to stop me?" Madara Uchiha asked coldly.

"No. We're going together." Tobirama shook his head. He was no softhearted pushover like his elder brother. They had bullied his son—how could he, as the boy's father, not make his feelings known?

The next day, the Shinobi World was shaken.

Madara Uchiha, the Asura of the Ninja World, and Tobirama Senju, younger brother of the God of the Shinobi World, arrived at Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. They brutally beat the First Raikage, Yotsuki A, leaving him severely injured, and destroyed one-sixth of Kumogakure's grounds. The Shinobi World was stunned... What heinous crime had Kumogakure committed to deserve that treatment?

Kumogakure did not dare utter so much as a peep... Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were not called the Warring States Duo for nothing. Tobirama and Madara had also shown restraint: they had not killed anyone, only inflicted serious injuries.

Kumogakure announced that its spies in Konoha had been discovered, prompting those two to travel a thousand miles to give the Raikage a beating... According to reports from eyewitnesses, it really had been a completely one-sided thrashing...

This badly frightened the other Three Great Shinobi Villages, which hurriedly sent messages ordering their spies in Konoha to return. Even if they could not get back, they must not let Konoha discover which village they belonged to.

Meanwhile, in Konoha's Hokage office.

Hashirama looked at his best buddy and his younger brother standing before him, his head aching... What a headache... Sigh... Still, he could hardly say anything. They had both done it for Dave.

"Brother, has any word come from Kumogakure?" Tobirama asked coolly.

"Yes... it has..." Hashirama Diandian nodded, his face full of helplessness...

"What? Do they want to go to war with Konoha?" Madara asked coldly from beside him. Fierce flames burned in his eyes. Let no one forget that Madara was a warmonger, too.

"No... according to their message, Kumogakure's representatives and the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning strongly condemn you two for dishonorably going over there and beating up their Raikage... They want Konoha to provide compensation, but they didn't mention wanting to start a war." Hashirama Senju gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"What did our daimyo say?" Tobirama asked.

"Our daimyo rejected the Land of Lightning's letter and told them that if they wanted a fight, they should come and fight..." Hashirama's headache worsened...

Before, he could at least keep his younger brother and Madara in check... But now the daimyo had joined in, too... Every last one of them was a hardliner... For Hashirama, who considered peace in the Shinobi World his responsibility, it was utterly exhausting... He had a heavy burden and a long road ahead!

"Hmph. Looks like that daimyo isn't such a disappointment after all," Tobirama Senju said with a cold laugh.

"All right. Since there's nothing else, I'll be leaving. Hmph, Hashirama, I'll be waiting for you there this afternoon." Before leaving, Madara once again challenged Hashirama to a dance battle.

"Heh, Madara, the Senju Girl Group and I came up with lots of new Ninjutsu moves last night. We definitely won't lose to you this time!!" Hashirama scoffed twice, speaking with utter disdain.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, ugly boy. It's been a whole month, and you haven't beaten me once." At the doorway, Madara turned back to mock Hashirama, then left with a Body Flicker Technique.

"Damn it!! Madara!!! I'll definitely beat you this time!!" Hashirama Senju pointed angrily at the empty spot where Madara had vanished and howled.

"Hmph, you're only a billionth of a bit more handsome than me. Damn you." Even after he finished howling, he kept muttering under his breath...

"All right, I'll be leaving, too. I still have plenty to do today, and I have to teach at school tomorrow." Tobirama held his forehead, gave Hashirama that speechless response, then left with Flying Thunder God.

"Kid, want to go out for some dango?" After leaving the Hokage office, Madara reached Dave's house with a Body Flicker Technique. As usual, he hopped over the wall and called to Dave, who was still planting vegetables.