Children speak their minds

An ordinary jōnin was practically the weakest member of Uchiha Fugaku's group. With their overwhelming superiority in individual strength, the battle quickly became a slaughter, even with nine against fifteen.

The fifteen Iwagakure shinobi fell one after another at the hands of Uchiha Fugaku's group. Even when faced with an Iwagakure child of only ten, Uchiha Aren showed no hesitation. His hands formed hand seals, and he spat out a Great Fireball. The ten-year-old's figure vanished into the flames.

"Run! I'll buy you time!"

As the jōnin leading the Iwagakure team watched his subordinates die gruesomely before his eyes, he immediately concluded that their ambush had failed.

To preserve Iwagakure's fighting strength, he chose then and there to stay behind and buy his comrades time.

They had lain in ambush behind the lines to kill some of Konoha's weaker young shinobi. The Iwagakure jōnin could not understand why they had encountered such a powerful Uchiha Clan squad at the edge of the battlefield.

What an ugly sword swing. This boy Fugaku does have some skill.

His willingness to sacrifice himself for his comrades was commendable. Unfortunately, the Iwagakure jōnin's opponent was Uchiha Fugaku.

With his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Fugaku could see the Iwagakure jōnin's movements clearly. He merely shifted one body-width to the left, easily evading the shinobi's slash. Then, taking advantage of his opponent's momentary lapse, Fugaku drew his blade across the man's chest.

Blood sprayed through the air, and the Iwagakure shinobi collapsed unconscious at Fugaku's feet.

"Kill them all."

Once they stepped onto the battlefield, they were mortal enemies. If even one of these fifteen escaped today, that survivor might one day turn the Slayer's Blade on the Uchiha clansmen or Konoha's villagers. With Madara Uchiha, Fugaku was a loving father, but on the battlefield, he had to be a cold-blooded butcher.

At Uchiha Fugaku's command, the members of his squad followed him in pursuit of the enemy.

After confirming that the battlefield was safe, Madara Uchiha emerged from his hiding place at the rear and stepped onto the rocky Wasteland.

"Water, water! Give me water!"

As Madara Uchiha took in the atmosphere of the battlefield, the Iwagakure jōnin whom Uchiha Fugaku had struck unconscious actually woke up again. But Fugaku's strike had been merciless. Even though the slash had not killed his opponent, it had left the Iwagakure shinobi almost completely unable to fight.

The shinobi's cries were now nothing more than an instinctive plea for survival.

Losing too much blood does make you thirsty.

Madara Uchiha's indifferent gaze swept over the dying man struggling to live. The next second, a shuriken from Madara Uchiha lodged precisely between the shinobi's brows.

This was a battlefield. There was no need to show kindness to an enemy here, or you would be the one to die.

Having spent a lifetime on battlefields, Madara Uchiha knew their rules well. Without the slightest hesitation, he ended the Iwagakure shinobi's life.

"Did you do this?"

Although Fugaku had gone off in pursuit, he had not forgotten that his child was still at the rear. After killing another enemy jōnin who posed a threat to his clansmen, he immediately hurried back. When he returned, he happened to witness Madara Uchiha attacking the Iwagakure shinobi.

"Yes, Father. When nations go to war, strangers have to slaughter each other for no reason. Just as you killed that ten-year-old child from Iwagakure, the people of Iwagakure wouldn't show me mercy either, would they?"

Looking at the four-year-old Madara Uchiha, Uchiha Fugaku did not know whether to feel happy or sad.

Before his own first kill, he had needed a great deal of mental preparation. Yet his four-year-old child had so easily killed a stranger who had originally had nothing to do with him. Had this four-year-old already grasped the essence of war after a single encounter?

"Father, if everyone lived in one country, wouldn't there be much less of this meaningless slaughter?"

Wars were waged by nations. The great shinobi villages and their Kage were merely pieces those nations used in battle. If everyone lived under the rule of one country, would such meaningless fighting disappear?

The peace that promised everyone eternal happiness in a world of illusions had already been proven a complete and utter fraud. Since that once-and-for-all solution was nonsense, Madara Uchiha did not mind beginning to explore ways to achieve peace in reality.

"Bring everyone together under one country? If it could be done, it should reduce a great deal of meaningless fighting. But I'm afraid even if Lord Hashirama, the God of Shinobi, came back to life, he couldn't unite all the great shinobi villages and Great Nations. After all, we shinobi are merely tools of the Land of Fire's Daimyo. All our Uchiha Clan can do is preserve this hard-won peace as best we can."

Children spoke their minds. Fugaku had been worried about his child's mental well-being after his first kill, but when he heard Madara Uchiha suggest that everyone should live in one country, he could not help laughing.

If bringing everyone into one country were possible, the world would not be in its current state.

The Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Water—beyond the Five Great Nations were the powerful Land of Iron, the remote Land of Snow, and smaller countries such as the Land of Rice Fields. Weren't disputes over territory between these countries' Daimyo the very reason wars broke out across the Shinobi world?

The idea of having everyone live in one country was good, but who would become the Daimyo of that united nation? Who had enough prestige to keep the armed forces of the Five Great Nations and the smaller countries in check?

Realizing the fantasy of bringing everyone under one country would take at least another dozen or so wars across the Shinobi world. How many people would still be alive by then?

And even if everyone really did come under one country, would that eliminate conflict? Beneath countries were villages, and beneath villages were clans. The conflicts of interest between clans in Konoha alone already gave Fugaku headaches. As long as people existed, there would always be scheming and deceit.

Fugaku gently tapped Madara Uchiha's forehead.

"For me, knowing that you and your mother are safe and healthy is enough. Itachi, as your father, I'll do everything I can to give you a place where you can grow up safely. Having everyone live under one country is a good idea, but it's impossible to achieve. I brought you out here this time because I wanted you to understand how cruel war is and how precious peace is. It seems you understand now, don't you?"