At the entrance to Taiji Palace.
"System, I'm going to draw now. Please don't give me anything weird this time."
A virtual wheel spun before his eyes. Madara and Tobirama showed no reaction, so they probably couldn't see it.
He continued giving Tobirama instructions through the wheel, while three slots on it glowed gold.
Tetsuhiro silently prayed, Please let me land on one. My strength is starting to fall behind!
As though heaven had answered him, the pointer slowly moved toward the golden glow...
"Come on, faster! Just a little more!" Tetsuhiro focused all his attention on the pointer, staring as it trembled at the edge of a golden slot. He swallowed.
Missing it last time made Madara misunderstand me and nearly got me killed. Please don't pull any more nonsense this time, or I really won't want to draw again.
"No! You were almost there!" The pointer slowly stopped, initially resting on a golden slot, only to suddenly jump one space to the right.
[Congratulations! The host has obtained a set of Bamboo Slips.]
But Tetsuhiro showed no reaction. He looked utterly despondent, muttering, "My legendary drop... My golden legendary drop is gone..."
"What's that?" Tobirama glanced over. His big brother hadn't been holding anything earlier, had he? How had something suddenly appeared in his hand?
And why did it look a little familiar?
"I don't know, and I don't want to know. My legendary drop..."
"Hmm? Let me see." Madara hadn't been interested at first, but once Tobirama wanted it, he instinctively wanted to snatch it away.
"Wait!" The more Tobirama looked at the Bamboo Slips, the more familiar they seemed. Could they be...?
Tobirama immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to snatch them, only to be forcibly pushed back by a repulsive force.
"Give them to me, you bastard!"
Seeing how much Tobirama cared only made Madara more interested.
He went straight over, took them, and unrolled them to read.
"So that's it. How interesting."
Seeing how agitated Tobirama was, Tetsuhiro grew curious too. "Madara, what is it? Let me take a look."
"Big brother, don't read it!" Furious and embarrassed, Tobirama rushed over to snatch it back.
"Heh, heh." Madara lifted his gaze from the slips, dodging Tobirama as he said cheerfully, "Since you won't let him read it, I suppose I'll just have to read it aloud."
-Spring's arrival, overcast.
"Big brother has been getting closer and closer to that guy lately. What should I do?"
-Second month of spring, sunny.
"Big brother actually wants to make that guy Hokage? Absolutely not! Only big brother can be Hokage!"
Madara raised an eyebrow. "This one's even better. Here comes the good part."
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Tobirama threw three kunai and darted rapidly between them.
He had even brought out Flying Thunder God.
Madara dodged effortlessly. "You're nowhere near strong enough."
But as he read further, his voice grew subdued, and his gaze turned serious.
"Ever since Itama and Kawarama died, Father has grown increasingly strict with us. I couldn't feel any warmth at home. Only you, big brother, stepped forward when I was at my loneliest and brought a ray of sunshine into my life."
"Father died in battle, and you successfully took over the clan and defeated the evil... clan?"
He didn't read the whole thing, but Tetsuhiro could guess what it said.
Madara immediately grew irritated. He kicked Tobirama away and continued reading.
"Until recently, when your light shone on me once again. Big brother has been treating me better and better, trusting and supporting me unconditionally. If you keep this up, I might really become unable to live without you...?!"
Madara drew out the last words in shocked disbelief, looking back and forth between Tetsuhiro and Tobirama.
Whoosh! Burning with humiliation, Tobirama formed a one-handed seal, his fingertips trembling with anger, and immediately teleported.
Holy crap, that's explosive! Tetsuhiro thought. What kind of lousy system is this? First Madara, now Tobirama. You might as well just kill me.
Still, you're the one who heartlessly stabbed me. Don't blame me for not stepping in to save you. You deserved this one!
Done with his complaints, Tetsuhiro prepared to excuse himself and leave. "Well, I've got something to do, so I'll be going."
"Stop!" Those two words alone made Tetsuhiro freeze, as though his feet had turned to lead.
"Why are you leaving?" Madara tossed him the Bamboo Slips. "Weren't we going to deal with Black Zetsu? This trip wasn't wasted. I got a good laugh out of it."
"A laugh? I thought you were angry."
???
Three question marks practically appeared over Madara's head. "Why would I be angry? Oh, the 'evil' part? That damned Senju... Tobirama! A coward who only dares play dirty behind people's backs!"
"Forget him. Let's find somewhere to summon the Ten-Tails."
[Ding!!! Bamboo Slips information completed.] [Tobirama Senju's Diary] [Description: Plain Bamboo Slips covered in their owner's memories and emotions.] [Humiliating him to the point of social death will increase Bond Level by 1%.] [Tobirama's current Bond Level with the host: 98%.]
"Great! The way things played out was a little strange, but it was worth it. Didn't you say I had no talent? I'm going to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique!"
The two arrived at an open area behind the mountain.
Following the sensation he sensed, Madara slapped the ground. Bang!
An enormous wooden monster was summoned.
Its sealed mouth gave muffled groans. "Mmmph..." The vibrations in its throat shook leaves loose.
Its hands and feet were bound in shackles, and its nine white pupils were particularly striking.
The commotion immediately alerted everyone nearby. They hurried over using the Body Flicker Technique, and an alarm sounded.
"Stay calm. We're studying this thing. Everyone disperse, and turn off the alarm."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After dismissing everyone, the two studied it for a while longer. Madara cut off the tubes extending from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He had no intention of letting it bind him.
Tetsuhiro pointed at its eyes. "This is called the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It's also the Ten-Tails' husk. See how its eyes correspond to the nine tailed beasts? But I don't want to..."
Just then, all the tailed beasts came running. Some were anxious, some afraid, and some recoiled from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which was twice their size.
Kurama said, "Madara, you really did summon it after all. Let's get this straight: we'd rather die than let this thing absorb us!"
"That's right!"
"Exactly!" The other tailed beasts immediately chimed in.
"I was just getting to that," Tetsuhiro continued. "I don't want you to disappear either. Since you're all here, give each of us some of your chakra, then take another half and feed it to the Ten-Tails!"
Shukaku immediately protested, "What? No! That'll weaken me!"
Gyuki shoved him down and reminded him quietly, "Idiot, are you trying to get us killed? It's only some chakra. It's not like we'll lose a chunk of flesh. If we actually get swallowed, we're finished!"
They followed his gaze toward Madara Uchiha and saw his purple Rinnegan exposed, his eyes ice-cold.
The tailed beasts who had still been hesitating quickly agreed.
Refusing wasn't an option. These two fiends would simply take it themselves.
Shukaku said stiffly, "Fine. As long as you don't make us go inside."
The tailed beasts complied one by one. A short while later...
As though restored to life, the Ten-Tails broke through its seal and shackles, roaring wildly as the ten pillars on its back swayed.
It instinctively moved toward the tailed beasts, frightening them into retreating again and again.
Kurama hurriedly shouted, "Hashirama, Madara, stop it!"
Only after enjoying the beasts' embarrassing display did Madara force the Ten-Tails to stop. "What next?"
"It still needs time to evolve."
Suddenly, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path dropped onto all fours. Its body began to swell, gradually turning into an even larger crawling monster, ten tails dancing through the sky.
Its nine eyes also merged into one enormous red Tomoe Rinnegan with five tomoe.
Madara looked at its savage appearance with satisfaction.
Soon, it began evolving again. Hands grew at the ends of its tails, and its legs supported its body as it took on a humanoid shape once more.
"It's already reached its second form?" Tetsuhiro was a little surprised. Perhaps it was because they had used half of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"Let it stay here for now. We'll go to Mount Myōboku and ask about a place-a place that leads to the moon..."
Tetsuhiro raised his hand, and five members of the Covert Operations Squad immediately appeared beside him.
"Keep it under strict watch. No one is allowed near it."
Afterward, following Tetsuhiro's lead, the two went to find the Toad Sage and ask whether he knew where the passage Hamura Otsutsuki had once used to transport supplies to the moon was located.
"..."
"The Great Toad Sage has fallen asleep. He does that often. Please wait a moment." Fukasaku quickly hopped up beside his ear and tried to wake him.
"Hmm, oh... I know this one. The passage is inside the largest pond deep in the dense forest along the Land of Fire's border."
"Thanks. Let's go."
After the two left, the Toad Sage said meaningfully, "The future is changing. My dreams are growing harder and harder to see clearly. Hagoromo, what exactly are you trying to achieve?"
Fukasaku and Shima asked curiously, "What exactly does the future look like?"
"..."
"Huh? How did he fall asleep again?"
Before you continue