"Hashirama and I already know what happened in Kirigakure."
After deciding to stand against Byakuren, Hōzuki Oborozuki and his two companions rushed to the Ninja Academy office. They worked up the courage to report Byakuren to Madara Uchiha, who was grading assignments and writing lesson plans, only to receive an answer they had never expected.
The trio exchanged looks. For a moment, the atmosphere grew suffocatingly heavy, broken only by their rapid, panicked breathing.
After a brief silence, Hōzuki Oborozuki, worried about his uncle, gathered his courage and cautiously asked Madara:
"...Then will you and Teacher Hashirama do something, Teacher Madara?"
Madara Uchiha raised his head and stared steadily at them.
His deep gaze was like solid ice, as though it would pierce their very souls. Minazuki Rin shuddered, so frightened she could barely stand, but she forced down her fear and resolutely spoke up for Gengetsu:
"The Mizukage hates our teacher, Lord Gengetsu, precisely because he's always done everything he can to stop academy students from killing one another! Teacher Madara, please, help the children of Kirigakure!"
Minazuki Rin's words were true, but they were not the whole truth.
Besides openly opposing Byakuren in the political arena, Hozuki Gengetsu had secretly assembled a fleet for smuggling and trained ordinary clan members as civilian shinobi. Oh, and he had kept winning over shinobi and civilians from every level of Kirigakure society. His intentions to rebel could hardly have been more blatant, and his recklessness knew no bounds.
Byakuren might have been an utter idiot when it came to governing, but as a powerful shinobi who had fought his way through the chaos of the Warring States era, he was clearly not good-tempered enough to tolerate provocation on this scale.
Instead of immediately tearing Mustache limb from limb, he had imprisoned