The strange vision in Madara's eyes lasted only a fleeting instant. Then the god tree source power carried by the shingetsu cells inside him fell completely dormant.
Ding! Your one-second God Tree trial has now been permanently deactivated!
"Madara, what's wrong?"
Once everything returned to normal, Madara blinked again. There was no man behind Hashirama and no tree behind Shingetsu. Madara Uchiha looked as though he had just awakened from a dream, a trace of confusion still lingering in his eyes.
Driven by some instinct passed down through generations, his first reaction was to hide it immediately:
"...I'm fine."
Madara's gaze drifted toward Shingetsu without his realizing it. For some reason, he instinctively felt that all of this had something to do with her.
But the little girl was like a stubborn little animal. When she saw him looking over, she pressed her lips together defiantly, hid behind Hashirama, and turned away, refusing to look at him.
A bitter ache filled Madara's heart. He wanted to call out to her, but ultimately couldn't get the words out. Much of his joy at obtaining the Rinnegan vanished in an instant.
If he didn't hit the child, she could infuriate him half to death. Yet the moment he actually did, he started aching for her and regretting it.
In that respect, Madara Uchiha was exactly like many ordinary parents.
"Madara, let's head back to Konoha first."
Sensing the strange atmosphere around them, even the usually carefree Hashirama smiled a little awkwardly before reaching out to gently pick Shingetsu up.
Shingetsu immediately buried her face deep in the crook of his arm, seemingly hiding from Madara's gaze.
Madara could only sigh deeply and take Tsunade's hand, his heart full of helplessness.
"Let's go."
After returning to Konoha, the first thing Madara did