He Wasn't Even Smarter Than a Duck

Yanbai reached a superficial reconciliation with his father, Butsuma.

Madara Uchiha was also racing back to the Uchiha Clan Grounds at full speed.

Along the way, a flock of night birds chased Madara Uchiha. At first, he thought he was under attack, which held him up for quite some time. Only when the birds dropped a torn strip of green cloth onto his head did he realize what had happened.

Written on the cloth in charcoal were the words: "You got played, so you awakened your eyes."

Reading those words, Madara Uchiha recalled Yanbai saying with innocent sincerity, "Let me play with you a few more times."

Madara Uchiha: "..."

Played, my ass!

Madara Uchiha irritably burned the strip of cloth with Fire Release.

Damn that Yanbai!

At the time, Madara had genuinely believed Yanbai meant to kill him. But looking back now, how stupid had he been? It was all because Yanbai was such a good actor...

But...

Was Yanbai really acting?

Did Yanbai really not want to kill me?

At that thought, Madara Uchiha's expression grew melancholy.

Whatever the case, he was still alive. With everything going on, he had no time to wallow in his feelings. Izuna must have returned to the Clan Grounds by now, right?

Thinking of that, Madara Uchiha couldn't help picking up speed again. After Yanbai's treatment, he seemed to have grown a little stronger...

Meanwhile.

At the Uchiha Clan Leader's Residence.

A group of Uchiha Clan members sat in a circle with solemn expressions, wearing traditional Uchiha robes with fan emblems on their backs.

Uchiha Tajima sat at the head, his arms folded as he surveyed everyone before him.

Uchiha Izuna, who had returned to the Clan Grounds first, stood beside Tajima.

At that moment, the clansmen before them were passing around a simple portrait.

Had Madara Uchiha been there, he would certainly have recognized Yanbai in it.

Uchiha Izuna had drawn it. The figure in the portrait bore an almost perfect resemblance to the real Yanbai. That face, like an exquisitely crafted doll's, made it hard to imagine that such a person could truly exist.

Uchiha Izuna was the youngest son of the current Uchiha Clan head and Madara Uchiha's younger brother. His father and older brother had placed great hopes in him since childhood, and he was hailed as a genius ninja.

Uchiha Izuna's talents were not limited to ninjutsu and Taijutsu. He had seen Yanbai many times, and that unforgettable face was deeply etched in his mind.

Originally, Uchiha Izuna had assumed Yanbai was a beautiful boy with long hair, because he couldn't believe his older brother would spend time with a delicate girl.

But after witnessing that scene today, Uchiha Izuna felt his assumptions had been overturned far too abruptly.

Uchiha Izuna had drawn Yanbai's face long ago, but only today had he brought the portrait out and handed it to his beloved father.

After passing the portrait around, every Uchiha Clan member seated in the circle shook their head solemnly.

Their reactions showed that none of them had ever seen the child in the portrait.

That was not necessarily good news.

Uchiha Tajima summoned a trusted subordinate, handed him the portrait, and whispered something into his ear.

The subordinate nodded solemnly, folded the portrait, tucked it inside his robes, and respectfully withdrew.

Uchiha Izuna watched the entire exchange. He knew his father was sending someone to pursue the girl in the portrait through other channels.

Uchiha Tajima looked at Izuna beside him. "Has Madara still not returned?"

"My brother should be here soon," Uchiha Izuna said calmly. "Before I came back, he..." Was embracing that girl...

At that point, Uchiha Izuna hesitated and stopped.

There were too many people here.

Uchiha Izuna was young, but children matured early in the Warring States era. Whatever the circumstances, he would not broadcast his older brother's private affairs.

After all, there was no telling what lay in another person's heart.

The Uchiha Clan had no shortage of ruthless people. If they found something to use against Madara, it would put him at a serious disadvantage.

Uchiha Tajima frowned. He briefly closed his eyes, then said in an unhurried tone, "When he returns, have him come see me..."

"Yes, Father."

Moonlight bore the night down upon the earth in silence.

On this night filled with the cries of insects, the Uchiha Clan Grounds, which should have been peacefully asleep, were instead ablaze with lights.

The gray-black buildings blended into the darkness.

At the entrance to the Clan Grounds, the flag bearing the fan emblem fluttered in the wind.

Madara Uchiha returned to the Clan Grounds with an uneasy heart, but instead of going to his room as usual, he went elsewhere.

The moment he entered the Clan Grounds, his younger brother Izuna intercepted him. Soon afterward, Madara faced his father, Uchiha Tajima's, questioning.

"Madara, you've been meeting a silver-haired girl quite often lately, haven't you?"

"Father..." Madara Uchiha instinctively clenched his fists beneath his sleeves. His father had asked about "a silver-haired girl," not "a boy and a girl."

"Do you want to ask how I know?" Uchiha Tajima gave a cold chuckle.

Madara Uchiha remained silent, thinking to himself that he had no intention of asking. He already knew...

Kneeling beside Uchiha Tajima, Uchiha Izuna said coldly, "Brother, I was ordered to follow you. You've been going out far too often lately, and I wanted to know what was happening with you."

Madara Uchiha's brow furrowed. This was exactly what Yanbai had predicted.

Except the script had changed from "meeting a boy" to "meeting a girl."

Uchiha Tajima looked at his eldest son. "We investigated that girl. She belongs to the Senju Clan."

Madara Uchiha's heart lurched.

Yet at that moment, the story Yanbai had coached him on flashed through his mind, and he blurted out, "Impossible. She has no clan..."

As those words escaped instinctively, Madara Uchiha froze.

Yanbai got everything right!

Uchiha Tajima had asked only about a "silver-haired girl," not "a boy and a girl." That confirmed Izuna had not discovered Hashirama.

It was Yanbai... Yanbai misled Izuna!

Moreover, Yanbai had said that even within the Senju Clan, fewer people knew him than Madara might imagine. He had only become a girl less than a year ago; before that, he had gone about the Senju Clan as a boy.

Too little time had passed since his change of identity.

After changing his appearance, Yanbai spent all day following Hashirama around. Only the clansmen he had treated knew him.

And those Senju Clan members understood Yanbai's value very well. Without a special reason, they would never readily divulge information about him.

In every clan, women were valued only for bearing children. Even those with talent as ninja received little special attention. Other clans usually investigated the gifted boys among their enemies.

Even if there had been a gap in that reasoning and Uchiha Tajima had indeed discovered that Yanbai belonged to the Senju Clan, Madara Uchiha still had to follow their original plan and deny it outright.

No matter how certain Uchiha Tajima was that Yanbai came from the Senju Clan, Madara Uchiha had to insist that he did not.

Madara wasn't trying to clear Yanbai's name. He was trying to clear himself of suspicion.

While he was still so weak, his only choice was to lie low.

Silence settled over the father and his two sons.

After an indeterminate stretch of time, a smile suddenly appeared on Uchiha Tajima's stern face. "Madara, have you awakened your eyes?"

Even at those words, Madara Uchiha did not dare relax his taut nerves. He kept his head lowered. "Yes."

"Oh... because of that girl?" Uchiha Tajima asked quietly.

Madara Uchiha stared at the tatami before him, his pupils trembling slightly.

The words on that green strip of cloth appeared in his mind: "You got played, so you awakened your eyes."

As though struggling to admit it, Madara Uchiha replied, "Mm..."

Did Yanbai even prepare a reason for my awakening?

No... or did Yanbai deliberately provoke him into awakening his eyes to divert his father's attention?

Once he had the Sharingan, everything else became less important.

"This certainly calls for celebration," Uchiha Tajima said with a smile. "The memories that child gave you were probably far from pleasant. Kill her the next time you meet. If you still like her, you can bring her back to the clan instead."

Madara Uchiha: "..."

Just as I thought... that claim about discovering Yanbai belonged to the Senju Clan was a lie. They haven't found anything yet, or he wouldn't have added that last part.

However, Uchiha Izuna said expressionlessly beside him, "You should kill her. That girl is wicked. I saw with my own eyes how she tricked wild ducks out of their eggs. She must be deceiving you just as she deceived those ducks, Brother."

Madara Uchiha: "..."

He knew Yanbai truly had a nasty personality, but... in Izuna's eyes, was his older brother not even smarter than a duck?

PS: Finally finished all the formalities. Now I can start doing my best to post extra updates~~~