Tajima: Who Did Madara Play with All Night?

It was even darker inside than outside the window.

Only a single hallway lamp flickered erratically.

Madara Uchiha tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Suddenly, someone's face came to mind, and he gritted his teeth.

Madara Uchiha was so agitated that he was on the verge of rage.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he kept picturing Yanbai huddled in a corner, staring at him.

Ah... I can't fall asleep!

This is torture!

At that moment, Madara Uchiha finally understood what Hashirama Senju had meant when he told him, "You actually have that kind of compulsion? You poor thing. You really need to fix it..."

No!

I can't sleep!

Madara Uchiha abruptly scrambled out of his bedding, then darted around the empty room, rummaging through every chest and cabinet.

Only after confirming that Yanbai really wasn't in the room did Madara Uchiha lie back down.

Yanbai went home!

Yanbai isn't here!

Yanbai isn't here! (×N)

Madara Uchiha kept reminding himself that Yanbai had gone home, that Yanbai was no longer here, and that he should stop imagining him staring from a corner.

"Yanbai's not here, so there's nothing to fear!"

Yes... that's how I need to think.

Whether those thoughts had worked like a lullaby or he had simply exhausted himself by fussing all night, he couldn't tell.

Only when sunlight spilled across the earth did Madara Uchiha fall into a deep sleep.

Not long afterward, Uchiha Tajima silently slid open the room's door, carrying Uchiha Izuna, who was also sound asleep.

To prevent anything unexpected from happening, Uchiha Tajima personally looked after both children.

Uchiha Tajima wouldn't subject his own son to any particularly harsh interrogation. The previous night, he had merely hypnotized Uchiha Izuna, then asked questions to make him recount his experiences while unconscious.

But listening to that account had taken the entire night.

"An enchanting woman..."

"Overwhelming strength..."

"A gift for healing..."

"Unknown ancestry..."

"The Forest Lord..."

The information Uchiha Izuna revealed was too alarming, and Uchiha Tajima needed time to think. Moreover, Izuna clearly knew little about the Silver-Haired Girl himself, which only made her seem more mysterious.

But Izuna was still too young, and Uchiha Tajima had no intention of questioning him further.

Once the technique was released, Uchiha Izuna had fallen sound asleep.

Uchiha Tajima placed the sleeping Izuna beside Madara and opened a nearby cabinet to get bedding for him, only to find the contents in complete disarray.

Uchiha Tajima's brow furrowed, and he glanced at the sleeping Madara Uchiha without betraying his thoughts.

Had Madara woken up in the middle of the night and rummaged through the cabinet?

Madara was badly injured. Even if he had woken up, why would he rummage through the cabinet?

Puzzled, Uchiha Tajima took the bedding out of the cabinet and sniffed the quilt, his face expressionless.

Sure enough...

It smelled of medicine. Madara must have handled this quilt.

But why?

Uchiha Tajima's doubts deepened.

Still, without showing any reaction, Uchiha Tajima spread the bedding on the tatami, laid Izuna on the sleeping mat, and covered him with the quilt.

Once Izuna was settled.

Uchiha Tajima went over to where the wound medicine was stored and pulled open the drawer, only to find that all the medicine bottles had been moved.

Uchiha Tajima narrowed his eyes. Had Madara handled the medicine?

Uchiha Tajima picked up the medicine and bandages he needed and approached Madara Uchiha, his face expressionless. He gently lifted the quilt, preparing to change Madara's dressing.

Madara seemed to be sleeping restlessly. He furrowed his brow, shifted a little, then drifted back to sleep.

Uchiha Tajima wondered whether Madara had seen him coming and was deliberately pretending to sleep, but the dark circles beneath Madara's eyes made him think he might be overthinking things.

However...

It was precisely that glance that made Uchiha Tajima's brow furrow even deeper.

Madara looked so haggard that it seemed he had stayed awake all night and only just fallen asleep.

Awake all night?

What had this child been doing? He was so badly injured, yet he had stayed up in the middle of the night, rummaging through everything...

Countless questions gnawed at Uchiha Tajima.

Even so, Uchiha Tajima remembered his responsibilities and silently began changing Madara Uchiha's dressing.

But as he unwound the old bandages, Uchiha Tajima's expression turned frightening.

Tajima hurriedly removed all the bandages, only to discover...

Madara's injuries... had actually healed overnight!

Uchiha Tajima abruptly scanned the room's windows and doors, then looked up at the ceiling beams.

Uchiha Tajima understood. She... had been here...

Uchiha Tajima's face turned livid. That girl with her heaven-defying gift for healing had slipped in to see Madara while he was questioning Izuna.

Judging by the state of the room, they had even played all night!

Yet the Uchiha Clan hadn't noticed a thing.

What a disgrace!

This was an absolute disgrace!

Uchiha Tajima's expression twisted, and his Sharingan activated on its own.

Madara and Izuna needed to be moved to different quarters. Security needed to be increased... Every animal in the Clan Grounds that wasn't being kept had to be killed.

Uchiha Tajima silently watched the sleeping Madara. He had intended to repeat the same trick once Madara woke up, questioning him just as he had Izuna, but now...

From that point onward, even as the Uchiha Clan launched its campaign to annihilate the Hagoromo Clan, Clan Leader Tajima rather strangely initiated a campaign to exterminate rats and insects.

The Senju Clan, the Clan Leader's Residence.

The courtyard at the very back belonged exclusively to Yanbai.

The day before, Yanbai had returned home within the allotted time, as though he had merely gone out for a stroll. He had even brought Tobirama Senju grilled fish with perilla.

While passing the Naka River, Yanbai had caught a fish in an instant, then gathered leaves, perilla, and seasonings along the way. He had used Water Release to gut the fish and wash the ingredients, coated the fish in seasonings, wrapped it in leaves, then encased the leaf-wrapped fish in clay using Earth Release. All the way home, he had precisely controlled his chakra to grill the fish with Fire Release.

By the time Yanbai returned to the Clan Grounds, the grilled fish was just ready.

No matter how one looked at it, it seemed that Yanbai had gone out specifically to prepare a late-night snack, with perfect timing.

Tobirama Senju was utterly speechless, then shared the late-night snack with Yanbai and his cat...

Unbelievable. Yanbai hadn't just made him keep watch; he'd even prepared their cover story.

Although Tobirama Senju had initially grumbled about it, the grilled fish smelled far too delicious. Besides, Yanbai was safe and sound, so... he might as well let him do as he pleased. The Uchiha would be the ones suffering anyway.

Tobirama Senju stayed at Yanbai's place until the latter half of the night. Sure enough, Butsuma Senju caught him red-handed when he left.

Once Butsuma Senju learned that Tobirama Senju had gone to his younger sister's courtyard in the middle of the night to eat grilled fish, he asked no further questions.

Only then did Tobirama Senju realize that Yanbai had long been capable of sneaking out of the Clan Grounds at night. He had held back all this time because his second older brother might notice and obstruct the execution of his subsequent plans.

That was why Yanbai had been waiting for this opportunity, waiting for Tobirama Senju to hand it to him willingly...

Now, as long as Tobirama Senju covered for him, their father Butsuma would be taken care of.

Because, for the moment, Butsuma Senju would never imagine that even "Tobirama, the person Yanbai hated most," was in league with Yanbai.

Tobirama Senju knew he was Yanbai's accomplice, and now that he was aboard, this ship of thieves was sailing farther and farther away... There was no going back...