The gathering storm

"Your strength still isn't enough to kill him. You need more help!"

"Go to the Land of Lightning. You'll find allies there."

"I won't help you on the road ahead. You need to prove to me that you have the strength to become Clan Head. This is also my test for you."

Black Zetsu gave his orders. Uchiha Kagami gritted his teeth in frustration, but obeyed anyway.

He stumbled out of the cave in a daze. Looking at the crimson sunset filling the sky, he remembered his wife's beautiful smile, and sorrow welled up in his heart.

I'm sorry. I disappointed you so badly that you chose to end your own life...

But not this time!

This time, I absolutely won't let you down!

A few days earlier, Black Zetsu had appeared beside Uchiha Kagami's wife, possessed her, and written a suicide note with her own hands. Its contents were much as Watanabe Ichiro had guessed.

It mostly accused Uchiha Kagami of not being a real man because he hadn't fought for the position of Uchiha Clan Head, followed by a lot of "I'm so disappointed" and so on, all intended to incite him to fight Watanabe Ichiro.

After seeing his wife's body and the letter, Uchiha Kagami had nearly fallen apart.

His wife had been strong-willed, and with the mood swings brought on by pregnancy, she really might have done something like this.

He had thought his constant, attentive companionship would help-that she wouldn't do anything foolish!

But what was done was done, and there was no undoing it. Unfortunately, the emotional shock hadn't awakened his Mangekyo, either.

Unwilling to give up, Black Zetsu had emerged while Kagami was consumed by grief, claiming to be the guardian of the Uchiha who had assisted every Uchiha Clan Head throughout history.

But the current Clan Head hadn't earned his approval, so he had been searching the clan for someone worthy of the position.

"And that person is you! Uchiha Kagami!"

Still reeling from his wife's death, Uchiha Kagami had quickly believed Black Zetsu's story and begun training under his guidance specifically to fight Watanabe Ichiro.

Once he felt he had more or less mastered it, Uchiha Kagami had stepped forward to formally challenge Watanabe Ichiro. The frustration and regret of losing to Flying Thunder God had then pushed his negative emotions past the threshold, successfully awakening his Mangekyo.

When Black Zetsu noticed his awakening and his intense desire to kill Watanabe Ichiro, he immediately knocked the medical ninja unconscious from behind, possessed Uchiha Kagami, and used his body to escape.

Only after getting far away from Konoha had he returned control of the body to Kagami, soothed him, and talked him into leaving.

Black Zetsu didn't care where Uchiha Kagami went. An Uchiha with a Mangekyo could generally do as he pleased in the shinobi world, as long as he didn't attack Watanabe Ichiro in Konoha.

Having already lost Plan A, Black Zetsu didn't want his Plan B to fail as well. His heart couldn't take much more.

Ever since the battle in Konohagakure that had lasted seven days and seven nights, intelligence agents from every nation had mobilized.

They flew through the skies, ran across the ground, and swam through the water.

Each agent used their own talents, crowding into Konoha in search of answers.

Before long, intelligence reports with much the same contents landed on desks in every nation.

A mysterious enemy, [Black Zetsu], had appeared. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had joined forces against him, and Madara Uchiha had died in battle.

"What?"

"You're joking, right?"

"Investigate again!"

This report unsettled the leaders of every nation in the shinobi world. Just how powerful was an enemy that even those two couldn't defeat?

Was the shinobi world about to be turned upside down?

Yet no matter how the agents investigated, everyone in Konoha presented a united front, repeating the same story and insisting that this enemy did exist.

As for information about the enemy?

"We're planning to sell the tailed beasts we've captured. You're welcome to bring supplies Konoha wants and purchase them. Information about the enemy will be included as a complimentary gift and won't be sold separately."

"Please note! This tailed beast sale is a limited offer. It will happen once, and only once!"

"If you miss your chance and an enemy buys the tailed beast you wanted, don't come crying to us."

The upcoming Five Kage Summit stirred the shinobi world into turmoil.

Not only could attendees purchase tailed beasts, they could also receive free intelligence about the powerful enemy [Black Zetsu]. The leaders of the other Four Nations debated endlessly, and every office rang with arguments.

Some supported attending, others opposed it. Some intended to trade for tailed beasts, others did not...

The divided leaders argued fiercely with one another. Sometimes things grew so heated that they actually came to blows, turning their debates into outright brawls.

Regardless, Konoha had made quite a show of its intentions and had partially achieved its goal of throwing the situation into turmoil.

The entire shinobi world focused its attention on the Five Kage Summit ten days away, quietly watching to see how the situation would develop.

As the organizer, Tobirama Senju had been so busy lately that he was practically coughing blood.

Where should the Five Kage Summit be held? Relations between the five nations were strained. What location would satisfy them all?

How could Hashirama Senju regain his full strength? This summit was meant to buy time for Konoha to develop. If Konoha's strongest fighter was in poor condition and the other Kage noticed, they wouldn't be intimidating the Four Nations-they would be laying their own weakness bare for everyone to see.

Who would guard the tailed beasts? If something went wrong with the nine tailed beasts, who had the strength to suppress them temporarily?

There were also all sorts of miscellaneous tasks, such as requesting the daimyo's approval to hold the summit, negotiating documents, assessing the value of the tailed beasts, and so on.

Tobirama Senju had already pressed everyone trustworthy in Konoha into service, working around the clock in two shifts.

Even Watanabe Ichiro had to help process paperwork while keeping watch over the tailed beasts.

Familiar with the plot, Watanabe Ichiro took a moment between documents to plant some doubts about Hashirama Senju.

The day before the summit began, he approached Tobirama Senju with a hesitant expression.

"I know Lord Hashirama wears his heart on his sleeve. Do you think he might be so moved that he cries during the summit?"

Tobirama Senju considered it and felt Watanabe Ichiro had a very good point. Based on what he knew of Hashirama, his older brother might very well kneel or even prostrate himself before everyone.

To prevent such an incident, Tobirama Senju and Watanabe Ichiro played bad cop and good cop, cornering Hashirama Senju and launching into their admonitions.

"Big brother, you absolutely cannot do that! It would damage Konoha's standing!"

"Teacher, I don't think our former Clan Head, Madara Uchiha, would want to see Lord Hashirama crying, bowing his head to the ground, or kneeling before outsiders... If anyone really did see Lord Hashirama like that, could I kill them all?"

"If that happened, it wouldn't be out of the question. For the sake of Konoha's dignity, it would be a necessary sacrifice."

"Understood, Teacher. I'll make sure my blade is sharp tomorrow."

"Huh? Tobirama? Ichiro? What's gotten into you two?"

Their back-and-forth left Hashirama Senju bewildered. He scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly. He really had been planning to bow his head to the ground at the summit.

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, but I'll do as you say... Let me think. I just need to act like Madara usually does, right?"

As he spoke, he folded his arms and put on an arrogant expression, looking at everyone as though they were trash. He captured a little of Madara's bearing quite well.

"Yes, exactly!" Watanabe Ichiro nodded in approval.

Tobirama Senju studied Hashirama Senju's expression. Seeing little sadness there, he also raised a thumb, giving him a playful sign of approval.

Honestly, Hashirama Senju was great in every way, except that he wasn't all that sharp.

Watanabe Ichiro sighed, then checked the materials in his backpack and the skills in his system once more, looking forward to tomorrow's summit proceeding "smoothly."