Jing Xiu and Madara, who had approached from behind, heard Izuna's brazen words.
Madara found them amusing, but Jing Xiu found them rather dull.
Hashirama Senju arrived just then. Before he could even get a clear look at Madara and the others, he hurriedly bowed his head in apology.
"Sorry, everyone! My little brother has caused you trouble!"
Tobirama Senju was speechless. His older brother was admirable in every other way, but that weak nature of his was more than he could bear.
"Brother, could you look at who's in front of you before apologizing?"
At those words, Hashirama Senju flared with anger. "You idiot, Tobirama! No matter who they are, you're in the wrong if you bump into someone!"
Tobirama Senju's expression was cold, his displeasure with his older brother plain. "Brother! They're the evil Uchiha! How can you bow to evil?"
Only then did Hashirama Senju look at the person before him: his "lifelong rival," the "Uchiha Young Clan Leader," Madara Uchiha.
Madara and Hashirama locked eyes, and the atmosphere grew heavy and oppressive.
Jing Xiu's expression turned rather odd. He clearly remembered that, in the original timeline, these two should have been skipping stones by a river at this very moment.
The cliff beside that river would later become the site of Konoha's Hokage Rock.
But because of his interference, Madara and Hashirama had not only met long ago, there was already a strong smell of gunpowder between them.
I wonder if Konoha can still be founded in the future.
Even if Konoha really disappears, it won't matter. At worst, I'll help Madara establish a village belonging solely to the Uchiha.
He had both the confidence and the ability to do so.
Thus, to Jing Xiu, everything unfolding before him was merely an entertaining episode that enriched his life.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Hyuga Kiyomei popped out from somewhere. "Hashirama, Madara, I've just prepared a banquet. Would you like to join me?"
Both turned to look at Hyuga Kiyomei. The two who had been at each other's throats a moment earlier suddenly seemed to have formed a united front, fixing him with equally piercing gazes.
At that moment, no one was paying attention to Izuna and Tobirama, the ones who had sparked the incident.
Jing Xiu looked at Tobirama Senju, disgust stirring in his heart.
The Uchiha and the Senju were indeed sworn enemies, but neither Butsuma Senju nor Hashirama Senju had ever considered the Uchiha an evil clan.
Could the seeds of the Uchiha's eventual extermination have already been sown at this point?
Whatever the future holds, Tobirama Senju cannot be allowed to live.
Though Jing Xiu thought this, his expression betrayed nothing.
Hashirama Senju seemed to sense something. He shifted his gaze and stared unblinkingly at Jing Xiu.
Jing Xiu raised his head to meet Hashirama Senju's eyes. "Something you need?"
Hashirama Senju's expression grew increasingly grave, while Madara's aura grew ever more oppressive. The confrontation, which had begun to ease, suddenly became even more dangerous.
One wrong move, and the two of them could tear all of Kinzawa Castle apart.
Sarutobi Yuri, head of the Sarutobi Clan, and Shimura Kamenosuke, head of the Shimura Clan, hurried to the street corner. They were the two strongest fighters among the seven clans.
They stepped in front of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
"Since you two have come to Kinzawa Castle to attend the ceremony, perhaps you could show a little consideration for your hosts. If you wish to fight, please move outside the city first. How does that sound?"
Sarutobi Yuri's words were gentle, but steel lay beneath them.
Though his tone was polite, his meaning was perfectly clear: if they refused to listen, Kinzawa Castle would make them pay dearly.
Jing Xiu spoke blandly. "As long as this white-haired brat apologizes, we Uchiha certainly won't press the matter."
"Although it looked as though he and Izuna bumped into each other, he knows better than anyone what really happened."
"As his older brother, surely you, Hashirama Senju, can't have failed to notice even this little bit of malice in him?"
At that, Jing Xiu fixed Tobirama Senju with an unblinking stare and smiled coldly. "The evil Uchiha?"
"In a thousand years, you may well be the first person to call the Uchiha Clan that!"
"Some sins never disappear. Some things must be done!"
Though Jing Xiu appeared to be about the same age as Tobirama Senju,
When Tobirama Senju heard Jing Xiu's words, a chill rose from the depths of his heart. It felt as though an immensely powerful, unfathomable being had set its sights on him.
Shimura Kamenosuke frowned. He had not expected this after personally intervening. Even Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha Young Clan Leader, had said little.
Yet this wet-behind-the-ears brat kept prattling on, showing him no respect whatsoever.
"Brat, this matter ends here!"
The smile on Jing Xiu's lips grew colder still. Originally, he had not intended to do anything. He had merely wanted to see how much Madara could accomplish in Kinzawa Castle.
But Shimura Kamenosuke had shown him far too little respect, and he could no longer be bothered to play these childish games with him.
That night, Jing Xiu called Madara and Izuna along and slipped quietly into the Nara Clan's compound.
Izuna was puzzled, while Madara was curious about what Jing Xiu intended to do.
"Once we've brought the Nara Clan under our banner, you'll understand my plan, Madara."
In the entire Nara Clan, only its head, Nara Takamoto, and his younger brother, Nara Takamasa, were Jōnin.
Among the other clansmen were a few Special Jōnin, but most were Chunin and Genin.
The Nara Clan's Shadow Series Secret Techniques required large quantities of medicinal herbs to establish a solid foundation in the early stages of training.
Otherwise, their mental strength would be insufficient to perform the Shadow Series Secret Techniques at all.
These were the chaotic days of the Warring States era. The Nara Clan struggled even to survive, let alone secure land on which to cultivate medicinal herbs.
Thus, when Madara met Nara Takamoto, the terms he offered were a stable living environment for the Nara Clan.
Nara Takamoto did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had never expected the Uchiha Young Clan Leader to set his sights on him.
But when he met Madara's crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he suddenly understood the key to it all.
The Seven-Clan Alliance appeared to be a single entity, but each clan faced different problems.
Supporting one another could indeed ease most of those problems, but it fell far short of the protection of a Great Clan.
Seeing Madara's look of absolute confidence, Nara Takamoto drew a deep breath. "May I ask why?"
"Why has your clan approached us Nara first?"
"By all rights, we Nara should rank last among the seven clans in strength."
"No matter how you look at it, bringing the Sarutobi or the Shimura under your banner would give the Uchiha the greatest increase in fighting power."
Madara looked at Jing Xiu. He, too, had no idea why Jing Xiu wanted to visit the Nara Clan first, much less why he wanted to do so in secret.
Jing Xiu had not wanted to take the spotlight, but Madara insisted, leaving him no choice. He raised one finger. "Clan Head Nara, first, I must correct something you said."
"You may consider the Nara Clan the weakest of the seven clans, adding almost nothing to the Uchiha's fighting strength."
"But in my eyes, the Uchiha with the Nara and the Uchiha without the Nara are worlds apart."
"Let me ask you, Clan Head Nara: which is the stronger pairing-a tiger and a fox, or a tiger and a dog?"
By then, Nara Takamoto had already understood Jing Xiu's meaning.
Strictly speaking, a tiger paired with a fox would actually be weaker than a tiger paired with a dog.
But the implication left unspoken in Jing Xiu's words was plain.