Having experienced the battle at Greenleaf Cliff, Madara was not as arrogant as he had been in the original timeline.
He understood the Uchiha's strength very well. Though the Uchiha were powerful, the Senju were no weaker.
In the present Land of Fire, the Uchiha could not defeat the Senju, nor could the Senju wipe out the Uchiha.
Aside from the influential Hyuga, the other clans had instead become the crucial weights that could tip the scales.
Since the Ino-Shika-Cho's secret medicine could strengthen the Uchiha, widespread use would inevitably prompt the Senju and Hyuga to join forces against them.
Quietly building their strength like this, on the other hand, might let them make a stunning breakthrough in the future and catch their enemies off guard.
What worried Madara, however, was Nara Takamoto's attitude.
Since he wanted to hedge his bets, the Senju would naturally receive this so-called secret medicine as well.
If that happened, the Uchiha's advantage would become much less pronounced.
Jing Xiu had thought of this too. He suddenly spoke up, interrupting Nara Takamoto's conversation with Madara. "Senior Takamoto, such a secret medicine must be exceedingly precious."
"Would the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans be willing to lend the Uchiha its formula for a look?"
At those words, Nara Takamoto's expression darkened.
Lend them the formula? That sounded nice, but wasn't it just giving it away for free?
Madara immediately understood Jing Xiu's intent and rebuked him. "Jing Xiu! A secret medicine is part of a clan's very foundation. How can you treat it so lightly?"
He turned to Nara Takamoto again. "In that case, could the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans send a few members well versed in this field back to the Uchiha with us?"
"That way, we would preserve the friendship between us and safeguard the formula, while strengthening our Uchiha Clan as much as possible."
Nara Takamoto's expression grew even darker. Of course he understood what the Uchiha brothers meant.
But secret medicines and secret techniques were the very foundations on which a clan stood.
Even in Konoha seventy years later, the all-powerful Konoha F4 had never tried to seize these clans' secret techniques or medicines.
Jing Xiu and Madara's demands were indeed rather excessive.
Precisely because of this, Nara Takamoto gained an even deeper understanding of the rapport between the Uchiha brothers.
Madara is powerful. Judging by the battle reports we've gathered, his future strength will certainly be no less than that of his father, Uchiha Tajima.
And this Uchiha Jing Xiu seems cold-faced and ruthless. He's an extremely difficult fellow to deal with.
If the two fell out, the Uchiha might well fall apart.
But with someone like this supporting Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha's future probably won't be any worse than its present!
Even the stalemate between the two great powers might be broken.
Jing Xiu spoke again, interrupting Nara Takamoto's thoughts. "I know you haven't made up your mind yet, Nara Clan Head. After you've met the Senju brothers, we can discuss the details of our cooperation again."
"When that time comes, I hope the other two leaders of the Ino-Shika-Cho will also be present."
"Of course, if Boar-Deer-Butterfly can form a team, Tiger-Deer-Dog can too."
With that, Jing Xiu looked at Madara, and the three brothers rose to leave.
Cold sweat broke out on Nara Takamoto's forehead. He had understood the implication behind Jing Xiu's words.
The Senju were known as the "clan of love," and the face they showed the outside world had always been one of friendship and unity.
Of course, no clan in the shinobi world was as spotless as it appeared. All had shameful secrets behind the scenes.
But Uchiha Tajima was known as the "Blood Shinobi," and had naturally slaughtered countless people.
Only when Nara Takamoto thought of this did he realize he had made a fatal mistake: he had unconsciously overestimated the Uchiha's scruples.
He had naively assumed that the Uchiha would be as reasonable as the Senju.
The next day, the three Uchiha brothers visited the Aburame Clan.
On the third day, however, instead of visiting the Inuzuka Clan, they sought out the Hatake Clan and the Kurama Clan.
After similarly cordial discussions, both the Hatake Clan and the Kurama Clan agreed to send elite members to the Uchiha.
These clan members would serve as Jing Xiu's subordinates while also acting as their clans' "hostages" among the Uchiha.
Through this arrangement, these clans would not readily commit to either the Uchiha or the Senju.
The powers of the Land of Fire thus maintained a delicate balance.
Only the Hyuga, the third-largest clan, felt thoroughly frustrated.
Though the Sarutobi Clan and the Shimura Clan were interested in cooperating with the Hyuga, both approached it as a transaction between equals.
They did not show the same deference they afforded the Senju and the Uchiha.
The other clans even invoked the Senju or the Uchiha to decline the Hyuga's invitations and negotiations.
Upon returning to the Naka River, Jing Xiu felt rather helpless.
He now had three shadows trailing him: Kurama Natsuki of the Kurama Clan, Aburame Zhihong of the Aburame Clan, and Hatake Ryuichi of the Hatake Clan.
They were the guard detail assigned to Jing Xiu at Madara's insistence.
All three were around Jing Xiu's age, and Kurama Natsuki was even the daughter of the Kurama Clan Head.
The Kurama Clan Head's intentions were plain for all to see.
Like Jing Xiu, Izuna received his own guard detail, made up of the young Ino-Shika-Cho.
After all, the not-so-bright Izuna needed the Nara's wisdom and assistance.
After observing them for an entire year, Jing Xiu finally confirmed their loyalty and taught them the body-conditioning aspects of traditional martial arts, along with some basic breathing techniques.
Kurama Natsuki drew the most attention from Jing Xiu because of the Kurama Clan's unique talent.
Jing Xiu remembered that one incarnation of Hades had a skill called "Lost Canvas," meaning "The Myth of the Underworld King."
This skill used the sky as a canvas and every living being in the world as pigment, painting all their joys, anger, sorrows, and pleasures across the heavens.
It was extremely similar to the Kurama Clan's kekkei genkai.
Only, the reality that the Kurama Clan's kekkei genkai could affect was very limited.
But if Jing Xiu truly inherited the power of the Underworld King in the future, or even descended into that world...
Jing Xiu would not mind using all living beings beneath heaven as his colors to paint another "Lost Canvas."
For that very reason, Jing Xiu had spent the past year helping Kurama Natsuki improve her health, strengthening her constitution while studying her kekkei genkai in depth.
In truth, the simplest method for Jing Xiu would have been to kill Kurama Natsuki and control her through Spirit Summoning and Dispatching.
That way, Jing Xiu could not only master the Kurama Clan's Five Senses Deprivation genjutsu, but also understand its essence more clearly and quickly.
Yet throughout this past year, though the shinobi world had seemed peaceful...
Friction between the major clans had never ceased.
Uchiha Tajima had even assigned Jing Xiu extremely dangerous missions on several occasions, ostensibly for the clan's glory and to test Jing Xiu's mettle.
Jing Xiu merely sneered inwardly. Uchiha Tajima had simply discovered the existence of the basic breathing method and the traditional martial arts training method.
He wanted Jing Xiu to hand them over to the clan.
But Madara, Jing Xiu, and even Izuna had all explicitly refused Uchiha Tajima.
It was not that the three were unwilling to contribute to the clan. Rather, once these two methods came into widespread use...
The Uchiha would inevitably face a joint assault from the Senju, Hyuga, and other clans.
The ultimate result would surely be the spread of these two basic training methods throughout the entire shinobi world.
Then Jing Xiu's and Izuna's guard details would lose their advantage, and developing them would require a much greater investment.
The gains simply would not justify the losses.
It would be better to wait until Jing Xiu and the others had grown strong, and the Uchiha had enough power to face the challenges of the shinobi world, before making these training methods public.
After all, the shinobi world was a place where one person could destroy an entire nation, provided they were powerful enough.
The strong reigned supreme. That was this world's eternal, unchanging truth.
But now, Jing Xiu's brow was tightly furrowed. He stared at the mission document in his hand, his heart filled with cold indifference.
I only want to train and become stronger. I have no interest whatsoever in power within the clan. Why must you keep targeting me like this?