To his surprise, Madara found some of Xue Ge's views every bit as distinctive and clearheaded as his own, and their conversation grew increasingly animated.
They talked about everything from Konoha to the Shinobi World, from the Senju to the Uchiha, from the Warring States to the present. Xue Ge had no idea what Madara learned from him, but he certainly learned plenty of history from Madara that might well qualify as closely guarded secrets.
For instance, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan had at least five levels. Madara Uchiha had controlled the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha back then. Madara and Hashirama had been evenly matched, with neither able to defeat the other. Of the three great clans of that era, the Senju and Uchiha had both come to Konoha, while the Kaguya had gone to the Land of Water...
There was also the distribution of the tailed beasts among the villages, each village's unique kekkei genkai...
As he listened, Xue Ge grew astonished. Just how many places had this "Shura" visited? How long had he lived? How did he know so much?
"...Yes, that's what happened. My own brother stabbed me in the back, and I fled with serious injuries. That's how I became a wandering shinobi with no home." Madara spread his hands with a seemingly helpless air. "What about you? How did you get here?"
Xue Ge told Madara exactly what had happened when he used the Summoning Technique.
"Hahaha, you idiot!" Madara clapped his hands and roared with laughter. "Did no one tell you that summoning requires a specific target? That's what the contract is for. Summoning without a target-you're lucky you ended up here with me. If you'd wound up buried underground or in some dangerous place, you'd probably be dead already."
I nearly died here with you, too, Xue Ge grumbled inwardly.
The eastern sky was beginning to brighten. Before they knew it, they had talked all night, leaving fish bones scattered across the ground. Xue Ge had only woken up in the middle of the night, so he wasn't sleepy yet. Madara, meanwhile, was brimming with energy after finding a friend who bridged the gap between their ages.
"All right, that settles it!" Madara slapped his knee and stood up. "Come with me. I'll help you catch a ninja beast and sign a Summoning Contract!"
He had nothing better to do anyway. Unsure what else he could occupy himself with, Madara decided to find something to do.
"Huh?" Xue Ge froze for a moment. "But..."
"You've already learned the Summoning Technique. Isn't it only natural to have a ninja beast to summon?"
"No, why are you suddenly..."
"I like you. What, do you have a problem with that?"
"..."
Fine. That reason convinced Xue Ge.
Madara walked over and patted Xue Ge's shoulder. "Can you walk? If you can, keep up. If not, I'll carry you there."
Xue Ge stood up, caught his breath, and nodded. "Barely... but yes."
Madara had destroyed his left-arm prosthesis, but the ones on his legs were still intact. Walking wasn't a problem.
Madara nodded, turned, and dashed off. Xue Ge hurried after him. Perhaps out of consideration for Xue Ge, Madara deliberately slowed his pace. The two sped through the forest.
"Xue Ge's gone missing? But..." Minato had just finished an escort mission when he received a mission notice issued by the village on his way back.
A disappearance caused by the Summoning Technique was going to be difficult. There was no telling where to start looking.
Minato frowned, frustrated with himself. He had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique some time ago, but he hadn't left a mark on Xue Ge. Otherwise, this would have been much easier.
"Hey, Namikaze, what are you spacing out for? Time to move." Having finished packing up the tents, Inuzuka Tsume patted Minato on the back. "What, do you know this kid?"
"I do. He's a very perceptive child." Minato's face was clouded with worry.
Worrying won't help now. I should get back to the village, turn in the mission, then head out specifically to look for him. I'll keep a closer eye out on the way back.
They stopped in a relatively open, level patch of forest, where Xue Ge lit a fire to roast a wild boar Madara had casually killed along the way.
They had been running all morning without a break. Now that it was lunchtime, they would rest for a while.
"Not bad stamina, kid," Madara remarked leisurely, leaning against a tree. "Your taijutsu, endurance, and combat instincts are all decent, and you know some ninjutsu, too. Are you really only six?"
Even in the Warring States, that would have counted as outstanding.
"Yes."
"Then you must have undergone some pretty brutal training in Konoha."
"...Yes." Xue Ge agreed from the bottom of his heart.
"What do you plan to do afterward? Go back to Konoha? Or come with me?"
Madara suddenly posed the question.
Xue Ge stopped chopping the meat and looked at Madara. "Can I go back?"
"I'm not some villain, after all. But why do you want to go back?" Madara asked casually. "Aside from the fresh injuries I gave you, you have more than twice as many old injuries as I did at your age."
"Old injuries like those only come from forcing yourself through intensive training over a short period without any regard for your body. I don't know how hard you've been training, but this certainly wasn't something you chose to do, was it?"
Madara had examined Xue Ge while he was unconscious. The sheer number of internal injuries, patches of pooled blood, and areas of dead tissue in that tiny body had been horrifying. So much so that Madara now wanted to storm back to Konoha and thoroughly interrogate whoever was responsible for Xue Ge's daily life. This boy is the key to fulfilling my dream, and this is how you bastards treat him?
Madara was already convinced that Xue Ge had something to do with the prophecy. What worried him now was how much longer the boy could live.
"I still have to go back." Thinking of his classmates and Minato, who had treated him so well, Xue Ge spoke with conviction.
Besides, whatever else Konoha might be, life there is stable. Wandering around with this Shura... who knows when I might suddenly end up dead in the wilderness...
"What's there to miss about a place like Konoha? You still want to go back after all this? I really don't understand what goes on in that head of yours." Madara was both scornful and annoyed. Konoha, which he had always looked down on, had beaten him when it came to winning the boy over.
"I don't feel that training anymore," Xue Ge said softly. "I think I can be a good child. I don't think life will ever be easy for me, but I want other people to be happy."
Xue Ge's tone and expression were both detached as he spoke, but the expression on Madara's face suddenly faded.
He was silent for a long time. "You want to protect Konoha?"
"No..." Xue Ge shook his head. "I don't have anyone I can protect yet."
In four years, he hadn't really grown close to anyone. Danzo and Orochimaru, with whom he had spent the most time, both had ulterior motives. En kept all personal feelings out of it, while Sakumo mostly just handled his lessons.
The people he could truly call friends were basically all people he had met in the past two weeks. But Ko-
noha was still more familiar, at least.
"Then who do you want to make happy?"
"The friends I know."
"Do I count?"
"..." Xue Ge looked at Madara. "...Not yet."
"Heh, fair enough." Madara gave a soft snort and rolled over to lie on the grass. "Tell me when the food's ready."
"Okay."
Xue Ge went back to concentrating on roasting the meat. Though Madara lay on the ground pretending to sleep, his mind was anything but calm.
When Xue Ge had calmly said, "I want other people to be happy," Madara had seen echoes of two people in him.
Izuna and Hashirama.