The year Madara left Konoha, he was still the patriarch of the Uchiha Clan.
When he proposed leaving, the entire Uchiha Clan betrayed him.
Madara thought it was fine for them to stay in Konoha. After all, Hashirama Senju would not take his anger at him out on the entire Uchiha Clan. Of that, he was still quite certain.
Yet Madara had never imagined that it was precisely because of him that, after his final battle with Hashirama Senju and the First Hokage's death, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju would take office and introduce a series of plans targeting the Uchiha Clan. They were the sort that boiled a frog in warm water, without the Uchiha even noticing.
Although Tobirama Senju had never intended to eliminate the Uchiha, his disciples inherited his philosophy of targeting and guarding against them, making the Uchiha Clan's circumstances increasingly difficult down the line.
In particular, the Nine-Tails' Attack instigated by Obito Uchiha was practically the last straw that broke the camel's back, sowing the seeds of the Uchiha's extermination.
These were all things Madara did not know.
That was why the Uchiha Clan Massacre made him angry.
And that was not even the most crucial part. The crucial part was that the killer was one of their own!
The Uchiha had died at the hands of one of their own?!
What an utter joke!
Then what did all his years of effort amount to?
What had his surrendering the Hokage Position back then amounted to?!
Sure enough, this Shinobi World had long since rotted through! There had never been absolute peace, from beginning to end!
Madara was now more convinced than ever that his Eye of the Moon Plan was right!
He alone was the savior who could create a New World, save the Shinobi World, and bring peace!
In the darkness, Madara's Sharingan shone an especially vivid scarlet. With the turmoil in his heart and the surging of his emotions, the Three Tomoe spun rapidly, transforming into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
He raised his head and looked at Lin Xiaoran, asking in a low voice, "What happened next?! Why did that Uchiha Itachi do it?!"
"What happened next..."
Lin Xiaoran yawned and stood up, taking out her temperature-controlled tent as she said, "We'll talk about the rest tomorrow. Today's transaction is over."
Madara: "..."
Seriously, you're stopping halfway through the story!?
How could anyone torture someone like this!
This is infuriating! Can't you see I've even activated my Mangekyō Sharingan!
Don't force me to activate my Rinnegan!
However, Lin Xiaoran paid no attention to Madara's mood, nor did she care whether he would be able to sleep tonight. She simply climbed into her temperature-controlled tent, adjusted the temperature, and settled down comfortably to rest.
Madara sat outside alone, lost in thought before the fire.
He watched the wood in the fire gradually burn away and the flames die out.
He watched a layer of white frost silently cover the rock beneath him in the freezing cold.
He watched the sun rise.
At six in the morning, the Silver Ring on Lin Xiaoran's wrist reminded her to get up.
There was no such thing as sleeping in during the game. Anyone who really wanted to stay in bed had to be prepared to be eliminated, because challengers had to set off within an hour, or they would be considered to be playing passively.
Stepping out of the tent, Lin Xiaoran shivered in the cold outside. She turned to look at Madara beside a pile of ashes. White frost clung to his black hair and red armor.
"Brr! Does it get that cold at night?! There's even frost!"
Lin Xiaoran was astonished.
She had thought that desert nights were merely very cold, something even ordinary people could endure.
Yet here in the game, frost actually formed at night!
Just how low did the temperature get?!
Could any challengers have frozen to death during the night?
Lin Xiaoran opened the light screen and checked the rankings.
At six last night, the total head count had been 187, with thirteen eliminated.
After one night, the total had fallen to 101. A full 86 had been eliminated!
It was downright terrifying!
Lin Xiaoran even began to wonder whether this round of the game might end early at this rate of elimination.
Crack, crack.
Madara stood up, his stiff body making cracking sounds.
He shook himself, shaking off the frost on his body, and asked, "Shall we go?"
Lin Xiaoran glanced at him, a little curious about his condition. In her perception, his aura had become very still, like the ocean.
"Yeah, let me wash up first."
Yesterday, Lin Xiaoran had obtained drinking water and a toiletries kit from an ordinary supply crate.
Once she quickly finished washing up, the two began a new day's journey.
[Good morning, friends!]
[Morning!]
[Morning, Student Lin!]
[Come on, let's check the points rankings and the head count!]
[Hiss! Eighty-six challengers died overnight? What happened to them?]
[The points haven't changed, which means nobody killed any ferocious beasts during the night. Student Lin didn't either.]
[They probably froze to death. Even the ground has turned white.]
[Guys! I checked on Sophia in second place. She found two challengers! They've already started working together!]
[Really? I'll go take a look too!]
The viewers were lively first thing in the morning, and they also immediately noticed what the competitors were doing.
Sure enough, when they encountered other contestants in this round of the game, their first reaction was to cooperate.
Aside from Sophia, several other challengers had met on the first day, then formed teams and headed toward the finish line together.
This was definitely not good news for Lin Xiaoran.
"It's not all bad news. At least the elimination rate on the first day was pretty high, so the number of opponents Student Lin has to face has also dropped considerably."
Che Yisi spoke up, comforting himself and his colleagues by looking at things from another angle.
"What good does that do? The ones eliminated were all weaklings. They can't affect the big picture," Jiang Jiayou said irritably.
Han Wenju said, "Today, it'll come down to how Student Lin's Heroic Spirit performs. Hopefully, he's no weaker than Issho."
Inside the game.
As usual, Lin Xiaoran began her strategy of hunting ferocious beasts to earn points.
Today, however, there was a slight difference: Madara was taking things seriously, and he was more proactive.
Yesterday, Lin Xiaoran had killed all the ferocious beasts with her own weapon. Today, she did not even need to speak. Whenever Madara sensed a ferocious beast beneath the desert, he attacked immediately!
Fire Release Ninjutsu, Earth Release Ninjutsu-he wielded them all with effortless ease, readily slaying the ferocious beasts!
"Why are you so enthusiastic today? Don't you need to make a deal with me anymore?" Lin Xiaoran asked in puzzlement.
"Would you make me work for free?" Madara offered no explanation, merely answering her question with one of his own.
"Of course... not!"
"Hmph!" Madara raised his head proudly.
"Tsk, tsk." Lin Xiaoran shook her head.
This was the Asura of the Ninja World?
No wonder all he could do was chase after Hashirama Senju, shouting 'Hashirama!'
[Oh? Madara's attitude is different today!]
[Student Lin really knows how to handle people!]
[Please handle me too, Student Lin!]
[You above me, get lost!]
[Haha! Look at the disgust on Student Lin's face!]
[Damn it! What exactly did they talk about last night?! Why wasn't it streamed?! I really want to know!]
[+1!]