Madara sighed deeply.
"Izunai, you've borne so much these past years… Once this war with the Senju ends, when you and I bring peace to this chaotic world, you'll finally be able to rest for a while."
"I know I've always been selfish. As your elder brother, I've failed my duty, leaving you to worry so much on my behalf…"
He grew emotional as he spoke.
"When peace comes, I swear I'll find you the best man under heaven, with the finest dowry and the perfect wedding, so you can leave this damned battlefield with glory!"
"Forget it, Brother…"
Izunai was unmoved, rolling her eyes at him.
"Heh… in this shinobi world, there isn't a single man worthy of me."
"I am the operations commander of the Uchiha clan, wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan, and Uchiha Madara's younger sister!"
"If anyone wants to marry me, he must at least match me in strength, wisdom, and status. Looking across the entire shinobi world, I see no man who can catch my eye… So this marriage? I'd rather not have one at all!"
Madara listened with a throbbing headache.
How could his sister refuse marriage? Madara was still waiting for a cute little nephew to call him 'Uncle'!
He himself had no intention of ever marrying or having children.
But as for enjoying life with a nephew—that, he very much wanted!
The problem was, what Izunai said was true. A kunoichi with unmatched beauty and figure, unrivaled strength and wisdom—how could she simply marry some random man off the street?
The funny part was that, for all of Madara's overwhelming protectiveness as an older brother, he had never once needed to use it on Izunai.
Forget the blond-haired fool who tried to bother Izunai—even the young talents within the Uchiha clan who showed interest in her were all hacked into retreat by the swordsmanship she had tempered through her constant clashes with Senju Tobirama, and none dared even mention so-called admiration…
How many lives would you need to risk courting Izunai-neesan? You didn't even dare meet her eyes—better forget it! That was the self-mocking joke passed around among the Uchiha's younger generation.
"Anyway, don't worry, Izunai! Your brother will find a man worthy of you in this world!" Madara clenched his fists, brimming with chūnibyō spirit.
"This is my mission!"
But Izunai didn't respond. Her face darkened as an unsettling thought crept in.
It wasn't that Izunai didn't want a partner. She simply refused to lower her standards.
What Madara had just said made her wonder—perhaps she should try? After all, in the Warring States era, marriage alliances were an important form of forging bonds.
If some young man from a great clan proved decent enough, Izunai wasn't against giving him a look.
But after running through all the candidates in her mind who could match her in power, wisdom, and influence, one ridiculous face suddenly leapt forth.
A man always wearing a scowl, crimson eyes more sinister than a Sharingan though not one, a head full of white hair.
Senju versus Uchiha… Izunai and Tobirama were the real powerholders of their clans, intellectual rivals, near equals in strength and age…
'No—absolutely not! That evil bastard, I'll kill him with my own hands in a few days!' Izunai shook her head violently, casting out the thought before it broke her composure.
"Anyway, make preparations, Brother!"
With a wave of her hand, Izunai issued her command.
"Reply to that Hashirama!"
Madara nodded obediently, picked up brush, ink, and paper, and began carefully weighing his words on how best to respond to Hashirama.
How could he word it to keep his dignity, yet properly express his wish to meet?
Meanwhile, as Madara pondered over the letter…
Izunai was already summoning the Uchiha clan's elite and beginning the deployment.
—"This time, we will strike down the two leaders of the Senju in one blow! You don't need to worry about Senju Hashirama—that man can only be dealt with by my brother…"
—"The key is Senju Tobirama! Wait for my command—once you see the signal, wipe out the other Senju immediately and seal off every possible escape route!"
—"I will slaughter him with my own hands!"
Uchiha Izunai declared this before the clan members whose Sharingan blazed within the council hall.
Behind her, the inscribed stone tablet stood in silence, listening.
And beneath the ground, Black Zetsu narrowed its eyes, lips twisting into a crooked grin.
"Oh… at last! The reincarnations of Indra and Asura in this generation are about to clash without restraint!"
"This Asura reincarnation is strong enough… If I find a chance to have Uchiha Izunai killed, then Indra's reincarnation, Uchiha Madara, will never be able to defeat Senju Hashirama."
"Once he loses his closest kin, as Indra's descendant, he will inevitably seek greater power!"
Listening to Izunai's arrangements, Black Zetsu sank slowly back into the depths of the earth.
It wanted to find a way to leak Izunai's ambush plan to the Senju…
Asura's reincarnation turning to darkness and seeking power? Far too difficult.
Only Indra's reincarnation held that possibility!
All Black Zetsu wanted was to see Madara driven mad with grief—caught between Hashirama's overwhelming might and the despair of losing family, forced to turn to that so-called stone tablet of peace.
In the end, he would become nothing more than a sacrifice for Kaguya's resurrection…
...
Senju Clan Grounds.
"Young clan head, there's an anonymous letter from the black market for you… and also, the Uchiha have sent a reply."
One of Tobirama's most trusted aides, Senju Momoka, brought him the two letters.
"Good work, Momoka," Tobirama nodded, taking them.
Two letters—one bore the crest of the Uchiha clan, clearly Madara's reply.
"An anonymous letter? From the black market…" Tobirama's eyes flicked over it.
During the Warring States era, the black market was one of the major employers of shinobi clans. As leader of the Senju, Tobirama often received letters from it—usually detailing recent missions.
[Uchiha Izunai has been confirmed to have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and intends to launch an ambush during the peace talks.]
"How interesting… Such precise intelligence. Who could have sent this?"
Tobirama rubbed the paper between his fingers, eyes narrowing as he pondered.
A traitor within the Uchiha?
No… this wasn't the Konoha era, when he had already brainwashed the Uchiha with the Will of Fire…
The hatred between the Uchiha and the Senju during the Warring States era was no joke… And those so-called black market brokers, in Tobirama's view, could never have had the ability to dig up such fresh intelligence from inside the Uchiha.
So, who could it be?
Who wanted the Uchiha clan to suffer a loss—and who possessed such vast means of gathering information?
"Was it you? That little girl beside Obito?"
After pondering for a moment, Tobirama suddenly understood.
He had never tired of using Black Zetsu's story to mock Madara once the war ended… That senile fool, to be tricked by a creation of Yin-Yang Release!
At that moment—
The voice of Kazuki rang within Tobirama's mind.
[Ōtsutsuki presence detected. Beyond the emotions of your bound target, you may also collect the emotions of Ōtsutsuki and higher-level beings, converting them into a certain amount of extradimensional energy to unlock your abilities.]
[But note: due to the suppression of spacetime laws, this method is inefficient. The most effective way remains finding a compatible target.]
"Eh?"
Tobirama was startled, then broke into a smile.
He knew it—Kazuki would never force him into blind matchmaking… There had to be another fallback path!
As for why Kazuki hadn't mentioned it at the start…
Tobirama immediately grasped the reason.
Naturally, Kazuki had wanted him to attempt matchmaking first. But he also feared the unknowns of this timeline—what if Tobirama encountered an Ōtsutsuki too early and found them impossible to handle?
If not for Black Zetsu sending him this letter, Kazuki likely wouldn't have revealed this function at all.
Sure enough, Kazuki had arranged everything for him long ago…
And for Tobirama, as long as there was a path that didn't involve matchmaking—even if it was rough and treacherous—it was still the road to the heavens!
Like Izunai.
Tobirama also didn't believe there was a woman in this shinobi world who could stand as his equal and stir even the faintest interest.
"You like writing letters, don't you, Black Zetsu…"
Tobirama chuckled softly, then sketched an image on the letter.
It was of a woman trapped within a sphere, struggling in agony.
Senju Momoka leaned in curiously, took one look, and shook her head helplessly.
"Is this supposed to be Uchiha Izunai caught in a Water Prison Jutsu? Young clan head, honestly…"
Tobirama smiled faintly.
"Just a recent hobby in drawing, nothing worth paying attention to."
Was it like Izuna? Perhaps a little.
But it resembled far more a Kaguya imprisoned upon the moon.
At the very least—
When Black Zetsu received that letter and laid eyes on the image, its heart was struck with a violent tremor!
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