As one of the founders of Konoha, Madara admitted that he no longer recognized the current urban area of the village.
But he did recognize the western district, Konoha's largest area with the fewest people.
When they built the wall back then, they had enclosed part of the forest inside as a buffer zone for the residential area. After all, there were just too many things that would sneak in during the dead of night to kill people. This distance was just right for the village's ninjas to respond.
Compared to when the village was first founded, aside from a few new farms and basic infrastructure, this area hadn't changed much.
Madara stood on a tree with Black Zetsu. He hadn't stayed long at the Uchiha clan grounds. He had already left when Masashi unleashed Chibaku Tensei.
He quite liked the way Masashi had wiped out the Kiri ninja army.
So he started observing this younger member of the clan.
The Edo Tensei state wouldn't last forever, and this wasn't the kind of resurrection he desired. So before leaving, finding another qualified "piece" was quite worthwhile.
Although he hadn't stayed long at the clan grounds, from what the other young ones had said, he could basically confirm that the many changes in the Uchiha clan were due to this Masashi.
That made things very interesting.
From his current position, he could observe the actual effect of the Sandwich Technique. The upheaved earth pushed down a raised platform created by Moving Earth Core in the center.
From his perspective, this thing was huge, compared to a bunch of ants.
But that was all.
"His strength is fine, but his heart is too soft," Madara said. "He wastes time talking with ants."
"He's an old friend of that guy, Kitsuchi," Black Zetsu replied.
Everyone knew Masashi had many friends.
In practically every village, there were people who were either his friends or claimed to be. And just among the true friends that he knew about, there were quite a few.
"Friends? Was he weak before?"
"No, he's always been strong."
"Then why bother being friends with weaklings?" Madara sounded disappointed.
Back then, trying to get Obito to change had been a nightmare.
If he hadn't been too old to move much at the time, he'd have flown over and kicked him himself, sent Obito to reunite with that female teammate of his he kept calling out to in his sleep.
"Madara-sama, what do you think of him?"
"He still needs training. But… he's worth considering as a piece. Let's see how he performs in this war."
Perform? Hasn't he already done more than enough?
He wiped out the Kiri ninja, and although a jinchūriki slipped away, if he meets them again, it'd be over in a few hits. On the Iwa side, the Tsuchikage was already dead. That old friendship with Kitsuchi didn't mean much anymore.
Kumo still had its main forces up north, but right now, there was no one strong enough to hold the front. One candidate for Raikage was already dead, and the other couldn't last more than a few moves.
Konoha had already won big.
From Black Zetsu's perspective, even the tailed beast collection, which Obito had failed to complete, would have to be finished by Madara himself.
As for Masashi, once this war was over, he might very well become the next Hokage.
Otherwise, who else could command him?
"He's very proud. I don't think he'll work under anyone else," Black Zetsu added. Before the words had even faded, the distant earthen mountain formed by ninjutsu was blasted apart by overwhelming force.
The mountain exploded from within, the massive power pushing rubble and air outward. From a distance, it looked like a gigantic, expanding air dome. It didn't stop until it had wiped out some of the Iwa and Kumo ninja squads.
In its place was a giant crater.
"Oh? That was a nice use of Shinra Tensei," Madara said, quite pleased as he watched the rain of stones falling into the distance.
From the look of things, Masashi was quite qualified in terms of power, if not in temperament. But if he had the same hardheadedness as Obito, that wouldn't do either.
He had seen many people fail in his lifetime, but no one crashed and burned quite as absurdly as Obito. Even if the genjutsu failed, he could've just killed everyone there! But he didn't!
Weak! And that was with a Sharingan ability even he found bizarre!
Obito's weakness wasn't power, it was in his heart.
"Madara-sama, what brings you here?" In the sky, Masashi's voice approached rapidly. He flew over the battlefield and landed on the tree where Madara stood.
There was no need for him to deal with the battle below anymore.
A small-scale Ultra Shinra Tensei had already decided the outcome here.
Ōnoki was dead. Kitsuchi was dead. The rear Iwa and Kumo forces had been flattened. What remained was only the mopping-up of scattered remnants.
Madara once said the Uchiha clan had lost their backbone, but truthfully, this clan still had a lot of pride. Though there were weaklings, when they fought the Senju clan, even after it was obvious Madara couldn't beat Hashirama, most still chose to fight to the end rather than surrender.
You can tell if a person has backbone by how they act in a hopeless, unwinnable situation.
And right now, the Iwa and Kumo ninjas, had none.
As Masashi flew over, he already saw many Iwa and Kumo ninjas throwing down their weapons in surrender.
In the original timeline, ninjas from these villages had shown similar behavior when facing the power of the Ten Tails, if Naruto hadn't held the line up front, they would've surrendered before the reanimated Hokage even joined the battle.
"You've done well," Madara actually had a rare smile on his face. "Go kill the Hokage, and you'll be the Hokage."
"???"
Why would I kill someone on my own side to become Hokage? I'm doing just fine on the battlefield, what's the point of suddenly turning on my own leadership?
"You're joking," Masashi shook his head. "I'd have to be really messed up to want to be Hokage."
"Hm?" Though Madara himself had no interest in being Hokage, hearing this left a sour taste in his mouth. After all, back when Hashirama had proposed making him Hokage, he had felt a little excited.
What's that supposed to mean? Being Hokage is for the insane?
So you're saying I was out of my mind back then?
You've got some nerve.
"The Five Kage are supposed to be the dream of ninjas in your generation, aren't they? If you don't want to be Hokage, then what's your dream?"
"Hmm…" Masashi thought for a moment. "For Konoha to be invincible?"
"Are you trying to fool me?" Madara sneered.
"…"
"There's nothing so heavy that I'd call it a dream," Masashi said. "Just being stronger than anyone else, strong enough to protect the people I want to protect, that's enough for me."
"I see." Madara nodded. "But that's still wishful thinking. Even if you're stronger than anyone, you'll still fail to protect everything. That happened to me. And to Hashirama too. Excessive obsession just breeds new darkness."
"That depends on how you define darkness." Masashi smiled. "Everyone's different. You can't expect everyone to think the same way. Sometimes being a little more tolerant isn't such a bad thing."
"That's too soft," Madara said, glancing at him. "You already stand at the same height as me and Hashirama. Those weak and restless people don't deserve to live."
"As far as war goes, I think things aren't that bad," Masashi replied thoughtfully. "Given how things started, we've come pretty far. And this era is a lot better than the Warring States period you lived through."
"So you're easily satisfied," Madara said blankly.
"If you've got nothing else for me, I'll go check on the north."
"This battle is already won. Whether you go or not doesn't matter," Madara said. "The one who revived me this way also summoned Hashirama. And… two others I really hate. But if he's around, this jutsu won't control him. At this point, Hashirama should be free too."
At that, Madara looked excited.
"...The First Hokage?"
Orochimaru, do you actually want me to kill you?! I told you not to mess with the former Hokage like this!
"The person you hate… you mean the Second Hokage, right? There's someone else you hate?" Masashi was sure he hadn't lost any memories. For Madara to hate someone, that person had to be someone he respected. And for him to respect someone, and still hate them, and not have killed them already? That could only mean that dog Senju clan.
Could there really be another?
Aside from being emotionally intense, Madara's other strong trait was a broad mind. Once he killed someone, he usually didn't hold a grudge anymore.
"Yeah, there was someone. He killed one of my most capable subordinates and caused me a lot of trouble while he was alive. Unfortunately, because of Hashirama, I couldn't kill him."
"Who was it? Sounds like someone powerful." Masashi felt like the name was familiar, but couldn't quite place it.
"His real name probably isn't known to you. He later became known as Muzo, a naturally evil Senju!"
"???"
"Hm?" Madara noticed Masashi's eyes blazing. "What? You look pissed. Don't tell me you're really a descendant of Kai? His entire family was killed by that guy."
From his observations so far, Madara had begun to suspect this kid might actually be a descendant of Kai.
That Kagutsuchi technique he used, it was definitely Kai's. And he never had that jutsu recorded in the clan scrolls; he only taught it verbally to a few children. He had even told Madara this himself.
Maybe Masashi was an illegitimate child? Not bad. Ninjas had to be cautious. As long as the bloodline lived on, that was enough.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced Madara became. And the more he liked Masashi.
Uchiha Kai's death had been one of the few things he still carried regret for. That was also why he absolutely despised Muzo.
If Hashirama hadn't been protecting him, he would have already killed that bastard.
"...No. My parents aren't even ninja." Masashi forced a smile. But inside, he was furious.
I was minding my business here, did Orochimaru really summon some faker using my name to ruin my reputation?!
Or… was it possible that, back in his time as Muzo, his research actually turned out to be right?
"I'll stop chatting here. Since you're back already, why not spend more time at the clan compound? The younger ones would love to hear your teachings. They should be out of the shelters by now."
Without waiting for Madara's reply, he shot into the sky and flew straight north.
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