Contrary to Uchiha Izuna's expectations, the wicked Senju Tobirama did not launch an attack in the afternoon.
Instead, he chose to have Senju Hashirama lead the Senju clan to the battlefield the next morning.
Uchiha Madara did not say anything about Izuna's misjudgment.
In fact, it wasn't Izuna's fault. He had secretly reached an agreement with Hashirama, and given Hashirama's character of keeping his word, he would definitely do what he promised.
Sure enough, he successfully persuaded Senju Tobirama to start the attack the next day.
It's just that Madara didn't tell anyone about the agreement between the two of them; otherwise, his younger brother would definitely tell him not to associate with Hashirama.
Every time the two of them communicated, it was in secret, for fear of being discovered by their younger brothers.
Although they had been very careful, Izuna and Tobirama weren't fools and had long seen through the trick.
They simply hadn't exposed their older brothers' actions.
...
Uchiha Camp.
"Izuna, you command the battle from the rear. I'll go meet Hashirama!"
Uchiha Madara's voice carried a hint of excitement, as if he couldn't wait to see Hashirama.
"Big brother, I want to go with you," Uchiha Izuna said expectantly.
He was worried that if he wasn't by his side, his straightforward big brother would be deceived by the wicked Senju brothers—especially that guy Senju Tobirama, who would stop at nothing for victory in battle!
If he didn't keep an eye on things, big brother might be in danger!
"Now isn't the time for you to appear. The battlefield needs you to command," Uchiha Madara said, raising a hand to rub Izuna's head. Worried that his brother would insist on following him, he added, "Only if you're the one commanding can I be at ease."
"Big brother…" Uchiha Izuna said, moved. "I understand!"
Since big brother had said so much, what did it matter if he stayed in the rear to command?
As long as big brother followed his commands, the Uchiha would definitely defeat the Senju clan!
Seeing this, Uchiha Madara secretly let out a sigh of relief. He had finally fooled Izuna. Otherwise, with his brother present, how could he use the battle as an excuse to communicate with Hashirama?
With such a rare opportunity where both Izuna and Tobirama wouldn't be on the battlefield, he and Hashirama definitely couldn't let it slip by.
There might not be another chance like this in the future.
"Oh right, where are Renya and Danzo?" Uchiha Madara seemed to think of something and asked in confusion while looking at the empty tent.
The two of them were strong. With them guarding Izuna, he felt very at ease.
Even if Senju Tobirama sent people to the rear, they could ensure his brother's safety.
But now, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Big brother, Renya-kun and Danzo-kun are sunbathing in the camp," Uchiha Izuna said with a wry smile.
He also didn't understand why the two of them liked sunbathing so much. Early in the morning they had dragged out two wooden chairs and lay on them.
They even called it: "enjoying life."
Uchiha Madara: "..."
What kind of normal person comes to the front line to sunbathe?!
Forget it. As long as they haven't left the camp, at least his brother's safety is guaranteed.
After the two brothers talked a bit, Uchiha Madara didn't delay and led his clansmen to the battlefield to meet the Senju clan.
...
Uchiha Izuna watched Uchiha Madara disappear at the edge of his vision, and his heart felt strangely empty.
So he came to the center of the camp, where two people were lying on chairs sunbathing.
They had no sense of tension about the war at all, as if they were here on vacation.
In fact, that really was the case.
Shimura Danzo felt that as long as Renya was around, he didn't need to worry about anything else.
He just needed to follow his good brother and enjoy life.
After being Hokage for so many years, couldn't he enjoy himself a bit?
Taking advantage of this trip, he should properly enjoy life; otherwise, once he returned to the village, there wouldn't be another chance.
The next time he could be this leisurely might have to wait until after he retired.
"You two are in quite the mood," Uchiha Izuna said as he came up to them, a little envious.
To be able to enjoy life under these circumstances—looks like they did this sort of thing quite often.
When they completely defeated the Senju in the future, he wanted to do the same with his brother.
Travel the ninja world together, lie around sunbathing together—just thinking about it sounded fun.
But the premise of all this was to defeat the Senju clan!
Thinking of that, Uchiha Izuna's expression grew solemn again. Right now, the Uchiha were gradually falling into a disadvantage in their battles against the Senju.
If they couldn't defeat the other side as soon as possible, then in a few years it would be hard to say who would win and who would lose.
"Don't keep a long face all day at such a young age. You should know the sky isn't going to fall. When there's nothing to do, relax a bit."
Renya had noticed that Izuna only showed a smile in front of Madara. In front of others, he always looked burdened with worries.
If this went on for a long time, it would be strange if there weren't psychological problems.
No wonder that old fellow Senju Tobirama analyzed the Uchiha clan so thoroughly…
Looks like during the Warring States period he observed the Uchiha quite a lot—and that definitely included Izuna!
After all, the two sides were sworn enemies.
Shimura Danzo looked at his good brother with a strange expression, not understanding how he could say something like that.
They were fighting wars year after year, and you're telling him to smile.
Only the carefree Renya could say something like that.
Uchiha Izuna was taken aback by the words, then gave a bitter smile.
"Renya-kun is right. It's just that my big brother carries too much on his shoulders. I want to help him share the burden. How could I have time to relax…"
Big brother was the clan's young clan head, and the heavy responsibility of the clan rested on his shoulders.
And he was Madara's younger brother, so he naturally had to share his worries. As long as they defeated the Senju as soon as possible, the war could end sooner!
Then big brother would be admired by all the clansmen and, quite naturally, inherit the position of clan head.
After that, he could devote himself wholeheartedly to assisting big brother in governing the clan.
Uchiha Tajima felt that Izuna's mind was more suitable for being the Uchiha clan head and had once stated that he would pass the position to him in the future.
But Izuna had refused. He always believed that only his big brother could be the clan head.
Even if big brother wasn't as good as him at governing the clan, he could still assist big brother behind the scenes…
In Izuna's heart, there was only his big brother. He had never thought of competing with Madara for anything.
In his view, whatever big brother had, he had too…
Renya looked at Izuna's earnest expression, and his gaze grew a little complicated.
If Izuna hadn't died in the beginning, Uchiha Madara wouldn't have fallen into darkness like that, and he wouldn't have been fooled by the contents of the clan stone tablet.
But there was no "if." Izuna being killed by Tobirama was something that would happen later.
Even if he came to this time and space, because he had arrived before the two brothers awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, he simply couldn't stop it from happening.
Besides, in essence he belonged to Senju Tobirama's camp. It was impossible for him to get Senju Tobirama killed because of Izuna, right?
If the Senju Tobirama from his own time and space found out that he had caused another version of him to die because of Uchiha Izuna,
he would definitely fly into a rage and chop him into pieces!
Renya came here simply to give Tobirama a profound lesson.
After a moment of silence, he finally said in a low voice,
"I hope you can realize your ideals in the future. I'm going to take a look at the battlefield."