"Madara, that's enough!"
"I will absolutely not agree to this!"
"Why start a war—one after another—over something that hasn't even happened? Have you forgotten why we founded Konoha in the first place? So children wouldn't have to step onto the battlefield, so we could live in peace. Haven't we already achieved that?"
"Why can't we resolve conflicts through dialogue, through negotiation, by understanding each other and speaking from the heart… We clearly can settle things that way."
Hashirama Senju slapped the table and stood.
He was deeply satisfied with the peace they had now, so there was no way he would accept Madara Uchiha's plan—launching a preemptive war across the entire shinobi world for the sake of some possible future conflict.
It was putting the cart before the horse.
Not only would Konoha lose the peace it enjoyed, it would plunge the entire shinobi world into endless war.
It was absurd.
"Hashirama, you're too naive."
"Openness and honesty between people isn't that easy. Rather than letting the Konoha of the future fall into war, we should shoulder it now and finish all the wars in advance."
To Madara Uchiha, Hashirama was simply far too naive. Honest dealings don't come so easily between people.
Let alone between villages. Instead of chasing some nebulous possibility, it was better to seize the initiative. That was what Konoha ought to do.
"Nonsense."
"Why not?"
"Our Senju clan and your Uchiha clan are the best example. We came to understand one another, built trust, and finally shook hands to found Konoha. This hard-won peace—how can we break it so lightly?"
Hashirama was unmoved. He pointed to the Uchiha–Senju reconciliation and the founding of Konoha, something right beside him—something he had personally achieved.
People develop path dependence.
Especially when they've succeeded at something before. When they meet a similar situation, they instinctively try to reuse the previous winning formula.
Hashirama was no different. What he had accomplished in the past, he believed he could accomplish again. If the Uchiha and Senju, who slaughtered each other for a thousand years, could do it, why couldn't the villages?
Madara hadn't even tried.
Their argument grew more and more heated. Their philosophies were fundamentally opposed and impossible to reconcile. At first the exchange was still coherent, but it devolved into pure emotion, and at the end it became a contest of who could shout louder.
"Hashirama, you're naive and foolish!"
"Madara, you're the one who's stubborn and extreme!"
An indescribable pressure and chakra spread from the two of them, making the atmosphere in the room feel as heavy as a mountain.
In that moment,
the heads of the various clans didn't know what to do. Most had never witnessed Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju fight with their own eyes. They sat frozen, aghast, thinking: What terrifying power is this?
They were just sitting there watching, and the pressure wasn't even aimed at them—yet it felt like they could be killed in the next second.
Was the gap between them and these two lords really that vast?
"Please don't start fighting."
"Whatever happens, don't come to blows."
"We're only here for a meeting."
The clan heads screamed in their hearts, and finally the quickest among them leapt up to smooth things over.
"Forget it, forget it—everyone has it hard."
"Right, exactly."
"It's hard for everyone. We can talk this out. Lord Madara, Lord Hashirama, please don't hurt the harmony—everyone's doing this for Konoha."
Once they snapped out of it, the clan heads all chimed in. Watching this, Tobirama Senju, though worried that a sudden clash between his brother and Madara might spill over and harm Konoha, couldn't help feeling secretly pleased.
Stir it up. Stir it up.
Turn on each other, why don't you?
That would be wonderful.
"Forget it, forget it—everyone has it hard. Madara Uchiha, you can't beat my big brother."
Tobirama called out perfunctorily twice. Madara Uchiha seemed to hear something, shot a cold glance in Tobirama's direction, then stormed out of the conference room. Hashirama was still too naive.
Hashirama hurriedly chased after him.
He believed he had to persuade Madara and absolutely could not let him do something foolish.
The meeting ended in a muddled way.
Madara Uchiha stormed out, Hashirama Senju ran after him, and in the end Tobirama Senju cleaned up the mess and finished the remaining agenda—mainly about muzzling people and enforcing gag orders.
As the younger brother,
Tobirama would of course stand by his elder brother.
The villains who would destroy the peace of the shinobi world had already revealed themselves.
One was the innately evil Madara Uchiha.
The other was the innately evil Makoto Uchiha.
They were birds of a feather, both possessing "world-shocking intellect." If Konoha let itself be led by them, the great ship would eventually capsize.
As for unifying the shinobi world,
even if Konoha could manage such an unprecedented feat, it certainly wouldn't be Madara Uchiha's to accomplish.
So thought Tobirama Senju.
After he wrapped up the remaining agenda, the meeting was adjourned.
When the emergency council ended,
Konoha immediately issued a statement. As much as Tobirama Senju wanted to kill that innately evil Uchiha brat Makoto, the wording of the announcement was still very tactful. Konoha did not choose to stand openly against Akatsuki Village.
Forcibly gagging people already went against public sentiment. If they outright cursed Makoto Uchiha as an idiot, that would be a naked stab in the back to an ally.
Tobirama had no intention of bearing the stigma of backstabbing an ally.
Akatsuki Village.
Makoto Uchiha sat in the Light-and-Shadow office, reading Konoha's latest announcement.
Its gist was clear: "Konoha hopes Akatsuki Village will adopt the proper attitude, exercise restraint, avoid escalating the incident, and put forward reasonable terms for negotiation."
At the same time,
Konoha would dispatch envoys to Akatsuki Village as soon as possible for further talks.
"Just as expected."
After reading it, Makoto Uchiha showed no disappointment. Konoha's posture was exactly as he had predicted; they would never take the same stance as him on this matter.
In fact, according to the latest covert intelligence,
ninja from Konoha's various clans had already fallen silent about the "conflict between Konoha and Akatsuki Village versus Kumogakure," and even ordinary villagers had received gag warnings.
It wouldn't be long before the envoys arrived, surely to persuade him to drop the harsh compensation terms, to keep the peace of the present, to let the matter go.
Everyone would keep up appearances, each side taking a step back, and the affair would be over.
"The announcement doesn't explicitly oppose Akatsuki Village. Tactful enough. That's already plenty. As long as Konoha doesn't publicly fall out with us, Kumogakure will assume Konoha and Akatsuki are playing good cop and bad cop."
Makoto Uchiha didn't care whether Konoha would send troops to help him. To deal with one Kumogakure, Akatsuki Village was enough.
"Now that Konoha's statement is out, it's about time Kumogakure made its move."
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