Unify the shinobi world?
The moment that thought appeared in Uchiha Madara's mind, even he himself was stunned by how bold it was.
The last time the shinobi world had been truly unified—
One would have to trace history back over a thousand years.
That was the era of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
With power far beyond her age, she forcibly unified the entire shinobi world and became its absolute ruler. But that era was short-lived—Kaguya was betrayed by her own sons, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
After that,
Hagoromo became a monk—the Sage of Six Paths—and chose not to restore the old order of a unified world.
From then on, the shinobi world fractured into endless conflict, a chaos that persisted to this very day.
Now, dozens—perhaps hundreds—of large and small nations existed.
The very concept of grand unification had long since vanished into the river of history.
And yet—
The Uchiha Clan had always produced individuals of astonishing intellect.
Madara stood at the very pinnacle of them.
Though the idea was shocking beyond belief, the more Madara thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. If Hashirama supported him, then no matter how great the difficulties ahead, Madara believed that the two of them together could accomplish it.
At worst—
A few more people would die.
But for a more distant future,
That price would be worth paying.
"Compared to the matter at hand," Madara said slowly,
"I've realized there is a far more important issue that must be addressed."
As Madara's thoughts returned to the present, he felt countless gazes focusing on him. After briefly organizing his words, he prepared to use this opportunity to propose a solution—one that could once and for all eliminate the future risk of war.
This is bad.
Thanks to his acute instincts, Senju Tobirama immediately sensed danger.
That innately wicked Uchiha Madara was about to cause trouble.
"The conflict between Konoha, Akatsuki Village, and Kumogakure—" Tobirama cut in sharply,
"has already been recklessly escalated by Uchiha Makoto and now risks turning into a war!"
"This is no trivial matter, and today's emergency meeting exists precisely to address this issue!"
"Uchiha Madara, do not bring up irrelevant topics unrelated to this meeting!"
Without hesitation, Tobirama slammed the brakes.
Whatever Madara wanted to say—
He could not be allowed to say it.
This was guaranteed to be bad news.
"Hmph. A head on a pike."
Madara didn't give Tobirama even the slightest bit of respect.
Konoha's affairs are decided by Hashirama and me.
You're nothing but a mediocre bureaucrat—who do you think you are, babbling here?
"You—!"
"Enough, enough! Everyone's doing their best."
Before Tobirama could explode, Hashirama hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over, playing peacemaker yet again. On the surface he seemed neutral, but in reality, his elbow was—as always—pointed outward.
"This meeting allows everyone to speak," Hashirama added.
"If Madara has something to say, then let him say it."
Tobirama's expression darkened.
Madara, meanwhile, curled his lips upward. Seeing Tobirama fume while hearing Hashirama's words, he couldn't help letting out a smug chuckle.
That arrogant look—
Made Tobirama clench his fists beneath the table. His usually expressionless face began to twist as everything finally broke through his defenses.
This you won't listen to.
That you won't listen to.
You disappear all the time, never do any real work in the office—
I'm the one holding Konoha together, working myself half to death!
And now, at the most critical moment—
You still won't back me?!
What kind of brother are you?!
For once, Tobirama completely lost control and shouted in the middle of the meeting:
"Fine! Stir it up! Stir it all up!"
"Stir Konoha into chaos! Let Makoto's schemes succeed! Drag the village into the swamp of war!"
"I'll just risk my life alongside you idiots—what else can I do?!"
The clan heads watching from the sidelines immediately fell silent.
No one dared speak.
They'd come to a meeting—
And instead got front-row seats to a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
Anyone with eyes could see it now.
The Hokage's stance clearly leaned toward Madara.
"Poor Tobirama…"
"He works himself to the bone every day."
"Always in the office, calculating budgets, handling paperwork—careful as walking on thin ice."
"And when it really matters, the Hokage still plays favorites."
"Just watch the show."
The clan heads sighed inwardly but made no move to intervene.
This was a clash between the Senju and the Uchiha—
not something they could safely involve themselves in.
Even the powerful Hyūga Clan stayed neutral.
The Hyūga clan head sat back calmly, entirely detached.
Who became Hokage didn't matter to him.
As long as the Hyūga Clan remained Konoha's third great clan, they would always be courted—whether the Hokage was Senju or Uchiha.
Never take sides.
Never go all-in.
That was the Hyūga way of survival.
"Tobirama, don't be angry. Don't rush things."
Hashirama tried to calm his brother, his intelligence briefly coming online as he quoted a famous saying from decades past:
'A household with a remonstrating son will not fall;
a state with a remonstrating minister will not perish.'
"The same applies to a ninja village."
"Oh?" Tobirama shot back coldly.
"So what you're saying is—if we don't let Uchiha Madara speak today, Konoha will be destroyed?"
"Hard to say!" Hashirama replied honestly.
Tobirama's anger didn't subside at all.
"Fine. Then let him speak."
"Big Brother—you will regret this."
At that moment, Tobirama felt utterly drained. He slumped back into his chair, abandoning the floor entirely to Madara.
Let's see what kind of nonsense this 'innately wicked' Uchiha plans to spew.
"Hmph."
Madara snorted, completely unfazed by Tobirama's outburst. He stood and walked calmly to the podium.
He was ready to declare his ambition—
To unify the shinobi world.
Hashirama… you'll support me, won't you?
This is for Konoha. For lasting peace.
"Today's topic—the conflict between Konoha, Akatsuki Village, and Kumogakure—"
"In my view, this is nothing more than a minor issue."
"Compared to it, what I'm about to say concerns Konoha's future—and the future of the entire shinobi world."
"In the Warring Clans Era, ninja clans fought endlessly over missions, misunderstandings piling up until wars erupted."
"Now those clans have formed villages—but barely two years have passed, and conflicts between villages over missions have already begun."
"If this continues, village wars will inevitably mirror the chaos of the Warring States."
Madara laid out the logic calmly, drawing a straight line from the past to the present.
This conflict—
Was proof.
Tobirama frowned deeply.
Madara wasn't wrong.
But what exactly was he trying to do?
The expressions of the clan heads grew solemn.
Even they had to admit it—
War was inevitable.
And the wars of the future would be even larger and bloodier than those of the past.
"Madara," Hashirama prompted smoothly,
"what you're saying makes sense. Do you have a solution?"
"I founded Konoha with you for the sake of peace," Madara continued.
"But this peace is only temporary."
"To resolve this once and for all—"
"I propose unifying the shinobi world."
Gasps filled the room.
"This conflict is the perfect opportunity. We first join forces with Akatsuki Village to eliminate Kumogakure."
"Then we move on to the other great villages."
"Once they're gone, only minor villages remain—easily dealt with."
"By my estimate, unifying the shinobi world would take only a few years."
Silence.
Utter silence.
The clan heads stared at him in disbelief.
Unify the shinobi world.
What kind of madness was this?
For a thousand years, countless powerful ninja had risen and fallen—
But none had even dared imagine such a thing.
Insane.
Utterly insane.
As expected of the Uchiha…
Tobirama listened in shock.
This plan shattered even his worst expectations.
He had never seriously considered unifying the world himself—
because he understood better than anyone how impossibly complex it was.
Managing even one village already buried him in work:
Missions.
Budgets.
Personnel training.
And that was the easy part.
Unifying the world by force would provoke endless rebellion, chaos, and slaughter.
How many ninja would die?
How many civilians?
Madara hadn't even considered it.
And beyond villages—
There were the daimyō.
Each ninja village answered to a feudal lord.
Unifying the world meant confronting them too.
Negotiating with every daimyō alone would take decades.
Unless—
Was Madara planning to eliminate the daimyō as well?
The thought made Tobirama's scalp tingle.
For ninja to oppose daimyō—
That was unthinkable.
Only lunatics and the most heinous criminals would even consider it.
Hashirama.
Tobirama.
The clan heads present.
None of them could accept such an idea.
Even Madara himself hadn't gone that far yet.
"This is sheer madness," Tobirama thought grimly.
"He has no idea how complex this truly is."
And he turned to look at his brother.
I told you not to let him speak.
You insisted.
Now how are you going to clean this up?!
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