Uchiha Kagami hurried out of the academy and headed straight for the Uchiha Clan's residential area. As he passed through the streets, he clearly heard people discussing the news of Uchiha Madara's defection. Although his reason told him it couldn't be true, with so many people talking about it, he couldn't believe it was just a rumor. Regardless of the truth, something major must have happened within the clan.
Uchiha Kagami was burning with anxiety; he wished he could return to the residential area in an instant. Fortunately, Konohagakure was not very large at the time, and he soon arrived at the Uchiha Clan's residential area.
At this moment, some Uchiha Clan Members were talking about something. Seeing Uchiha Kagami stride in, they hurriedly swarmed him, speaking one after another. Uchiha Kagami couldn't make out what they were saying, but he understood one thing: the clan leader, Uchiha Madara, had indeed left the Village.
Uchiha Kagami asked the others to quiet down, promising he would handle the matter soon. As the young clan leader of the Uchiha Clan, he held a certain level of prestige within the clan. The Uchiha Clan Members calmed down and cleared a path, allowing Uchiha Kagami to go and find the clan's high-ranking officials.
Soon, Uchiha Kagami learned the full story. For days, the clan leader, Uchiha Madara, had been staying in the basement of the Naka Shrine. The First Hokage, Hashirama, had come to talk to Madara, but left the clan grounds with a grave expression. While others were feeling uneasy, Madara suddenly appeared before everyone and expressed his wish for the entire clan to leave Konohagakure.
After Konohagakure was established, the Uchiha Clan had gradually grown tired of the life of constant fighting they had led in the past and were living in peace and contentment. However, Madara had always held radical ideas. Not only the Senju Clan, led by Hashirama, but even the Uchiha Clan itself found it difficult to agree with their own leader's views.
Back when Hashirama had initiated large-scale intermarriage, Madara had adamantly refused his request. The people in the clan couldn't understand it; it was a great opportunity to improve relations with the Senju Clan, so why give it up for nothing? Subsequent conflicts between Madara and Hashirama made the clan members feel that Madara still harbored hostility toward the Senju Clan, which was why he had rejected the Senju Clan's goodwill proposal for marriage, causing the relationship between the two clans to become tense once again.
Under these circumstances, the Uchiha Clan Members' respect for Madara slowly faded. And now, Madara was actually calling for everyone to leave the Village. How could the Uchiha Clan Members, who were already tired of fighting and did not want to face an unknown life, agree to this?
Seeing that no one was willing to leave with him, Madara said nothing and simply turned to leave. Just as others were worrying about what radical things Madara might do in the future, he left the Village all by himself.
According to the clan members, when Madara left, he was wearing his red armor and carrying the sage tool, the flame fan, on his back, as if he were heading to a battle. This posture seemed to indicate that he would harbor hostility toward the Senju Clan no matter what.
Uchiha Kagami's heart turned cold as ice. He never expected that Madara would actually do such a thing. He had no way to understand Madara's thinking now; he only knew that the Uchiha Clan would be plunged into trouble from now on.
Less than half a day had passed before the news of Uchiha Madara leaving the Village spread throughout all of Konohagakure. Every Ninja Clan, while surprised by this, also expressed concern about the future of the Village.
Back then, Hashirama and Uchiha Madara shook hands and made peace, deciding to establish Konohagakure. This in itself represented Hashirama's sincerity—look, we can even forgive our mortal enemies and hope to live in the same place, so what is there to worry about for other Ninja Clans with whom we don't have so much blood feud?
Apart from some Ninja Clans that agreed with Hashirama's philosophy, many others had joined Konohagakure because they saw the two clans making peace and chose to believe in Hashirama.
However, the incident of Uchiha Madara's departure had severed this bond of trust—it sounded nice in words, but in the end, both sides burdened with blood feuds still couldn't live together. If it weren't for the fact that Konohagakure had been established for nearly nine years and the Ninja Clans had been getting along well, if this had happened in the early days of its establishment, the Village would likely have been in crisis of splitting apart.
Even so, the seeds of division had already been sown. If Hashirama, as the First Hokage, failed to properly handle the impact of Uchiha Madara's departure, this seed would sprout sooner or later, and subsequently grow vigorously, and Hashirama's hard work would be destroyed in one fell swoop.
Every Ninja Clan was watching and waiting for Hashirama to express his stance. To be honest, they really liked Konohagakure and did not want it to split up.
Although Tobirama knew that Uchiha Madara might cause some trouble, he didn't expect it to be such a major issue, and he was furious. He treated the Konohagakure that Hashirama had built as something he needed to protect well, and all his actions were aimed at making the Village more prosperous, yet this guy Uchiha Madara wanted to destroy it all.
If previously Tobirama only felt wary of Madara's ideology and thus had no good feelings toward him, now there was only disgust in his heart. He looked at the heavy-hearted Hashirama, and his detestation for Uchiha Madara grew heavier. Even so, he had to clean up the mess this guy had left behind.
Because of the past blood feuds between the clans, Tobirama really didn't have any good feelings for the Uchiha Clan, but considering Hashirama's thoughts, he was still willing to treat the Uchiha Clan as a part of the Village. Uchiha Madara did indeed have problems, but the other clan members still had the possibility of turning over a new leaf.
Tobirama quite liked a child like Uchiha Kagami; if everyone in the Uchiha Clan were like Uchiha Kagami, he wouldn't have to worry.
Brother, if we want to handle this matter well, we must separate Madara from the Uchiha Clan, Tobirama said to Hashirama. The betrayal is only Madara's personal behavior, not a conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the Village. We must firmly express this stance.
Madara did not betray us, Hashirama said after a moment of silence. He just didn't want to stay here anymore.
That's not for us to decide. To others, Madara's behavior is a betrayal of the principles upon which the Village was established; he is a traitor to the Village, Tobirama said, shaking his head.
Sigh— Hashirama sighed, unable to refute it.
It's not just us, Brother; even the Uchiha Clan itself wants to cast off Madara, Tobirama said. The Uchiha Clan insists that this was Madara's unauthorized action and that the Uchiha Clan never intended to betray the Village. Uchiha Kagami has also reported to me multiple times, guaranteeing that they have always stood on the side of the Village.
Since that's the case, let's do as you say. Hashirama had no other choice; he had already lost his good friend and could not let his hard work be lost as well.
Tobirama nodded; his brother Hashirama was still wise when it came to matters of principle, and he said, Since six years ago, the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan has become increasingly tense because of Madara. This time, we absolutely cannot let someone like Madara destroy it, so the next leader of the Uchiha Clan must be someone who is close to the Village.
Although Hashirama was somewhat unhappy with his brother calling Madara someone like that, Madara's actions had also hurt Hashirama's heart, so he said nothing. However, Tobirama's subsequent words cheered him up a bit. That's right, he still had to preserve the friendship between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan.
I remember Madara's successor is Uchiha Kagami, Hashirama recalled. He is a good child. If it were him, he would certainly be willing to promote the friendship between the Uchiha and the Senju.
However, there is some trouble within the Uchiha Clan, Tobirama said. Because Uchiha Kagami is the successor established by Madara, some Uchiha Clan Members feel that to prove their innocence to the Village, they cannot have the slightest connection with Madara, and thus Uchiha Kagami is not qualified to be this clan leader.
What kind of nonsense is that! Hashirama couldn't help but rebuke. He could see that the real reason behind this was actually just malicious words spoken out of dissatisfaction with Uchiha Kagami holding the position of clan leader. Yet, at this moment, these people's words sounded very reasonable, which simply struck at Uchiha Kagami's weak point.
According to the agreement between the Village and the Ninja Clans, the Hokage has no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the clans. If the Uchiha Clan itself revokes Uchiha Kagami's successor status, there isn't much we can say. Tobirama looked into Hashirama's eyes and said, Brother, if you want to ensure the friendship between the Senju and the Uchiha, you need to state your position.
Hashirama looked up at his brother and nodded. This matter could only be handled by him, as the leader of the Senju Clan and the First Hokage; only he could do it.