Under Konoha’s Shadow

Chapter 38: Madara's Defection

For the past half a month, things had been peaceful, but...

"What did you say?" Yamamoto Ryusei looked at Uchiha Kagami, who had skipped class to find him, and said in disbelief, "You're saying Teacher Madara has left the village?"

Kagami nodded with a grim expression. "That's right. Yesterday, Lord Madara asked the clan if they were willing to leave the village with him, but the other clan members refused. After that, Lord Madara disappeared."

Kagami hesitated for a moment before asking, "Ryusei, did Lord Madara defect?"

The village had a rule: those who leave the village without reason are considered to have defected.

"That's not clear for now," Yamamoto Ryusei said, pulling Kagami towards the exit. "Let's go. We'll go to Teacher Hashirama's place and ask."

Ryusei arrived at the Senju compound and saw Hashirama sitting alone at a stone table in the courtyard, his expression melancholic. It seemed he already knew the news of Madara's departure.

Ryusei walked up to him. "Teacher Hashirama, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

Hashirama came back to his senses. "It's you, Ryusei. What do you want to ask?"

Ryusei said with some hesitation, "Teacher Hashirama, do you know why Teacher Madara left the village?"

Hashirama looked at the sorrowful faces of Ryusei and Kagami, paused for a moment, and then said, "A few days ago, the Tsuchikage from the Hidden Stone Village paid a visit to Konoha. After we reached a cooperation agreement with the Tsuchikage, Madara cornered him in the street and demanded his submission. When the Tsuchikage refused, Madara beat them up. The cooperation between Konoha and the Hidden Stone Village was thus broken."

*Beat them up? It was more like a severe humiliation. He scared Onoki so badly that he was traumatized for decades to come.*

Hashirama continued slowly, "After that, Madara and I had an argument. That night, he left the village, saying he was going to find the true path to peace."

"How could this happen?" Kagami found it hard to accept.

Ryusei's expression turned serious. "Teacher Hashirama, will you declare Teacher Madara a rogue ninja?"

Kagami's head snapped up, his eyes fixed on Hashirama.

Hashirama was silent for a long time before saying, "No. I will not declare Madara a rogue ninja. I will only announce that he has gone out to travel the ninja world."

Kagami was overjoyed and bowed deeply to Hashirama. "Thank you so much, Lord Hokage! I'll go and tell the elders right away!"

Kagami ran off excitedly. Hashirama recalled Madara's words from the previous night. "Ryusei, is my peace truly incomplete?"

Ryusei replied, "No, Teacher Hashirama, your peace is complete. At least within the Land of Fire, within Konoha, there is no more war."

Hashirama's eyes instantly firmed with resolve. "That's right. At least the Land of Fire and Konoha are at peace. Now, we must protect this peace."

Ryusei said with determination, "Don't worry, Teacher Hashirama! I will protect Konoha's peace!"

Hashirama's dream was never peace for the entire ninja world. He just wanted to stop the wars between the ninja clans of the Land of Fire; peace in Konoha was enough for him. But Madara had seen through this temporary peace. He wanted there to be only one ninja village in the world: Konoha. He believed that was true peace.

After Ryusei left, Tobirama came out from the house. "Big Brother, are you really not going to declare Madara Uchiha a rogue ninja? If you don't, the other ninjas won't know he's a rogue. What if they fall into one of his traps?"

Hashirama shook his head. "Don't worry, Madara is not that kind of person. If he truly wanted to harm Konoha, he would come openly. And if he really does come..."

Hashirama paused for a moment, then said with determination, "Then I will deal with him. No one can be allowed to harm Konoha."

For some reason, seeing Hashirama like this, Tobirama felt a chill. He quickly changed the subject. "Then what about the cooperation with the other ninja villages? Should we continue?"

Hashirama thought for a moment. "We should still send someone to explain things to the Tsuchikage, although it probably won't be of much use. We should also make contact with the other ninja villages. Normal diplomacy is still necessary."

Tobirama's tone was somewhat unfriendly. "Big Brother, what do you think of Ryusei?"

Hashirama was confused. "He's great. He's talented, hardworking, and strong. He's a good prospect for becoming Hokage. What's wrong?"

Tobirama was a bit speechless. "Big Brother, I'm not talking about that. I mean, Ryusei was taught by Madara Uchiha. Has he inherited Madara's ideology?"

Hashirama said with displeasure, "Tobirama, Madara is Madara, and Ryusei is Ryusei. You can't lump them together. And we've taught Ryusei too. You've seen how he usually behaves. He respects his teachers, and he has many bonds in Konoha. What problem could he have?"

Tobirama thought of Ryusei's various actions and didn't refute him, instead skipping the topic. "Then what about the Uchiha clan? Should we restrict and monitor them?"

Hashirama's expression grew even more displeased. "Tobirama, how many times have I told you? The Uchiha clan is also a part of Konoha. We cannot treat them differently. Otherwise, it will only alienate them. And the fact that they didn't leave with Madara proves that they also want to integrate into the village."

Tobirama immediately fell silent, unable to respond.

---

Yamamoto Ryusei was still practicing ninjutsu at the Senju training grounds, but his mind was elsewhere.

*Now that Madara has defected, he must be looking for the "opposing forces" mentioned on the stone tablet. When he realizes it refers to his and Hashirama's power, he will come to attack the village with the Nine-Tails.*

*This will take at least a few years. Then, Madara will be suppressed by Hashirama and fake his death. Hashirama will live for a few more years and then die. After that, the First Great Ninja War will break out. This means that in less than ten years, I must at least grow to the level of a Kage. Otherwise, I'll easily kick the bucket in the first war.*

Ryusei's strength had reached a bottleneck. He had already developed all six styles of Rokushiki. With the help of his shadow clones, he could now cast B-rank ninjutsu. His swordsmanship had progressed to the point where he could unleash a twenty-meter-long crescent slash.

The most important thing now was to thoroughly understand chakra nature transformation and then create his own Armament Haki. After all, Armament Haki would be the most helpful to him right now.

After Madara's departure, both Uchiha Kagami and Yamamoto Ryusei trained even more diligently.

---

**Mount Myōboku**

Fukasaku returned from the outside world. Shima served him dinner and asked, "Honey, how did the search for a proxy go?"

Fukasaku swallowed a worm. "I found someone, but I'm not sure if we can use him."

Shima asked curiously, "Who is it? Who's making you so hesitant?"

Fukasaku sighed. "It's Uchiha Kagami of the Uchiha clan."

"Uchiha Kagami?" Shima cried out in surprise. "Why someone from the Uchiha clan? Why not the Senju? You know Indra's descendants are not so easy to get along with."

Fukasaku sighed again. "There's no other choice. This generation of the Senju clan hasn't produced any real talent. If we were just looking for an ordinary proxy, we could train anyone and it would be enough. But to find someone who can resist a powerhouse capable of destroying all of Mount Myōboku, only Uchiha Kagami is suitable."

Shima was silent for a long time before saying, "What about the other ninja villages? Are there any suitable candidates?"

Fukasaku continued to eat his worms. "The problem is the same. Their future strength won't reach that level."

Shima thought for a moment. "Then what about choosing the child who will be the next reincarnation of Asura's chakra as our proxy?"

Fukasaku shook his head. "No, there's not enough time. Who knows how many more years Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha will live? As long as one of them is alive, the chakras of Asura and Indra cannot be reincarnated."

Shima said with worry, "I'm just afraid of letting the wolf into the sheepfold."

Fukasaku replied, "There's no need to worry about that. Uchiha Kagami's character is quite good. And he's still so young; we can completely guide him with the correct ideology."

Shima retorted, "I'm not afraid of him; I'm afraid of Madara Uchiha. If he brings Madara to Mount Myōboku, who knows what will happen."

Fukasaku finally showed a hint of a smile. "Madara Uchiha has already defected. And not a single member of the Uchiha clan left with him."

"Really?" Shima nodded. "Then Uchiha Kagami can be our proxy. But how will you get him to join?"

Fukasaku smiled. "Just you watch me."