Chapter 397: A Thoroughly Exhilarating Tale
"On the surface, Black Zetsu only altered the contents of the stone tablet belonging to Indra's reincarnations, that is, the Uchiha Clan…"
"Wait, Second Hokage-sama, give me a moment. Who originally left the contents on the Uchiha clan's stone tablet?"
Nara Shikamaru interrupted again.
"The Sage of Six Paths."
Senju Tobirama replied calmly, showing no irritation at being interrupted.
If anything, the interruption gave him more time to think.
"The Sage of Six Paths left it? But shouldn't it have been about reconciling Indra and Asura? That aligns perfectly with Black Zetsu's goal of bringing them together, so why change it?"
Shikamaru voiced his confusion.
"You're right. The contents on the Uchiha tablet were indeed left by the Sage of Six Paths, talking about things like love."
"But!"
"Kid, you've now come to understand the Sage of Six Paths based on my story, but you still don't understand the Uchiha."
Tobirama shook his head and sighed.
No one present doubted his words.
As more historical truths had come to light, everyone had come to realize just how well the Second Hokage understood the Uchiha.
Perhaps even better than his own Senju clan.
"The Uchiha clan has a habit of going against the grain. If early reincarnations of Indra saw those words, instead of obediently following them, it would only trigger their rebellious instincts."
"That would make it even harder for Black Zetsu to bring the brothers together."
"I see… that makes sense."
Shikamaru nodded in realization.
"But what about Uchiha Madara…?"
"Madara and Uchiha Sasuke are already many generations into Indra's reincarnations."
"At the beginning, Indra's reincarnations resisted this."
"But over time, as the tablet kept pushing them in the opposite direction through their rebellion, they gradually developed those tendencies."
"By the time it reached Madara, he had already fallen and developed the idea of engaging in those 'group activities.'"
"I can even tell you this, the reason my brother Senju Hashirama started having similar thoughts was because of Madara's influence."
"Of course, at that time, the two of them had concealed their identities from each other."
"Until one day, their 'relationship' was discovered by me and by Uchiha Izuna on the Uchiha side."
"To prevent my brother from becoming that kind of 'bond-type ninja', I had no choice but to report it to our father."
"Meanwhile, Izuna had a completely different mindset."
"That guy was also a hopeless… 'bond-type ninja.'"
"He told their father as well, but out of pure jealousy."
"He wanted to break up Madara and my brother Hashirama, simply so he could take Madara's place."
"In any case, from that point on, my brother and Madara appeared to have broken ties. The Senju and Uchiha continued to clash repeatedly, just as before."
"But I knew the truth."
"After every battle, their feelings only deepened."
"If it were just simple love, calm and uneventful, it might have remained ordinary."
"But when love is mixed with hatred, it becomes something else entirely."
"Love and hatred intertwine, intensifying the emotion further and further."
"And when those feelings are suppressed, once they finally erupt, they become earth-shattering!"
Everyone listened, completely absorbed.
At this point, Kiba couldn't help but ask, "Second Hokage-sama, didn't you try to stop them back then?"
"Of course I did. Unfortunately, fate plays cruel tricks."
Tobirama sighed.
"At that time, their relationship was already like an explosive tag, ready to detonate at any moment. To stop them, I had to resort to a different approach, using one force to counter another."
"In one battle, I used the Flying Thunder God Slash to painlessly turn Izuna into a woman, intending to pair Izuna with Madara and sever his connection with my brother."
"As expected, after returning, Izuna immediately tried to leverage that favor, demanding that my brother marry her."
"But I never expected Madara to be so ruthless."
"No matter what, Izuna had been injured because he followed Madara into battle. Yet not only did Madara show no gratitude, he even poisoned Izuna's medicine in order to maintain his entanglement with my brother!"
"And just like that, poor Izuna was sent to the underworld by the very brother he trusted and loved the most!"
"At the time, I gathered intelligence and learned from fragments that after Izuna's death, Madara even pretended to cry."
"I couldn't believe it, so the next time we met, I asked him, 'How is Izuna?'"
"I wanted to confirm whether he had really done something so inhuman, and to awaken whatever conscience he might still have."
"Unfortunately, I failed."
"Madara answered coldly, 'Izuna died from severe injuries.'"
"Severe injuries? Wouldn't I, the one who struck him, know whether he was severely injured?"
"To ensure Izuna's safety, before using the Flying Thunder God Slash, I thoroughly cleaned my blade. I even applied alcohol for sterilization and quicklime to stop bleeding."
"He should have survived."
"But in the end, Madara killed his own brother and even tried to use that to make my brother feel guilty, to force him into submission!"
"My brother didn't see through it and almost committed suicide with a kunai."
"But would Madara allow that?"
"His goal was to possess my brother completely, body and mind. Of course he wouldn't let him die. So he seized the opportunity to cooperate with him and founded Konoha."
"So this is the origin of Konoha? What a dramatic story."
"…No wonder the ninja academy doesn't teach this part of history."
Everyone sighed in amazement.
They were so absorbed that they almost forgot why they had come to see the Second Hokage in the first place.
"After that, I still didn't give up on stopping them. So I arranged for my brother to marry Uzumaki Mito."
"Although my brother was the reincarnation of Asura's chakra, this life was different from the previous ones. Not just in terms of power, but also in his control over his own fate."
"So he didn't refuse."
"When Madara found out, he was furious and left Konoha on his own."
As Tobirama spoke, he casually used phrases like "as it should be by nature", showing that he had grown accustomed to such language.
"The rest doesn't need much explanation."
"After my brother and Madara died, their chakra passed on to Uzumaki Naruto and Sasuke."
"This new pair of ill-fated lovers began their own 'interactions.'"
"Just like what you saw earlier, Naruto and Sasuke have also become 'bond-type ninjas.'"
"What a… thoroughly exhilarating storytelling session."
Kiba sighed again after hearing it all.
"Woof woof."
Akamaru wagged his head.
Clearly, he wasn't impressed. He still preferred the stories from the Limited Tsukuyomi series.
(End of this chapter)