Nothing stays the same forever. The Will of Fire in Konohagakure can change, and so can justice.
The only thing that never changes is the world itself—because this world has never been just black and white.
"So, how do we sneak into the Uchiha clan's district?"
"No need to sneak in. We can just walk right in."
Shisui spoke without hesitation.
There weren't many Uchiha left now, and for him, walking into the Uchiha district was no different from going home.
"Besides, the Uchiha district isn't in the same place as the other clans, and I doubt any of the other families in Konohagakure want to be associated with them. We can just walk in."
The Uchiha clan's situation was so dire that no one wanted to go near them.
It was like they were cursed—completely isolated, with no defenses at all.
"That's why the Second Hokage built his research lab beneath the Uchiha clan's territory. But Kagami believed the main reason was that the First Hokage wouldn't bother checking on the Uchiha clan."
Thinking about what the Second Hokage had done, Shisui felt the second possibility was more likely.
If the First Hokage had found out about the human experiments, he probably would have beaten the Second Hokage to death.
But the difference between Tobirama and people like Orochimaru or Danzo was that Tobirama was a genius when it came to theory. Every forbidden jutsu he created was built upon a solid foundation of knowledge before it was ever tested on a person.
And Tobirama never used civilians from his own village—or from other villages—as test subjects. They weren't even qualified for that.
But enemy ninjas? Rogue ninjas? Tobirama never hesitated.
"The Second Hokage really was a ninjutsu genius."
"If he had lived longer, the ninja world would probably have even more forbidden jutsu by now."
Thinking about it, Shanks found the idea terrifying.
The craziest thing about the ninja world was that even after decades of development, ninjas hadn't actually gotten any stronger compared to before.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, a bunch of "new era" ninjas were completely outclassed by the old-timers from the past.
From Shanks' point of view, it was like the ninjas of the past few decades had been wasting their time.
Of course, from another perspective, the monsters from the Sengoku era were just insanely powerful.
Just the forbidden jutsu that Tobirama created was enough for Konoha to benefit from for decades.
"If Tobirama really wanted to survive, nobody could have killed him. The only explanation for his death… must have something to do with himself."
Shisui couldn't wrap his head around it.
How could the Second Hokage, the man who created Edo Tensei, end up dead? Not to mention, he also had the Flying Thunder God technique.
On top of that, with his intelligence, ordinary schemes wouldn't have worked on Tobirama.
"But, Captain, who exactly asked you to come looking for the Uchiha clan's Poneglyph?"
"Uchiha Madara."
Shanks absentmindedly adjusted his chef's hat. It actually fit pretty well—covering his hair made for the perfect disguise.
Shisui was truly a top-tier ninja from Konoha!
"Uchiha Madara…?"
Shisui felt like he had just heard some terrifying secret.
For a moment, he was completely frozen.
"Uchiha Madara?"
"You know, the one who founded Konoha alongside Hashirama."
Hearing his captain's explanation, a vein popped on Shisui's forehead.
Of course, he knew it was that Uchiha Madara! Who else could it be?!
"That's not the point at all! The point is—why is Uchiha Madara still alive?!"
Shisui took a deep breath, trying to keep his anger in check.
Could his captain stop dropping world-shaking information like it was no big deal?
Not everyone knew these crazy secrets—could he at least consider how his crew might feel?
"Huh? Oh, that? I'm not sure either."
"Technically, Madara should have died a long time ago. But his body was still alive—probably thanks to some secret jutsu, plus Hashirama's cells keeping him going."
"But now, he's definitely dead."
Shanks gave a brief explanation.
Hearing this, Shisui let out a sigh of relief.
"Someone like Madara is too dangerous. It's better if he stays dead."
"Don't worry, he won't stay that way for long. And in his final moments, he got to witness this new era.
From what I know about Madara, there's no way he'd go down quietly."
Thinking back to Madara's expression at the time, Shanks couldn't help but feel a trace of sadness.
Back then, he had thought it was just an old pirate mourning the end of Roger's era. But looking at it now, it was clear—Madara had met him, Shanks, in his final days.
And through Shanks, he had seen the arrival of a whole new era, while knowing that his own time was running out.
"Madara must have wanted to see the great warriors of this era too."
"You're the only one who thinks that. No shinobi in this era wants to see Madara again."
Shisui held back the urge to punch him. As expected, his captain had no idea what "Madara" meant to shinobi.
And more importantly, Madara was going to come back to life soon?
"This is the place."
Shisui stopped in front of a house—their destination.
"This was where Kagami lived, so Tobirama often came here too. Anything he left behind should still be here."
"This place?"
Shanks looked up. The house was in ruins, but it wasn't just this one. The entire area was the same.
The Uchiha clan's district was little more than a wasteland.
Collapsed buildings and crumbling walls were everywhere, in stark contrast to the thriving village of Konohagakure in the distance.
Meanwhile, over at Ichiraku Ramen—
Zobei and Kotarou sat silently, eating their ramen, while Kabuto rested his hand on his forehead in exasperation.
"Kabuto-sama, you can't blame us. We did find the Poneglyph in the Uchiha district, but that cat was way too strong. We couldn't take it."
"Yeah, Kabuto-sama. If you had just given us our Chunin certifications earlier, we would've been strong enough to handle it!"
Zobei and Kotarou both spoke up. They had indeed found what Kabuto asked for.
But they simply weren't strong enough to retrieve it.
Kabuto was at a loss with these two.
Why did they think having Chunin certification would suddenly make them stronger?
"Fine, fine. I'll go with you tonight and take it myself."
Kabuto handed them the Chunin certifications he had obtained for them during his plan to destroy Konohagakure. All the paperwork was legitimate.
"Your ramen."
Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, placed Kabuto's bowl in front of him. Despite Kabuto being a rogue ninja, Teuchi didn't care about that—he was just a simple ramen shop owner.
"Thanks."
Hearing this, Kabuto's frustrated expression softened into a warm smile.
He removed his glasses before picking up his chopsticks, as if both the glasses and the ramen carried memories he didn't want to talk about.
As night fell, Kabuto followed Zobei and Kotarou toward the Uchiha district.
Meanwhile, outside Konohagakure, Tsunade and Jiraiya arrived at the place where they had arranged to meet Orochimaru and Hiruko.
Under the moonlight, three frail-looking figures emerged from the forest.
One was Orochimaru, whose hands were crippled. Another was Kimimaro, so gravely ill that he was barely holding on to life. The last was Hiruko, wrapped in layers of bandages, looking just as sickly after years of experimenting with forbidden jutsu.
The moment the four of them met, the atmosphere became tense, as if a fight could break out at any moment.
But in the end, everything was summed up in a single sentence from Jiraiya.
"Long time no see!"
Under the moonlight and the gentle breeze, the four who had long gone their separate ways were once again reunited in Konohagakure.
"Long time no see, Jiraiya!"
---
You can read 50 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu