Chapter 86: You Lie to Me, I Lie to You—The Uchiha Family Is So Wonderful
"I refuse!"
"Old man, back then you didn't hesitate to sacrifice your life for the sake of the clan. So what does sacrificing a little of your reputation matter?"
"Those are two different things."
"Is there still any 'love' in your heart?"
"Love can't save your reputation."
"Think about it. Taking her in would be good for the clan's future."
"Heh. If that's how you put it, then I think the clan leader divorcing his wife to pursue Hashirama's granddaughter would also be a good thing. Why doesn't he do that?"
"The clan leader is so stubborn!"
"My brain is stubborn too!"
"..."
After Uchiha Madara stopped the two from actually fighting, the sound of their argument continued to reach his ears.
He looked at Uzumaki Kana standing alone in the courtyard, and his determination to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan grew even stronger.
The destruction of the Land of Whirlpools could be said to have been the result of many factors working together.
Hashirama's ideas had been wrong.
There was no peace in the shinobi world.
Shinobi were the root of all the chaos.
A cold smile curled up at the corner of Madara's mouth.
He would gather all the tailed beasts, revive the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path that the Sage of Six Paths had sealed on the moon, become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki himself, reach the level of the Sage of Six Paths, activate the Eye of the Moon, project his ocular power onto the moon, and cast Infinite Tsukuyomi to control everyone in the world.
He would unify the world and create peace within an illusion.
That was his Eye of the Moon Plan.
As a top-tier shinobi, he naturally knew what existed within a genjutsu world and what such a world represented.
What meaning was there in living inside an illusion?
A mocking expression appeared on Madara's face.
If a person could remain immersed in an illusion forever, then what difference was there between illusion and reality?
In that world, Hashirama's granddaughter could meet the person she wanted to meet.
The Uchiha clan could become the clan of the Hokage.
The shinobi world...
"Hmm?"
Madara's gaze refocused.
He looked at the two people who had stopped arguing and suddenly gathered in front of him. His brows unconsciously furrowed as he said coldly,
"Why are you two crowding in front of me?"
"Cousin."
Ryoichi suddenly handed him a tissue and blinked.
"Wipe your mouth."
Madara's expression stiffened, but his aged face managed to conceal most of his embarrassment.
He wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand and said calmly,
"This decaying body has caused the muscles in my face to lose their vitality."
"Mm!"
Ryoichi nodded in agreement.
If his eyes hadn't deceived him just now, he should have seen a trace of... yearning in his cousin's expression.
Perhaps that drool had also been drool of yearning.
Seeing Ryoichi staring at him strangely, Madara naturally changed the subject.
"Have you reached a conclusion?"
"Hmph!"
Ryoichi flicked his sleeve, his face full of disdain.
"No. I won't take her in."
At that moment, Asuka hurried over while speaking.
"Why did Senju Hashirama marry Uzumaki Mito back then? Was it because of love?"
"Wasn't it because..."
Seeing the two begin arguing again, Uchiha Madara's gaze shifted toward the Hokage Rock.
As one of the people involved, he knew very well why Hashirama had married Mito back then.
The Uzumaki clan?
His gaze landed on Uzumaki Kana standing in the courtyard.
Madara couldn't see the slightest trace of the Uzumaki clan in her appearance, but her enormous chakra reserves proved that she was indeed an Uzumaki—and a pure-blooded one at that.
A rare pure-blooded clan member.
The Senju clan had married into the Uzumaki clan.
And the Uchiha clan was about to adopt an Uzumaki woman as a daughter.
"Heh!"
The two arguing people heard a faint laugh from beside them and turned to look at the distracted Uchiha Madara again.
Ryoichi stroked his chin, his eyes filled with confusion.
His cousin was acting a little strange today.
First he had drooled.
Then he had chuckled.
Uchiha Madara looked at Ryoichi as he approached again. He disdainfully pushed the other's face away and said coldly,
"There is no need to argue anymore."
"Since neither of you can make a decision, I'll make it for you."
Asuka looked the old man up and down before turning toward Ryoichi.
"Your cousin will make the decision for you."
"Uh!"
Ryoichi froze.
Then he took a sip of tea and stared curiously at Uchiha Madara.
He was curious too.
What decision would his cousin make?
"Hmph!"
Seeing both their gazes focused on him, Uchiha Madara closed his eyes and slowly said,
"I can recognize that Uzumaki as my goddaughter."
"Ryoichi."
"As your elder, I know I don't have much time left."
"I probably don't have the energy to take care of her."
"Her future will be entrusted to you."
Pfft!
The tea in Ryoichi's mouth sprayed out.
He stared at Uchiha Madara's serious expression, a thousand complaints surging through his heart. He wished he could immediately spit every one of them out.
Damn it.
When his life was about to come to an end, this guy adopted a daughter.
Then he threw that daughter at me.
Being irresponsible was one thing, but was this how you lied to your relatives?
"And then..."
Seeing Uchiha Ryoichi about to speak, Madara opened his eyes and looked over. His voice sounded considerably older as he said,
"Take good care of your niece."
"Hmm?"
"Hmm?"
"Ah? This?"
Ryoichi hummed for a long while, but the words he wanted to argue with became stuck in his throat.
This was the first time he had realized it.
Deep down, Uchiha Madara really did possess this kind of authority.
Shh, this was all the fault of the eldest brother.
No, that wasn't right.
He turned toward Asuka, who was sitting blankly in his chair, and said viciously,
"Recently, that girl called Kurenai comes to the clan compound every day looking for you, wanting you to go to the Ninja Academy."
"I used to find excuses to brush her off."
"Tomorrow, if that little girl named Kurenai comes looking for you again, you'd better hurry up and go to school."
Before Asuka could react, Ryoichi looked at his confused expression and immediately cut off every possible escape route.
"You don't need to use your position in the Police Force as an excuse."
"As the second-in-command of the police, both you and your clone, Uchiha Ruri, have been dismissed by me."
"If you want to regain your position in the Police Force and the privileges that come with it, you'd better study properly until you graduate."
"..."
At this point, Asuka finally reacted.
Looking at the old man's smug expression, he angrily said,
"Old man, are you sick?"
"Why did you fire me?"
Sick?
Uchiha Ryoichi nodded inwardly.
Would an ordinary Uchiha study how to launch a coup when life was going smoothly?
Would an ordinary Uchiha bring the Asura of the shinobi world home?
Would an ordinary Uchiha bring remnants of the Uzumaki clan home?
Would a normal Uchiha adopt a daughter before dying and then hand her over to an outsider?
As an ordinary person, I simply can't predict what this abnormal Uchiha will do next.
How frustrating!
Watching Ryoichi angrily take the Uzumaki girl away to register her household, Uchiha Madara's narrowed eyes gradually opened.
Then he turned toward Asuka, who was sitting blankly in the chair beside him.
They really were very similar.
After a moment of silence, he tapped the table with his index finger, his voice becoming old and solemn.
"Is what Ryoichi said true? Do you really want to take the path of a coup?"
"No!"
Asuka shook his head and denied it without hesitation.
He wasn't crazy.
Why would he launch a coup?
Leaving aside the probability of success...
What would happen afterward?
Uchiha Madara withdrew his gaze and continued staring at the Hokage Rock outside, speaking slowly.
"Whether you do or not."
"With the chaotic way you're acting now, you won't accomplish anything."
"You act without direction or purpose. Your chances of success are practically nonexistent."
"..."
Asuka looked at the old man, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.
Was he really teaching him in such an ordinary manner?
Hmm?
After staring at the other man for a while, Asuka frowned.
This person looked strangely familiar.
"What do you want me to do?"
Hearing the coldness in the other's voice, mixed with a trace of gentleness, Asuka frowned and hesitated before saying,
"Change the long-standing wars and system of the shinobi world?"
"Heh."
Uchiha Madara shook his head. He neither mocked nor agreed with him.
"Hashirama and Madara couldn't accomplish that back then. How much confidence do you have that you can?"
"I'm not very confident either."
"Change the subject. What do you want to do recently?"
Seeing that the other man hadn't exposed the words he had casually made up, Asuka shrugged and set aside the difficult issue discussed during the clan meeting.
"Help the clan escape its current predicament."
"Escape its current predicament?"
Uchiha Madara muttered a few words under his breath before speaking.
"The clan leader divorcing his wife and marrying into the Senju clan could indeed help the Senju clan escape its predicament."
"Marrying into the Sarutobi or Shimura clans could also help them escape their predicament."
"But half a year has passed since you proposed this idea, and I still haven't seen the current Uchiha clan leader show any intention of marrying into another clan."
At this point, his gaze fell upon Asuka as though he were looking at a hopeless junior.
Then he sighed.
"He doesn't even intend to get divorced."
"Your execution is terrible."
"Then..."
Asuka stood up, walked over to the old man, looked him up and down, and asked,
"Sir, could you teach me?"
Madara lowered his eyelids and stared straight ahead, decisively refusing.
"Come back in a few days. I've been giving a lot of lectures recently. I'm a little tired."
He really was tired.
Talking with a bunch of chattering children was exhausting.
All his energy had been drained by them.
He still had to teach the children again tomorrow.
Another day of his energy being wasted.
Watching Asuka's departing back, Uchiha Madara chuckled inwardly.
Only today had he realized that strange people and strange things always seemed to gather around Uchiha Asuka.
Amazing fried chicken.
Stinky luosifen.
Shukaku.
The Uzumaki...
These strange things made him reach a temporary decision.
Recruit him.
There might be two spokespersons.
He wouldn't even need anyone to die in order to make Asuka accept the Eye of the Moon Plan.
It depended on the individual.
However, in terms of effectiveness, this kind of guidance might be far inferior to the guidance he had given Uchiha Obito.
But it was enough.
However...
Whenever Uchiha Madara thought about Asuka's terrible execution ability, the corner of his mouth couldn't help twitching.
Could it be because Tsuru and his parents had died too early, causing this child to inherit nothing from the previous generation and learn nothing from the clan?
Tsuru had been an extremely decisive person when he was alive.
How had his grandson become so procrastinating?
His execution ability was simply terrible.
An entire six months had passed, and the current clan leader hadn't even taken the first step toward a divorce.
If this had been his era, he could have made Hashirama and Mito live separately within six months.
No.
Three months.