The departure of Uchiha Madara brought shock to the entire Konohagakure. The recruitment of disciples was delayed because of this, and no one continued their training at the Konoha Academy; instead, they returned to their respective clans, waiting for Hashirama's handling of the matter.
Since they parted that day, Fūmori Masaki had not seen Uchiha Kagami again. According to others, Uchiha Kagami seemed to be implicated, his status within his family was insecure, and he could lose his position as the clan heir at any moment.
Although he believed that Uchiha Kagami, who was destined to become Tobirama's disciple, would not face any major trouble, Fūmori Masaki was not as confident about whether Uchiha Kagami could retain his position as clan heir. After all, the manga never stated whether Uchiha Kagami succeeded as the clan head.
Fūmori Masaki, as the representative of the Fūmori Clan, had personally participated in the entire process of the Ninja Village's covenant—though he had no say and was just watching from the sidelines. He knew that even the Hokage, as the leader of the Ninja Village, could not interfere with the internal decisions of the clans. This was the foundation for ensuring mutual trust, so whether Uchiha Kagami could inherit the Uchiha Clan could only be decided within the Uchiha Clan itself.
Fūmori Masaki could only pray that those within the Uchiha Clan who supported Uchiha Kagami could overwhelm the other side. Uchiha Kagami had been the heir for many years, and his personality was gentle; it was impossible that he had no supporters. If it weren't for the incident with Uchiha Madara, no one could have pulled him down.
Before the matter was resolved, Fūmori Masaki also lost the heart to train. He spent his days at home accompanying Satomi, and the two of them lived a few days of leisure.
Although she was from the Senju Clan, Satomi was very young. After Hashirama inherited the position of clan head, he forbade children from participating in wars. Therefore, she had never fought against anyone from the Uchiha Clan, let alone held any deep-seated hatred; she only had a poor impression of the Uchiha Clan due to the influence of her clan.
Fūmori Masaki had no prejudice against Uchiha Kagami. In their discussions, he made Satomi feel that Uchiha Kagami was a good person, and she also expressed concern about the trouble Uchiha Kagami was facing.
Fūmori Masaki said, "We can only wait and see what actions Lord Hashirama will take. Back then, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan made peace, and the relationship between the two families should have eased, but Uchiha Madara's departure has caused the fruits of that reconciliation to almost vanish."
"What exactly is he thinking? He was the one who reconciled with the clan back then, but after the Village was built, he was also the one who resisted the clan," Satomi said, puzzled by Uchiha Madara's behavior.
Fūmori Masaki was silent for a moment and said, "It should be said that their personalities were incompatible. Back then, he was moved by Lord Hashirama, which is why he was willing to make peace with the Senju Clan. But the gap in ideology between him and Lord Hashirama was too great. A moment of being moved could not eliminate their mutual contradictions. I fear that no matter what, it would have come to this point."
Fūmori Masaki knew that Uchiha Madara had been deceived by the stone tablet altered by Black Zetsu, the third child of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. But in the end, it was still a problem with Uchiha Madara's personal character—if he hadn't been thinking of a permanent solution to achieve peace in his own mind, how could he have been deceived by the stone tablet?
Hashirama believed that peace could not be achieved overnight. Even if their generation failed, the next generation would inherit their ideals. This will would be passed down from generation to generation, and peace would eventually be realized. But Uchiha Madara did not believe in this; he had long lost confidence in reality and only wanted to choose a path that would solve everything once and for all.
Fūmori Masaki would not comment on whether Uchiha Madara's ideas were correct. He did not have the qualifications to judge Uchiha Madara right now—Uchiha Madara had lived a much longer life than him, and Fūmori Masaki had never seen the reality that Uchiha Madara had seen, so he could not make a judgment.
However, regarding whether Infinite Tsukuyomi was correct, Fūmori Masaki could say without hesitation that it was wrong. If there were no conspiracies behind it, he might not be able to judge whether it was truly suitable for this world. But since Infinite Tsukuyomi would turn people into White Zetsu, and there was also the shadow of the Ōtsutsuki's resurrection behind it, he had to oppose it.
Hearing Fūmori Masaki's words, Satomi also understood the reason why Uchiha Madara chose to leave the Village. She whispered, "I hope Lord Hashirama can handle this properly. I don't want 'Konoha' to just disappear like this."
"Don't worry, it definitely won't." Fūmori Masaki held Satomi's hand and said with a smile. He had never doubted this from the beginning to the end.
Just a few days later, the First Hokage, Hashirama, invited every head of the Ninja Clans to a high-level meeting. Everyone knew that Hashirama was going to express his stance, and this would determine the future of Konohagakure.
Thus, every head of the Ninja Clans came to the Hokage Residence, to the room specially used for holding Village-wide meetings. Although Fūmori Masaki was just one person, he was the head of the Fūmori Clan, so he also came here.
But the head of the Fūmori Clan did not have a very high status, and his seat in the room was quite far back. Fūmori Masaki didn't say anything; he just sat in his seat and didn't go to talk to anyone else—the other clan heads were all around thirty, and Fūmori Masaki had no friendship with them.
No, it wasn't that there were no peers at all. Fūmori Masaki saw that Uchiha Kagami was sitting in the seat belonging to the Uchiha Clan. Before his status as the heir to the Uchiha Clan was officially declared revoked, he was the representative of the Uchiha Clan.
Uchiha Kagami noticed Fūmori Masaki's gaze and nodded at him with a smile. Fūmori Masaki understood; looking at Uchiha Kagami's expression, there was no need to worry about this matter.
When everyone was seated, Hashirama and Tobirama walked into the room together. Tobirama went to the seat representing the Senju Clan, while Hashirama went to the Hokage's seat. This was to show that Hashirama was not representing the Senju Clan, but was presiding as the leader of the entire Village.
Hashirama slowly scanned every clan head present. First, he stated that Uchiha Madara had not betrayed the Village but had chosen to leave. Regardless of whether others believed it or felt that way, Hashirama first established the nature of Uchiha Madara's departure. Then, Hashirama brought up the rumors that had been circulating these days and very angrily stated that these were all nonsense. There were only some misunderstandings between the Uchiha Clan and the Village; there had never been any deep-seated contradictions, and those rumors were simply rubbish.
At this time, Uchiha Kagami stood up to acknowledge Hashirama's statement, expressing that the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan had always been friends, and no matter what, the Uchiha Clan was a part of Konohagakure and would never separate.
Immediately after, Tobirama also announced that he would take Uchiha Kagami as his disciple. As soon as this was said, a huge stir arose in the hearts of every clan head. A disciple was equivalent to the master's successor and was considered an absolute confidant. Tobirama saying this in front of everyone was meant to say that the alliance between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan remained firm.
This was not the end. Hashirama immediately stated that he would betroth his young daughter to Uchiha Kagami as his wife—after Uchiha Madara's departure, there was no one left who could stop the marriage between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. Hashirama could now, without any pressure, bring the relationship between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan a step closer.
However, Uchiha Kagami politely declined Hashirama, because he had already arranged a marriage under the witness of Uchiha Madara. Although the girl had not yet entered his home and Uchiha Kagami could break the engagement at any time, Uchiha Kagami believed that he should keep his promise and could not hurt the girl's heart. Moreover, there was a significant age gap between Hashirama's young daughter and Uchiha Kagami, and it would not be right to delay her.
Hashirama also knew that Uchiha Kagami was engaged, but the matter of Uchiha Madara's departure had dealt him too great a blow, making him impatient to make the relationship between the families more stable; marriage was undoubtedly the best means. However, Uchiha Kagami refused him in front of other clan heads, so Hashirama could only accept it. After calming down slightly, he also felt that he had been too impatient, and at the same time, he appreciated Uchiha Kagami even more—facing the powerful bloodline of the Senju Clan, especially his own daughter, not just anyone could maintain loyalty to a marriage. This young man was truly excellent.
Hashirama nodded and praised Uchiha Kagami a few times, while also expressing his hope that Uchiha Kagami would inherit the position of clan head soon. After all, the Uchiha Clan could not go a day without a clan head.
His purpose in saying this was to add bargaining chips for Uchiha Kagami. Although the Hokage could not interfere in clan affairs, by relying on his own influence, he could also allow some wavering people in the Uchiha Clan to make the correct judgment. After all, the Hokage could personally express that he hoped the head of the Uchiha Clan would be Uchiha Kagami. With the status of the heir personally designated by Uchiha Madara, it would not make people feel that the Hokage was interfering in the clan, and those who supported Uchiha Kagami also received assurance. He believed that they could overwhelm the others within the clan.
Hearing this, Fūmori Masaki breathed a sigh of relief. With this, the Village's trust crisis was resolved, and Uchiha Kagami had also received important assurance. It was basically certain that Uchiha Kagami could safely and steadily inherit the position of clan head.