Chapter 27: It Really Wasn't Easy to Post This Chapter
On this day, the Land of Fire descended into utter chaos.
Just as Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama departed Konoha on a diplomatic mission, news arrived that shattered the village's fragile peace: Madara's younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, had been killed within the borders of their own nation.
It was an event of catastrophic proportions.
Receiving the urgent message sent by Uchiha Kagami, Senju Tobirama led a squad of ANBU and arrived at the battlefield first, only to find a scene of utter devastation. Amidst the wreckage lay the lifeless body of Uchiha Izuna and an unconscious, grievously injured Stelle.
He was too late. His close friend was already gone.
Tobirama had no time for grief. The gravity of the situation was a crushing weight on his shoulders. Feeling the Ninja Hawk's messaging was far too slow, he personally set out to retrieve his brother and Madara. Fortunately, he had left Flying Thunder God markings along their route. By teleporting repeatedly while desperately replenishing his chakra, he managed to bring them back, nearly running himself into the ground from exhaustion.
Uchiha Madara stood at the scene of the battle, his gaze sweeping over the lingering traces of ninjutsu. As he listened to the intelligence gathered by the ANBU, a killing intent so potent it felt like a physical force erupted from him, and his fury burned away all reason.
A mere Daimyo. A man barely clinging to his station had dared to lay a hand on his beloved younger brother.
He didn't even wait for the ANBU to accompany him. Streaking towards the capital of the Land of Fire alone, he manifested his Susanoo and blasted the Daimyo's Mansion into smithereens.
As for the Daimyo himself, who had sensed something was amiss and fled in advance, he was easily found. A single glance from Madara's Sharingan plunged the man into a genjutsu, and after his mind was stripped bare, he was unceremoniously sent to meet his ancestors.
But how could that be enough? The ANBU collected evidence on every noble involved in the plot and presented the list to Uchiha Madara. He took it upon himself to act as judge, jury, and executioner, sending them all off one by one.
Madara even considered wiping out the entire aristocracy of the Land of Fire, to bring a definitive end to the age of nobility. It was only Senju Hashirama who managed to stop him.
Konoha had only recently been established. It did not yet possess a political system strong enough to govern such a vast country. If the existing structure collapsed completely, the common people would be the ones to suffer most.
These words managed to pierce through Madara's rage, awakening a sliver of his reason.
But it wasn't enough. Izuna was dead. His own disciple had nearly died and was still unconscious. And the ultimate culprit, that damned man in the black robes, had yet to be found.
All Uchiha Madara wanted was to tear the man into ten thousand pieces to avenge his brother.
Senju Hashirama didn't dare let Madara roam the ninja world in such a state. If some foolhardy Hidden Village provoked him, it would surely lead to catastrophic destruction. So, he too set out, intending to keep an eye on his friend and, if necessary, strike first if anyone was foolish enough to get in their way.
If he struck, they might still live. If Madara struck, there would be only death. With both of them gone, Konoha was left in the care of Senju Tobirama.
However, Hashirama was overthinking it. With such a massive commotion rocking the Land of Fire, the other nations had long since received the news. In their own courts, they were all giving the late Daimyo a grim, silent acknowledgment.
Impressive. Truly impressive. Not even the Four Great Shinobi Nations dared to provoke Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, yet the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had been so reckless as to orchestrate the death of Madara's brother.
He must have thought his life was too long.
Meanwhile, Stelle was still lying in a hospital bed. To alleviate her pain, the head physician from the Senju clan had administered a large dose of anesthetic, keeping her in a deep coma. She didn't even stir when Uchiha Izuna was laid to rest.
Inside her mind, however, it was a different story. The system was faithfully reporting the influx of mood values from the incident. So many points were flooding in that huge numbers would pop up constantly, the notifications ringing without end.
It was like a slot machine hitting the grand jackpot, the sound of victory echoing in her consciousness: ding, ding, ding.
During this time, Uchiha Kagami visited twice. After confirming with the director that Stelle's life was not in danger, he resolutely joined the ANBU, requesting the most dangerous missions available. He felt his strength was pathetic, that he was useless, unable to do anything when it mattered most.
By the time Stelle finally woke up, almost every ninja clan in Konoha skilled in tracking and investigation—the Hyuga, the Inuzuka, the Aburame—had been dispatched by Uchiha Madara to hunt for the black-robed man.
Combined with the shinobi leaving for regular missions, Konoha suddenly felt much emptier. Even the streets seemed deserted.
Without taking much time to rest, Stelle made her way to the Hokage Building. She was surprised to find Senju Tobirama's office empty, a huge pile of documents lying unprocessed on his desk. He was in his laboratory instead, though it was unclear what experiment he was conducting.
When she went to the lab to find him, he was hunched over a desk, writing furiously on a scroll, seemingly recording research data.
Stelle leaned in, taking a few bold glances at his work. Her eyes widened as she saw the characters clearly.
Senju Tobirama was researching the Impure World Reincarnation. And he had already deduced a viable direction.
Just a month ago, when she'd last seen him in here, he was studying improved rice seeds. Now, it was a forbidden jutsu that toyed with life and death.
One had to admit, that was quite a leap.
Her gaze swept subtly over Tobirama. His expression was calm, steady, and reserved, showing no particular emotion—a perfect mask, if not for the subject of his research. Besides, the moment she had appeared, her system had triggered several mood value notifications from him.
Senju Tobirama was just that impressive. No matter what storms raged within, his surface remained as calm as still water, as immovable as a mountain.
"How is your body? Have you recovered?"
Perhaps because she had been standing there silently for too long, lost in thought, Tobirama spoke first, his voice breaking the quiet hum of the lab.
"I'm mostly better. Thank you for your concern, Tobirama-sensei." She quickly snapped back to reality, deliberately making her expression seem dazed, as if her mind were still elsewhere.
"Report on the situation after Kagami and the others left."
Senju Tobirama had her pull up a chair to sit opposite him. He retrieved a file from a nearby cabinet, which contained all the information he had gathered on the black-robed man.
Chakra is violent and dark, filled with destructive power. The chakra itself has corrosive properties. Possesses monstrous physical strength, similar to the Senju. Immune to genjutsu.
This intelligence was old, likely collected years ago.
He flipped to the second page, which was covered in dense, precise script—presumably the report from Uchiha Kagami and the others. One line stood out:
Analysis of the black flames: preliminary judgment is a Kekkei Tota, a fusion of Fire and Wind Release, possessing Yang Release properties. The ultimate product of extreme Fire Release nature transformation.
Stelle only had to read that one line to want to give Senju Tobirama a thumbs-up. Based on nothing more than a bit of flame residue, his analysis was already frighteningly close to the truth. As expected of the man who best understood the science of ninjutsu.
Stelle began to recount what happened after Kagami had left.
"That black-robed man… he said that Lord Sōjin is immortal and will one day descend upon this world again. He also said this world will eventually be destroyed, and we are merely clinging to life for a little while longer."
The pen in Senju Tobirama's hand paused. He seemed to recall some distant memory, his red eyes filled with a flash of mockery.
"Did he say why he had to kill Izuna?"
Stelle protested her innocence in her heart.
'It's not that I wanted to kill Izuna; it's Black Zetsu who wanted to kill him, and I just happened to run into the little creep every time. If I hadn't interfered, the grass on Izuna's grave would be ten feet high by now. This has nothing to do with me.''Besides,' she thought with a mental shrug,'I'm already researching resurrection techniques. By the time the Fourth Great Ninja War rolls around, he'll be a hero again, a main fighting force. It's fine.'
She shook her head, her expression somber. "He said this is just the beginning. That all who betray Lord Sōjin will die."
Senju Tobirama rubbed his temples. The combat power this person displayed was no longer something he could handle alone; only his elder brother and Madara could deal with him.
He looked at Stelle, his tone softening slightly. "Once you've rested, return to work tomorrow. Even if Madara isn't in Konoha, as the Hokage's Assistant, you should perform your duties properly."
"Yes, Tobirama-sensei."
The next day, Stelle returned to her old clerical job. In her spare time, she began researching how to upgrade the Reincarnation Jutsu she had acquired.
This technique was obtained from the system's reward pool. After learning it, she had analyzed and researched it carefully. Its principle was to pour one person's life force into the body of another who had already died—a classic life-for-a-life trade.
For anyone else, using it would mean certain death. But for her, it was different. She could study it thoroughly, calculate the exact amount of life force needed for the exchange, and then find a way to reduce the cost.
If she could just reopen the exchange interface and redeem that Immortality trait she had glimpsed before, making her lifespan infinite… wouldn't she be able to use this technique to exploit a massive bug in the system of life and death?
Of course, the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique was the same. Once she was immortal, no cost would be too great.
In the end, it all came back to the most important thing: mood values. Without them, nothing else mattered. Without them, even she would be a goner.
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