Chapter 41: Senju Tobirama's Suspicion
The fuinjutsu barrier Stelle had erected wasn't particularly complex, but it possessed a single, vicious characteristic: any attempt to shatter it with brute force, without knowledge of the specific release sequence, would trigger a violent backlash, shredding whatever—or whoever—was inside.
Consequently, for the entire time she and Madara were sequestered in the room, the Uchiha gathered outside could only watch in helpless fury. No one dared to make a move.
Senju Tobirama wouldn't permit them to, and Uchiha Kagami stood guard at the door like a silent sentinel, his Sharingan ready to flare to life at the first sign of aggression. Not that they would have acted against someone of Tobirama's stature, Kagami or no.
The younger generation of Uchiha remained clueless about the true political landscape, but the clan's old guard knew. Their patriarch had clashed with the head of the Senju, and the Uchiha had lost the gamble. Konoha was now firmly in Senju Tobirama's hands. Ignorant of the full story behind Madara's 'death', these elders were paralyzed by uncertainty and dared not act rashly.
On the fifth day, Stelle finally deactivated the fuinjutsu around Uchiha Madara's chambers. The very next second, a group of Uchiha elders stormed in, their dark robes swishing as they unceremoniously shoved her out of the house.
Stelle let out a weary sigh, dusting herself off as she walked out of the Uchiha Clan Head's residence.
"Decided to come out, have you?"
Senju Tobirama was waiting for her by the street, his arms crossed over his chest. He had clearly stationed ANBU within the Uchiha compound; the moment she had stepped outside, they must have relayed the news.
"Mm," she hummed in affirmation.
"Let's go. I'll take you to eat."
Konoha was as peaceful and prosperous as ever. The market streets had expanded, with new storefronts offering a variety of cuisines. It was a far cry from the monotonous early days of the village, when one could find little more than dango and sushi.
In the end, Tobirama insisted on leading her into a quiet sushi shop. He ordered a plate of inari sushi for himself and then had a Shadow Clone fetch her a serving of pungent natto and a sour plum onigiri.
By the time Stelle's mind drifted back to the present, the food was already arrayed before her. After days of nothing but military ration pills, the prospect of a normal meal was a welcome one.
However.
"Tobirama-sensei," she began, her voice strained as she gripped her chopsticks, "why did you order everything I hate?"
Tobirama's hand came down, pressing firmly but not unkindly onto the crown of her head. "If you want to eat something delicious, you can buy it yourself. Next time, don't lock yourself away and ignore the world. It took a great deal of restraint not to break that seal myself." He paused, a flicker of sternness in his crimson eyes. "Consider it a lesson. You will finish all of it."
"Please, no!" she wailed dramatically.
Hearing her cry of despair, the corner of his mouth twitched, threatening to curl into a smirk. If his student had been a hot-headed boy like Hiruzen or the others, he likely would have shattered the barrier and delivered a sound beating. There was nothing a good thrashing couldn't solve; and if one wasn't enough, two would certainly do the trick.
But his student was a girl, and that changed things. The most he would do was let her taste a little 'bitterness.'
With a face contorted in agony, Stelle forced herself to finish the educational dinner, one miserable bite at a time.
"Tobirama-sensei," she mumbled after swallowing the last of the sticky natto, "isn't anyone opening a ramen shop in Konoha? How about I post a mission for the village shinobi to find a ramen master? I want to eat ramen, not this cold stuff."
"You know the procedures better than anyone. Arrange it yourself."
"Mm, then I will."
Tobirama's tone was as indifferent as ever, his composure a placid, unshakable wall. There was no hint that anything was amiss. If the system hadn't been periodically reporting his mood value fluctuations, Stelle would never have guessed at the thoughts churning beneath that calm surface.
After leaving the sushi shop, she stood on the street, suddenly unsure of where to go. The last thing she wanted was to return to the Uchiha Clan Head's residence and bicker with those old men. They would undoubtedly demand to know where Madara's eyes were.
What a joke. Madara's eyes were right where they belonged—on Madara's face. Did they want to gouge them out? If they had the nerve, they could go find Madara themselves. Using a fake corpse to fool them was already a show of immense respect on her part. In the original timeline, Senju Tobirama had been the one to handle Uchiha Madara's body, and the clan hadn't dared to utter a single word of protest then, either.
Almost unconsciously, she found herself following in Senju Tobirama's footsteps.
They walked in silence until they reached the base of the cliff overlooking the village. Both stopped simultaneously, their gazes lifting to the Hokage Rock in the distance.
The face of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the face of the Second Hokage, Uchiha Madara, stood side-by-side. The artisans responsible for the carving had been careful, capturing their essences with vivid accuracy—one gentle and all-embracing, the other wild and overbearing.
This, Stelle thought, was probably the very scene Senju Hashirama had dreamed of. Though she was determined to be a heartless emotion-harvesting machine, she had to admit she had changed a great deal.
[Ding! Mood value from Senju Tobirama +10,000]
The system's chime rang in her mind. She turned to look at Tobirama, only to find his crimson eyes already fixed on her. His gaze was dark and intense, as if some new, unsettling thought was taking root and growing within the depths of his mind.
A strange feeling, sharp and sudden, flashed through Senju Tobirama's thoughts.
Something was wrong. And the feeling originated with her—with Stelle.
What was it?
Right. He remembered. When the girl had first become Uchiha Madara's disciple, Madara had personally come to him, requesting that a Flying Thunder God marker be placed on her arm. To better protect her, Madara had said, so she wouldn't end up like Senju Stelle.
He had indeed placed the seal on her arm.
He recalled that day on the battlefield in the Land of Lightning, when his brother and Madara were fighting the black-robed man to a standstill. He had sensed the Flying Thunder God coordinates to reach the scene in an instant. The battlefield had been a maelstrom of chaotic chakra, and the marker he had placed on the terrain had long since been destroyed in the fighting.
But Stelle had been standing right beside him. Why hadn't he sensed the Flying Thunder God marker on her body then?
Unless… unless the person standing next to him at that moment wasn't Stelle at all.
Impossible. He couldn't have failed to see through a disguise as clumsy as the Transformation Technique. Besides, he had sensed the marker again that night when he was setting up the Flying Thunder God array for the garrison camp.
Was it possible the sheer chaos of the battle had interfered with his perception?
A seed of suspicion, small and cold, quietly planted itself in his heart.
He broke the silence. "Back on the battlefield in the Land of Wind, how did you deduce that the final battle would take place in the Land of Lightning?"
Startled by the sudden, sharp question, Stelle blinked for a moment before formulating her answer.
"Our forces had already pushed deep into the Land of Wind's territory," she explained. "We had just won a decisive victory and eliminated a large number of their shinobi. Despite all that, the Kazekage never made an appearance. That made me suspect they were preparing for a joint siege with the other villages."
"As for why the Land of Lightning—that's because Master was there," she continued, her logic sound. "Master has always been proud and assertive, a completely different personality from Hashirama-sensei. The Kage of the other great nations would surely believe that if they could defeat Master, they could persuade Hashirama-sensei to withdraw his troops."
It was a simple and logical thought process, one that held up to scrutiny.
No, Tobirama chided himself, what am I thinking? How could Stelle have any connection to that black-robed man?
Perhaps it was because the man, like Stelle, also used a unique form of Fire Release. That must be why his mind was making such a strange connection.
It was unfortunate that the black-robed man's body had vanished shortly after he left the battlefield. According to the shinobi left on guard, it had been snatched away by a powerful Earth Release user. Otherwise, he could have gathered more intelligence from the corpse.
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