Chapter 45: As Long As She Stabs Herself Fast Enough
Two of Konoha's greatest pillars were being laid to rest on the same day. The scale of the funeral was immense.
From the highest-ranking shinobi to the most common villagers, it seemed everyone had come to the cemetery to see them off. The civilians, in particular, were overcome with grief. The policies enacted by Konoha's founders had granted them lives of unmatched peace and prosperity.
Many had been refugees, absorbed into the Land of Fire's domain as Konoha expanded its borders. They were people who had been crushed under the heel of feudal lords, unable to even fill their own stomachs. Konoha had given them land, food, and security—a life that felt like a paradise in comparison.
Now, as they watched the coffins being lowered, their cries were raw and utterly sincere.
Senju Tobirama stood at the very front of the procession, a stark figure of white hair seeing off those who had once been dark-haired and full of life. His expression was as impassive as ever, a mask of calm composure that suggested nothing in this world could break him.
But Stelle saw it. She saw the moment his shoulders gave a near-imperceptible shudder, as if the weight he carried had suddenly become too much to bear.
She turned her head, her gaze drifting from the two freshly turned mounds of earth to the weathered gravestone of Uchiha Izuna beside them. A familiar discomfort churned in her gut.
'As expected,'she thought,'one shouldn't keep shearing the same few sheep.' If you took too much from the same sources, eventually, problems were bound to arise. At this point, she didn't even feel that active about completing her missions anymore.
Starting today, she made a silent vow: she would never be 'stabbed' by others again. As long as she stabbed herself fast enough, no one else would get the chance.
Wait.
Stelle's eyes widened slightly as she took in the full picture. The two new graves were to the right of her alias's tombstone. Izuna's was to the left. They were all lined up in a neat, orderly row.
In all likelihood, Senju Tobirama had already reserved the spot right next to them for himself. It was just like that time by the river with the five of them.
'So,'she mused,'even though they're all Hokage-sama, why are they lined up with my fake grave instead of in a more prestigious front row?'
At that very moment, far from Konoha, Black Zetsu was frantically scouring the shinobi world for Uchiha Madara, the man he believed was preparing to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He had lost Madara's trail after failing to intercept him outside the village, and his fruitless search was now contributing a steady stream of mood value to Stelle's system.
After the funeral concluded, Stelle deliberately fell into step behind Senju Tobirama.
"Tobirama-sensei," she began, her tone serious, "what's the situation at the borders now?"
Losing its two main pillars of strength at once was a catastrophic blow for Konoha. Trouble along the borders was almost a certainty.
Before, it didn't matter if the other four great nations united against them. If Madara fell, Hashirama remained—Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi, a man who could single-handedly take on the other four Kage. With such a titan holding the line, any ambitious ideas were quickly tempered by the reality of his power.
The problem was, Senju Hashirama had also gone on strike. A Konoha without Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama was an entirely different beast. How could the other Four Great Shinobi Villages not seize this opportunity, unless they had all collectively become saints overnight?
Senju Tobirama rubbed the bridge of his nose, a flicker of exhaustion crossing his features.
"Shinobi armies are stationed at the borders of all four nations. For now, they haven't made a move. They're likely still investigating the truth of the matter."
He continued, his voice a low, grim monotone. "Once they confirm the news is true, they'll probably try to negotiate first, demanding reparations. Since the village's founding, the Ninja Academy has been cultivating talent vigorously. Our numbers and the strength of our rank-and-file shinobi surpass theirs. As angry as they are, they won't rashly initiate a full-scale war."
He paused, his eyes narrowing. "However, the possibility of them envying Konoha's prosperity and deciding to swarm us cannot be ruled out."
Stelle frowned. "Then we have to compensate them?"
A cold, sharp snort escaped Tobirama. "Compensate? It should be them compensating us. My brother sacrificed himself to save the shinobi world. If their villages lost a few ninja in the process, that is merely a consequence of their own weakness."
Stelle considered it. That… actually made a twisted kind of sense.
With her assistance, Senju Tobirama's workload finally shifted. He no longer had to squeeze experiment time out of his busy administrative schedule; instead, he squeezed time for the few documents that absolutely required his signature out of his research.
As he watched Stelle efficiently order a young Hiruzen Sarutobi and a scowling Danzō about, a look of grim gratification touched his eyes. No wonder Madara had immediately promoted her to his assistant when he was Hokage. Her efficiency was high, just like his own.
Suddenly, Tobirama's expression froze. Something had occurred to him. Images flashed through his mind with lightning speed—a cascade of strange coincidences, of uncanny similarities, of events that aligned just a little too perfectly.
His gaze, when it landed back on Stelle, had grown dark and penetrating.
At the borders of the Land of Fire, after several more weeks of small-scale skirmishes and cautious probing, the Four Great Shinobi Villages were the first to lose their patience.
Weren't Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara both dead? Why was Senju Tobirama still so stubborn? His troops remained stationed at the border, and he showed no intention of negotiating for peace. He had even increased the flow of supplies to the front lines, seemingly unconcerned that they might launch a coordinated assault.
This couldn't continue. Konoha was developing rapidly; it had the wealth and resources to sustain a long standoff. They, on the other hand, did not. If this dragged on, their own economies might collapse before a single major battle was fought.
The stalemate had to be broken. The conflict had to end.
Three months after the funeral, after much deliberation, the great nations arrived at the same decision. They issued a joint announcement: they would be sending envoys to Konoha to invite Senju Tobirama to post-war peace talks. The ill intent was thinly veiled.
In Stelle's view, sending envoys was primarily a tactic to gauge Konoha's true strength. Only after talking could they decide what came next. War, peace, or reparations—it would all be determined by what they learned from this probe. After all, even without Hashirama and Madara, Konoha was still a formidable power with deep reserves. The other villages had already been crippled in the previous conflict and had to proceed with caution.
Senju Tobirama reacted to the news with utter indifference. Instead, he was holding a particular file, studying it with a deep frown.
Stelle caught a glimpse of the cover as she poured him tea, and her eyelid twitched. He was holding the one Uchiha Madara had loved to flip through the most: the Plan to Unify the Shinobi World.
At a time like this, for Tobirama to be looking at that plan… he couldn't possibly be considering unifying the shinobi world right now, could he? Fighting now would be incredibly risky. The most likely outcome would be Konoha successfully defending its borders while crippling the other nations, but Tobirama's combat power wasn't enough to crush them completely. They would just end up signing another treaty for a temporary, fragile peace.
[Ding! Mood value from Black Zetsu +50,000]
Stelle was in the middle of explaining to Hiruzen Sarutobi how to handle a stack of trivial documents when the system notification exploded in her mind.
And it wasn't just once. It was in increments of 50,000, popping off seven or eight times in a row. She knew instantly that Black Zetsu was getting anxious because he still couldn't find Uchiha Madara.
How could Black Zetsu not be anxious?
Months ago, in the Uchiha clan compound, he had witnessed with his own "eyes" the moment Uchiha Madara opened his, very much not dead. At that moment, he knew Madara would inevitably leave Konoha and walk the path he had laid out for him, the path to realizing the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
So, Black Zetsu had simply staked out a position outside Konoha, waiting for Madara to leave so he could intercept him, find a way to deceive him, and get close to him.
But while he was waiting, the man simply vanished.
Black Zetsu searched every inch of Konoha. When he couldn't find him, he even went so far as to open Uchiha Madara's coffin. It was an empty grave, which was correct, since Madara wasn't dead.
So, when did Madara leave? Did he somehow miss it? Was he asleep?
What in the world was he doing?!
Black Zetsu was so furious he slapped himself twice, hard, before turning to scour the entire shinobi world for any trace of Uchiha Madara.
Day one of searching for Madara: missing him, missing him.
Day two of searching for Madara: missing him, missing him.
Day N of searching for Madara: Black Zetsu's millennia-old mentality finally collapsed.
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