"Zhili, leave him to me."
"Thank you, Elder Sifang."
With the young lord collapsing drunk, the banquet naturally drew to a close.
Uchiha Sifang lifted Uchiha Soren carefully from Zhili's arms. He paused, looking at the purple-haired kunoichi whose beauty had quietly softened even the hardiest war veterans.
"Zhili… opportunities like tonight don't come twice. Do you regret letting it slip?"
Zhili's eyes lowered, her voice steady and soft.
"Zhili only wishes for the young lord to say those words again… when he is fully awake."
Sifang felt Soren's heartbeat flutter faintly.
"I believe, when he sobers, he will answer you in a way that satisfies everyone."
"Zhili only hopes he… doesn't forget."
She bowed gracefully and left.
The "Unconscious" Hokage
The moment she disappeared—
"You're crushing me, clan head."
Soren opened his eyes, slipping from Sifang's arms with exasperation.
"Couldn't you just let me sleep it off to save face?"
Sifang sighed.
"Young lord… in the Warring States Era, boys your age already had children. More than one."
Soren pretended not to react, though his ears heated.
"Zhili is a girl we watched grow up — calm, gifted, unwavering. If Fugaku weren't still a baby, I might have proposed to her myself."
Soren nearly stumbled.
"You have quite the imagination, old man."
With a leap he vanished onto the rooftops.
"Young lord!" Sifang shouted. "Excellent girls do not wait forever! Don't hesitate!"
Soren muttered into the wind:
"I'm not blind… I saw everything…"
He spotted Zhili walking alone under the moonlight, quiet as frost.
"Tomorrow," he whispered.
Then disappeared.
Land of Lightning — Ravine of Clouds and Thunder
A dark figure darted through a narrow mountain crevice, stepping through a concealed seal into an underground facility humming with machines and white-coated researchers.
He entered the innermost chamber—
And knelt.
Across the room sat a man cloaked in black, his presence so heavy the air itself felt subdued.
Uchiha Madara.
"A," he said calmly. "Report."
The kneeling figure — dark-skinned, massive, with long blond hair and a broad chest branded with a Lightning-style clan tattoo — raised his head.
The Third Raikage.
Broken. Controlled. Completely subjugated.
He relayed everything:
The Uchiha's sudden seizure of the Sarutobi
The clash with Uzumaki Mito
The election of Uchiha Soren as the new Hokage
Madara's lips curled.
Then widened into a feral grin.
Then—
He laughed.
A deep, booming laugh that echoed through metal walls.
"Tobirama… all your barriers, all your policies… yet still you failed."
"You could not stop the rise of a Mangekyō."
"The Hokage seat… hah! An Uchiha child takes what you denied us."
His laughter slowly faded.
"What an excellent junior… perhaps I should meet him. One day."
But then he dismissed the idea with cold certainty.
"Without an Eternal Mangekyō, his brilliance will fade. When he reaches the peak, he will learn the weight of true power."
His tone hardened:
"Accelerate the research. If Lightning lacks manpower — take people from anywhere. Bring me results."
The Raikage bowed deeply.
"Yes, Madara-sama."
"Go."
Madara turned away, staring at the massive fan emblem hanging on the far wall — a reminder of the clan that had once been his entire world.
For a heartbeat, he almost considered going to Konoha…
Then his ambition extinguished the thought.
"Only the Rinnegan is worth my attention now."
Outside — The Third Raikage
Leaving the facility, the Raikage scowled.
"Researchers aren't vegetables — I can't just pull them out of the ground…"
Then a thought struck him.
"If I control the Fire Daimyo… the entire treasury becomes Madara-sama's."
His eyes sharpened with madness.
"And the Gold and Silver Brothers… I should eliminate them as well."
Darker thoughts followed.
"And the jinchūriki who resist us… better they all disappear."
Lightning cracked across the ravine.
The proud Raikage was gone.
Only Madara's puppet remained.
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