Inside the room...
Senju Tobirama looked at his big brother, Senju Hashirama, formulating his words in his mind.
He wasn't a fool.
Although his big brother Senju Hashirama was still serving as Hokage, the Uchiha Clan had taken the lead in launching a public opinion offensive to build momentum for Uchiha Madara. This forced Senju Tobirama to react quickly, causing the debate within the village about the next Hokage to intensify.
Seeing that his actions had achieved significant results, he immediately launched the next step: winning the support of his big brother, the current Hokage.
After all, in this ninja world, strength ultimately reigned supreme.
Gaining the majority support of Konoha villagers and ninjas was one thing, but obtaining the affirmation of the current Hokage was another.
While the former was important, the latter carried more weight.
Senju Hashirama was not only the Hokage but also the strongest ninja in Konoha. His attitude was enough to influence the direction of the entire village. The sooner he obtained Senju Hashirama's affirmation, the more advantageous a position he could occupy in the upcoming situation.
"Big Brother, you know my thoughts."
"I have been silently contributing to Konoha for so many years. I have both merit and hard work in Konoha, and many villagers and ninjas support me. You saw the data I gave you just now."
"So, I hope I can become the next Hokage."
"So, Big Brother, do you support me becoming the next Hokage of Konoha or not?"
Senju Tobirama didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his intentions.
His efforts and contributions for so many years were all for the sake of becoming the next Hokage.
Now it was time to show his hand... Big Brother, I am your biological younger brother. I have both merit and hard work in Konoha. If you dare to side with an outsider at this time, I will completely fall out with you!
"Tobirama, of course I support you."
"But I also want to recommend Madara as a Hokage candidate."
Senju Hashirama's expression was somewhat complicated.
He wasn't ignorant of the recent situation in Konoha; the public opinion about the next Hokage had long reached his ears.
It was just that one side was his younger brother, and the other was his Madara. Both the palm and the back of the hand were flesh.
No matter which side he chose alone, the other person would be hurt.
And Senju Hashirama was no longer a child; he was an adult of three years and several hundred months. Regarding the two options, he chose both.
However, this matter was far from as simple as Senju Hashirama imagined.
His thinking was naive, even describable as foolish.
Senju Hashirama still naively believed that Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Madara could compete fairly and squarely.... In his view, no matter who won in the end, it would be a happy event for Konoha. Everyone was part of Konoha. When the time came, they could set up two tables of wine, have a meal together, and dissolve grievances with a smile.
But in reality, this was a life-and-death struggle, involving the thousand-year blood feud between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan that hadn't ended yet.
The Senju Clan represented by Senju Tobirama wanted to continue the family's victory over the Uchiha.
The Uchiha Clan behind Uchiha Madara wanted to use this opportunity to win back past failures.
Now, neither side could retreat.
"Big Brother, when will you wake up?"
"Is this something where you can stand on both sides?"
"Have you considered the family's opinion? The Senju Clan's efforts for so many years... You are the Clan Leader; you must consider the family's emotions."
"And you know, Uchiha Madara is simply not suitable to become Hokage."
"It is no longer the era of Father, fighting and killing. Big Brother, when you step down from the position of Hokage, only I can shoulder the heavy responsibility of Konoha.... You haven't failed to see the resistance to Konoha's reform. Not only is it complicated, but the Uchiha clan elders often oppose me in meetings. Besides me, who else can lead Konoha towards prosperity relentlessly?"
"Are you going to count on Uchiha Madara who only knows fighting and killing?"
Hearing Senju Tobirama's refutation in his ears, Senju Hashirama was instantly speechless.
Even though he idled away every day in Konoha, he was still the top leader of Konoha. He had followed Senju Tobirama to do ideological work with the ninja clans one by one, so he was clear about the general outline of Konoha's reform.
It could be said that not many in Konoha agreed with the internal reform, and quite a few opposed it.
If Senju Tobirama hadn't endured humiliation, cooperated with Uchiha Makoto, and tried every means to raise a large sum of funds, the Konoha reform plan probably wouldn't have passed even now.
But even so, the opposition within Konoha was still significant.
Senju Tobirama was practically pushing it forcefully in Konoha under immense pressure alone. Just processing documents every day was a huge pile, and he also had to balance internal conflicts in the village, occasionally going out to treat guests and drink to attract investment. One person was practically doing the work of several people.
With such work intensity and such complicated matters, Senju Hashirama knew he couldn't handle it at all.
He could only hand all these matters over to Senju Tobirama, while he silently provided all necessary support to Senju Tobirama.
If Uchiha Madara were to be the next Hokage... based on his understanding of Madara for many years, Senju Hashirama felt that he probably couldn't handle it either.
Unless... Uchiha Madara used his super power.
—If you can't solve the problem, solve the people creating the problem.
But Senju Hashirama absolutely couldn't accept such a thing.
And if Uchiha Madara really became the Second Hokage, considering his relationship with Tobirama...
It simply couldn't be described as terrible; it would be incredibly terrible.
Senju Tobirama had killed Uchiha Madara's only remaining brother, Uchiha Izuna. This hatred was destined to be unresolvable.
And once a conflict occurred between the two, it would ultimately be Konoha's interests that suffered.
So rationally analyzing, for the sake of Konoha.
Senju Hashirama knew his younger brother Senju Tobirama was the most suitable next Hokage for Konoha.
But emotionally...
Senju Hashirama still hoped to give Uchiha Madara a chance. He always believed that one day the people would discover his merits.
Seeing the silent Senju Hashirama.
Senju Tobirama knew his big brother had begun to waver, so now was the time to press on.
So he walked towards Senju Hashirama, leaned half his body on the desk, and spoke again.
"Moreover, Big Brother, don't you know the rumors about the Uchiha?"
"Among them, the stronger the hatred, the stronger the pupil power. The Sharingan is like this."
"Uchiha like Uchiha Makoto are more like Uchiha anomalies..... If Uchiha Madara becomes Hokage, who knows what this group of Uchiha will do in the future? For the future village..."
"Don't say that, Tobirama!"
Senju Tobirama said this.
He was just bad-mouthing Uchiha Madara. No one understood the Uchiha better than him, Senju Tobirama!
It was just that Uchiha Makoto, this anomalous Uchiha, created some loopholes in his argument.... Such a guy was truly rare to encounter in a thousand years; why was he so unlucky?
However, Senju Tobirama's rhetoric naturally aroused great dissatisfaction in Senju Hashirama, who immediately interrupted him.
Never say things detrimental to Uchiha unity.
After so many years.
Tobirama, why can't you change this bad habit?
...
And Uchiha Madara, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, was now "disheartened," fiddling with a leaf he had picked up casually.
In a daze, his thoughts drifted far away.
Uchiha Madara remembered when the village was just established and hadn't been named yet.
At that time, he and Hashirama treated each other with sincerity, envisioning Konoha's future. It was just a pity that now they were drifting apart due to various things.
Uchiha Madara now understood Senju Hashirama's mind.
For Konoha, Senju Hashirama would still choose to support Senju Tobirama.
Then, there was no need for him to continue playing "house" with Hashirama here. It was time for him to take his clansmen and leave Konoha together!
Uchiha Madara thought this in his heart, then turned his head and left.
....
Night.
Uchiha Clan Grounds.
The Naka Shrine deep in the clan grounds became lively again, which was rare. Dozens of bonfires were lit, illuminating the cold and dark room.
The originally empty room was now crowded with people.
Many Uchiha clansmen gathered here, discussing animatedly.
After some small talk about family matters.
"Why were we suddenly summoned to the Naka Shrine? This place is really cold."
"There must be something big. You haven't missed the recent news in the village, right?"
"Hokage... no matter what, the Second Hokage should come from our Uchiha Clan. After all, the Senju Clan has already produced a Hokage."
"That's right, our Uchiha Clan is a founding clan of Konoha; it's our turn."
The Uchiha crowd soon coincidentally steered the topic to the candidate for the next Hokage.
There was no helping it.
Konoha had been in an uproar recently because of the next Hokage matter. The Uchiha Clan had invested a lot of energy in this, and Senju Tobirama also acted frequently. At his craziest, he gave three consecutive speeches in one day.
Just the free eggs were given away non-stop.
The Uchiha Clan later reacted and also started holding speeches like Senju Tobirama.... They gave away rice!
Even to suppress Senju Tobirama's arrogance, the Uchiha Clan debated publicly with Senju Tobirama on the same podium.
If it was just pure debating, Senju Tobirama wasn't afraid of the Uchiha at all.
He was very clear about the Uchiha Clan's weakness. The Uchiha had always been unaccustomed to and disliked using their brains, and now no one knew better than him what Konoha needed.
And because the Uchiha Clan began to split internally, with conservatives and reformists fighting each other, their brains often fought themselves. After several debates, the Uchiha still fell into a disadvantage. It was only by relying on the golden signboard of Uchiha Makoto that they didn't embarrass themselves in front of the public.
The most critical thing was that Uchiha Madara had never appeared once.
The Hokage candidate they recommended didn't show his face in public at all. Even if the Uchiha Clan spoke extravagantly, the persuasiveness was greatly discounted.
But despite this, the Uchiha Clan was still full of confidence now.
Because of Uchiha Madara!
Uchiha Madara's strength was their biggest trump card.
Senju Hashirama was the strongest in Konoha. No one would object to him being the First Hokage of Konoha. But the one with strength second only to Senju Hashirama in Konoha was Uchiha Madara!
Moreover, Uchiha Madara was one of the founders who created Konoha back then. He single-handedly facilitated the reconciliation between Senju and Uchiha.
Without Uchiha Madara, there would be no current Konoha. This strength and merit were enough to make him the Second Hokage.
As for Senju Tobirama.... no matter how hard he tried now, facing Uchiha Madara, he was ultimately just a clown!
Thus, amidst the confident noise of the Uchiha clansmen, Uchiha Madara walked in from one side of the room.
Subsequently, the voices in the entire room quickly disappeared, and everyone's gaze converged on Uchiha Madara.
They guessed the purpose of Uchiha Madara summoning them this time in their hearts.
....It was probably still about the next Hokage!
"Lord Madara, as per your instructions."
"Except for the clansmen executing missions outside, all clansmen in the clan who have awakened the Sharingan have arrived."
A smile appeared on the Uchiha Grand Elder's face.
He felt he had roughly guessed why Uchiha Madara summoned the family clansmen with such fanfare.
Just a short while ago, Uchiha Madara had walked out of the Naka Shrine under their utmost pleading to discuss the matter of the next Hokage with the First Hokage.
And without a doubt... Lord Madara would definitely win!
The Uchiha Grand Elder really couldn't imagine the possibility of Uchiha Madara losing.
Uchiha Madara could stand shoulder to shoulder with Senju Hashirama and was one of the co-founders of Konoha.
Just based on the two major bargaining chips of strength and merit, Uchiha Madara already had Senju Tobirama firmly in his grasp.
Even though Senju Tobirama had been the Shadow Hokage for so many years, it was meaningless.
Unless Senju Hashirama intended to engage in "nepotism" and wanted to push his own younger brother Senju Tobirama to become Hokage.
But this possibility was negligible.
As everyone knew, the relationship between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara was very good.
These two hadn't exactly shared a bed, but they could be considered inseparable over the years.
It was said that even the Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Mito, treated Uchiha Madara... There was no reason for Senju Hashirama to treat Uchiha Madara like this.
It couldn't be that the relationship between the two suddenly broke down, leading to love turning into hate, right?
The Uchiha Grand Elder had only seen such dog-blood stories in those cheesy stall novels.
How could such a thing happen in real life?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!!
And even for the sake of Konoha's stability, the Uchiha Grand Elder believed Senju Hashirama would compromise and support Uchiha Madara to become Hokage.
Then the victory was certain!
Lord Madara summoning so many clansmen must be intending to announce this good news to the family.
The Uchiha Grand Elder thought this in his heart.
The smile on his face became even warmer, and he couldn't help but hum lightly.