After a long explanation, Naruto still… couldn't explain it.
Forget everything else—just one point was enough to shut him up: how did someone who wasn't even a genin steal the Scroll of Seals, when Orochimaru, an S-rank rogue ninja, couldn't?
Even Naruto, as clueless as he was, started to realize how sketchy that whole situation had been.
He stared at his hands in disbelief, a wave of panic rising in his chest: "So… I really *did* become a ninja by pulling strings?"
Sasuke patted him on the shoulder: "Just accept it. After that lovely self-exposé, it's confirmed."
He couldn't even deny it anymore.
Naruto started to question his whole life. He squatted down, hugged his head, and mumbled with blank eyes: "I got in through connections… I got in through connections…"
The kid was broken.
Sasuke nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, now that the clown's out of the way, let's get back to the topic."
Madara had a pleased look on his face, and his tone carried a new kind of meaning: "There's still one more troublemaker."
Hashirama stood beside Naruto, looking a bit concerned, as if he wanted to comfort him. But when he heard Madara's words, he quickly spoke up, "Madara, how can you say that about Sasuke? He's a good kid too!"
His tone was firm, and his eyes were serious.
Unfortunately, both Sasuke and Madara looked at him with a strange, pitying gaze.
After being stared at like that for about ten seconds, Hashirama suddenly looked shocked. "You mean me?"
"At least you're a little self-aware," Madara nodded, clearly amused. "Though you were a bit slow to catch on—took you ten seconds."
Hashirama stayed quiet. With Sasuke twitching at the corner of his eye, Hashirama quietly squatted down beside Naruto, hugging his head and muttering to himself, "I'm the troublemaker… I'm the troublemaker…"
Naruto: "I only became a ninja through connections…"
Hashirama: "I'm the troublemaker…"
Great. Now both troublemakers were out of the picture.
Madara looked at the two idiots walking away with satisfaction. "Now we can finally talk about something serious."
Sasuke wiped the smile off his face and got serious instantly. "Like what?"
"Like… the Infinite Tsukuyomi." Madara turned his gaze toward Sasuke. "Let's not talk about whether it's really a technique Kaguya used to create White Zetsu like that pet claimed. Even if it is, as long as it doesn't absorb chakra, the Infinite Tsukuyomi can still fulfill my—
—dream."
"Back to this again." Sasuke sighed. "That thing isn't peace at all."
"And neither is this," Madara's smile faded a little. "Rather than putting my faith in your so-called vague and uncertain future, I believe more in the dream of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. At least when it works, no one will rise up against it."
Other than someone with the power of the Sage of Six Paths, no one can break the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As long as Madara succeeded, the ninja world would be at peace.
"That's only if Kaguya doesn't come back," Sasuke said coldly.
"I won't give her the chance." Madara's face turned serious. "If Black Zetsu really is the key to Kaguya's revival, then I'll take him out before I cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi. That way, she still won't come back."
"You can't do it," Sasuke said firmly. "Even we haven't found a way to kill Black Zetsu. Normal sealing techniques don't work on him. He inherited Kaguya's immortality. And more importantly, the Infinite Tsukuyomi is just a dream. That's not real peace."
"When everyone is in a perfect dream, peace will come naturally. Whether it's real or if they're willing—it's not your place to decide for them." Madara crossed his arms. "You can't speak for everyone."
Sasuke clenched his fists. "And what about you? You think *you* can speak for everyone?"
"Me?" Madara smirked. "I don't care about them at all."
Yeah, he never cared how others felt. He just wanted peace in the ninja world. Once peace came, war would disappear.
He didn't need anyone's thanks, anyone's appreciation, or even for anyone to know that peace came from him.
All he wanted was peace.
"I don't care whether your so-called future can pull it off or not. I just want to build my peace with my own hands. As for how others feel, or whether they want it—that has nothing to do with me." Madara raised his head, wearing a scornful smile. "And if I'm saving them, what does it have to do with them?"
Sasuke: "..."
In this war of words, Sasuke lost completely.
Madara looked at Sasuke, disappointed by his silence, and shook his head. "You're still too naive—whether as a Uchiha or as a ninja."
A ninja never cares about what others think. That was Madara's belief, completely opposite to Hashirama's.
Sasuke let out a sigh. "Madara, have you… eaten?"
Madara: "..."
?
That question mark basically summed up everything Madara was thinking right now.
Sasuke
Looked at him, the tension on his face easing up. "Kurama said this line can throw off your opponent's thoughts when your 'talk no jutsu' isn't working, and also helps you reset your own thinking. I tried it once—it actually worked pretty well."
"As a pet, that fox is kind of interesting." Madara didn't deny it. In fact, he found it amusing.
Because it really did interrupt his train of thought. Even if just for a moment—that's how verbal battles go.
After a pause, Madara asked, "So?"
"So, I still can't agree with your idea." Sasuke shrugged. "I respect your thoughts, but I don't agree. Maybe the old me would've been moved by what you said. But I'm not that person anymore."
"Oh?" Madara raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.
Sasuke went on, "The history of ninjas is a history of conflict. I can't imagine what the ninja world would be like without it."
Madara frowned. "Under Infinite Tsukuyomi, all conflict will be erased. The ninja world will finally have true peace…"
"Wouldn't that be the same as denying the history of ninjas?" Sasuke said seriously. "Denying that history means ignoring our past mistakes. It would also erase the efforts of all the ninjas who gave everything they had for peace."
"Grandpa Sage of Six Paths, Great-grandfather Hashirama, Itachi, Naruto…" His Rinnegan glowed softly in the light of the sun, and Sasuke's voice grew heavy. "Not just them—there were many others. These people shouldn't be forgotten. The things they worked so hard for shouldn't be denied by something that isn't even real."
"A future like that… how is it any different from an Otsutsuki invasion?"
"The history of ninjas is full of fights, but the reason behind all those fights was to look for peace."
Madara fell silent.
Hashirama and Naruto exchanged glances, then turned their eyes toward Sasuke.
Sasuke took a deep breath. At some point, his Mangekyou Sharingan had activated, now spinning slowly in his eyes. "Every single one of them—fools. Dumb as hell. But they never denied the ninja world's past. They carried it with them."
"That kind of pure determination—to carry the name 'ninja,' to shoulder all the weight of that history, and chase a future that everyone else saw as impossible… that's not something a fake dream can cancel out."
"Madara, the history of ninjas is heavy. That's exactly why those who carry it forward are truly great."
"Do you carry that weight on your back?"
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