Chapter Seventeen: Uchiha Madara

Madara Uchiha.

This was a visitor Black Zetsu had never imagined. Compared to Shirou Emiya, Madara Uchiha was a pawn Black Zetsu had intended to discard; it had not expected this piece to find its way here at this particular moment.

This seemed... rather unexpected.

After all, Madara Uchiha could neither know Black Zetsu nor Shirou Emiya, so why had he appeared here of all times?

In theory, Madara Uchiha shouldn't have come. In reality, he had his own reasons for doing so.

While secretly visiting the Konoha hospital to see Hashirama Senju, Madara had overheard a conversation.

Hashirama, who had been resting alone, was sitting on his hospital bed, with his wife, Mito Uzumaki, sitting demurely by his side. The couple shared a very harmonious relationship, one defined by a mutual respect that bordered on formal. After all, it was impossible to keep the news of Hashirama’s awakening from his wife.

Tobirama Senju held great respect for his sister-in-law, Mito Uzumaki. As soon as Hashirama regained consciousness, he had immediately sent word to Mito, who was guarding the Nine-Tails in the outskirts of Konoha, so that she would no longer have to worry about her husband’s condition. Knowing Hashirama’s state, Mito had feared that he might wake up prematurely and suffer complications, so she had hurried to the hospital to verify his health before returning to her post.

At the time, there seemed to be no issue. Mito always understood and respected her husband. She was well aware of the bond Hashirama shared with Madara, a friendship as deep as that of brothers. Upon arriving, she sensed Hashirama’s lingering pain over having to kill Madara with his own hands and sought to console him, hoping to help him move past his grief.

In truth, before Madara had attempted to destroy Konoha, Mito had never held a negative view of him. As Hashirama’s wife, she had never resented her husband’s friend and had always respected their profound bond. Naturally, the couple began to talk about Madara.

Hashirama was a straightforward man who did not hide his thoughts. Facing his wife, he spoke of the resolve he had forged during their life-or-death battle, explaining that he had killed Madara to protect the village.

"At that moment..." Hashirama said, "I knew I had to kill Madara. I had to be willing to sacrifice everything to safeguard Konoha. Even a friend, even a brother, even my own child—this is the resolve born from the need to protect the village. Compared to the will to protect Konoha, my friendship with Madara is no longer important, and he could never understand my determination to protect this village..."

Outside the room, Madara listened with a face of cold indifference. Inside, Mito frowned.

Because she had been responsible for guarding the Nine-Tails, Mito’s chakra reserves were severely depleted, and her spirit felt weary. Beyond that, her husband’s long, critical injury had taken its toll on her. Despite this, the resilient Mito tried to process her husband’s logic.

"Sacrifice everything to protect the village?" Mito felt uneasy. She knew that during the time Madara had left Konoha, her husband had lamented the loss of their friendship countless times. She worried about his state of mind. Could everything truly be abandoned for the sake of the village?

Whether it was Hashirama’s friends, brothers, or children—these were the people he had once fought so desperately to protect. To protect Madara, he had argued with Tobirama countless times, refusing to kill him during the Warring States period. To protect Tobirama, he had once nearly taken his own life in front of Madara.

Now, to guard Konoha, her husband chose to sacrifice those he had once fought to save. But wasn't the purpose of building Konoha to protect these very people from the suffering of war? Hashirama’s reasoning felt off to her, but her exhaustion prevented her from clearly parsing the contradiction.

"Hashirama," Mito asked, frowning, "if one must pay any price to protect the village, what happens when that price becomes too painful for us to bear?"

Hashirama hesitated for only a second. He remembered that killing his best friend had been a choice more painful than sacrificing his own life.

"A painful price?" Hashirama hung his head, his voice heavy with painful resolve. "If it is to protect Konoha, is there any price that cannot be accepted?"

Mito suddenly realized the horror of that thought. If this will were to be passed down, what would become of Konoha in a future Hashirama would never see?

The first thing humans think of as a price is their own life. If someone sacrifices their life for the village, they become a hero. But the price would continue to rise, because there are things more painful than death. What about the people you love? If someone killed their friend to protect the village, they might have succeeded in their duty, but could they ever wash the blood from their hands?

*No*, she thought, *that shouldn't happen.* Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't. Hashirama had only killed Madara because Madara had controlled the Nine-Tails to destroy the village and kill its people—an act of cruelty that Mito herself could not forgive.

But what about family? Could someone kill their own family for the sake of the village? *Impossible.* The future of Konoha could not sink that low. Even in the chaos of the Warring States period, ninjas fought to protect their kin, not to harm them. Mito’s moral compass was simple; her imagination halted, and she concluded she had been overthinking.

"I must be overthinking it," Mito sighed, dropping the topic. "I’m just too tired."

Hashirama noticed his wife’s fatigue and asked softly about the Nine-Tails. "I’m worried about the Nine-Tails causing trouble. I brought it back to the village, but is it behaving?"

"It’s... alright," Mito replied, thinking of the unruly great fox. She knew they couldn't keep it sealed in the outskirts forever; its power was too great. "If you insist on keeping it sealed, the outskirts aren't safe. It could break free at any time. The only way is to seal it within me, using the unique chakra of the Uzumaki clan."

"If we do that," Hashirama said, his voice laced with guilt, "the beast will only become more agitated. And you... you might be seen by the villagers as a source of danger."

"I..." Mito lowered her voice. "I will try not to appear in the village from now on."

"I'm sorry."

"It’s alright."

Inside the room, the couple seemed as harmonious as ever. Outside, Madara, long accustomed to solitude, found the conversation boring and prepared to leave. However, one sentence caught his attention.

"Come to think of it," Hashirama remarked, "the doctor Tobirama brought in is quite strange. He keeps his identity so secret that even I am kept in the dark, but his medical skills are truly superb. At least I don't have to worry about my condition anymore."

Madara’s figure vanished into the shadows. This was a stroke of luck. He needed a doctor to perform the transplant of Hashirama’s cells into his own body. This was killing two birds with one stone.

If this mysterious doctor, who knew the secrets of Hashirama’s condition, were to disappear, it would throw Konoha into a panic, as Hashirama’s health was a top-secret matter. This would surely tie up Tobirama’s energy. As long as the doctor remained missing, he would be a hanging blade, potentially leaking the fact that Hashirama had only ten years to live. Tobirama wouldn't have the heart to study the "corpse" in his secret lab; he would be forced to mobilize all his resources to find the doctor, focusing all his energy on internal village affairs.

As for what would happen after he took the doctor... and the fact that his old friend had only ten years to live...

Standing outside Shirou Emiya’s house, watching the flickering candlelight against the window, a mocking sneer appeared on Madara’s lips.

"Hmph... Hashirama. Compared to my goal, our friendship really isn't all that important. Hashirama... I have made up my mind. I will kill you to achieve my goal."