Currently, at the entrance of Konoha Village.
The 12-year-old Onoki was a little worried.
The Earth Country's Iwagakure Village, as the second major village established after Konoha, naturally attracted a lot of attention.
Half a month ago, the First Tsuchikage Ishikawa received a letter from First Hokage Senju Hashirama.
Inviting him to form an alliance on behalf of Iwagakure and Konoha Village.
Ishikawa didn't agree rashly. Less than a year after the end of the Warring States Period, and no other hidden villages had been established in the other three major countries. Forming an alliance too hastily wasn't a good thing. It could cause the other three major countries and a group of small countries to become joint hosts.
But this was an invitation from the Ninja God, and Ishikawa had to take it seriously.
Then Iwagakure Village decided to send an envoy to visit Konoha Village first.
Find out how many tricks the so-called Two Heroes of the Warring States had? Was the risk of forming an alliance with Iwagakure Village worth it?
As a Tsuchikage, Ishikawa had just established the village, so it was natural that he couldn't take risks. Then he sent his disciple Mu and his grandson Onoki as envoys to visit Konoha.
"Sensei, is this Konoha Village?"
"Yes. It's my first time here too. It seems well built. It deserves to be the number one ninja village!" Mu sighed with emotion.
Compared to Iwagakure Village, which was still under construction, Konoha, which had been established for almost a year, indeed looked much more prosperous, at least it already looked like a small town.
"The resources here are so good! How comfortable is the forest for building houses?" Onoki said enviously.
Unlike the Earth Country, most of its territory was rocky desert. If they wanted to build a village, they had to transport wood from afar, which was tiring and expensive.
"The Fire Country is uniquely blessed with a strategic location. A comfortable environment will only breed lazy people. Ninjas who don't have the Will of Stone are destined not to last long."
Mu patted Onoki's head and comforted him.
Although he was also envious of the Fire Country's resources, as a teacher, he couldn't let others have their ambitions at this time.
"Yeah, I will try my best to inherit the Will of Stone!"
"Sensei, what kind of person is the rumored Ninja God Senju Hashirama?"
Mu was silent: "He is a very powerful ninja. Perhaps there is no ninja stronger than him? You will know when you meet him."
"What about Uchiha Madara? Isn't it said that he is the only ninja who can rival Senju Hashirama?"
"I don't know about this, and I've never seen him before. However, maybe we can see him today. Testing the strength of these two people is also one of the purposes of our visit to Konoha."
Onoki panicked, but still mustered the courage to agree.
"I-I will try my best!"
After verifying their identities, Konoha ninjas led the two into the village. They went straight to the Hokage Building and met the famous Ninja God Senju Hashirama.
❀❀❀
The meeting lasted almost two hours.
The representatives of Iwagakure Village and the representatives of Konoha Village exchanged full views, shared many experiences in building the one-country, one-village shinobi village system, and conducted in-depth discussions about the alliance between the two sides.
Although no agreement or consensus had actually been reached, both sides were still very satisfied overall.
On Konoha's side: Knowing the general situation of the Earth Country and Iwagakure Village, confirming the superiority of the one-country, one-village system greatly consolidated the confidence of all ethnic groups in their own village, enhanced Konoha's cohesion, and also received fame from the No. 1 Ninja Village.
Iwagakure: The feasibility of the ninja village system had been proven from Konoha's side, and Konoha's strategic tendencies had been detected. Konoha had no intention of aggression and was truly seeking alliances and peace. This was enough to save Iwagakure a lot of resources for construction, so they didn't always have to be wary of Konoha.
This alone made the trip worthwhile.
Then Onoki and Mu were arranged to rest at the hotel.
"Sensei, Hashirama seems different from what I imagined?"
"What do you think?"
"To be called the Ninja God, I thought he would be a very cruel and terrifying person."
Onoki was a little surprised, he really didn't expect Hashirama to look like that. Throughout the meeting, Tobirama had almost taken the lead, and it felt like he was the real Hokage.
"Onoki, don't judge someone's threat based on their appearance and form. Senju Hashirama is much more terrifying than you think! He is truly powerful and can destroy an entire country alone!"
Without needing to reason, Mu could feel the terror of that man.
Once the war started, there was absolutely no chance of winning. Unless he could instantly activate the Dust Release to hit Hashirama. But that was absolutely impossible, or the possibility was very low.
After all, the Dust Release took too long to gather power, and there was no way to avoid Hashirama's perception.
And the man named Senju Tobirama was not simple, and his perception ability was very terrifying. Mu was worried that they were both locked down by his easy perception even before they stepped into Konoha Village.
A sneak attack?
It would be nice if they weren't suddenly attacked!
"Ah? Is Hashirama really that strong?"
"Much stronger than I thought!"
"Sensei.... could the Tsuchikage-sama defeat him?"
"That's difficult."
"Then is it possible that I can defeat him in the future?"
"Yes, it's possible!"
Mu deliberately comforted him, not wanting to damage his student's confidence.
"Sensei, what should we do next?"
"Rest."
"Then what?"
"Find an opportunity to visit Uchiha Madara."
The power of the Senju Clan had made every major village feel uncomfortable and secretly afraid. Moreover, Konoha was founded together by the Senju and Uchiha.
During this trip, the Iwagakure representatives not only wanted to test Konoha's strategic tendencies, but also wanted to know how strong Madara was compared to Hashirama.
Or even find out what their relationship was like?
Was there a possibility of differentiation and utilization? Of course, this had to be done secretly, and no one else would know that they were trying to destroy the relationship between the Uchiha and the Senju.
Therefore, Mu, who had very strong concealment abilities, was the best candidate.
❀❀❀
At night.
After dinner, Mu left the hotel with Onoki and headed towards the Naka Shrine of the Uchiha Clan.
He was ready to visit and test Madara, who was as famous as Hashirama.
Madara had been waiting here for a long time, but in reality, they were just waiting because they were bored.
He took this opportunity to sort out the Uchiha clan.
Secret techniques, money, Sharingan, and other materials that he had prepared before leaving Konoha were returned to the clan.
He also told the clan the good news that he had pre-ordered the position of the Second Hokage. For a while, everyone in the Uchiha Clan was very happy.
Lanterns and decorations were immediately put up, and a very lively banquet and drinking party was held. Only Madara quietly left the banquet after a while, feeling comfortable and becoming an accomplice.
Arriving at the Naka Shrine, he waited for the Iwagakure envoy.
"Madara-dono, I am the bodyguard of the First Tsuchikage, Mu, and I am here to visit Konoha on behalf of Iwagakure Village. This is my student, Onoki."
Mu took the initiative to introduce himself and greet him, and Onoki immediately saluted.
"I have already met Madara-dono!"
Madara snorted softly: "Did Iwagakure just send you two here? Isn't Ishikawa afraid to come?"
"The Tsuchikage-sama is busy with government affairs and really can't spare the time."
"A rough excuse, just afraid of death. That's why he sent you two to scout the way, right?"
Onoki felt anxious and didn't want to see his respected grandfather defiled.
"No, the Tsuchikage-sama is very powerful. I also wanted to come and see Konoha!"
"Ha! Kid, do you know what it means to be strong?"
Madara folded his arms and chuckled.
He wasn't tired of naughty kids who didn't know anything about the world, and he didn't mind giving him a lesson.
"Strength isn't just power, but also requires perseverance of will! Strength without will is not strong at all."
"That's a boring fallacy. In the face of absolute power, everything is wrong!" Madara said dismissively.
Seeing the right time, MU immediately pleaded: "Your Excellency Madara-dono, could you let us see the power of the Uchiha?"
"With your little strength, are you worthy of seeing the power of the Uchiha? You are not even qualified to be an ally!"
"Why?"
"It shouldn't be like this. Hashirama has agreed to the alliance."
Onoki became anxious again. He was still too young and immature to understand Madara's way of thinking.
He couldn't even guess Madara's true purpose.
"There is no alliance, submit to Konoha!"
"Susano'o!"
The three-tomoe Sharingan instantly transformed into Eternal Mangekyo, and displayed the first form of Susano'o.
A half-skeleton body, but a Susano'o form that wasn't covered in flesh and blood.
This form of Susano'o wasn't very strong, but it depended on who was playing it. The first form of Susano'o used by Madara was enough to destroy most Kage level even just for fun.
Moreover, Mu and Onoki were still too young at this time, one had just entered the Kage level, and the other was only 12 years old, and hadn't even been promoted to Chunin.
How could he possibly rival Madara?
The next moment, Susano'o just roared and waved.
*BOOM*
There was a huge explosion, knocking Mu and Onoki down simultaneously, and they were thrown tens of meters away.
Of course, this was just a lesson from Madara, and he wasn't trying to kill Onoki.
Not killing children was one of Madara's few goals.
However, Onoki stood up unsteadily, remembering the First Tsuchikage's teachings in his mind, and the determination of the Will of Stone emerged.
"Looks like you still want to dance? But you are still too young."
Madara glared at Onoki and activated the Sharingan genjutsu.
Onoki immediately lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Without enough strength, the so-called will wasn't worth mentioning in front of the Sharingan Genjutsu.
At that moment, Onoki, who had fallen to the ground, suddenly disappeared, as if he had been saved by someone.
Mu clearly activated the Dustless Bewildering Cover ninjutsu, hiding his figure and chakra, and hurriedly moved Onoki.
"Susano'o? Madara-dono's power is truly extraordinary!"
Mu's voice came from the darkness of the night, and his almost unmatched concealment ability in the ninja world was the reason why he dared to visit Konoha.
"Good concealment ability.. But you don't think you can escape me with this little trick, do you?"
Madara rarely gave praise, and at the same time looked into the depths of the night in front, already locking onto Mu's position.
For top-notch experts like him, Mu's concealment ability was just a piece of cake.
Running away might have some effect. But if approached more closely, it couldn't avoid Madara's perception.
Mu was forced to come out of hiding and face Madara directly. However, he still didn't dare to look at the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, for fear of being confused by illusions.
"We deeply understand Madara-dono's strength. For the sake of friendship between Iwagakure and Konoha, I ask Madara-dono to stop here."
If he couldn't defeat him, he couldn't defeat him. After testing Madara's strength, Mu immediately conceded defeat and took the initiative to show his kindness.
"Oh? Why?"
"Madara-dono is not a person who likes to fight, is he? Your willingness to let go of Onoki is proof. Thank you very much for your kindness."
Mu knew that he had made the right bet.
Since he dared to test Madara, Iwagakure must have gathered in-depth information about Madara.
After determining Madara's behavior and basis for killing, there was a high probability that he wouldn't attack children.
Only then did Onoki, who was still very young, make the envoy visit. Although it was a bit bad to let the student take risks, for the sake of the newly started Iwagakure Village, there were some risks that had to be taken!
Fortunately, it seemed like they had made the right bet now.
This arrogant Madara really didn't want to be serious with a little kid. Otherwise, Onoki would have died dozens of times!
Madara frowned, feeling a little unhappy: "You think you know me so well?"
"No, no, no, I just don't want the conflict to escalate."
If the original plot was followed, after such a trial, Madara would most likely choose to let go of Onoki. Unfortunately, the plot has now been rewritten, and Madara had no intention of letting go of Iwagakure easily.
"You fool, I won't kill you. At least not now."
"Go back. Tell Ishikawa that I will visit Iwagakure Village in person in three days."
"If you don't even have the strength to compete with me, then there's no need to form an alliance."
"Iwagakure Village will be completely destroyed!"