Chapter 472: Shinichi’s Attitude

It wasn’t because they lacked the opportunity. Hashirama had sincerely invited him before. On one occasion, he had even brought over a brand-new set of gambling equipment. At the time, he had merely glanced at it coldly, tossed out the words, "Frivolous amusements sap one’s resolve," then turned and walked away without another look.

Hashirama had called after him several times, but he hadn’t even slowed his pace.

Back then, he had thought gambling was too frivolous and too casual to be worth his time.

Every step on the path Madara Uchiha intended to walk had to be exact. It could not be entrusted to probability, much less to luck.

But now, Hashirama had been dead for many years, while he himself wore borrowed monk’s robes and remained entangled with a young monk bearing the Dharma name Genjo, trying by every possible means to make him gamble just once. Even though the other party refused to bet with him, he still insisted on forcing this wager onto Genjo’s head.

As though, so long as Genjo did not object, the wager had already begun.

As though, so long as he won this game, it would prove something.

Was it because this little monk reminded him too much of Hashirama?

Or was it because, after walking this lonely road alone for so long, he had finally become unable to resist finding himself an opponent, even if it was only an unacknowledged wager?

As the thought crossed his mind, Madara suddenly found it rather absurd.

Hashirama loved gambling, while he did not.

Genjo did not gamble, yet he insisted on doing so.

It seemed that throughout his long life, Madara had always done the opposite of those he cared about most.

Casting one final glance at the now-dark window of Obito Uchiha’s room, Madara Uchiha turned and disappeared into the deeper darkness of the night.

...

Naturally, Shinichi had no idea about Obito Uchiha’s inner turmoil that night, and even if he had known, he probably would not have cared.

The final remarks he made that afternoon had indeed been spoken, to some extent, for Obito’s sake.

Especially after he had more or less guessed that Madara had already chosen Obito as his Narayana Child.

However, regardless of whether Obito Uchiha would ultimately fall into darkness just as he had in the original timeline, Shinichi’s attitude had always remained the same: if the heavens want rain, and a mother wants to remarry, let it be.

Just as Shinichi had said before, everything has two sides. This world contains both light and darkness, good and evil, white and black, and one day Obito Uchiha would inevitably witness the other side of the world.

When that day truly arrived, only he himself could decide which path to take. No one else could walk that step for him, nor could anyone persuade him out of the conviction he had already embraced.

After all, Shinichi had already said everything that needed to be said and done everything that needed to be done.

If, after spending the next several years within the society, after witnessing countless companions striving day after day for the same conviction, he still ended up being crushed by a moment of pain, blinded by a moment of despair, seeing darkness and deciding that darkness was everything, encountering cruelty and concluding that cruelty was the essence of the world, then it could only be said that he himself had chosen that path.

Moreover, Shinichi had always maintained a respectful distance from Obito. He had no desire to interfere too deeply in the course of Obito’s life, much less plant unnecessary expectations in his heart, causing him to subconsciously regard his own happiness and safety as Shinichi’s responsibility.

Otherwise, if Obito truly encountered some unbearable suffering one day, something that drove him to collapse, he might instead turn around and blame Shinichi, asking why he hadn’t been there at the time, why he had left him to bear it all alone.

Just as Obito in the original timeline had blamed Minato Namikaze, blaming the teacher known as the fastest ninja in the Shinobi World for not arriving in time, while refusing to consider how busy his teacher had been, rushing back and forth between multiple battlefields. No matter how fast the Flying Thunder God Technique was, it still could not prevent every tragedy.

And in this timeline, Shinichi would only be even busier than Minato Namikaze had been then.

Meanwhile, although Madara was far weaker than he had been at his peak, operating from the shadows still gave him countless opportunities to plot.

It was impossible to guard against everything.

There was no way Shinichi could remain beside Obito like a nanny every moment of every day, protecting him and the people important to him, shielding him from every accident while constantly making sure his heart never strayed.

In this world, even Shinichi as he was now could not guarantee his own absolute safety, so what right did he have to guarantee anyone else’s?

Therefore, Shinichi’s attitude was perfectly clear: let him be.

In that ancient nation from Shinichi’s previous life, no matter how noble the original ideals were, no matter how disciplined the organization, no matter how charismatic its leaders, betrayal among their ranks had always been unavoidable.

Some comrades who had once fought shoulder to shoulder eventually became traitors, turning their weapons against their former allies. There had even been founding veterans among them.

And Shinichi Society, built by a fake saint and a patchwork creation, could not accomplish what it could not.

As for traitors, they would simply be purged!

Tonight might have been a night of inner conflict for Obito Uchiha.

It might have been a night of preparing his next move for Madara Uchiha.

And likewise, for every ninja village across the Shinobi World, especially those hostile to Konoha, it was destined to be a night of overtime.

There had simply been too many earth-shattering revelations announced at today’s society’s founding assembly. From hybrid rice to the Growth Acceleration Technique, from the Rinkai City Convention to the reappearance of Wood Style, every single revelation was enough to keep the intelligence divisions and strategic planning departments of every village awake all night.

For Shinichi, however, tonight was a rare opportunity to relax amidst his endless work.

For the first time in ages, he returned home early instead of remaining at the society headquarters or the laboratory until midnight as usual.

At this very moment, he was leisurely seated on the balcony, quietly admiring the moon.

No Shadow Clones rushing about on various tasks, no bottles and instruments filling the laboratory, and no mountain of documents waiting for his signature.

This was probably the earliest he had called it a day since returning to the village.

As he gazed at the moon, Shinichi silently calculated in his heart.

Over the next few days, the society’s various announcements would rapidly spread throughout the Shinobi World.

Exactly how much cognition would they bring him? And which talents would they push to higher levels?

Filled with anticipation, time passed in the blink of an eye.

Before long, five days had gone by.

Standing inside the president’s office of the society headquarters, Shinichi silently opened his personal status panel.

Just as he had expected beforehand, thanks to the miraculous demonstration of the Growth Acceleration Technique, all three of his talents, Water Style, Earth Style, and Light Style, had simultaneously advanced to the blue level.