Naruto Dream Fulfillment Master!

Chapter 540 Uchiha Madara: I feel like I'm about to grow a brain.

Madara Uchiha didn't seem to have any particular feelings about Hashirama Senju's suggestion.

In his view, whether it was repairing the village or expanding the army, it was all just a matter of money.

He wasn't particularly interested in money to begin with.

Before he could even speak, Uchiha Izuna, who was standing to the side, spoke up first.

"I'm afraid that won't work."

Izuna glanced at Madara and said with some difficulty, "This additional revenue was originally included in the next phase of the military expansion budget."

"As you know, since Takigakure was incorporated into Konoha and its old site was converted into a branch, the defense zones and supply lines we need to take care of have become much longer."

"The village is already severely understaffed, and even the permanent support troops originally scheduled to be sent to the Takigakure branch have not yet been assembled."

"This military spending is extremely crucial."

Upon hearing this, Hashirama Senju's smile immediately faded.

"Ban, we can't just allocate all the new revenue to the army. The well-being of the villagers is also very important."

"The houses, roads, and drainage in that area all have problems. If we delay any longer, it will only get worse when winter comes."

.

Madara Uchiha was somewhat surprised to see Hashirama Senju become so serious about a funding allocation.

He hadn't expected that Hashirama would argue with him over such a small budget.

"Since you insist, then allocate a portion of the new revenue to the West District."

Madara Uchiha said casually, "We'll find a way to make up for the shortfall in the budget for military expansion later."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present looked at him in surprise.

Hashirama Senju was also taken aback, seemingly not expecting Madara to agree so readily.

"Nisan, you really agree?"

Uchiha Izuna's tone was somewhat uncertain, and he even doubted whether he had misheard.

"The original plan to expand the army, and the garrison at the Takigakure branch—"

Seeing the surprised expressions on the faces of the Senju brothers and Izuna, Madara Uchiha was somewhat puzzled.

What kind of expressions are these?

He remembered that in his dream, he and Hashirama always had a good relationship.

There was no misunderstanding between the two in real life.

They were childhood friends and partners who co-founded Konoha. Their relationship was almost like that of brothers.

If that's the case, why were these people so surprised when he only agreed to one of Hashirama's proposals?

Does this version of myself in my dreams become a stubborn person who won't listen to advice whenever military affairs are involved?

"Haha, that's great!"

Hashirama Senju snapped out of his daze and immediately burst into laughter.

"Then it's settled."

Uchiha Dazzle nodded calmly and said, "Yes, it's settled."

Hashirama Senju laughed loudly, walked straight up, and patted Madara heavily on the shoulder.

"I knew it! You care about the village too!"

Feeling the force on his shoulder, Madara Uchiha's body stiffened for a moment.

This way of getting along is something he hasn't done in a long time and it feels somewhat unfamiliar now.

"Since Ban has allocated the funds so readily, I can't just sit idly by."

As Hashirama Senju spoke, he turned to look at his younger brother with a face full of enthusiasm.

"Let's go, Tobirama."

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"I'll go back to my clan and ask some people to come and help clear that area first, so we can start construction as soon as possible."

Tobirama Senju glanced at Madara Uchiha, his gaze still somewhat thoughtful, but he didn't say anything more at this moment.

Soon, Hashirama Senju hurriedly led him away from the office.

With the Senju brothers gone, only Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna remained in the room.

While Madara was still pondering the reactions of the others, Izuna spoke again.

"Nisan, are you really sure about this?"

Uchiha Izuna frowned slightly.

"With this funding allocated, the original military expansion plan will have to be postponed, and the defensive pressure on the Takigakure branch will be much greater than expected."

Madara Uchiha was getting a little impatient with the questions.

"Izuna, when did you become so fussy?"

"What I say is not going to be taken back. The military expansion budget will be rearranged. Just do as I say."

"I see."

Izuna nodded, tidied up the documents on the table, and turned to walk towards the door.

After taking a few steps, he stopped and looked back at Ban.

"However, Nissan, I'm actually quite happy that you've finally agreed to speak up this time."

"Besides expanding the army, there are indeed many other places in the village that need money. Everyone will be very happy to hear this news."

After saying that, Uchiha Izuna opened the door and walked out with light steps.

The office fell completely silent.

Madara Uchiha casually flipped through the remaining documents on the table, quickly finding them uninteresting.

For a demon accustomed to fighting on the battlefield, these trivial matters are hardly worth paying attention to.

Time passes little by little.

In the afternoon, Madara Uchiha finally lost his patience to continue sitting.

I can't spend the entire dream in this boring office.

Why don't we go find Hashirama and see what he's up to right now?

Just as Madara Uchiha was about to get up, a strange thought suddenly popped into his mind without warning.

"I'm the Hokage, so why does Hashirama always have the right to interfere with my decisions?"

Madara Uchiha suddenly stopped moving.

Before he could figure out what was going on, the same voice rang out again.

"Without a sufficiently powerful army, how can Konoha conquer the entire ninja world?"

"By wasting money on those meaningless repairs, Hashirama's vision was ultimately too short-sighted."

Madara Uchiha slowly sat back in his chair, his brows furrowing slightly.

The voice was extremely similar to his own, and at first glance, it sounded like his innermost thoughts.

Madara Uchiha knew very well that this was by no means his true thought at that moment.

In reality, he did believe that Hashirama's naive ideas could not bring true peace to the ninja world, and he never opposed solving problems with force.

However, just now, he genuinely felt indifferent about allocating funds to repair the village.

If Hashirama wants to do it, let him do it.

Those thoughts filled with suspicion and discontent should never have arisen at this time.

What's going on?

Madara Uchiha's eyes were filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Could it be the lingering obsession left behind by Madara Uchiha in the dream?

He held his breath, focusing all his attention into the depths of his consciousness, waiting quietly for a moment, trying to catch that whisper again.

The office was quiet.

Only a gust of wind slipped in through the half-open window, causing the pages on the table to flutter gently.

The voice did not reappear.

Or is it just my imagination?

Madara Uchiha raised his hand and pressed his temples, his brows still furrowed.

After pondering for a while but still unable to come up with any clues, Madara Uchiha simply put the matter aside for the time being.

Instead of sitting here arguing with a voice that seems to have come out of nowhere, I'd rather go out for a walk and see what Hashirama is up to.

Madara Uchiha stood up, straightened the collar of his robe, pushed open the office door, and walked out.

Occasionally, Konoha ninjas would pass by in the corridor, and upon seeing him, they would all stop and bow.

Madara Uchiha simply nodded casually, while subtly extending his senses to the surroundings.

He was all too familiar with Hashirama's chakra.

Even though Konoha has expanded considerably recently, it doesn't prevent him from finding Hashirama's location among the many auras.

Following that familiar chakra fluctuation, Madara Uchiha quickly arrived at the west side of the village.

The old district that Hashirama mentioned is located in the western district, closer to the outer edge of the village.

As soon as he stepped into this area, Madara Uchiha frowned slightly.

A street was only half paved, the exposed dirt ground riddled with potholes. The walls of several houses had been built, but the roofs were still not finished.

The wooden scaffolding erected around the house has also shown signs of decay, indicating that the construction has been stalled for a long time.

Due to a lack of management, the nearby open space is piled with a lot of broken wood, stones and household garbage.

The low-lying area was filled with murky rainwater, and the rotten wood and garbage nearby emitted a faint, damp, and rotten smell.

At that moment, Hashirama Senju stood in the middle of the old street, loudly directing a group of Senju clan members to clean up.

"Everyone, give it your all and move all the rubble away!"

"Make room for the timber that will be transported from the village warehouse later!"

"Haha, Tobirama, stop with that long face! The drain over there is clogged, hurry up and use your Water Release techniques to flush it out!"

Tobirama Senju stood expressionlessly by the ditch, raising his hands to form a hand seal.

A stream of water, which he had deliberately controlled in size, rushed along the bottom of the ditch, carrying silt and debris into the pit that had already been dug.

Under Hashirama Senju's highly infectious loud voice, the Senju clan members quickly got to work.

The muddy ground was leveled little by little, and the garbage and gravel were loaded onto trucks and transported away.

The once dilapidated and chaotic neighborhood quickly began to look somewhat tidy.

Madara Uchiha stood at the street corner, looking at the bustling scene before him, and a sense of familiarity suddenly arose in his heart.

He had seen such a scene before.

Long ago, when Konoha was just a newly cleared open space, they were like this.

He and Hashirama personally led the way, working with the people of both clans to clear the land and build houses, gradually turning the village that existed only in children's fantasies into reality.

It was indeed a long time ago.

A hint of nostalgia appeared in Madara Uchiha's eyes, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly.

He was about to go over and greet Hashirama to see if there was anything he could do to help when the voice deep in his mind rang out again.

"I am the Hokage, even though I am the Hokage."

"What gives Hashirama Senju the right to issue orders here?"

Madara Uchiha frowned sharply.

"These people are actually so willing to follow his orders."

"Are they listening to Hashirama, or to me?"

"If things continue like this, they will threaten my rule sooner or later."

The smile on Madara Uchiha's face vanished completely.

The strange whispers began again.

This time, he felt it clearly.

It was definitely not a fleeting illusion.

The thought did indeed surface in the depths of his consciousness in the form of a sound.

The voice was similar to his own, but it was filled with a kind of obsessive suspicion and possessiveness, which was completely opposite to his true emotions at the moment.

Moreover, after hearing it several times, Madara Uchiha suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.

He seemed to have experienced such thoughts in reality.

It also arose from the depths of the mind, and was accompanied by negative emotions so intense that they could not be ignored.

For a moment, he couldn't recall when it happened.

"Oh, Nii-san, you've come to help too?"

A familiar voice came from the side, interrupting Madara Uchiha's thoughts.

He turned his head and saw that the person who came was Izuna.

Izuna had changed out of his previous clothes and was now wearing a short outfit that allowed him to move around easily, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked energetic and refreshed.

He smiled at Ban, then turned and waved to the back of him.

Madara followed his movements and saw that Izuna was followed by a group of Uchiha clansmen.

Those people, carrying shovels on their shoulders and ropes and buckets in their hands, were clearly there to help clean up the old street.

Looking at his smiling younger brother, Madara Uchiha's vision blurred for a moment.

In his memory, Izuna collapsed in his arms, covered in blood, a moment that briefly overlapped with the healthy and vibrant figure before him.

At that moment, he finally remembered where that sense of familiarity came from.

He had indeed experienced these sounds, these abrupt and dark thoughts, in reality.

The earliest period he could clearly trace back to was the time after Izuna's death.

In reality, ever since Izuna succumbed to his injuries, whenever his emotions wavered, dark thoughts would occasionally surface in the depths of his mind.

Peace is a facade, the Senju clan cannot be trusted, and Hashirama's so-called bonds will sooner or later become shackles binding the Uchiha.

At that time, he was immersed in the hatred and pain of losing his brother and never realized that there was anything strange about these thoughts.

Izuna died at the hands of Tobirama Senju.

His hatred for Tobirama, his suspicion of the Senju clan, and even his denial of the peace he once believed in all seemed perfectly reasonable.

So he naturally accepted those emotions, took them as his truest self, and gradually embarked on the path that followed.

In this dream, Izuna is still standing safely in front of him, and Hashirama has never become his enemy.

There was no ground here that could make him hate the Senju clan, nor any reason to support those crazy suspicions.

The same thought still came to mind.

Madara Uchiha's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

Why do these thoughts still appear in this dream?

Could it be that those emotions he once regarded as his true self were also influenced by some kind of force?

If that's the case, what exactly is affecting him?

When did this strangeness begin, and why did it become so clear after Izuna's death?

Madara Uchiha's expression gradually turned ugly.

"Nii-san?"

Izuna approached, a hint of worry in his eyes.

"What's wrong? You don't look well."

Madara Uchiha came to his senses.

He was silent for two seconds, then shook his head nonchalantly.

"It's nothing, just browsing."

His tone was flat, revealing nothing unusual.

After a brief pause, he pointed in another direction.

"Take your men over there. The north side has the most garbage piled up. Clear a path through it first."

"Leave this to Hashirama and the others."

Seeing that his expression had returned to normal, Izuna did not press the matter further.

"Understood, Nii-san."

He turned around and led the group of Uchiha clansmen toward the north side of the old street.

Madara Uchiha stood there, watching his younger brother's figure gradually disappear into the distance, continuing to carefully sort through his memories in his mind.

The dark thoughts he had taken for granted in the past were all too similar to the whispers he heard today.

But in reality, it seems he hasn't experienced them in a long time.

At least in his memory, since being resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation, his mind has been clearer than ever before.

Those abrupt thoughts never resurfaced.

He couldn't quite figure out what this meant at the moment.

Just as Madara Uchiha's thoughts were racing, a shovel covered in dirt suddenly flew sideways towards him.

Madara Uchiha subconsciously raised his hand and firmly gripped the wooden handle of the shovel.

He looked up in surprise and saw that Hashirama Senju had somehow walked up to him.

"What are you doing standing here in a daze, Madara?"

Hashirama Senju grinned at him and pointed to the pile of rubble that hadn't been cleared away yet.

"Since you're already here, don't just stand there and watch."

"Grab your shovels and let's get to work!"

Madara Uchiha was momentarily stunned.

He looked down at the shovel in his hand, then at the energetic Senju and Uchiha clansmen not far away.

The sounds of busy people around them became clear again.

The suspicions churning in his heart were temporarily suppressed by the bustling scene before him.

Madara Uchiha remained silent for a moment, then finally hoisted the shovel onto his shoulder with one hand.

"Hmph, don't talk to me like that."

Despite saying that, he still started walking towards the pile of rubble.

With no further clues at the moment, he would keep track of all the unusual details.

Once he wakes up from the dream, he will naturally investigate the matter himself.