Chapter 34: Contacting the Major Clans
The village of Uzushio was decked out in lights, and by the time the Uchiha clan arrived, the preparations were nearly complete.
Madara led Izuna and the other Uchiha members as they transported cartloads of supplies to the Uzumaki clan. When he saw the Great Elder, he greeted him with proper respect. Since he was representing Xiu Yu, he couldn't afford to embarrass the Uchiha clan. At the same time, he needed to leave a good impression on the Uzumaki clan, so he even instructed his people to act more friendly than usual.
The Uzumaki members receiving the Uchiha were a little surprised. The Uchiha were known for their arrogance, yet their behavior today was surprisingly courteous.
News of this spread quickly to the Senju clan, and Senju Hashirama soon arrived with gifts to congratulate Su Xiuyu on his engagement. This time, however, he repeatedly told Tobirama to stay home and not cause any trouble.
Of course, Tobirama wasn't an idiot. Picking a fight with Su Xiuyu right now would be the equivalent of signing his own death warrant. It wasn't just about Xiuyu—it would also offend the entire Uzumaki clan. Did his older brother really think he was dumb enough to ruin someone's engagement and make enemies out of everyone at once?
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"Madara! Xiu Yu!" Hashirama called out as he finally arrived at the banquet.
"You're late, Hashirama. What took you so long?" Su Xiuyu teased.
"Come on, Xiu Yu, you didn't even send me an invitation! I'm lucky I made it at all," Hashirama said with a helpless smile.
"I don't believe for a second that the Senju don't have a few spies in the Uzumaki clan. You were just too slow," Madara scoffed, arms crossed. The Uchiha members had warned him to act more serious for the occasion, but his intense demeanor ended up scaring a few Uzumaki children instead.
Hashirama hesitated. He couldn't exactly admit that while they did have spies, Tobirama controlled them all—and Tobirama hadn't told him anything about this. If he said that out loud, his little brother would never hear the end of it.