Chapter 23
The hickeys on Nakahara Chuuya, which even his high-collared clothing couldn't hide, caused an explosion of rumors throughout the Port Mafia as soon as he started work.
One must understand that Nakahara Chuuya's image of a pure and private personal life was deeply ingrained in people's minds; never mind coming to work with hickeys, no one had even seen him being slightly intimate with any woman.
And then, fueled by the instigation of those with ulterior motives, the revelation of the other party, Dazai Osamu, brought the excitement to a climax.
Port Mafia: No wonder we've never seen Nakahara-san involved with any other woman; so this is the kind of relationship "Soukoku" actually has. Wait! Wasn't Dazai Osamu-san dating an Uchiha Izuna executive not too long ago!
As expected of Dazai-san, he actually dares to play both sides!
In an instant, rumors of a love triangle between Uchiha Izuna, Dazai Osamu, Nakahara Chuuya were spreading throughout the entire Port Mafia.
After all, this was an explosive romance involving three executives: two from the Port Mafia and one former Port Mafia executive.
It was simply because of Dazai Osamu's past achievements in seeking out beautiful ladies to commit double suicide with—no matter which version of the story was told, he was undoubtedly a scummy man who was two-timing.
The Port Mafia reached a consensus: Dazai Osamu is truly a god-like man!
"Izuna, what is going on between you and Dazai Osamu?" Uchiha Madara sat calmly in the leader's chair, leaning back against the backrest, asking his brother about the rumors regarding the love triangle that had been circulating lately.
It's nothing." Uchiha Izuna smiled very forcedly. "Our values are different; we were destined to have no future together.
What values!" Uchiha Madara's emotions flared, failing to control his strength, he smashed the table apart. "It's clearly that fellow Dazai Osamu having a change of heart!
As a result, the excessive movement strained his waist, causing his expression to contort and his voice to crack at the end of his words.
Uchiha Izuna didn't think much of it, assuming his brother was simply expressing extreme anger over the matter.
“Brother, don't ask anymore.” Uchiha Izuna lowered his eyes, concealing the emotions within them. “This is probably just fate; it seems the two of us are not meant to be.”
"If you don't want to pursue it, then forget it, Izuna." Uchiha Madara controlled his expression, not wanting to show anger in front of his younger brother and ruin his image in the other's heart.
"I see you've been looking a bit tired these past few days. Why don't you take a few days off to get some proper rest?" he asked Uchiha Izuna in a gentle voice.
"Alright, I'll do as you say, Nii-san." Uchiha Izuna nodded, maintaining his "heartbroken" expression as he walked out the door.
Madara-kun was angry. It looked like that Dazai Osamu was in trouble. Uchiha Izuna maintained a gloomy expression on his face, but in his heart, he was feeling quite a bit of schadenfreude.
This was entirely Dazai Osamu's own fault. After all, the original script was simply for Dazai Osamu to feign a change of heart when Madara-kun could no longer stand the pressure being placed on him. That way, Madara-kun would believe Dazai Osamu's actions were due to his pressure, once it was clarified that the matter between Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya was just an act, it would be enough to ensure Big Brother wouldn't do anything to Dazai Osamu.
But there was nothing that could be done; after all, why wouldn't Dazai Osamu take the path to heaven when he insisted on charging into the gates of hell? He truly had failed to control himself and had turned his fake relationship with Nakahara Chuuya into something real.
Uchiha Izuna rubbed his chin. The more uncomfortable he acted now, the harder his brother would hit Dazai Osamu later. Chuuya-kun, this can be considered revenge for you.
As for what kind of shape Dazai Osamu would be beaten into, Uchiha Izuna didn't care in the slightest. For some reason, the thought of Dazai getting a severe beating made him feel involuntarily cheerful; perhaps it was because they were too similar, seeing a smile as dark as his own made him feel uneasy—Uchiha Izuna thought irresponsibly.
For Oda's sake, Dazai Osamu at least won't have to worry about his life being in danger.
Uchiha Madara's expression turned cold the moment his brother closed the door.
"Bring them in." Tapping his fingers on the desk, Uchiha Madara thought for a moment before opening the control panel of the leader's office to call his subordinates.
"Madara-san, long time no see." Dazai Osamu walked into the leader's office with a smile after not having visited in a long time, bowing slightly toward the expressionless Uchiha Madara sitting at the desk.
"How has Oda been lately?" Uchiha Madara's emotionless black eyes stared at Dazai Osamu.
"I'm.. I'm doing fine." Dazai Osamu, who had thought Uchiha Madara was going to ask about the love triangle, was momentarily stunned when he suddenly heard this.
That's good then.
As those words fell, Dazai Osamu suddenly realized that the aura surrounding Uchiha Madara was continuously rising, while the temperature around him gradually dropped.
Now tell me, what have you been doing behind Izuna's back?
Uchiha Madara's black eyes, which usually revealed no emotion, had turned a brilliant blood-red. Under the gaze of such eyes, Dazai Osamu felt as if a thousand-pound weight were pressing down upon him.
Knowing that Dazai Osamu was playing a part, Uchiha Izuna had once warned him over the phone not to lie in front of his brother. When Dazai Osamu first heard those words, he hadn't taken them seriously; he was quite skilled at lying under interrogation. Even if there happened to be an ability that forced one to tell the truth, he was sorry, but his ability, No Longer Human, could nullify any ability.
It wasn't until he faced Uchiha Madara's eyes that he truly understood the profound meaning behind Uchiha Izuna's words: no one can lie in the presence of the Sharingan!
This isn't an Ability at all, dammit!
Uchiha Izuna truly understood his brother well; Uchiha Madara only asked whether the matters concerning Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya were true, never suspecting that the connection between Dazai Osamu and Uchiha Izuna was a fabrication. Consequently, the part Dazai Osamu spoke was enough to set Uchiha Madara's rage ablaze.
“Heh!” Staring at Dazai Osamu, Uchiha Madara laughed out of sheer fury.
You and Mori Ougai can go enjoy a Tsukuyomi set meal together, you two master and apprentice!
Dazai Osamu: Danger! I don't want to die like that!
Facing such a Uchiha Madara, Dazai Osamu expressed intense indignation: I curse you that the little lover Uchiha Izuna is hiding will be discovered by your brother immediately!
Chapter 24
There is a law in this world that is bound to come true, known as Dazai Osamu's curse.
Hmm, if I continue to deepen the image of a heartbroken man in Madara-kun's heart over the next few days, I can then naturally bring Senju Tobirama out into the light.
Completely unaware of the approaching danger, Uchiha Izuna walked toward the place where he was "hiding his beauty" while contemplating his next move.
After dealing with Dazai Osamu, Uchiha Madara felt much better and decided to call his brother to comfort him.
“Beep.. Madara-kun?”
The phone rang for a long time before someone answered on the other end.
"Why did it take so long to answer?" Uchiha Madara asked naturally.
"I was just practicing taijutsu." Uchiha Izuna's voice was slightly unsteady from exertion.
Uchiha Madara instantly imagined a scene from his brother's past, where he was venting his anger by swinging a long blade wildly at the clan's training ground.
"Why practice taijutsu now? It's late at night, you should get some rest early." While Uchiha Madara spoke to his brother in a gentle voice, he made a mental note of Dazai Osamu and Mori Ougai.
"It's fine. This world is too peaceful; I haven't had a proper fight in a long time. I feel like my skills are getting rusty, so I'm just practicing a bit." Uchiha Izuna gave a light laugh.
"It's fine. Dazai Osamu and Mori Ougai, those two teacher-student fellows, are nothing good; if they're separated, then they're separated. It's only your brother here who you won't be able to find if you go looking for someone like him." Uchiha Madara's casual words were filled with overwhelming dominance.
"Speaking of which, back when we were in the Shinobi World, you always acted like you had a crush on someone, I was actually worried." As he spoke, Uchiha Madara began to lament, noting how his little brother had acted so mature even when he was small, that he had never seen him show any special behavior toward anyone else. Er, perhaps except for that white-haired Senju opposite him; the two of them would get incredibly excited the moment they met, though it was the kind of excitement where they desperately wanted to kill one another.
I remember once you took an undercover mission in the Entertainment District, but you performed so exceptionally well that you became an Oiran directly. During that time, you acted exactly like someone in love.
I even thought you had fallen for someone. Fearing you might be deceived, I spent some time observing, only to find nothing but men being led around by the nose by you.
Uchiha Madara let out a laugh at this, still amused by his own past behavior of being overly protective of his brother, unaware that the person listening across from him was breaking into a cold sweat.
“Who would have thought that in this world, you'd suddenly take a liking to two people at once, both of them are men.” The oblivious Uchiha Madara continued, lamenting his brother's sudden awakening; although the sexual orientation seemed a bit off, as long as Izuna was happy, it was fine.
As expected, the reason you never had any interest in that area before was because you were preoccupied with clan matters.
Senju Tobirama gave Uchiha Izuna a look: Think of something fast, if your brother keeps talking like this, I'm going to lose my drive.
Let's talk about it tomorrow, Madara-kun." Uchiha Izuna coughed, "I broke a sweat practicing taijutsu just now, now that I've stopped, the wind feels a bit cold. I'm going to take a bath.
"Alright, then go quickly." Just as Uchiha Madara finished his last word, the call was cut off from the other side.
Uchiha Madara, having been hung up on so quickly by his brother for the first time, narrowed his eyes and wore a contemplative expression.
“I think I just heard something about an Oiran?” Having realized his own feelings and unexpectedly getting what he wanted, Senju Hashirama stood behind Uchiha Madara, leaning down to rest his head on the other's shoulder, while his hand quietly reached toward his waist.
After waking up from that drunken sexual encounter, Uchiha Madara believed that most of the responsibility lay with him, since he had been the one to take the initiative first; however, after reflecting on it, he realized that if the other person had been someone else instead of Senju Hashirama, they might not have been able to pique his interest.
That was it. He had never been able to imagine a weak woman becoming his partner, which was why he had remained single. But if the other person was Senju Hashirama, someone who could stand on equal footing with him, then everything made perfect sense. In the end, Uchiha Madara reached a conclusion: no wonder he had never looked at anyone else before; it turned out Senju Hashirama had long since taken up residence in his heart.
The members of the Uchiha Clan possessed incredible initiative; once he had clarified his own thoughts, he immediately launched an offensive against Senju Hashirama.
With the guidance of others, Senju Hashirama had long ago realized that his friendship with Madara-kun had changed, so when Uchiha Madara made his move, he naturally went along with it.
Uchiha Madara was deeply moved by this. One had to realize that Senju Hashirama had once had a wife and children, so it was easy to imagine that he wasn't incapable of feeling for women, unlike Madara, who had no other options. Yet, after Madara's pursuit, he had chosen him, a man, without any hesitation.
I'm sorry, Hashirama, but no matter what your reasons were for agreeing, I will never let you go from now on, because you are the only one worthy of standing by my side.
From then on, Senju Hashirama's identity as the lover of the Port Mafia leader finally lived up to its reputation.
“It was that time the two of us ran into each other in the Entertainment District. Back then, Izuna was performing a mission inside, playing the role of an Oiran, I went there to see him.” Uchiha Madara said casually.
"Eh? So Izuna was the Oiran back then!" Senju Hashirama's expression was somewhere between shock and sudden realization.
“Izuna's tone is off.” Uchiha Madara stood up abruptly, "I have to go see him!"
The more Uchiha Madara thought about it, the more he felt that Uchiha Izuna's situation was not quite right, so he decided to make the trip himself to see what was actually going on with his brother.
"Ah?!" Senju Hashirama, who was bumped by the suddenly rising Uchiha Madara, looked completely bewildered.
Sen! Senju Tobirama!
What?
You, you!
"Izuna, open the door!" Uchiha Madara's deep voice drifted from outside the door.
The two people in the room froze instantly.
..
A few minutes later, the door opened.
"Madara-kun, what are you doing here?" Uchiha Izuna opened the door with a smile, his movements natural and showing none of the embarrassment of being caught by his older brother.
"I thought I just heard something about Senju Tobirama.." Uchiha Madara's words died in his throat, completely stunned by the scene in the room the moment he glanced over.
The luxurious bedroom was shrouded in darkness, making it difficult for a normal person to see clearly what was inside. However, for Uchiha Madara, who possessed the Rinnegan, this was no problem. With a single glance, he saw that the person on the bed, whose eyes were covered with black cloth and who was bound tightly in a suggestive pose, with only a quilt covering his vital parts, was none other than Senju Tobirama.
“What is going on here?!”
“Just as you saw, Madara-kun, this fellow Senju Tobirama somehow happened to end up here for no reason.” Uchiha Izuna's voice was filled with delight. "Since he has fallen into my hands, I shall naturally give him a proper welcome."
And I've never forgotten that stab he gave me," Uchiha Izuna said in a voice so soft it was almost morbid. "He can just pay me back with his body.
Uchiha Madara!! My brother has been driven to darkness by the provocation of those two unreliable romantic interests!
“As long as you're happy, Izuna.” Uchiha Madara struggled to piece together his shattered worldview, his tone wavering. He thought back to his own actions from a while ago and felt that his brother becoming like this was partly his own fault.
Uchiha Madara, having disrupted two of his brother's "romantic connections," felt a bit guilty. Oh well, if Izuna wants to play, he can just let him vent. As for what kind of treatment Senju Tobirama would receive as the target of that venting, it had nothing to do with him; he would just consider it an apology.
Uchiha Madara, who still found his younger brother's sudden turn to darkness somewhat difficult to digest, walked back with heavy, uncertain steps, wondering if he had done something wrong.
The two had just been terrified by Uchiha Madara's sudden appearance, but fortunately, Uchiha Izuna caught a glimpse of the ropes they were using for roleplay out of the corner of his eye. In a moment of quick thinking, he came up with this method to bluff Uchiha Madara.
“Is Madara-kun angry because he saw us tied up like this?” Uchiha Izuna bent down, placing his long, fair fingers against Senju Tobirama's face, where his eyes were covered by black cloth strips, slowly sliding them across.