"Eh?"
The young Hashirama looked at Tobirama with clear surprise, as though he were observing some rare and peculiar creature.
Agreeing to negotiate peace with the Uchiha clan? That was the last thing he thought Tobirama would agree to.
As Hashirama studied Tobirama's appearance, a strange feeling swept through his heart.
He couldn't explain why, but though Tobirama looked unchanged, the young man's pair of crimson eyes seemed… different.
The red that had once been plain and unremarkable now resembled the Uchiha clan's Sharingan—scarlet, bewitching, and eerie.
Hashirama furrowed his brows, carefully observing Tobirama from head to toe for a long while.
He had a peculiar intuition…
How was it that his brother—who had always despised the Uchiha—now carried upon him a trace of something indistinctly Uchiha? Something a bit arrogant, a bit bewitching, a bit violent…
Just like Tobirama himself, both brothers were remarkably skilled at discerning whether someone belonged to the Uchiha clan.
The only difference was that Tobirama relied on anatomical research and hard data, while Hashirama relied purely on a special kind of intuition.
"Tobirama, are you alright? I know Father's death has weighed heavily on you… but there's nothing we can do. On the battlefield, death can come at any moment…"
The young Hashirama let out a sigh, then spoke slowly yet firmly: "Don't worry. Even though I know nothing about leadership, I'll work hard to train and become the strongest shinobi, the one who can step forward and bear the weight of the Senju clan!"
"Even if Madara awakens the Mangekyō Sharingan, I won't lose to him. Tobirama, believe me!"
Hashirama thought that perhaps the death of Senju Butsuma had put too much pressure on Tobirama, which explained this sudden change in him.
Listening to his brother's resolute words, Tobirama gave a faint smile.
It was nearly identical to what he had experienced in another timeline. Back then too, after Senju Butsuma's death, he had shouldered immense pressure.
The Uchiha's nature was such that when their loved ones fell, they would often explode with overwhelming power, their strength skyrocketing in unreasonable bursts that left their enemies suffocating—like a student gasping on the last day of summer vacation, homework undone.
It was from that time onward that Tobirama began researching forbidden techniques capable of countering the Mangekyō Sharingan. On that road, he found an interest of his own and ran wildly down its path…
"I believe you will become the God of Shinobi, my foolish brother."
Tobirama spoke softly: "You, who usually avoid competing for dominance and just laugh foolishly… deep inside, your thirst for battle and power is no weaker than that of that man, Uchiha Madara."
His gaze seemed to pierce through, fixing upon the young Hashirama standing before him.
It was precisely because of this trait that his brother, as the reincarnation of Asura's chakra, could become the strongest of his era—capable of suppressing Indra's reincarnation even when paired with the Nine-Tails.
Asura's chakra was indeed formidable, but Senju Hashirama was the true God of Shinobi of the Warring States era.
"Haha, no way! I just… I just don't want to lose to him, that's all…"
The young Hashirama scratched the back of his head with a goofy smile. He could faintly tell that Tobirama's words weren't mockery, but praise. That realization made his heart swell with quiet happiness.
"When the older generation was still around, the Senju were never in a position to call the shots…"
Tobirama sat on the table, picking up a stack of intelligence reports and flipping through them as he spoke: "Father's hatred with Uchiha Tajima dragged on for years. That chain of enmity spanning generations had already bound them both to death."
"Between them there was no room to maneuver. If one side stepped back, the other wouldn't stand by and watch—they'd immediately raise their blade and strike."
"So, under the leadership of those two clan heads, the only path left for the Senju and the Uchiha was mutual slaughter, until one side utterly destroyed the other—or they tangled together and perished side by side in the history of shinobi."
"But now, the situation is different… Butsuma is dead. Tajima is dead as well."
"Do you know what this means?" Tobirama looked down from above at the young Hashirama, posing the question.
What does it mean? — It means both my dad and Madara's dad died miserable deaths.
That was the first thought flashing through young Hashirama's mind.
Nonsensical as it seemed, it was actually one of Hashirama's strongest traits…
In the Warring States era, where stepping outside meant stumbling upon corpses at every turn, this thick-skinned ability to quickly adjust one's mindset in the face of life and death was a moat protecting one's sanity from collapse.
The "power-up through grief" phenomenon—tripled strength in the throes of despair—was something unique to the Uchiha. For most shinobi, falling into mental chaos in battle only created more openings, leaving them to be ruthlessly cut down by calm opponents.
"Uh…" Young Hashirama strained his thoughts, until a spark of inspiration flared in his mind.
Though he couldn't quite put it into words, his eyes grew brighter!
Could it be that Tobirama was suggesting… the relationship between the Uchiha and the Senju might actually have a chance to change?
Tobirama looked at his brother with no small measure of exasperation.
It seemed that no matter the timeline, his elder brother was always this foolish…
"Weren't you just the one suggesting peace talks with the Uchiha? Seems to me, your thinking is still too shallow."
He shook his head, then said slowly: "Peace talks aren't the same as those so-called truces in the past—worthless scraps of paper tossed into a latrine, easily discarded."
"The difference between the Uchiha and the Senju now and the previous generation is this: you, the Senju clan head, and Uchiha Madara, the Uchiha clan head, share a bond!"
"You two met as children, played together, grew up like brothers. Even though your clans went on fighting each other, that bond of friendship was never severed, was it?"
Tobirama's crimson eyes pierced into Hashirama's heart.
"You two absolutely met in secret often, sparring together. Don't bother denying it—I'm only stating the facts."
Hashirama froze on the spot, his expression awkward and stiff.
He had thought he'd hidden it perfectly, that no one would ever notice.
But he had forgotten—back when he and Madara first met in secret as children, both Butsuma and Tobirama had already caught on…
"…Yes, you're right about everything, Tobirama…" Hashirama muttered dejectedly, sinking into his classic gloom. Even the insect-like tufts of hair on his forehead drooped down in defeat.
"Don't you get it yet?"
Tobirama suddenly raised his voice: "That's why, as things stand now, the Senju and the Uchiha finally have the foundation to move beyond fighting to the death! The clan heads are no longer the leaders of the previous generation—now it's us who decide the future of our clans!"
"We need to pursue a true peace with the Uchiha. This Warring States chaos has dragged on long enough. If we can unite the power of both the Uchiha and the Senju, we can unify the entire shinobi world—and bring an end to war!"
Senju Tobirama spoke coldly: "Look across history… the story of war in the shinobi world is really just the story of the Uchiha and the Senju. It's as though some invisible hand has been forcing us to clash, demanding that one side must win and the other must lose…"
"I already have some leads about this abnormal phenomenon, but that is a matter for later."
"No matter what, we must bring this meaningless Warring States era to an end. That is what we, the new generation of the Senju, must do. Don't you agree?"
The young Hashirama was left completely stunned.
Having not yet endured the many wars, not yet become the God of Shinobi, his own idea of "peace talks" with the Uchiha was—as Tobirama said—nothing more than his instinctive wish to avoid fighting Madara.
As for ending an age of chaos and building peace, he had only ever brushed upon the idea faintly in his heart. He had never once expressed it as clearly and logically as Tobirama just had.
"Y-yes, yes, exactly, brother! No, wait—exactly, little brother…" Hashirama burst into excited gestures, so flustered he even mixed up their titles. He strode forward and grabbed Tobirama's arm.
"What should we do?"
"First, meet with Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna. And be ready for a fight…" Tobirama, exasperated, pulled his arm free from Hashirama's grip. Seeing his brother's confused look, he cleared his throat and said: "If we want the Uchiha to sit down and talk calmly, we cannot go begging them as weaklings. We must find a way to defeat them, but without continuing the chains of hatred."
In Tobirama's mind appeared the scene of Kazuki subduing Uchiha Yashiro.
A savage beating first, followed by scolding born of bitter frustration, then finally, appearing to soften and treating his wounds. That sequence, he thought, was the most fitting way to tame those stubborn Uchiha heads.
"You understand what I mean, brother? Don't think you can just exchange a few words and achieve true cooperation—that's unrealistic…" Tobirama's gaze shifted toward the pure black mourning garments laid to the side, and he spoke softly: "With Father and Uchiha Tajima both perishing together, both the Senju and the Uchiha are now burning with fury. Yet at the same time, this is our chance to carve out a new path."
"The wars were carried on by the older generation. And they were not sinners—they were innocent, deceived and misled. The blood feud between the Senju and the Uchiha has another true culprit."
The young Hashirama listened earnestly, but his expression was still clouded with confusion.
Did his younger brother mean that the conflict between the Senju and the Uchiha had been manipulated by someone? Just the thought alone felt utterly absurd to him…
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