"That's right… each time my ocular power has grown stronger, I've faintly felt that strand of chakra within me, purifying my eyes and refining my power. I once thought it was simply a reaction of my bloodline being stirred."
Madara slowly exhaled a long breath. He already understood Tobirama's meaning.
The chakra hidden within their bodies… was none other than the chakra of Asura and Indra!
"If you read the histories of the Uchiha and the Senju, you'll notice a troubling pattern… For a thousand years of constant conflict, there has always appeared a pair of Uchiha and Senju who tower above the rest of the shinobi world."
"Just like Hashirama and Madara—you two were born surpassing what normal shinobi could ever reach, leading your clans to divide the world into two camps, locked in battles like final duels of destiny!"
"Each cycle repeats, as though with no end, forcing the Senju and Uchiha to clash again and again, dragging the shinobi world into the flames of endless war."
"I wondered if this could be mere coincidence. But then I realized something else—not every generation's Senju and Uchiha leaders started out with hatred, like our fathers Butsuma and Tajima."
"The records show there were those like Hashirama and Madara—friends who admired one another, even considered uniting… Yet as they grew older, without exception, they turned into bitter enemies, fighting to the death."
"And every time, the ending was the same—one leader of the Senju or Uchiha dead, the other gravely wounded. Then came a brief silence… until the next generation's leaders rose up to fight once more."
Tobirama let out a cold laugh. "Do you still think this is coincidence?"
Madara and Izunai's faces both darkened.
Hearing this tale, it seemed as though the fate of the Uchiha and Senju had been preordained—especially for leaders like Madara and Hashirama, doomed to clash in war until one perished.
"You both know I have more than a passing interest in forbidden techniques… I've also delved into matters of the soul and the spirit," Tobirama said at last, breaking the heavy silence.
"Forgive my bluntness, but that strand of chakra within Hashirama likely comes from Asura… while the chakra within Madara's body comes from Indra!"
"The chakra of the Sage of Six Paths' two sons possesses powers we mortals can scarcely comprehend. It can reincarnate again and again across a thousand years, subtly influencing the consciousness and thoughts of its hosts."
"In the end, the Senju and Uchiha who carry it become like chosen spokesmen, forced to finish the battle their ancestors left unresolved!"
Tobirama pointed at Hashirama and Madara, speaking gravely: "And the two of you—if nothing changes—this will be your fate as well!"
Madara's face twisted into sudden ferocity.
As a man of strength, he could not allow anyone to offend him. And the thought of some parasite manipulating one's mind—it was no different from the vile act of seizing another's body!
Most of all, Madara could never allow his final fate with Hashirama to be something so pitiful…
To be puppets, controlled only to replay the grudges of a thousand years past? Even if their ancestors themselves were the ones behind it, he would never permit it!
"What I've told you," Tobirama continued, "comes from my analysis of the Senju Stone Tablet's record."
"By my estimation, the one who left that tablet may have been a Senju who, centuries ago, awakened the Sharingan through an atavistic resurgence of bloodline power. After becoming host to Asura's chakra, he must have fought an Uchiha possessed by Indra's chakra. Only in his dying moments did he begin to perceive the truth…"
"I can feel his confusion in his words, as though his eyes had been blinded. He could no longer understand the endless hatred he had once borne against the Uchiha."
"His story is long. I've only shared a fragment here… I know the two of you will need time to digest this. But the tablet remains within the Senju clan—you may come to see it at any time."
Tobirama spoke without the slightest burden of conscience.
For the one who left the tablet—was none other than himself. And this tale, in truth, was not entirely a lie.
Before meeting Kazuki, his wariness and hostility toward the Uchiha could have been called the greatest in the shinobi world. Only after spending time with Kazuki did Tobirama begin, step by step, to shed his prejudice—until, in the end, he even became an Uchiha himself.
"This is… a lot to take in. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I need to discuss it further with my brother." Uchiha Izunai drew in a deep breath as she spoke.
"Of course… this is a turning point unlike anything in a thousand years between the Senju and Uchiha clans. I fully support you taking the time to think it through carefully." Tobirama's voice was unusually gentle as he added softly: "I'll be waiting for your visit at the Senju compound anytime."
A turning point unlike any in a thousand years?
Izunai suddenly felt a stab of irritation, recalling some of Tobirama's earlier words…
Though she had no fondness for him whatsoever, he had wagered their engagement as a stake—so why, after gaining the upper hand, did he not even bring it up?
Was he only joking when he said it?!
Her gaze grew sharper as she fixed her eyes on Tobirama.
Sensing something amiss, Tobirama naturally met her stare and asked with calm warmth, "What's the matter?"
Such open, direct words only made Izunai falter. Flustered, she found herself staring into those eyes—so like her own—and in her confusion, she forced herself into a hard, unyielding posture: "Hmph. I was only wondering why someone as cold-blooded as you could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Tobirama smiled inwardly, already thinking of a line he was sure would disgust Izunai.
"When I fought you, it was always painful… and yet we've been locked in battle for so many years." Tobirama put on a look of deep sorrow and tenderness. "I was afraid those days would never end."
At that, Izunai suddenly spun on her heel, her face flushed crimson. "Brother, let's go! We're returning to the Uchiha clan!"
Madara's knuckles cracked loudly as he clenched his fists, burning with the urge to smash them into the smug face of the man coveting his sister.
But the truth was, Tobirama really had always protected Izunai.
Grinding his teeth, Madara stamped his foot in frustration, then turned to follow his sister. "Hashirama—we'll stay in touch!"
At that moment—
The corners of Tobirama's lips curled up wildly.
Ha!
Uchiha Izunai, that line really got under your skin, didn't it?
What Tobirama didn't realize was—
After spending so much time around Kazuki, perhaps he had underestimated how much of his flair for acting had rubbed off on him…
...
The Senju compound.
Young Hashirama sat before a freshly brewed cup of hot tea, lost in a daze.
On the way back to the Senju compound, he had planned to talk with Tobirama at length, to sort through the countless doubts crowding his heart…
About this sudden emergence of Uchiha bloodline power, about the Senju stone tablet…
And about Tobirama's strength, hidden so deeply all this time—what on earth was going on?
But Hashirama's plans had fallen apart.
After Izunai had fled, face buried in her hands from Tobirama's shameless teasing, Tobirama had grinned, clapped Hashirama on the shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, transported them straight into the Senju compound.
It had left Hashirama completely stunned!
Not only had Tobirama awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, now he could wield some profound space-time technique as well? Without even weaving a single hand seal, he had leapt across half the Land of Fire in an instant?
Back at the compound, still reeling, Hashirama had just opened his mouth to ask—
Only for Tobirama to slam his door shut with a loud bang, telling him that whatever questions he had could wait until he was finished with his work…
The Senju clan head could only nod pitifully, helplessly, retreating to his own room. There, with clumsy hands, he brewed a pot of tea and waited in silence for his mysterious younger brother to finish.
[Crack.]
[Scrape.]
Strange rasping noises drifted from Tobirama's room.
The sound was like cat claws scratching, setting Hashirama's already-confused heart even further on edge. He was dying of curiosity—where had Tobirama's changes come from, and what ancient secrets lay between the Uchiha and the Senju?
And above all—what did Tobirama mean when he said he secretly liked Izunai?
His cold, merciless younger brother… secretly harboring a crush on a beautiful rival kunoichi, playing the part of a repressed, awkward boy?
This was—far too exciting!
Moving on tiptoe, Hashirama crept to Tobirama's door and held his breath, listening intently, brows furrowing.
What on earth was that sound?
It was like the sharpening of blades, or perhaps carving into stone…
"Stop standing outside. Come in…" Just as Hashirama's thoughts were spinning, Tobirama's voice rang out from within.
Hashirama startled, then scratched his head with an embarrassed grin.
His brother's sensing ability really was incredible—he had gone to such lengths to suppress his presence, yet Tobirama still noticed…
He gently pushed the door open—and froze.
At last, he understood the source of those strange noises.
In the center of the room—
Tobirama sat cross-legged, his Mangekyō Sharingan glowing with a sinister red light. Around the index finger of his left hand coiled two distinct kinds of black flame.
On the thumb of his right hand flickered an eerie icy glow, crawling with black curse-marks that slithered about like tiny snakes.
The sight alone was enough to make one's skin crawl, like he was conducting some ghastly forbidden ritual.
But Tobirama's focus was fixed on a half-man-tall stone tablet set before him.
Like a sculptor, he used his hands as carving blades, tracing lines and etching symbols, the scraping sound echoing again and again…
It was the very noise Hashirama had heard from outside the door.
Hashirama wanted to speak, but in the past, if he had ever seen Tobirama in such a posture—looking like he was researching forbidden techniques—he would already have stepped in, adopting the authority of clan head and elder brother to break it up and deliver a stern rebuke!
After that meeting—
Young Hashirama finally realized that even the martial strength he had always kept quiet about yet felt so confident in, before this mysterious younger brother of his, was nothing at all…
Space–time techniques, a body full of forbidden arts, mastery over all five elemental releases—and on top of that, the most powerful Mangekyō Sharingan in the shinobi world…
And even setting aside raw strength, Tobirama had accomplished something no one had in a thousand years—he had made it truly possible for the Uchiha and Senju to unite!
From every angle, Hashirama felt he had no right to interfere or lecture Tobirama.
Even if he was developing forbidden techniques, seeing how Tobirama had already achieved such great results—allowing him and Madara to avoid fighting to the death on the battlefield—Hashirama had already resolved to tacitly accept it.
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