Chapter 272: Splitting Up
Seeing that Hashirama Senju didn't doubt him in the slightest, and instead generously intended to share his Sage Chakra with him, Uchiha Madara's lips slowly curved upward.
He asked teasingly, "Aren't you afraid I'll use this power against you?"
"If you really plan to do that, then at the very least, after that, you'd still have to protect this world, Madara."
Hashirama replied without hesitation.
Hearing his words, Madara was momentarily taken aback, but then laughed again.
This was indeed the man he knew—the Hashirama Senju who possessed the nature of a Buddha.
Madara stared at Hashirama for a few seconds, then stepped forward without hesitation.
He grasped Hashirama's outstretched hand.
The instant their palms touched, a terrifying surge of chakra poured forth. As overwhelming natural energy rapidly flooded into his body, Madara immediately sensed its danger.
This natural energy had to be balanced with one's own chakra.
Overall, the sensation wasn't much different from a ninja learning to control his own chakra.
But the difficulty lay in the fact that, without sufficient chakra to balance the Sage Chakra, one would suffer severe backlash.
Madara didn't know exactly what the consequences would be.
But for someone of his level, it was hardly an obstacle.
In less than a ten-thousandth of a second, he had grasped the essence of Sage Chakra, and naturally wouldn't allow it the chance to affect him.
Very quickly, his own chakra and the Sage Chakra reached a dynamic balance.
Once the two achieved harmony, Madara fully obtained that power.
His aura instantly swelled by at least tenfold.
"So this is Sage Chakra?"
Madara carefully savored the surging power within his body. Though his tone carried a hint of disdain, in truth he was thoroughly enjoying it.
This power was formidable.
It also greatly raised the ceiling of his strength.
"No wonder I lost to him back then, without the Rinnegan…"
Madara thought to himself, unable to deny his respect for Hashirama.
He knew Sage Mode was something Hashirama had mastered on his own, separate from the Sage Arts of the three great holy lands.
Madara had seen many ninjas capable of independently developing ninjutsu, most of them extraordinary figures.
But to develop Sage Arts entirely on one's own—only the man before him, Hashirama Senju, had done that.
Madara quickly gathered his thoughts. Looking at Hashirama, he voiced a new demand: "When a Jinchūriki has their tailed beast extracted, death is inevitable. There's only one way to save them."
"That method is my Rinnegan—the eyes that govern life and death."
"With my Rinnegan, plus your Sage Chakra, I can avoid dying when using that jutsu."
"However, those eyes aren't with me right now."
This was Madara's other objective.
Without Hashirama's agreement, he would likely never reclaim his Rinnegan in this lifetime, nor succeed in gathering all nine tailed beasts to revive the Ten Tails.
Now, Hashirama had already been persuaded into believing that Madara becoming the Ten Tails' jinchūriki was for the sake of defeating Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and protecting the ninja world.
That was step one. Step two was reclaiming the Rinnegan.
"Once I become the Ten Tails' jinchūriki with the Rinnegan, just how far will my power soar…?"
Madara silently anticipated.
Meanwhile, upon hearing his words, Hashirama frowned.
"You want to reclaim your eyes… then what do you intend to do with the young man who's using them now?"
He didn't know whose hands the Rinnegan was in.
But given their age, anyone not from their generation—or earlier—could only be considered young.
"Compared to reviving the jinchūriki, your concerns are still too many, Hashirama."
"If you hadn't been so softhearted back then, the ninja world wouldn't be what it is now. But I don't care to argue with you about that."
"The only thing I can promise is this: once I have my eyes back, everything will become possible."
Hearing Madara's absolute confidence, Hashirama couldn't help wavering.
After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
"This is something you'll have to speak to that young man about yourself. I can't help you with that, Madara."
Though he said that with a serious expression, it couldn't hide the truth: in his mind, he had already run through a hundred possible ways to persuade the other party to return the Rinnegan.
Madara, fully aware of Hashirama's nature, didn't comment.
"You go convince him to return my eyes. The man's name is Uzumaki Nagato."
"As for me, I'll bring back all nine tailed beasts. We'll meet in Konoha."
With that, Madara ignored Hashirama's reaction, lifted off into the air, and immediately pursued the chakra signatures he had sensed.
The nine tailed beasts and their jinchūriki had been taken away by Konan.
But she wouldn't get far.
"Hey, wait!"
Hashirama still wanted to establish some ground rules with Madara.
But the latter paid him no mind, soon vanishing into the horizon as a tiny black speck.
"Madara, that guy… still as willful as ever."
Hashirama pressed his hand to his forehead helplessly.
Just then, he quickly gathered himself, as Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had arrived not far behind him at the cliff's edge.
Standing atop the head of the giant Thousand-Armed Buddha, Hashirama withdrew his chakra.
The colossal statue, several hundred meters tall, rapidly disappeared, and Hashirama descended calmly before Hiruzen and the others.
"First Hokage-sama!"
Hiruzen jumped forward, looking at Hashirama with mixed surprise and doubt.
He had seen it clearly just moments ago: Uchiha Madara had flown away.
And at the time, Hashirama had stood by without making a move to stop him. That left Hiruzen utterly baffled.
"Little Hiruzen, it's been a long time. You've grown so much."
Hashirama greeted him warmly.
"I've already grown old, First Hokage-sama…"
Hiruzen muttered helplessly.
Hashirama just scratched his head and laughed heartily.
"As I thought, the First Hokage hasn't changed one bit, even after all these years."
Hiruzen shook his head with a weary smile. "But, First Hokage-sama, why did you let Uchiha Madara go?"
He couldn't let go of that point.
Hashirama instantly put away his laughter, looking at Hiruzen with solemn eyes as he answered, "I just reached an agreement with Madara."
"An agreement?"
Seeing Hashirama so serious and mysterious, Hiruzen and the others were momentarily stunned.
The latter blinked, then hesitated. "First Hokage-sama, the things Madara says can't be trusted so easily… his ambition…"
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