Seeing Senju Hashirama so worked up, Renya showed an expression that said, Just as I thought.
He knew it—Hashirama-san's condition hadn't deteriorated to the point of no return.He just wanted to give up on his own.
When the spirit can no longer bear immense pain, the body steps in to shoulder the emotional burden.
This is what people mean when they say someone falls seriously ill after a traumatic blow.
Hashirama was going through exactly that...
He hadn't been able to crawl out from the sorrow of killing Uchiha Madara.
On top of that, the battle with Madara had left him seriously wounded.
As time dragged on, his body naturally started breaking down.
That was with Hashirama's monstrous constitution.
If it had been someone else, they'd already have a three-meter-tall patch of grass growing over their grave.
"Renya, you're saying Madara didn't die?!"
Senju Hashirama grew anxious as Renya abruptly cut off mid-sentence.
If his body allowed it, he would've already jumped out of bed to interrogate him.
Ever since the day he killed Madara, he had been drowning in overwhelming pain.
Every time he recalled that moment, the heartache made it hard to even breathe.
Madara's blood had splattered across him—scorching hot and searingly bright.
They were once close friends, dreaming of a peaceful future together, skipping stones across the water in joy.
But now it had come to this—a fight to the death.
Where had everything gone so wrong?
Suddenly, Hashirama raised his hand and stared at his slightly trembling fingertips, remembering how they had been stained with Madara's fresh blood—a mark that felt like an unerasable crime.
"Madara..."
He muttered hoarsely, his voice barely audible.
Tears surged uncontrollably and blurred his vision.
If what Renya said were true—if Madara really wasn't dead—how wonderful that would be...
Wait, Renya?!
Hashirama looked up at Renya, his eyes filled with urgency.
"Renya, are you serious?"
It was the third time he'd asked.
This time, Renya gave him an answer.
"Hashirama-san, Uchiha Madara didn't actually die."
The moment he heard that, a golden glint flashed in Hashirama's eyes.
The color slowly returned to his pale face.
"Re... Renya, how do you know?" Hashirama breathed heavily, locking his gaze tightly onto Renya.
Anyone else would've immediately doubted something like this.
After all, Hashirama had personally killed Uchiha Madara.
If Madara hadn't died, would he not have noticed?
Yet Hashirama didn't question him—not even once.
It wasn't exactly that he believed Renya.
Rather, he was clinging to Renya's words as a reason to keep living...
If Madara wasn't dead, then there was no rush to follow him into the grave.
At the very least, he had to find Madara and say sorry face to face.
"Hashirama-san, do you know about Izanagi?" Renya asked.
Hashirama's pupils suddenly shrank, as if something had just struck him.
Of course he knew about the technique Izanagi.
It was a forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha clan—something that existed even in the Warring States Period.
The Uchiha would use it in battle.
He had witnessed it himself—an Uchiha clan member sacrificing one eye to come back to life.
After asking Madara about it later, he learned that it was indeed a forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha.
Madara had once told him that only a few Uchiha even knew how to use it.
Although Hashirama never directly asked if Madara had mastered the technique, he had always known—
Madara definitely learned it!
If what Renya said was true—if Madara had used Izanagi...
At that thought, Senju Hashirama shot up from his bed in excitement.
"Madara might really not be dead!"
Renya was startled by his reaction.
What the hell?!
He'd just been thinking about how to convince Hashirama to believe him...
Before he even said anything, the guy had leapt out of bed.
Gone was the sickly man from before—now he looked full of life and energy.
If Uzumaki Mito and Senju Tobirama, standing outside the room, saw this medical miracle with their own eyes, their jaws would drop to the floor.
Little did Renya know, Hashirama had already filled in the blanks on his own.
He watched as Hashirama grabbed his shoulders with both hands, looking deeply grateful.
"Thank you, Renya!"
If not for Renya's reminder, he would never have considered it.
If Madara didn't die, then wasn't he about to die for nothing?
That realization filled Hashirama with dread.
Renya looked at him strangely.
"Hashirama-san, you're not even going to question if I'm telling the truth?"
Seriously? Hashirama was way too trusting.
Not even a shred of doubt?
If it were Senju Tobirama, he'd instantly question the truth of the statement, analyze the likelihood of it being real, and dissect Madara's motives for faking his death.
For the sake of being thorough, he might even go and exhume Madara's corpse for an autopsy.
But Hashirama didn't even say one skeptical word...
Renya figured he should give Hashirama a bit of a heads-up, just in case.
Otherwise, if he couldn't find Madara later and thought he'd been lied to, his mental state might collapse, and he'd spiral into existential doubt.
And then—crack—he'd die from the emotional shock.
Faced with Renya's rhetorical question, Senju Hashirama froze.
He realized he really hadn't questioned it at all.
He didn't know why, but the moment Renya said Madara wasn't dead, his heart began pounding wildly.
Something unseen and mysterious told him—Madara is still alive!
It felt like... a blood connection...
Renya watched him stay silent and was speechless.
Man, this guy really is hopelessly gullible.
With no other choice, he continued talking on his own.
"The reason Uchiha Madara wanted to destroy Konoha was because your ideals clashed. You both stood by your own beliefs, which led to where things are now."
"After realizing he couldn't beat you, Madara used Izanagi to fake his death and hide in the shadows, preparing to carry out his own vision..."
"That's my theory, anyway," Renya explained. "If you want proof, you can go examine Madara's corpse."
Senju Hashirama stared at Renya in a daze.
He hadn't expected such a logical and detailed breakdown.
It almost sounded real.
And based on what he knew of his old friend, this was entirely possible.
Hashirama had only acted on a gut feeling that Madara wasn't dead.
But Renya had gone so far with his reasoning...
Truly a child raised by Tobirama.
"I understand, Renya," Hashirama said softly.
"Hashirama-san, you actually believe me?" Renya blinked in confusion.
He had the nagging feeling Hashirama didn't seem all that happy...
Hashirama seemed to pick up on Renya's doubt and gave a bitter smile.
"Even if Madara really is alive, I'm already dying."
Even this news that Madara might still be out there could only give him a temporary burst of vitality—not a true recovery.
Dead cells don't just magically come back to life.
Senju Hashirama's life force truly was abnormally strong.
But he was still human. And humans die.
At the rate things were going, he had at most three years left.
Using ninjutsu might even accelerate his death...
But three years was enough!
Hashirama was already a man at death's door.
All he wanted now was to find Madara... and say sorry.
With that thought, Hashirama looked at Renya.
"Renya, I need to ask you a favor—please!"
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo