"What… what kind of eyes are those?!"
Senju Hashirama, who had been watching Madara closely, was the first to notice the change in his rival's Sharingan. What unsettled him even more was the suffocatingly cold chakra that began to surge from Madara's twin pupils.
"Hashirama—starting now, I'll be fighting with everything I have!"
Madara's voice rang out low and firm. The long hair behind him whipped about violently as his chakra exploded outward. He was preparing to unleash the ultimate power of the Mangekyō Sharingan—Susanoo!
But just as the moment of release approached, a voice cut through the battlefield, startling both sides into stunned silence:
"Senju! All of you, stand down! If you don't want him to die!"
Izuna's voice!
That thought struck both Madara's mind and the Senju at the same instant. Together, they turned their gaze toward the source.
On a rocky outcrop seven or eight meters high at the rear-right of the battlefield, Uchiha Izuna stood tall. In one hand, he dangled Senju Tobirama by the back of his collar, displaying him to the hundreds of Uchiha and Senju shinobi below.
"Senju shinobi, cease your attacks immediately! Otherwise, I'll kill him where he stands!" Izuna repeated, his voice cutting across the battlefield.
"Tobirama-sama, how… how is this possible?!"
"Wasn't he on a secret mission?"
"How could he have been caught by Uchiha Izuna?!"
The Senju were wide-eyed with shock, voices rising in disbelief.
On the Uchiha side, the astonishment was just as great—but what followed quickly was elation.
"So that's where Lord Izuna went—he captured Tobirama!"
"Hahaha! Incredible! The battle's outcome has completely reversed now!"
"As expected of Lord Izuna!"
…
"Tobirama… captured?!"
Senju Yūken, who only moments before had been so confident in Tobirama's plan, stared in utter disbelief. Not even the Senju themselves had fully understood Tobirama's strategy, and with his mastery of the Flying Thunder God, Yūken had been certain that not even the previous clan heads—Uchiha Tajima and Senju Butsuma—could have easily taken him alive.
Uchiha Izuna and Tobirama had always been equals in strength. There was no way Izuna should have been able to subdue him now that Tobirama wielded the Flying Thunder God.
And yet… reality stood before them. Tobirama had been captured.
Madara's eyes narrowed sharply. Then, a proud smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "So that's what you were doing, Izuna. Well done. With this, the battle is ours."
"Izuna! Let Tobirama go, and we can talk about anything!"
Hashirama, ever the brother-devoted elder, immediately shouted out.
But before anyone else could move, Senju Yūken vanished from sight. In the next heartbeat, he appeared above Izuna and Tobirama, blade angled to strike down at Izuna's skull.
His Body Flicker was so fast it could rival even the legendary Shunshin Shisui of the future.
But this era had no shortage of monsters.
In the same instant, Uchiha Takeya disappeared from Madara's side, reappearing in the air beside Yūken. His kunai gleamed with wind-natured chakra as he hurled it at Yūken's descending blade.
Clang!
The kunai and sword collided, sparks scattering. The kunai was knocked away, but the sword's blade bore a fresh crack.
Both men landed hard on either side of the stone outcrop where Izuna stood with his prisoner.
Izuna's eyes hardened. Without hesitation, he drew a kunai and drove it deep into Tobirama's shoulder.
Slash!
"Ugh!"
Blood burst forth, staining Tobirama's blue armor crimson. Even he, proud and unyielding, could not suppress a cry of pain.
"Tobirama-sama!"
The Senju shinobi gasped in horror.
"Uchiha Izuna! What do you intend?!"
Yūken's eyes were bloodshot with rage, his voice shaking the air.
"This is just a warning. If you try anything reckless again, the next strike will be somewhere that ensures Senju Tobirama leaves no heirs."
Izuna smirked wickedly, tilting his head in defiance as he leveled his threat. The rush of it surged through him.
"This bastard!"
Hashirama roared, fury boiling over.
"All of you—drop your weapons!!"
The bellow shook the battlefield like a storm. It was as though Hashirama carried the very pressure of a conqueror's will. In an instant, the hundreds of shinobi fell silent—Uchiha and Senju alike.
Even Izuna found himself inwardly shaken.
As expected of the man who will become the God of Shinobi. Even now, his presence is overwhelming.
Though he had the advantage of his mysterious "skill tree," Izuna couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease. After all, this was the man who would forever hold Madara down.
"Izuna," Hashirama said, forcing down his wrath, "state your terms."
"It's simple," Izuna called out, voice carrying across the field. "The Senju will compensate the Uchiha for all economic losses from this battle, withdraw from every inch of territory west of Mount Sōun's border, and sign an agreement that, for five years, you will not wage war against the Uchiha!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the Senju side erupted in uproar.
"Uchiha Izuna, shameless cur!"
"Don't listen to him, Young Lord Hashirama!"
"If we strike together, we can free Tobirama-sama!"
The demands were outrageous—tantamount to stripping the Senju bare.
Even Tobirama, bleeding and restrained, shot Izuna a venomous glare. "You're nothing if not greedy, Uchiha Izuna."
"You, of all people—a man who resorts to ambush—dare call me greedy?" Izuna retorted, pressing the kunai against Tobirama's throat. His cold eyes dared the Senju to test him, to see whether his blade or their rescue would be faster.
"Fine! I accep—"
"Wait!" Yūken cut Hashirama off before he could finish. "Give us one night to discuss. Until then, do not harm Tobirama. If you do, the Senju will muster every last ounce of strength to drag the Uchiha down with us!"
Faced with Yūken's heavy, threatening words, Izuna did not strike in anger. Instead, he answered coolly, "Very well. One night."
He glanced at Madara.
Madara understood at once, nodded, and shouted, "All Uchiha, fall back to camp!"
And so, the great clash between Uchiha and Senju was forced to a halt—broken by Izuna's sudden appearance with Tobirama as hostage.
This moment marked the first true meeting of four destined figures of their age: Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and Senju Tobirama.