"Senju! On what ground are you arresting us?!!"
Smack!
"You Uchiha scum! How dare you!"
"Stop!"
A commanding voice echoed through the streets of Konoha.
"""Hai!"""
The green armored Shinobis, now bearing the re-etched Konoha emblem, snapped to attention with immaculate discipline.
Senju Tobirama stepped from the shadows, clad in his iconic blue armor, his chakra flaring with cold intimidation. His gaze locked onto Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Haka, Uchiha Kyosuke, and thirty other Uchiha clansmen. Three elite Jonin with three-tomoe Sharingan, ten jonin, and twenty chunin, all awakened; A force formidable enough to threaten a small nation.
They hadn't resisted arrest, but their presence stirred attention.
"Uchiha Setsuna. What are you scheming? No– Where is Fukashi? You wouldn't act this recklessly on your own."
Setsuna smirked. Tobirama's arrival meant success. If he could hold him here just a bit longer…
"Hah! I have a clear conscience. We felt the commotion tonight and came to defend Konoha. Who knew you Senju would arrest us for it? And why can't we arm ourselves? You're clearly armed too."
Tobirama didn't answer.
"I won't ask again. Where is Fukashi?"
Then the gates of the Uchiha compound opened.
Tobirama narrowed his eyes.
Uchiha elites, elders, and deputy clan head Uchiha Sosuke stepped out, armed.
Sosuke stepped forward, his Sharingan glowing ominously
"What brings you here at this hour? Why are our people apprehended?
Tobirama could sense it. Sosuke reached, Kage-level strength. Not equal to himself, but Kage-level nonetheless.
"You know the drill, Sosuke. Don't stir trouble in sensitive times."
"Are you, Senju, telling the Uchiha what to do?"
"No. This is the will of the village."
"Oh really? Where's the Hokage's order? Why haven't I, the deputy clan head, received any such command?"
"…. Uchiha Sosuske–"
"NO SENJU CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO!"
Sosuke cried out, cutting off Tobirama's words, "Except the Hokage!"
Silence fell for a moment. Sosuke scanned the crowd. Most, he recognized. Senju's old guards, Senju Borai, and Ayame, Sarutobi Sasuke and Shimura Shien, Nara Shikasuke, Akimichi Chozuro, and Yamanaka Inoten. It wasn't just Senju.
"And You," Sosuke returned his glare towards Tobirama. "You may be his brother. But You. Are certainly NOT the Hokage. SENJU Tobirama. Release our people. We'll handle them ourselves."
Uchiha and Konoha shinobi alike gripped their weapons, waiting for orders. Their anxiety palpable.
Tobirama glared at Sosuke. His patience was running thin. However, he was a man of pragmatism. Escalating conflict over a weak cause was foolish.
"… Release them. There's no need to escalate over something so trivial."
As his command echoed, Tobirama's mind raced.
'Fukashi is missing. He's behind this. I'm certain of it. But demanding answers now… would be the worst call.'
Tobirama dispersed the crowd and the Uchiha retreated into their compound.
***
Senju Tobirama felt restless.
His brother went out for too long.
Madara had arrived late and from a different direction. This clearly wasn't one of his "regular visits."
'Truly a cursed clan… causing trouble even after achieving his dream. Does he want to destroy everything he built?'
Tobirama didn't like Madara. He hated to admit it, but Madara was a genius. Some of his ideas weren't wrong.
But something was always missing.
'He doesn't understand people. Doesn't read the room. Doesn't consider others' voices.'
Tobirama agreed: clan wars and village wars were fundamentally different. The scale of conflicts, the politics between clans, and also direct relation to the Daimyo.
He remembered a meeting, with Hashirama, Madara, Sarutobi Sasuke, Shimura Shien, Hyuga Shogo, and few other clan heads.
Madara had proposed training their own ministers to manage civilians. Slowly replace the Daimyo's authority.
Everyone rejected it.
But Tobirama found it brilliant.
'With the village's power, we could vassalize the Daimyo. And let's be honest, when brother's around, the Daimyo acts more like a vassal than a lord.'
But the idea was still too radical. Too disruptive. Usurping centuries of tradition would spark a major civil distress.
'Madara sees the future. But he's too extreme, Typical of Uchiha. A toned-down version… maybe not bad. But this would require unanimous support from the clans and the village.'
Tobirama shook his head, to dispel his thoughts.
'Ugh… Just thinking about him gives me a headache. All this trouble started with his defection!'
Speaking of Madara, Tobirama considered using his sensory abilities to check on Hashirama... but he knew better.
The chakra pressure between those two was overwhelming. A normal sensor could lose their mind. Even Tobirama had needed deep meditation to recover the last time he tried.
Instead, he focused on the Hiraishin mark he'd placed on Hashirama's shoulder plate.
It was still active.
As long as it shifted in space-time, he could confirm that Hashirama was alive.
And as long as Hashirama lived, he could recover.
Tobirama returned to paperwork, thinking about ways to improve the village.
Then–
The Hiraishin mark vanished.
Tobirama's heart dropped.
He immediately Hiraishinned to the nearest coordinate from his brother's last known location.
He arrived in a wasteland.
Cratered earth. Scorched stone. Streams cutting through debris.
It looked like four or five natural disasters had struck simultaneously.
The blast radius stretched across a county.
***
When Tobirama arrived on the scene, he was stunned.
He had never seen his brother in such a weakened state.
A silent testament to Uchiha Madara's might.
Then hew saw them; Uchiha Fukashi, cradling Madra's lifeless body, and a child beside him.
Tobirama narrowed his eyes.
But first–
"Anija! Are you alright?!"
Tobirama rushed to Hashirama, snapping him out of his daze.
"Ah! Tobirama! How did you get here?"
"That's not important. Are you alright? No – never mind. That was a stupid question."
Tobirama knew about Hashirama's regenerative ability better than anyone. Nonetheless, Although his voice was cold, but his concern was real.
Hashirama slumped, entering his familiar spiral of guilt and melancholy.
"You were so much better when you were younger."
"I was always like this."
Dust seemed to fall from Hashirama's body, carried by a wind that didn't exist.
"Anyway, why are they here? No– I'll ask them myself."
"wait..."
"Uchiha Fukashi. So this was your plan all along. You know your crimes. Disturbing peace of Konoha by instigating unrest. And breaking your hous–"
"…"
The child next to Fukashi stepped forward, smiling – but his eyes were not smiling.
"I am sorry, whoever you are. Can you give him a moment of peace?"
Before Tobirama could respond, Hashirama placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Anija, Stay out of this. This concerns-"
"Tobirama, let's end it here. Madara is dead… I killed him. Let's not…."
"..."
Tobirama's gaze lingered on Fukashi and Shinichi, then shifted to Madra's motionless body.
"Haah~~~" Tobirama sighed.
"Okay. But… Anija… Madara is the first rogue ninja of Konoha. The first rogue of any hidden village. If we let the Uchiha take him back and honor him as a clan head, the system we built will fracture.
Other clans will think they can produce rogue shinobi, use them for their own gain, and honor them in death if they benefit the clan. Maybe not now – but in two or three generations, the story will be rewritten. The rogue will become a hero."
Taking a glance at Fukashi and Shinichi, Tobirama hushed his voice.
"The best method is for the village to take the body, let the news settle, and return it quietly later. Or better yet.. never return it."
Hashirama was silent.
Then he nodded.
"I told Madara I would face even my brother, my friends, and my own descendants to protect the village. If this is what it takes… then do it."
Hashirama's eyes held a new kind of resolve. Ruthless and Unyielding.
Tobirama was shaken.
'Anija… you've changed!'
"Also, bring Mito here."
"One-san? Here?"
"Yes, I need her help. I need to ask her something."
Tobirama took a warry glance towards Fukashi, but he eventually gave in.
"…Alright."
He then vanished in a flash of Hiraishin.
---
Watching his brother depart, Hashirama turned towards Fukashi and Shinichi.
He watched as Fukashi remove the sword from Madara's body.
Hashirama let out a deep sigh, mixed with... regret? relief? Sorrow?
He wasn't sure anymore. But he knew that he must face this pair of father and son.
Hashirama approached Fukashi and Shinichi.
Fukashi was trying to seal Madara's chest wound with clumsy medical ninjutsu.
Hashirama knelt beside him and gently helped, restoring the wound to its original state.
"I'm sorry… for you both. But Konoha must take Madara for now."
"..."
Fukashi looked up, his eyes hollow.
"Is this the village you envisioned? One that demands understanding but refuses to understand others?
I know Konoha tried to follow your dream. But why couldn't you listen to Sensei? Just once?"
His voice cracked. He knew his words were nothing more than sophistry. But he needed somewhere to vent his frustration and anger.
"I know what you all think of us. A 'cursed clan.' That our dojutsu feeds on hatred. That we're prone to evil."
Hashirama stepped back, frowning.
He knows Fukashi was venting. But those last words… they cut deep. These were words that Tobirama often used to describe Uchiha.
"WE ARE NOT EVIL OR CURSED!"
Fukashi's Mangekyo flared. Dark yellow chakra surged around him, swirling, crystalizing, and connecting–
Just as Fukashi was about to charge with his own Susanoo, he saw Shinichi. And his Three-tomoe Sharingan calmly watching him, filled with curiosity and concern.
Fukashi froze.
His pupil dilated.
His rage cooled like ice water.
He gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes.
The yellow chakra construct dispersed, as he approached Shinichi and embraced him, lifting him into his arms.
He had been ready to fight Hashirama to the death, while knowing its futility.
But Shinichi reminded him of Minami. Of Kaito. Of the clan. Of the promise he made with his Sensei.
Madara had entrusted him with Izuna's will; protect the Uchiha.
He couldn't protect his family or clan, if he's dead.
"I will prove it. As Sensei's disciple, I will prove it to you. To the village. To the world.
That we are not what you claim us to be."
Fukashi turned, his back now facing Hashirama.
"Go. Build your village. With Sensei gone, we Uchiha are nothing more than your vassals.
Show me what a great village you can make."
Fukashi swallowed his grief and took his step.
But before he departed, he took Madara's Gunbai and war sickle.
He knew the body would never be returned.
Hashirama and Tobirama would see to that.
---
Hashirama reached his hand out, but it slowly fell. The words of comfort? apology? reprimand? or Command them?
He couldn't find the right word to hold them back. He wanted to talk, but he couldn't.
Hashirama silently watched them go.
Guilt and sorrow weighed on him.
He turned to Madara's corpse.
A single tear escaped his eye.
Unseen by anyone.