Hashirama silently watched as listless figures of Fukashi and Shinichi depart.
Guilt and sorrow weighed on him.
He turned to Madara's corpse.
A single tear escaped his eye.
Unseen by anyone.
---
Not long after, Tobirama arrived in a flash accompanied by a red-haired woman with twin buns.
Uzumaki Mito.
Senju Hashirama's wife. A grandmaster of Uzumaki sealing arts and a formidable kunoichi in her own right.
"Anija!"
"Hashirama."
"Tobirama, Mito ...."
"What do you need my help with?" Mito asked, her voice tinged with excitement. "If there's something you need me for, please~ tell me!"
She had always felt overshadowed by her husband's legendary power. To be needed by him, now stirred some excitement in her.
"Hmm… How should I describe this…"
Hashirama crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back and forth in deep contemplation.
""??""
Tobirama and Mito exchanged confused glances.
'You summoned us here… and you don't know what for? Are you playing with us?!'
"Just follow me first. I will show you something."
Hashirama led them toward the battlefield.
Just as Hashirama and Mito departed, Tobirama paused, glancing at Madara's body.
After a moment of thought, he decided to take it back to Konoha first, then returned via Hiraishin.
He couldn't afford to leave such valuable resource out in the open and risk someone stealing it.
By the time he joined Hashirama and Mito, he saw it too.
A giant orange Nine Tailed Fox.
Subdued.
Sleeping
Imprisoned in the wooden hands of a titanic Buddha and Mokujin.
They were awestruck.
'Tailed Beasts… are they really this docile?'
'Is this the Nine-Tails I read about in the archives?'
"The Tailed Beasts alone are quite harmless." Hashirama said calmly.
""?????!!!!!!""
Tobirama and Mito's eyes widened. They looked at each other, silently asking:
'did you hear that too?' 'It's not just me, right?'
"But if they're controlled by a shinobi… they become dangerous."
"What are you trying to do? Anija, don't think of anything stupid!"
"I'm planning capture all nine tailed beasts."
""???!!!!!!!""
"Anija!"
"And then I'll distribute them to other countries."
""????!!!!!""
Disaster after disaster fell on their common sense.
"Anija, I can't agree to this! What are you thinking?! Do you even realize what you're saying?"
"Yes Hashirama," Mito added. "This doesn't sound like a sound plan."
"I've thought this through," Hashirama replied. "After my battle with Madara, it's likely that other nations will seek out the tailed beasts. Sooner or later, conflict will rise. But I can capture them before hand... Mokuton can subdue them with ease."
Hashirama glanced at the slumbering Nine-Tails, before he turned toward his brother and wife.
"But Konoha can't keep them all." He continued with solemnity. "Mokuton doesn't reappear until the user dies, or long after. If Konoha holds all of them, after my death, Konoha won't be able to control them. Therefore, It is better to share the burden. And at the same time, win favor and show our sincerity to establish peace."
""...""
Tobirama and Mito exchanged glances. They were used to Hashirama's 'common sense' and his... 'extreme' ideals.
They let out a sigh and started to contemplate Hashirama's ideas.
Tobirama was first to speak.
"Brother…. Can we reconsider? We're practically handing over a weapon that can be used against us! You nearly died because Madara controlled Nine Tails!"
Hashirama shook his head.
"Even if we don't capture them, the other nations will. My Mokuton can efficiently neutralize them. But, I can't command them. Only the Uchiha's Sharingan can control them. Unless other nations convince the beasts to cooperate, they'll struggle. Or it will take a lot of effort and resource for them to find a method."
"Is it Mangekyo Sharingan that controls them?"
"... Most likely. But that's not the point."
He turned to Mito.
"Mito, I need your help. Can you seal the tailed beasts into container or tools?"
Mito closed her eyes, thinking.
"There's an idea… but I'm hesitant."
Mito crossed her arms over her chest and massaged her temple as she searched answers through her knowledge.
"...Given their immense chakra volume, it's nearly impossible to seal them into ordinary tools. Unless we use the Treasured Tools of Sage of Six Paths. But... we don't possess any."
"Then… there's no way?"
Mito bit her lip.
"There is an alternative…."
"OH! What is it?"
"?"
Senju Brothers leaned in.
"Use human with strong vitality and large charka pools. Make them vessels."
"…. Then we forget this idea," Hashirama said immediately. "That's no different from human sacrifice rituals of old."
Hashirama, shook his head in disappointment. However, Tobirama was deep in thought.
"Anija… this might not be a bad idea. If we train these shinobi to control the beasts within…"
"Tobirama! Do you hear yourself?"
"There is a merit to his argument," Mito said quietly.
Hashirama's eyes widened.
"If the problem is the sacrifice… then I'll do it!"
"??!!!!"
Tobirama nodded while Hashirama turned to his wife in shock.
"Mito… this isn't a decision to make in haste. Let's go back and think this through."
"No. There's no need."
Uzumaki Mito's voice was resolute. Her adamantine chains erupted from her body, encircling the Nine-Tails in a lattice of golden chakra.
The Sudden shift woke the beast.
KUUUAAAAAA!!!!!!! YOU HUMAN SCUMMSSSS!!!!!!!!!
But with Mokuton and adamantine chains binding it, the Nine-Tails could not resist.
"Our Uzumaki clan branched from Senju when our ancestor, Uzumaki Kagura experimented certain sealing techniques and mutated his Kekkei genkai. Our physiology is perfect for restraining tailed beasts. It should be second only to Mokuton and Sharingan, if not equal to them."
Mito continued to suppress Nine-Trails with her Adamantine chains. Hashirama hurriedly gathered his slightly recovered chakra to assist, controlling the Wooden Buddha and mokujin.
"I always wondered how I could contributed to you, to Senju, to Konoha. Now I know. I will become the first human sacrifice – the first Jinchuriki! 人柱力(literally means human sacrifice power)."
With unwavering resolve, Mito channeled her chakra into the seal.
"Nine Tails, if you recover and use your power, only destruction and hatred will follow. Stay tranquil, deep inside me."
Fuinjutsu: Hakke no Fūin Shiki 封印術・八卦の封印式(Sealing Technique: Eight Trigrams Seal)
The Nine-Tails roared once more, but its body was pulled into the vortex seal on Mito's belly.
I will remember thi-
It didn't even get to finish its last words.
It was gone.
Tobirama and Hashirama blinked rapidly.
It looked like Mito had… eaten the Nine-Tails?
They knew it was a seal. But still.
"Mito…. Are you alright?"
"Yes. The Nine-Tails exhausted a lot of its chakra so it was not a big deal."
"Will it be okay even after it recovers?"
"There shouldn't be any issues. The hardest part is subduing the beast. Theoretically, once sealed, it's powerless... Unless the vessel is weakened... If I get sick, old, near death, or pregnant, the seal might falter."
"Can only Uzumaki become Jinchuriki?" Tobirama asked.
"No. Any ninja can. But how long they can endure depends on the seal's quality and the vessel's durability. We Uzumaki are ideal because our chakra naturally suppresses others' chakra, thanks to our mutated Senju Kekkei Genkai."
"Our adamantine chains are a manifestation of that mutation. If the beast inside me ever rampages, I can enter the inner world and subdue it."
"Then… will Kenichi and Kenji inherit this Kekkei Genkai?" Hashirama asked, hopeful.
Mukuton cannot be inherited. Hashirama wished that at least something was passed down between him and Mito to their sons. However–
Mito shook her head.
"No. When Uzumaki and Senju bloodlines mix, the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai reverts to its origin – Senju. There's never been a case of red hair or our sealing mutation appearing in offspring from such unions."
"Then why does Uzumaki continue to– Never mind. That was dumb question."
Tobirama stopped himself. Logically, it made no sense for the Uzumaki to continue a marriage alliance that neutralized their bloodline.
But the alliance was symbolic. A reminder of shared origin. A bond beyond politics.
They were family.
***
While the Senju brothers and Mito cleaned up the battlefield and sealed the Nine-Tails, back in Konoha…
Deep within a cave near the village, hidden from all but Tobirama, lay a secret chamber.
One of his unofficial research bases.
Here, he had studied the physiology and techniques of Konoha's enemies – mostly Uchiha.
Here, he had created Edo Tensei, the Mutually Explosive Tags, and a half-complete spirit transformation technique.
And here, he had laid the body of Uchiha Madara.
In a specially crafted stone coffin.
Not long after Tobirama sealed the lid and Hiraishinned back to his brother –
Madara's body twitched.
His right eye opened.
Its Iris was dull, lifeless.
The Izanagi he had implanted finally triggered – rewriting his death.
Madara performed a quick seal, creating a corpse substitute.
Then he used Hiding in the Surface Technique to phase through the ground and exit the secret chamber. While at it, he did not forget to take Tobirama's research results.
Tobirama's techniques and kinjutsus' effectiveness are something that even he acknowledged.
'I was worried that Fukashi's Mangekyo dojutsu might interfere with Izanagi… but thankfully, it didn't.'
***
Madara returned to the Land of Iron's mountain graveyard.
He entered his experimental chamber.
And regurgitated a piece of flesh.
Hashirama's flesh.
Swallowed during their final clash.
'With this… I have reached the True Dream, Hashirama.'
He saved half of the cells.
The other half – he cultivated.
He mixed them with his own.
The Yin of Uchiha.
The Yang of Senju
Finally United.
He was about to become the savior of this corrupted world.
"UWHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"