Seiji looked at Sarutobi Asuma, who was staring at him with unshakable seriousness, and sighed. Instead of answering directly, he shot back with his own question:
"Asuma-kun, what's your real confusion?"
He sat down under a boulder and motioned for Asuma to join him. Together, they looked out over the bustling village of Konoha in the distance.
"Your father is the current Hokage—personally named successor of the Second. Growing up at his side, you should be steeped in the Will of Fire. So why ask me something like this?"
Asuma slowly sat down next to him. The bright lights of Konoha stretched before his eyes, but to him they looked hollow.
"Seiji-kun… it's because I'm the Third Hokage's son that I've started doubting the Will of Fire."
He gave a bitter smile, then pointed at the Uchiha crest on Seiji's sleeve with a touch of self-mockery.
"Don't laugh, Seiji-kun. If you weren't an Uchiha, even with your grasp of the Will of Fire, I wouldn't have dared to ask you. If I'd asked anyone else, my father would know everything the next day. Then I'd either get scolded into the ground… or beaten black and blue."
Seiji chuckled. "You're honest, I'll give you that. And you're right—the Uchiha are in such an awkward position right now that even if I had your father's favor, I wouldn't risk telling him. He'd see it as me sowing discord between father and son."
Asuma nodded, embarrassed.
Seiji clapped him on the shoulder, meeting his eyes. "This has nothing to do with the Uchiha or Konoha. Asuma, I give you my word—what you say today won't leave this spot. I swear it on the honor of the Uchiha."
At that, Asuma straightened, face solemn. "Thank you, Seiji-kun."
For a clan like the Uchiha, sworn oaths of honor weren't thrown around lightly. They carried weight.
Tobirama, however, just snorted in the background.If another Uchiha had sworn it, he might trust three parts of it. But Seiji? He rated that about as trustworthy as an oath from a Senju—flexible at best."…Wait. Did I just insult myself?" Tobirama paused, realizing the trap.
"Asuma-kun," Seiji prompted, "go on."
Asuma pulled out a crumpled cigarette, lit it with practiced ease, and exhaled a long breath. His gaze drifted into the night.
"You know about Root, right?"
"That's a branch of the Anbu, under Shimura Danzō," Seiji replied with a nod.
"Yeah. I had friends—some from clans, some just civilians. Then Root picked them. And after that… they disappeared. When I asked their families, they told me they were dead. I saw the hatred in their eyes when they said it."
His voice tightened.
"They didn't want to join Root. Their dreams were to become Hokage…"
Seiji was silent, nodding slightly. That was classic Danzō—snatching up promising talents young, brainwashing them into weapons. Clan or not, it didn't matter. Even the loyal Yamanaka clan had been forced to feed Root their best and brightest.
At the name Danzō Shimura, Tobirama's expression darkened. He said nothing, but his eyes grew cold.
Asuma dragged another breath of smoke, then asked quietly:"Seiji-kun… as an Uchiha, you've heard of Wood Release, right?"
The moment of trust had cracked him wide open—he spoke with a recklessness that surprised even himself.
"Orochimaru, Danzō, and my father once tried to recreate the First Hokage's power through human experimentation. At first, it was all official. Senju clan members volunteered, even civilians stepped forward to help."
Seiji waved a hand dismissively. "Experiments aren't inherently evil, Asuma. Strengthening the village isn't against the Will of Fire. If they were volunteers, there's nothing wrong with that."
Asuma shook his head. "The project was shut down. I don't know all the details, but the rumors say the success rate was too low. Too many people died."
Seiji nodded knowingly. "Sacrifice doesn't always equal reward. Hashirama's power was irresistible—every Hokage would dream of bringing it back. Failure doesn't mean betrayal."
Asuma's sigh was heavy. "You think I don't understand that? But after the project ended, I started noticing Senju bloodline shinobi… disappearing. Where did they go? Root? Or back into the labs as test subjects? Were they really volunteers?"
His jaw clenched.
"And Root's coercion, the experiments in secret—that's only the tip of the iceberg. Tell me, Seiji-kun… does any of this fit the Will of Fire?"
Seiji narrowed his eyes, then gently patted his shoulder.
"So your real confusion is this: at the Academy, the Will of Fire was pure, bright, flawless. But because of your family, you've seen the shadows buried beneath the village. And now the two don't line up. You can't reconcile them."
Asuma nodded hard. Seiji's words cut straight into him.
If you never saw the light, you could accept the dark.But Asuma had seen the dark, and now the light itself felt false.
He wasn't a puppet—he had his own ideals. But his lineage had exposed him to contradictions others never faced, leaving him tangled in doubt and pain.
"…Give me one," Seiji said suddenly, reaching toward Asuma's cigarettes.
Wordlessly, Asuma handed one over and lit it for him. Then lit another for himself.
The Hokage's son and the Uchiha prodigy sat shoulder to shoulder atop a lonely cliff, staring down at the lights of Konoha. Both smoked in silence.
And in that silence, something like a bond quietly formed.