Chapter 269: Conversation Between Brothers
In the Hokage Building, the First Hokage rested his head on one hand, while the other absentmindedly stroked the head of a small yellow dog with glossy fur lying on his lap.
Da Huang squinted comfortably, his tail occasionally wagging lazily.
Hashirama's gaze was somewhat vacant, staring blankly out the window at Hidden Leaf Village's orderly yet faintly excited streetscape, his thoughts having long since drifted away.
Had he... truly been wrong before?
This thought, like a creeping vine, entwined itself in his heart and would not leave.
A few days ago, after the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze was "resurrected," Naruto had held a deep conversation with them.
The content of that talk went far beyond ordinary tactical discussions or situation reports.
Naruto spoke of his insights into the current state of the Ninja World, his sharp critique of the hypocrisy of past "peace," and the blueprint in his heart that was so massive it was startling.
With Hidden Leaf Village as the core, using absolute power to clear obstacles, fundamentally ending the division and warfare of the Ninja World, and establishing an unprecedented, unified Ninja order.
At the time, Hashirama had almost instinctively and without hesitation expressed his opposition.
He had lived through the bloodiest Family killings of the Sengoku era and had personally ended that era, co-founding Hidden Leaf Village with Uchiha Madara.
He firmly believed that peace stems from understanding and coexistence; conquest by force would only bring deeper hatred and more violent backlash.
What he had pursued his entire life was the connection of "hearts" between people and between villages.
What made him even more uneasy was that some of Naruto's words—especially the determination and method of breaking the old order and establishing a new world with absolute power—reminded him involuntarily of someone else.
Uchiha Madara.
His dearest friend, and also his ultimate opponent.
In the early days of Hidden Leaf Village's establishment, once internal stability was gradually achieved, Madara had more than once proposed actively expanding outward, unifying the surrounding small nations by force, and even challenging other major nations.
In Madara's view, since the Land of Fire could gain peace and strength through internal integration, then expanding this model to the entire Ninja World—using Hidden Leaf Village's power, or rather the power of the two of them, to forcibly weld all Ninja forces together—was the fundamental way to end the chaotic era.
At that time, Hashirama had just as resolutely rejected Madara's proposal.
He believed it would drag Hidden Leaf Village into an endless abyss of war, turning the ideal land they had built into a new aggressor, no different in essence from the old Family tyrannies they had overthrown.
He hoped to slowly build trust through Alliances, trade, and exchange, ultimately achieving true peaceful coexistence.
Furthermore, he distributed the Tailed Beasts so that several nations would have the means to deter others, intending to make it harder for future generations to start wars.
That disagreement was a serious crack in their ideological paths and laid the groundwork for their later fallout.
Now, history was repeating itself.
Naruto, this young man whom he greatly admired and even viewed as a grandson, proposed a plan strikingly similar to Madara's vision from back then, yet even more radical and beyond question.
And this time, the one who stood up to express clear support was actually his own younger brother, Senju Tobirama.
Hashirama clearly remembered the light flickering in Tobirama's sharp red eyes when Naruto explained the plan.
It wasn't blind fanaticism, but an endorsement based on cold calculation and realistic judgment.
Tobirama believed that while Naruto's proposal was extreme, it was the most effective way to break the current deadlock in the Ninja World and secure Hidden Leaf Village's maximum interests and long-term safety.
This sense of "misalignment" plunged Hashirama into deeper confusion and self-doubt.
Could it be that he was truly too idealistic, too naive?
Was the path of "understanding and coexistence" he insisted upon really just a wishful dream?
"Are you thinking about us starting a war again? Big brother."
A cool voice interrupted Hashirama's thoughts.
Senju Tobirama, carrying a stack of documents half a person tall, walked to a newly added, slightly smaller desk on one side of the Hokage Office and sat down. He asked without looking up as he organized the papers.
His efficiency was extremely high; he had already begun fulfilling the "Logistics Supervisor" duties assigned by Naruto.
"Mm..."
Hashirama gave a muffled response, and his hand stroking the dog stopped.
Da Huang shook his head, opened his dark eyes to look left and right, and then continued to lower his head to rest.
"I always feel... that isn't peace.
Crushing others with Tailed Beasts and military force, forcing them to submit—even if there is no war for a while, what's buried underneath are the seeds of resentment.
It's... different from our original intention when we ended the Sengoku era and established Hidden Leaf Village."
Tobirama put down a scroll, looked up at his brother who was forever as simple as a big kid, and shook his head slightly.
"Do you remember the sentence that Naruto kid emphasized repeatedly during the meeting and when he talked with us privately?"
Tobirama's tone was calm, yet it carried a coldness that dissected facts.
"Seek peace through compromise, and peace will perish. Seek peace through struggle, and peace will survive."
He looked at Hashirama's thoughtful expression and continued: "Big brother, look back at the history of Hidden Leaf Village, look back at the history of the Ninja World.
Was our Alliance with the Uchiha not originally a form of compromise and union after'struggle'?
Without the strength you possessed after defeating Uchiha Madara, which was enough to overturn the Uchiha, would there have been any possibility for our two clans to sit down and talk?
The end of the Sengoku era was essentially a new balance formed under external pressure and the push of insightful people within, only after several powerful clans realized through long-term killing that no one could completely eliminate the others."
"And later," Tobirama paused, "what did our Land of Fire rely on to achieve relatively long-lasting internal peace, no longer suffering from Family divisions and constant civil war like the Sengoku era?
It was precisely integration.
Integrating Ninja families and forces, large and small, under the larger framework of the 'Land of Fire' and 'Konoha Village,' establishing unified rules, laws, and a community of interests.
Although internal conflicts still exist, the shared identity of 'Land of Fire Ninja' has greatly eliminated the absolute opposition between families."
His voice became low and powerful: "Then, why can't this system, which has been proven effective, be scaled up to the entire Ninja World?"
Hashirama's eyes widened slightly.
"Unite the Ninjas of the entire Ninja World, break down the barriers of national borders, and fundamentally eliminate the most basic positional differences based on geography and nation, such as 'Land of Fire Ninja' versus 'Land of Wind Ninja'."
Tobirama explained the core logic of Naruto's blueprint, which was also the part he identified with in his heart.
"When everyone becomes a 'Konoha Ninja,' sharing common rules, common goals, and common interest connections, large-scale inter-state Ninja wars will lose their soil."
"According to what Naruto said, teach them a unified ideology.
After a few decades, even if Naruto grows old...
By then, even if disputes arise again, they will be internal conflicts.
They will be disputes over rules, interests, and ideals within the 'Konoha Ninja' ranks, which can be resolved through internal arbitration, negotiation, or even limited internal conflict, rather than life-and-death wars of national annihilation between countries."
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