"It was a pleasant time, Hashirama."
Madara spoke in a serious voice, his tone carrying a sense of finality as he forced himself to make a decision he did not want to make. But he knew there was no way around it, so he kept his eyes fixed on his friend, trying to memorize his features because this might be the last time he would see Hashirama as a friend.
As for Hashirama, he did not respond. All he did was stare at his friend, his eyes carrying a question he could not bring himself to voice:
"Why? Why does everything have to end this way?"
But the words never came out, because he knew that the answer was more painful than the question itself.
"Do you think we can defeat them?"
Tajima Uchiha, Madara's father and the patriarch of their clan, spoke as he assessed the enemy's strength, calculated the possibilities, and searched for any weakness he could exploit.
"No, we can't. Hashirama is stronger than me."
Madara replied calmly, admitting it without hesitation.
"Stronger than you, my brother? How?"
Izuna asked quickly in surprise, because he knew that his older brother Madara was an unparalleled genius within their clan and stronger than many of their veteran warriors. So how could there be another child stronger than him? How could a Senju be stronger than the brother he looked up to?
When the two patriarchs realized that today's confrontation would reach a dead end, that neither of them could achieve a decisive victory, and that continuing the fight would lead to losses on both sides, they decided to stop the battle and said in unison:
"We will retreat."
The moment Madara turned to leave with his clan, he heard Hashirama's voice behind him, still carrying a hint of hope and a desperate desire to hold on to something he did not want to lose:
"Madara, wait. Don't forget, we're friends. Don't forget our goals. Don't forget what we dreamed of. Don't forget that we wanted to end all of this and stop the wars. Don't forget that."
Madara stopped in place, frozen, because Hashirama's words were like arrows piercing his back. Then he slowly turned around, and when he faced him, his eyes changed. They turned red, revealing the unique pattern of the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan. He spoke in a cold voice:
"You're a Senju, and the Senju killed my brothers. They killed my younger brother. They killed those who should be standing beside me right now. So how do you want me to forget? How do you want me to ignore the blood that has been spilled?"
Hashirama froze in place, staring at those cold features and those sharp eyes. He felt as though he were looking at another person he had never known before, not at the friend who had played with him on the riverbank, and not at the boy who had laughed with him and talked with him about their dreams.
Then he also remembered his brothers who had fallen at the hands of the Uchiha, the blood that had been spilled, and the pain that would never disappear. He stood there, unable to speak, because anything he said would be meaningless in the face of such pain.
"The next time we see each other will be on the battlefield, Hashirama."
Madara continued, and his words were like stones falling onto Hashirama's heart, deepening his shock and intensifying the turmoil of his emotions. In one moment, they had been friends, and in the next, they had become enemies.
"Look, Father. My brother awakened the Sharingan."
Izuna said happily, pointing toward his brother's eyes, proud of what he had achieved as he saw the future of the clan in him, as though he already knew that his brother would become a great leader in the future.
His father, Tajima, said proudly:
"Madara."
At the same time, the expressions of the Senju clan patriarch Butsuma and his youngest son Tobirama became serious, because they knew that the appearance of the Sharingan meant that their enemy had become stronger, that the next battle would be different, and that a new threat had appeared on the horizon.
Near the battlefield, Leon sat atop the trunk of a large tree, watching everything that was happening and observing the changes that had come to the fate of the two children, and how their relationship had transformed from friendship into enmity. Then he sighed and muttered:
"It seems your legend begins now, you two children. It will be an unforgettable legend, one that future generations will tell and build their future upon. You will be the spark that ignites the light in the darkness, and you will also be the hammer that tears everything down."
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If you are enjoying this work , My P*atreo*n is more than 70 chapters ahead.
P*atreo*n :Aaron4dicard
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