Tobirama was hit where it hurt by Orochimaru's words and immediately lost his temper. He grabbed Orochimaru by the throat: "Orochimaru, do you really think I don't dare to kill you?"
Hashirama grabbed Tobirama's shoulder: "Tobirama, let go!"
Tobirama released his grip and huffed at Orochimaru: "So what if I'm afraid? Who else can defeat Madara as he is now?"
"Big brother, both you and I were deceived by Madara back then! He used the battle against you to fake his death and escape, causing us to let our guard down."
"He hid underground all by himself to grow stronger. How utterly despicable!"
"..."
Hashirama fell silent for a moment. He hadn't expected that an honest-looking fellow like Madara would also resort to schemes.
After Hashirama killed Madara with his own hands, he had been plunged into immense guilt because he knew Madara's weakness.
His weakness was his back; Madara couldn't defend against a sneak attack from behind.
Hashirama had exploited this weakness to attack Madara from behind.
Hashirama felt guilty, but it was only guilt. For the sake of the Village, he was willing to sacrifice anyone.
Perhaps, just as Madara had said, this was a form of darkness—a darkness that belonged to the collective.
Because of that immense guilt, on the day Hashirama died, the name he uttered before closing his eyes was Madara's.
However, Hashirama always had a feeling that Madara wasn't dead. It was like a telepathy between the best of brothers.
From the moment he first met Madara, Hashirama had felt this sense of connection, as if they were entangled in disputes from a past life.
Hashirama shook his head to clear away the stray thoughts and then asked the Slug Sage: "Slug Sage, are Little Ryou and Tsunade truly in love?"
The Slug Sage said: "Lady Tsunade has feelings for Ryou, but unfortunately, he is an Uchiha, the rival of the Senju Clan, so—"
The Slug Sage did not continue.
Hashirama and Tobirama understood. Setting aside their backgrounds, Tsunade and Ryou could be a couple, but Ryou's status as an Uchiha made it impossible for the Senju Clan.
The Senju Clan could never tolerate the blood of the evil Uchiha.
Tobirama gave a cold snort. He could imagine that the Senju Clan would absolutely refuse to let Tsunade and Ryou be together.
This wasn't just Tobirama's policy; it was a long-standing belief of the Senju Clan.
They had been fighting the Uchiha Clan since the Ninshu era. If Hashirama hadn't been soft-hearted back then, the Uchiha Clan would have been wiped out by them long ago.
Hashirama didn't look as grim as Tobirama; on the contrary, he was quite happy: "This is a good thing!"
"I once wanted to form a marriage alliance with Madara, but neither Madara nor Izuna had any descendants. By the way, I remember Ryou's parents were from Madara's father's branch, right?"
Tobirama nodded, recalling: "Yes, Ryou's grandfather was Uchiha Tajima's cousin."
"Since Madara's direct line ended, according to protocol, Ryou inherited Madara's branch. He is effectively the grandson of Madara and Izuna."
"Hmph, no wonder he would defect. He's naturally an evil Uchiha brat, with the same evil blood as Madara flowing through him."
Tobirama once again blamed Ryou's defection on his inheritance of Madara's evil bloodline.
Hashirama felt even better after hearing this: "Good, that's great! If Tsunade and Ryou marry, it will fulfill a wish of mine and Madara's."
"It would be even better if they had a child. Their child will inherit both the Uchiha and Senju bloodlines, resolving the thousand-year-old feud between our two families."
The source of conflict in the Shinobi World was the clash between the philosophies of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan.
One represented the unity of the Senju Clan, and the other represented the military might of the Uchiha Clan.
To unite everyone to achieve peace, or to suppress war with absolute force.
One believed in the human heart, while the other negated it.
One was too altruistic, the other too extreme.
Just like Hashirama and Madara, one was on the left and the other on the right.
Being too far left didn't work, and being too far right didn't work either; one could only walk the middle path.
That was the fusion that Hashirama believed in.
Hashirama had long held the idea that as long as he and Madara reconciled, the conflicts in the Shinobi World could end.
Hashirama hoped Ryou and Tsunade would have a child, as it would reignite Madara's hope for this world.
Tobirama snorted: "Tsunade's actions are no longer those of a Konoha Shinobi with a firm Will of Fire. She has defected from the Village."
"How can the bloodline of the Senju Princess be defiled by the blood of the Uchiha's Sinful Clan?"
(ﾒﾟ皿 ﾟ)ﾒ.
Hashirama was angry, truly furious. He rolled up his sleeves: "Tobirama, how long has it been since I last gave you a beating?"
"Big brother..."
Tobirama recoiled. His big brother was truly enraged, and an angry Hashirama was terrifying!
Orochimaru added fuel to the fire from the side: "First Hokage, after your death, the Second Hokage established a top-secret special forces unit directly under the Kage."
"It's called the Anbu. the Second Hokage decreed that members of the Uchiha Clan are not permitted to join the Anbu."
"This decision sent a signal to all the major Shinobi Clans—a signal that the Senju Clan did not trust the Uchiha. Therefore, in the current Konoha, the Uchiha are ostracized by the other Shinobi Clans."
"Orochimaru, you—"
Tobirama glared at Orochimaru. This brat was intentionally making him look bad.
Sure enough, as soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, the surrounding air seemed to tremble. This aura wasn't as visually intense as the Slug Sage's previous rage that moved mountains and seas.
But it was not to be underestimated!
In the next second, Tobirama threw out a Flying Thunder God Kunai, preparing to flee.
But with a single hand seal from Hashirama, wooden vines bound Tobirama's legs and hoisted him up.
"Tobirama, it seems that as you elder brother, I need to teach you a lesson today!"
(☍﹏⁰.). Big brother..."
...
"That felt good!"
Ryou tossed Katsuyu to the side. Candy stood far away, looking at Ryou as if he were a demon.
Ryou lay down, leaning against Satori's head, admiring the beautiful scenery of the Shinobi World.
Slugs have teeth; they are among the animals with the most teeth in the world.
However, a slug's teeth are not very sharp; it mainly eats by rasping.
It couldn't hurt Ryou.
Ryou was now thinking about how to trick Tsunade into giving him the Senju Clan's summoning scroll so he could sign his name on it.
In the future, if he felt lonely on his travels, he could just summon Katsuyu.
Little Katsuyu lay to the side, looking half-dead.
A demon, a demon of the Uchiha!
However, Little Katsuyu's body was growing larger, and its chakra was steadily rising.
From a scientific perspective, semen is not a scarce resource, let alone some sort of life essence.
Its main components are water, protein, fructose, and trace elements.
The nutritional content is extremely low, far less than that of an egg.
But that was only for ordinary people. The current Ryou was close to being a sage or a buddha, possessing the power of both Hashirama and Madara within him.
Everything on his body was a treasure, and for Katsuyu, it was highly nourishing!
But Little Katsuyu did not feel happy about this. It rolled over and spat an Acidic Slime Attack at Ryou.