A thousand years ago, after the Six Paths Sage and his brother sealed Kaguya, the Six Paths Sage traveled the continent alone. To expound his understanding of Chakra, he founded the Shinobi Sect, whose tenets were to face the present, mutual understanding, and love, in order to maintain order and peace.
Before the Six Paths Sage passed away, he appointed his younger son, Ashura, as the successor to the Shinobi Sect. This act of bypassing the elder in favor of the younger caused dissatisfaction in his eldest son, Indra. After the Six Paths Sage died, Indra and Ashura ignited a battle to vie for the succession of the Shinobi Sect, a battle that has not ceased even after their deaths.
According to legends circulating on the continent, the Shinobi Sect had already fallen apart several hundred years ago. Due to war, people no longer knew the specific teachings of the Shinobi Sect, and only some secret texts mentioned that Ninjutsu originated from the Shinobi Sect's secret texts; therefore, Ninja considered themselves the successors of the Shinobi Sect.
Fūmori Masaki, however, knew that the teachings of the Shinobi Sect had never promoted Ninjutsu for combat. The Ninjutsu that Ninja now used to kill must have originated from Indra, who was the first person to create Ninjutsu applicable to war.
Fūmori Masaki was not very clear about the outcome of the personal battle between Indra and Ashura; regardless, they were still fighting each other even after their deaths. But if viewed from the perspective of the Shinobi Sect, Indra had truly won too thoroughly. Indra destroyed everything of the Shinobi Sect, to the point where even his father's teachings were no longer known to the world; even more ironically, everything Indra created was instead regarded as the continuation of the Shinobi Sect.
It was not just the Shinobi Sect; even the descendants of Ashura and Indra had fallen to the point of being driven by nobles. Given their status, they were equivalent to the children of gods. A thousand years ago, the Shinobi Sect founded by the Six Paths Sage was a place revered by the entire continent; even the rulers of nations regarded it as the state religion. Yet, a thousand years later, the Shinobi Sect no longer existed, and the descendants of the two who were children of gods had become like this, which made one sigh with emotion.
Fūmori Masaki learned from Hashirama that the place where the Shinobi Sect's teachings continued today was the Temple of Fire in the capital, which claimed to have inherited the philosophy promoted by the Shinobi Sect. However, in Fūmori Masaki's view, this was likely using the name of the Shinobi Sect in vain. After all, they proclaimed that the Six Paths Sage was a monk, and Fūmori Masaki, who knew the past of the Six Paths Sage, naturally scoffed at this.
But they were not entirely fake either. After the Shinobi Sect was destroyed in war, some of the remaining texts were inherited by the Temple of Fire or temples in other countries. Some of the contents preserved within were indeed true secret texts of the Shinobi Sect, and they also contained some unique Ninjutsu, such as a Secret Technique called Talent of the Sage Clan.
"Come to think of it, my True Wood Thousand Hands was partly inspired by this Secret Technique," Hashirama said with a smile. "At that time, when I first went to the capital to have an audience with the Daimyo, I had an exchange with the head monk of the Temple of Fire. I saw him use this Secret Technique at that time, but I only imitated its form."
Fūmori Masaki also knew of this Secret Technique called Talent of the Sage Clan; its form was indeed similar to the True Wood Thousand Hands, but the power of the two was worlds apart. Hashirama's power was not something a monk of the Temple of Fire could compare to, but what aroused Fūmori Masaki's interest was the word "Sage Clan" in this technique.
The word "Sage" could not be used casually; Ninja were very particular about the names of Secret Techniques, and the Shinobi Sect should have been the same. Fūmori Masaki vaguely felt that perhaps there really were clues about the Six Paths Sage's Sage Arts in the Temple of Fire, but there were some unexplainable problems here.
If there really were secret texts of Sage Arts, why hadn't a single monk from the Temple of Fire appeared who had learned it? There were three possibilities: first, such secret texts did not exist; second, these secret texts were too difficult, and no one could learn them; third, the secret texts did indeed exist, but because they were very obscure, no one had discovered them.
Regardless of which possibility it was, Fūmori Masaki felt he should take a trip to the Temple of Fire, but it was not possible now. Without a mission, one was generally not allowed to leave the Village privately. This was originally a rule that everyone tacitly understood, but after the Uchiha Madara incident, Tobirama explicitly ordered that anyone who left the Village privately would be treated as a missing-nin.
Fūmori Masaki did not want to take the risk of sneaking off to the Temple of Fire.
As a disciple of the Hokage, he would definitely have the opportunity to go to the capital openly in the future; there was no need to be in a rush to go now. Moreover, there were still some troublesome matters now.
Fūmori Masaki discussed the matter of Sage Arts with Hashirama. After broadening their horizons, the two of them hypothesized various methods for using Sage Arts together, but they were all abandoned due to reasons such as being unfeasible or too slow. Some methods that were considered feasible were noted down by Fūmori Masaki, ready to be tried upon returning.
Little Tsunade saw her grandfather busy talking to a strange man and forgetting to play with her, so she immediately threw a tantrum in anger. Although she looked small, she had quite a lot of strength, and Hashirama, whose body was no longer healthy, could barely hold her down.
"What a troublesome child." Hashirama consoled the angry Tsunade. He seemed helpless, but his eyes were full of doting affection for his granddaughter.
"I hope she won't be this restless when she grows up." Fūmori Masaki said.
"Of course, when children grow up, they will always become a bit more mature." Hashirama laughed heartily.
Hashirama still wanted to continue the discussion with Fūmori Masaki; he was now anxious to teach everything away, as after his death, the Village would have to be protected by these young people. However, he had only said a few words when Tsunade in his arms began to fidget and throw a tantrum again, forcing Hashirama to console her.
Just a moment ago, Hashirama had confidently said that Tsunade might settle down in the future, but looking at her now, he muttered to himself: "Really?"
Seeing this, Fūmori Masaki said: "Lord Hashirama, it seems she is not willing, so I will head back first; I have some things to deal with at home as well."
"Ah, it's about Satomi, right?" Hashirama said, "Masaki, you must apologize to her properly. Satomi is not the kind of girl who only listens and doesn't speak."
"I understand." Fūmori Masaki said.
After saying goodbye to Hashirama, Fūmori Masaki walked towards his home, thinking about how to talk to Satomi. He had inadvertently denied Satomi's resolve, and he admitted this was his own fault. Although he still did not want to let Satomi step onto the battlefield, Fūmori Masaki decided not to refuse Satomi anymore; since Satomi was a Ninja, bearing responsibility was the right thing to do.
Just as he stepped into the house, Fūmori Masaki felt that Satomi was in the room. He stepped forward and pushed the door open. Satomi turned her head, and after seeing Fūmori Masaki, she said rather coldly: "You're back?"
Fūmori Masaki nodded, gently closed the door, and then sat down beside Satomi. Seeing that Satomi had no intention of driving him away, he breathed a slight sigh of relief; it looked like she was just sulking.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong." Fūmori Masaki apologized first before Satomi could speak, his expression sincere, "I shouldn't have forgotten that you, Satomi, are also a Ninja. Like me, you are willing to fight to protect Konoha. I shouldn't have insulted this resolve of yours."
Satomi had originally wanted to coldly ask him about the previous matter, but Fūmori Masaki had directly expressed his apologies to her, which left her with nowhere to vent her anger. She shrank her body a little and muttered: "As long as you know..."
"Satomi, I can understand that you want to fight for Konoha." Fūmori Masaki looked at Satomi and said: "But I also don't want anything to happen to you. Therefore, I will apply to Lord Tobirama to let you fight with me."
Fūmori Masaki had initially wanted to have Satomi be responsible for logistics, but given Satomi's strength, having her be responsible for logistics was truly a waste. If he really said it out loud, he was afraid it would make Satomi angry again. After thinking it over, Fūmori Masaki had only one choice, which was to have Satomi fight in the same squad as him, so that he could protect her nearby. Satomi was not weak; on the contrary, her aptitude was very outstanding. Having learned from Senju Touka, she had long since honed her skills, and practicing with Fūmori Masaki had brought her strength to a new level; she was definitely not the kind of person who would hold others back.
The coordination between Fūmori Masaki and Satomi was also very tacit; acting in the same squad, while increasing combat power, could also greatly increase the survival rate.
If, if one of the two of them or both of them were to die, he would rather watch the other or die together, than be separated by the ends of the earth without having been together.
Fūmori Masaki tried his best to consider things for Satomi. Satomi was not an unreasonable person either, and Fūmori Masaki's thoughts coincided with hers; gradually, she was no longer angry in her heart. However, she also wanted to make Fūmori Masaki learn a lesson and not to talk only from his own perspective, so she still pretended to be angry.
How could she hide it from Fūmori Masaki? Seeing this, Fūmori Masaki was also happy to cooperate with her. He spent the whole night coaxing Satomi before her anger finally completely dissipated.