The young Madara Uchiha regretted asking that question in front of Myoko, Togakushi, and Kurohi.
In this war against the Senju, he had been hard to match. Even several adult Senju ninjas had died by his hand.
So he had never imagined that a version of himself like that.
A version who could wield the Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo and sweep across the ninja world.
How could that version of him possibly have failed to protect his younger brothers?
Seeing his brother as a child frozen in shock, Izuna hurried forward to smooth things over. "You and we should be from two different parallel worlds." He had heard this from Tobirama Senju. "As long as you train harder and increase your strength, you can walk toward a different ending from ours."
"But remember to warn this world's version of me. That guy Tobirama is powerful, and he's good at developing all kinds of strange ninjutsu. You absolutely can't let your guard down. What he's best at is pretending to be weak first, then launching an unexpected counterattack!"
"Tobirama Senju, is it? I'll remember that." The young Madara Uchiha nodded solemnly.
He would never let that man hurt his younger brother!
...
After parting ways with Team Minato and Team Kakashi, Tobirama Senju and his older brother, Hashirama Senju, rushed toward the Senju clan territory.
Once they deduced from the intelligence that this parallel world's timeline happened to be right at the point when Kawarama lost his life, the Senju brothers immediately prepared to leave the clan territory and head to the place where, according to the old reports, the remains of Kawarama's severed arm had been found.
Tobirama sneezed and wondered who was talking about him.
Unexpectedly, just as they were about to leave, they ran headfirst into a mushroom-headed boy.
Hashirama Senju looked at his younger self, and the feeling was indescribably novel.
Because their appearances were so distinctive, young Hashirama only took one look at the two of them before blurting out, "Tobirama?"
Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju were both stunned. How could big brother as a child, or rather, how could I as a child, immediately think they were from the future? Could it be...
"Ah! The grilled mushrooms I ate earlier must have been poisonous, and now I'm hallucinating." Young Hashirama shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "How strange. What kind of poisonous mushroom is this? It's actually making me see what Tobirama looks like when he grows up."
Hashirama Senju gave an awkward but polite silly laugh.
Tobirama Senju held his forehead and sighed. "Sigh... as expected of you, big brother."
Young Hashirama walked up to the two of them as if he were drunk, giggling while muttering that even after growing up, Tobirama was still the palest-skinned among the brothers. Not only did he look the most like their mother, his personality was also like a nagging old woman's, always managing this and that.
Hashirama was mortified and turned his head, wanting to explain to Tobirama.
But who could have expected that when he was less than a meter away, young Hashirama suddenly turned dark beneath the sweetness and launched a sneak attack while he was completely unprepared. He aimed straight for Hashirama Senju's vital spot and struck hard.
Thud!
"!!!!!"
Hashirama Senju had no guard up against his younger self at all and took a brutal kick directly to the groin.
He collapsed to the ground, twitching like a curled shrimp.
But young Hashirama clearly had no intention of letting him off that easily. He pulled a kunai from behind his back, pressed it against Hashirama Senju's neck, and used him as a hostage to threaten Tobirama. "Who are you people?! Why are you wandering around the Senju clan territory?!!"
Most of the clan had gone to the front lines to take part in the war against the Uchiha Clan and the Hagoromo Clan.
Young Hashirama had just returned from a mission when he spotted these two suspicious figures.
Since he did not know how strong they were, and the white-haired man reminded him of his younger brother Tobirama on the battlefield, young Hashirama decided to play along and successfully landed a "fatal" blow on one of them.
Seeing his older brother being held hostage, along with the pained expression on his face as he clamped his legs together, Tobirama Senju's face became indescribably complicated.
Still, it was just a kunai. Only an idiot like Madara Uchiha would believe that thing could actually kill his brother.
Tobirama was worried about Kawarama's safety, so he spoke bluntly to his brother as a child. "Mm. I'll leave Big Brother to you, then."
With that, he left behind a pained and shocked Hashirama Senju, along with a stunned watermelon-headed boy who tried and failed to reach out and stop him, and vanished without taking a single cloud with him.
Body Flicker Technique.
"Hey! Tobi..."
"Was that your brother?"
He's your brother too...
"The bond between you brothers is really something, hahahaha. Even plastic is sturdier than the bond between you two, isn't it?" Young Hashirama clicked his tongue. "I'm actually starting to feel a little sorry for you. After all, my younger brothers are much cuter than yours in that regard."
Only then did Hashirama realize that his younger self had been this annoying.
"Hey, let me tell you, my brother Tobirama is blah blah blah... and Kawarama is also blah blah blah... and the youngest, Itama, is blah blah blah..."
As if rubbing salt into someone else's wound brought him great joy, young Hashirama happily bragged to the long-haired man before him about his three younger brothers.
Whenever Hashirama tried to say a word in defense of how wonderful his own brothers were, young Hashirama would immediately sink into gloom.
"I only wanted to tell you how cute my younger brothers are. I didn't mean to make you sad because you don't have any cute younger brothers. I'm sorry if being abandoned here by your own brother makes you feel miserable…"
"Then I'll tell you even more about how cute my younger brothers are, so you can imagine it for yourself."
Mental pollution.
Sure enough, only magic could defeat magic.
As for Madara Uchiha's attempt to overcome magic with physical attacks, that could only be called a total waste.
After decisively abandoning his foolish big brother, Tobirama rushed off to find Kawarama, blindly moving through the forest on the route back from Kawarama's mission.
He did not have Naruto Uzumaki's lucky buff, and because Kawarama had too little chakra, Tobirama's powerful sensing abilities were not much use either. Relying on instinct alone was like running around blindly as a headless fly.
However, Tobirama had left Flying Thunder God Technique coordinates in many of the places he had already searched, so if he sensed any unusual movement, he could rush over immediately.
After searching for a long time, he finally sensed the Uchiha Clan's unique Fire Release chakra and realized the true direction.
Locking onto the nearest Flying Thunder God Technique coordinate, Tobirama Senju arrived to see the younger brother from his memories, the boy with light-brown hair and a cross-shaped scar on his face, facing two young Uchiha ninjas.
Two pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan stared maliciously at the young Kawarama.
Kawarama's body clearly bore traces of being burned by Fire Release. The ninja blade in his hand was still too large for a five- or six-year-old child, and it trembled uncontrollably in his grip, making faint clicking sounds.
In the eyes of the two Uchiha ninjas, it was as though they had found an amusing toy, and they did not seem inclined to break it too quickly.
"We originally came out to look for Kurohi-sama, but instead we found a little Senju brat around the same age. It should be fine to toy with him a little before killing him, right?"
"It won't take long. We can still go meet up with that batch of supplies afterward."
Hearing their conversation, Tobirama Senju, hidden in the trees, had eyes so red they nearly rivaled the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.
The two Uchiha clan members were toying with Kawarama, who was only five or six, using Great Fireballs. The huge fireballs deliberately brushed past him, and they watched as a child threw himself to the ground again and again, dodging left and right in a miserable state as if it were some entertaining game. They seemed to enjoy seeing him look like a helpless young beast.
It went on until the small area around him had been set ablaze, and Kawarama could no longer escape the sea of fire. He could only wait in despair for death.
Just as the two across from him were finally about to use Fire Release ninjutsu to deliver the fatal blow...
"Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!"
Tobirama Senju, unable to endure it any longer, finally struck.
The Water Dragon Bullet Technique, which required an ordinary person to make more than forty hand seals, had been simplified by Tobirama Senju to just four.
The dragon roared and swept Kawarama Senju into the safety of its coiling body. After taking a Great Fireball head-on, the water dragon was completely unharmed.
"!!!!"
"Who are you?!"
The two young Uchiha shouted in shock, their crimson Sharingan locking onto the man standing there.
Standing in front of the little Senju brat they had been tormenting was a white-haired man dressed in fitted black ninja gear, with an exaggerated white fur collar around his neck. Three red streaks were painted on his face. He had no obvious markings showing which ninja clan he belonged to, but there was no need to think too hard. Someone who had come to save a Senju brat had to be a ninja of the Senju Clan.
The answer to their shouted questions was a powerful roar from the water dragon.
It swept up all the surrounding flames, then shot into the sky. The scattered spray was like Heavenly Weeping. Under the sunlight, the dazzling water dragon dove down toward them.
This man was not simple.
The young Uchiha ninjas realized that and immediately became fully alert.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
The two of them used Great Fireball Technique at the same time again, pouring in even more chakra than before.
Boom.
Water Release and Fire Release collided, producing a massive cloud of steam.
Within the mist, the Uchiha, who possessed the Sharingan, undoubtedly had a strong advantage.
The two Uchiha exchanged a glance.
"The big one's hard to deal with. Kill the little one first!"
"Mm!"
It was a good plan. Unfortunately, they had no idea that the man before them and his older brother had already developed ninjutsu to counter the Uchiha Sharingan during decades of war against the Uchiha.
Secret Technique: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!!
In the pitch-black darkness, the Sharingan completely lost the vision they were so proud of.
The two Uchiha, deprived of sight, immediately fell into disarray.
"Use Fire Release to break his ninjutsu!"
Fire could drive away darkness. At least, in their panic, that was the only method the two Uchiha could think of.
The idea was fine, but unfortunately, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique could not be broken that way. On top of that, Tobirama Senju had plenty of Water Release ninjutsu that could counter the Uchiha's Fire Release.
Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!!
The darkness was filled with a vast amount of water-nature chakra carrying Tobirama Senju's sensory ability.
As a result, the Uchiha could not see Tobirama Senju, but Tobirama Senju could sense the flow of his own chakra and pinpoint the two Uchiha as precisely as biological radar.
Immediately afterward, he used Body Flicker Technique to appear beside the two Uchiha and marked their bodies with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
That was the Senju family crest.