Indeed, even Hashirama Senju could not fully understand his own fated counterpart.
Their destinies had been drawn into reincarnation by the bond between Indra and Ashura.
Just like the power of the Rinnegan.
There was yin, and there was yang.
They attracted each other, yet repelled each other.
Hashirama stood beside Madara, who had just finished sealing Black Zetsu, feeling the endless anger and sorrow radiating from him.
"Let's have a fight, Madara."
Just like when they were children. Whenever something was weighing on them, they would meet up and first have a satisfying fight, fight until they were completely exhausted, and then open their hearts to each other...
While keeping their surnames hidden from one another, they would talk about their frustrations and their dreams for the future.
They wanted to end the chaotic era together.
They wanted to kindle the spark of peace together.
"I'm not in the mood."
Hashirama sank into gloom on the spot.
"Come on, this is all your fault, Madara. Your script was so weird that even the real Black Zetsu couldn't help coming out."
That's right.
Although the lines had been filled in by the others, this entire hostage-taking plot really had come from Madara Uchiha's imagination.
To repay Naruto for saving his three younger brothers, Madara Uchiha had truly gone all out.
He had personally come up with the plot and personally taken part in the performance. He had even gone so far as to take on Indra's appearance.
And yet, just when everything was supposed to end according to the script...
Who could have expected the real Black Zetsu to run out and make a mess of things?
Hashirama muttered pitifully, "I finally had a chance to play around with my little brothers after not seeing them for so long. I wanted to role-play with them as their big brother. But you just had to come up with that strange idea about drawing all the hatred onto yourself so the two clans would stop fighting."
Madara Uchiha took a deep breath.
He was doing everything he could to suppress the anger Hashirama Senju had stirred up.
He pointed at Sasuke Uchiha over there. "Didn't that brat agree this was a good method too?! As long as there's a common enemy, the Senju and Uchiha will stop fighting! What's wrong with that logic?!"
The Uchiha boy dragged into the mess, Sasuke Uchiha, was forced to endure the strange, meaningful looks from the surrounding Warring States Period Uchiha and Senju clansmen because of Madara Uchiha's words.
This was what social death felt like...
And the worst kind was being socially executed because someone with no tact dragged you into it.
Sasuke clenched his back teeth, his face so cold that even Naruto and Obito did not dare laugh at him too loudly.
Hashirama said, "Madara, sometimes I really can't understand how your mind works."
Something snapped.
The vein on Madara's forehead, shaped like the character for "ten," seemed to bulge even more clearly.
Hashirama seemed completely unaware that Madara was already grinding his teeth, and kept rambling.
"Really, Madara, you say I don't understand you, but..." Hashirama's tone was helpless and hard to describe. "But you Uchiha are even more complicated and unpredictable than the girls of our Senju Clan. Especially you. You alone are like a dozen Uchiha put together."
The young Uchiha men caught in the crossfire instantly turned cold.
The Senju nearby, especially the Senju kunoichi, did not hold back at all because of their rivalry and openly laughed at them.
Young Madara Uchiha was so angry his nose nearly twisted out of shape. Behind him, several of his younger brothers also rolled up their sleeves, ready to properly deal with the Senju boys across from them.
The Senju boys across from them, young Hashirama Senju, Itama, and Kawarama, simply went, "Bleh, bleh, bleh."
It was the first time Izuna Uchiha had ever seen his brother like this.
In front of them, Madara Uchiha had always been a gentle, steady older brother.
"Is your brother maybe an idiot?" he asked Tobirama Senju, wanting an explanation on his own brother's behalf.
But unexpectedly...
Tobirama Senju's crimson eyes glared fiercely at Izuna. Izuna thought he had angered him with that remark, only to hear Tobirama say, "On this one issue alone, our views are surprisingly aligned."
Izuna Uchiha: "..."
In the middle of the battlefield, Madara had already lost his earlier mood of self-pity and sorrow.
"Sen... ju... Hashirama..."
"Oh, sorry, did I hit a nerve again?" Hashirama seemed to have a row of black lines over his head. "I didn't mean to make you angry, but guessing what you're thinking is harder than guessing the minds of a dozen girls."
Bang!
A dark blue Susanoo arm swung straight at Hashirama.
Hashirama Senju quickly jumped away, a sly grin on his face as if his plan had worked. "Are you in the mood for a fight now?"
The answer he received was Madara Uchiha's gradually forming dark blue Complete Body Susanoo.
Hashirama clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release! Wood Human Technique!"
The wooden man charged toward Susanoo, and Susanoo charged toward the wooden man.
"Madara!"
"Hashirama!"
Everyone in the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan was stunned.
The young Izuna Uchiha and Tobirama Senju had been caught up in this war between the Senju and Uchiha, and currently knew nothing. All they saw were two people over there shouting their older brothers' names as they charged at each other in high spirits to fight.
Deep down, they seemed to understand something, but they also very much did not want to.
Myoko, Togakushi, Kurohi, Kawarama, and Itama all had rather... no, extremely subtle expressions.
"So Madara-nii-san's personality is actually like this."
"Hashirama was like this before too. If Tobirama-nii-san hadn't stopped him, Dad probably would've beaten him to death already."
"That may be true, but those two..."
"They're way too strong!"
Susanoo.
Wood Release: Wood Human Technique.
"They're practically human-shaped Tailed Beasts," Kakashi commented.
Rin laughed awkwardly. "Isobu says you're giving them too much credit..."
[That's right. We Tailed Beasts aren't that savage. Especially Hashirama Senju. If he used that Senjutsu technique from earlier, or if Madara Uchiha used the Rinnegan, then even Kurama would probably be pinned down and forced to accept head pats.]
Isobu's words immediately drew the Nine-Tails' displeasure.
But since it was true, he could not refute it. He could only curse under his breath and tell the Three-Tails to shut up.
The Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan had no idea how many more shocks they were going to suffer that day.
Over there, Susanoo and Wood Release: Wood Human Technique had started sumo wrestling, and the force behind every move was already terrifying enough.
Over here, two ordinary-looking little kids suddenly had Tailed Beast chakra surging from their bodies.
Not only that, the Tailed Beasts were even using chakra to argue?
Were they really not under Genjutsu?
There were even Uchiha who activated their Sharingan to try to break the Genjutsu, while Senju formed hand seals with both hands. "Release!"
But reality was reality. No matter how hard they tried, they could not change it.
Madara's Susanoo had four arms, each holding a sword as it faced Hashirama Senju.
Hashirama quickly used Wood Release: Hōbi Technique to block Madara's attack.
The attack did not do much to the two of them, but it sent the spectators tumbling in every direction.
A few children in particular were blown away by the shockwave created by Madara and Hashirama.
Fortunately, Young Obito used Wood Release and pulled them back.
They were numb.
The Senju and Uchiha stared at the boy in front of them. The back of his clothes clearly bore the Uchiha crest, yet he had just used Wood Release, a Kekkei Genkai that was extremely rare even in the Senju Clan.
"Are you Uchiha or Senju?!"
"He can use Wood Release, so of course he's one of us Senju!"
"Bullshit! Didn't you see the red-and-white fan on the back of his clothes?"
"Exactly! Are you Senju blind?"
"Who are you calling blind? As if your eyes are so great? A bunch of red-eyed freaks! Rabbit spirits!"
Hiss...
Team Minato and Team Kakashi from the mission scroll world sucked in a sharp breath.
The Warring States Period's Senju and Uchiha really were something.
Without a doubt, the problem ultimately landed on Obito.
"Kid! What's your name?!"
"O-Obito."
"Good! No matter what your surname was before, from now on, you're Obito Senju!"
"Huh?!"
Obito was completely dumbfounded. How had his surname suddenly changed?!
Then he looked at the Uchiha side and saw that their faces had all gone dark.
Kurohi and Togakushi, the two children, stood in front of Obito Uchiha. "Obito-nii-san has the Sharingan! He's one of us Uchiha!"
Before Obito and the others could question the way they had called him "Obito-nii-san," the eyes of the Uchiha clansmen lit up.
Tajima Uchiha personally asked him, "You have the Sharingan? How many tomoe?"
"Uh..."
"M-Mangekyō."
Hiss!
This time, it was the Senju side that sucked in a sharp breath.
Tajima Uchiha and Butsuma Senju widened their eyes at the same time. At this age?! He had awakened Wood Release and also had the Mangekyō Sharingan?!
In an instant, the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan looked at Obito the way wolves looked at meat.
Obito wilted under the stares of the two Clan Heads and the Warring States Period clansmen. He grabbed Sasuke and immediately sold out his teammate.
"Him! He has the Mangekyō Sharingan too! And he's Fugaku-nii's son!"
"Why are you dragging me into this?!"
Sasuke tugged at his collar, doing his best to maintain his idol image.
Tajima Uchiha and the other Warring States Period elders instantly turned their eyes toward Sasuke Uchiha.
"You also have the Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
"Show us your eyes!"
Left with no choice, Sasuke and Obito had to reveal their Sharingan for the elders to inspect.
This was incredible. The Uchiha were overjoyed.
"It really is the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"They're only twelve or thirteen, right?!"
The Senju ninjas gnashed their teeth in frustration.
"Hey! Where exactly did you people come from?!"
"And who are those two guys? They have the same names as our young Clan Heads. Is that a coincidence?"
Aside from their own clan, who else would be called something like "Hashirama"?
The question was directed at the four adults, Minato, Kakashi, Izuna, and Tobirama.
The four exchanged glances, then told the Warring States Period ninjas:
"Actually..."
"We're from the future."
***
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