Renya's guess was indeed correct.
Senju Hashirama truly seemed to miss the days of living in a cave, and forcibly dragged Madara to stay there with him for a few days.
Senju Tobirama couldn't argue with his elder brother, so he prepared to send two tents up.
But Hashirama mercilessly refused.
He and Madara didn't need tents; instead, they used Wood Release to build two wooden beds.
Senju Tobirama: "..."
He couldn't understand his elder brother's way of thinking. There were tents available, yet they wouldn't use them—wasn't this just making life harder for no reason?
His elder brother's abnormal behavior must be inseparable from that inherently evil Uchiha Madara!
If the two of them hadn't used the trick of faking their deaths to leave the village back then, would they have been able to fool around outside for so many years?
Forget it, use it or not, whatever!
Senju Tobirama glanced at the crude cave that only had two wooden beds, then turned and went down the mountain without hesitation.
Renya prepared dinner at the camp; as for the two of them, he let them do whatever they wanted.
"Madara, I want to eat roasted rabbit."
Seeing his younger brother leave, Senju Hashirama pleaded with his close friend.
Back when they lived in the cave, hunting and roasting meat were all done by Madara.
Hashirama only needed to prepare firewood in the cave.
"Alright."
Uchiha Madara turned and left.
Catching a few rabbits was effortless for him.
Very quickly, he returned carrying four rabbits pierced through by kunai.
Senju Hashirama had already lit a bonfire and was just waiting for his friend to finish preparing the rabbits and place them over the fire.
The firelight reflected on their faces, tinting them with a warm orange glow.
Resting his chin on his hand, Senju Hashirama stared unblinkingly at Uchiha Madara as he gutted the rabbits and cleaned the entrails.
It was as if they had returned to the past.
"Too bad, we should've had Renya come help."
"I'm not bad either."
Uchiha Madara had no intention of letting Renya come up, otherwise that guy Senju Tobirama would start complaining again.
Better let him stay below and accompany that old fellow.
After staying here for a few days, they could return to Konohagakure and revive the deceased Izuna.
"Haha, yours is tasty too."
Senju Hashirama said with a cheerful laugh.
There was no way Madara's cooking could compare to Renya's; he just didn't say the truth to avoid discouraging his friend.
In fact, Madara himself knew it.
Between the two tents, there was a bonfire.
Renya and Senju Tobirama sat by it, roasting fish they had caught from the river.
Tobirama looked at the golden, crispy grilled fish in front of him and subconsciously swallowed.
He had loved eating fish since childhood. When he was young, he often went to the river to fish whenever he had time.
After becoming Hokage, he no longer had such leisure.
Fortunately, Renya's cooking skills were impeccable; every now and then he would buy fish and cook it for him.
Besides, anything Renya made was delicious—sometimes it didn't even matter if it wasn't fish.
A few days ago, he had snatched a grilled fish from a fat cat, and that taste still lingered in his mind.
So he had Renya set up the tents while he went to the river himself to catch a few fish.
"Kid, is that how my brother and Madara used to live?"
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would've been hard to believe.
The so-called God of Shinobi and the Asura of the ninja world actually lived deep in the mountains.
The two of them lived like primitive humans!
To put it bluntly, it was so absurd that no one would believe it if told.
"Yes, they've always been like that."
Renya recalled the days he had lived with them in the cave—thinking about it brought nothing but tears.
There were no entertainment facilities in the mountains, and every day he had to cook for the two of them.
At night, he also had to endure mosquito bites.
Even he couldn't understand why they liked such a caveman lifestyle.
That period might have been a rare memory for Hashirama and Madara, but to Renya, it was pure suffering.
Wouldn't it be better to just lie in the courtyard and bask in the sun?
Fortunately, in the end, Renya suggested buying a house in the Land of Iron, and the two of them didn't refuse.
Otherwise, there would have been plenty more suffering.
Senju Tobirama shook his head helplessly. Although he didn't quite understand, he respected it.
After all, he was his elder brother.
Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara lived like cavemen for three days, while Renya and Senju Tobirama fished by the river for three days.
On the fourth day, the four of them packed up and prepared to leave.
"Brother, you're not staying anymore?"
Senju Tobirama looked at the two of them covered in large red mosquito bites and teased.
"Haha, we're not staying."
Senju Hashirama laughed heartily.
"We can't find the feeling we had back then anymore."
Senju Tobirama: "..."
So it wasn't that they couldn't stand the mosquito bites—it was that they couldn't find the feeling from before.
As expected of his elder brother!
"Hashirama-san, maybe you should go to the cave you used to live in."
After thinking for a moment, Renya made a suggestion.
If you're revisiting old places, you should go to the actual old place.
They had never lived in this cave before, so of course it didn't feel the same.
Senju Tobirama: "..."
Wasn't this kid just causing trouble?
They were about to leave, yet he suggested going to another cave.
The scariest part was that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara actually seemed to be considering it!
Fortunately, Madara was eager to return to the village to revive Izuna and had no intention of going to another cave.
"Forget it, Hashirama. We'll go another time."
"Alright."
Since his close friend had spoken, he couldn't say anything more.
Seeing this, Senju Tobirama finally let out a sigh of relief, then glared at someone unhappily.
Renya: "???"
Wait, what did I do?
Why is this old guy looking at me like that?
...
A few days later, Senju Hashirama's residence.
"Kid, you can use Edo Tensei to summon Izuna back now."
Uchiha Madara came to Izuna's grave, pried open the coffin, and took out a small piece of bone.
The exact location of Izuna's burial was a secret known only to Madara in the ninja world.
Otherwise, in the original story, that guy Black Zetsu would definitely have helped Yakushi Kabuto find Izuna's grave…
"Madara, can Izuna really be revived?"
Senju Hashirama asked somewhat nervously.
If Madara could revive Izuna, could he also revive others?
For example, his wife Mito…
If the cost Madara had to pay wasn't too great, he would ask his friend to help revive Mito.
If the cost was too high, then forget it.
After all, he didn't have many years left to live; when the time came, he could go down and accompany Mito himself.
"Yes."
Uchiha Madara said decisively.
Using Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive the dead posed no problem.
His own revival was proof.
The only uncertainty was the cost of using it.
Was it truly as he had guessed?
By the time Senju Tobirama learned of this, he had already arrived in the courtyard.
He watched as Renya used a death row prisoner to perform Edo Tensei, and he had no intention of stopping it.
"Edo Tensei!"
Uchiha Izuna returned to the ninja world in an Edo Tensei body.
He opened his eyes, looked at the young Madara before him, and shouted excitedly.
"Brother!"
"Izuna."
Uchiha Madara smiled and gently patted his head.
"Renya-kun?"
Only then did Uchiha Izuna notice Renya beside his brother, and said in shock.
Senju Tobirama: "???"