Uchiha Madara raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what exactly did you do?"
Uchiha Gen smiled, relaxed and casual. "Sorry to tell you this, but your entire plan has already been ruined by me."
Madara's expression darkened. A suffocating aura burst out of him, swirling into a tangible storm that swept across the room. Most of those present felt a chill run down their backs.
His Sharingan spun, shifting from three tomoe into the Eternal Mangekyo. The moment it fully formed, a genjutsu washed over the space.
Uchiha Gen didn't so much as blink. With a silent command, the specialized cursed seal planted deep in Madara's mind activated.
Madara's killing intent vanished. His Eternal Mangekyo receded back into three tomoe. Even his chakra flow tightened as the seal locked down every surge of power.
Without Gen's approval, not even the three of them knowing Edo Tensei's release hand signs would allow them to break free.
Madara's Edo Tensei body this time didn't have the Rinnegan or Wood Release. Gen hadn't bothered providing abilities he didn't need.
Madara's face twisted. "Damn it. What did you do to me?"
"I placed very carefully designed cursed seals on all three of your bodies," Gen said with an easy smile. "Your strength is too great. Orochimaru-sensei is strong, but restraining all three of you at the same time would be difficult for him. I had no choice but to prepare extra measures."
Tobirama's expression sharpened. "Damn Uchiha brat… Big Brother, Madara, let's break free together."
"Hehe… Tobirama, is that really necessary?" Hashirama scratched his head, his voice soft. "He doesn't seem hostile, and he even ruined Madara's plan. No matter what it was, it was probably nothing good…"
His tone, light and awkward, stunned many in the room. The contrast between Hashirama's overwhelming reputation and his easygoing personality was striking, yet it only made his character shine more. Once he got serious, as Suigetsu liked to say, his aura became something that crushed everything in its path.
"Big Brother!" Tobirama growled.
"Hashirama!" Madara said with equal seriousness.
"Alright… alright, then let's try," Hashirama said weakly.
The three focused their power at once. Golden lines rose along their bodies, weaving through every inch without gaps. The net of light trembled under their force but didn't snap.
Gen shook his head. "Don't waste your strength. The seals inside you are the perfected form of my Sealing. They're linked directly to the natural energy of the world. Unless your strength is enough to shatter this world, or you reach the realm of the Sage of Six Paths, you won't break free."
Hashirama stopped immediately. Tobirama and Madara kept pushing, though their efforts were clearly hopeless.
Tsunade approached, tapped Gen lightly, and smiled. "Grandfather. Second Grandfather."
Hashirama observed her for a long moment before breaking into a booming laugh. "Haha… little Tsunade. In the blink of an eye, you've grown so much."
"Little Tsunade," Tobirama echoed. His stern face finally softened as he gave up resisting the seal.
Madara alone kept fighting against it, teeth clenched.
Gen's gaze flicked toward Tobirama, then he casually slipped an arm around Tsunade's shoulders. Tobirama's eyelid twitched hard.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Tsunade immediately pulled away, cheeks flushed as she shot Gen a glare. Being held so openly in front of her grandfathers was unbearable. "Cut it out."
"Meeting the parents," Gen said with a smile.
"Little Tsunade, how could you choose a man from the Uchiha clan?" Tobirama said sharply.
"Hey… Tobirama, don't say things like that." Hashirama nudged him, then gave Gen a warm grin. "It's wonderful that Senju and Uchiha can unite. It means the two clans have truly become one family. Though the age gap is a bit… unusual."
Tsunade puffed up slightly. "Why would you say that? It's not like I chased after him. He's the one who chased me."
Hashirama erupted into laughter again. "Haha… so that's how it is. Grandfather was wrong. Young man, you have good taste. Aside from inheriting a terrible gambling habit from me, little Tsunade has no flaws."
Their lively conversation left Madara no choice but to stop resisting. He clicked his tongue. "To think you actually captured the Senju princess. You truly make me feel conflicted…"
His gaze sharpened. "Since you awakened the Eternal Mangekyo, you must have seen the stone tablet in Nanga Shrine."
"I have," Gen replied.
"Then you've awakened the Rinnegan as well, haven't you?"
Those listening immediately reacted to the word also, minds racing.
"No. I haven't awakened the Rinnegan yet....Even after combining with Tsunade."
Madara froze, then his expression collapsed into pure disbelief. "Idiot."
"How could you mistake combining Uchiha power and Senju power for… a man and woman uniting? How is that brain of yours arranged? How could something like that create the Rinnegan, which holds the power of creation itself?"
"It must be the fusion of Uchiha power and Senju power. Just like when I faked my death. I bit off a piece of Hashirama's flesh and transplanted it into myself. Only then could I awaken the Rinnegan."
He clearly had no idea about the deeper truth behind their connection. In reality, it was the merging of Indra's chakra and Ashura's chakra that stimulated Six Paths chakra and formed the foundation of the Rinnegan.
"Madara, you didn't die back then… and even awakened the Rinnegan?" Hashirama stared at him, stunned.
Madara folded his arms with pride. "Of course. Did you really think you killed me? I couldn't defeat you at that time, but if I wanted to escape, you couldn't stop me. I stayed on purpose to take your flesh. Making you believe you killed me allowed me to vanish."
"But I felt you die," Hashirama said, completely bewildered.
"Big Brother, did you forget the Uchiha clan's forbidden jutsu, Izanagi?" Tobirama said, face dark.
Madara smirked. "Exactly. Considering our past friendship, I knew you wouldn't destroy my body. And Tobirama, that morbid research fanatic, would never pass up a chance to study it. My body held the secrets of the Sharingan."
"So I sealed Izanagi into my eye with a transcription seal. When the conditions were met, it activated automatically. At the cost of one eye going blind, I revived inside Tobirama's secret research base and replaced my real body with a shadow clone."
"Tobirama, you must have been confused when my corpse disappeared right in front of you."
"You two danced in the palm of my hand without even realizing it. It feels so good to say it, hahahaha…"