What kind of real-life bloody love story is this…
At this very moment, every Daimyō and noble lady present shared the same thought.
If no movie comes out of this, it would be an injustice to what they've just witnessed!
Waaah, this is just too moving!
This kind of reaction was definitely something Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke never expected.
Daimyō, nobles, and ordinary people living in comfort could never truly understand the pain ninjas endure when they lose comrades and loved ones on the battlefield. They understood even less of war's cruelty and chaos.
Hashirama Senju sank into memories of his youth—things Tobirama had never asked about, and that he himself had never spoken of.
"For the sake of the younger brother I had to protect no matter what, Madara and I broke with each other in the middle of that river. It was because of that moment that he awakened a single-tomoe Sharingan."
…
"I won't allow anyone to hurt my brother!"
"I feel the same way!"
"Hashirama… it seems the beautiful future we once dreamed of was never something we could reach."
"Madara…"
"Even though it was short, I was happy, Hashirama."
"The next time we meet, we'll be enemies."
"You are Hashirama Senju. I am Madara Uchiha."
In that instant, Madara awakened the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.
…
"After that, through years of continuous fighting, we became the pillars of the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan. Every time we met again, it was only to kill each other—nothing remained of the bond we shared in our youth."
"But we both knew that deep in the other's heart, the spark of hope for changing the entire ninja world—though faint—had never once gone out."
The Uchiha were stunned to learn that Madara Uchiha had awakened his Sharingan because he severed ties with the First Hokage.
But after thinking it over, it didn't seem impossible at all.
Some of them had awakened their eyes to save comrades they once went on missions with. And those comrades weren't always clan members—more often, they were classmates who had graduated together from the Ninja Academy.
The Konoha ninjas had never imagined that the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha shared such a bond in their youth. Even the very catalyst for founding Konohagakure had come from Madara Uchiha's words.
Minato Namikaze said,
"I'd heard that Madara Uchiha and the First Hokage founded the Leaf Village together, but I never knew they'd already shared that vision since childhood—or that it was all to protect Tobirama-sama. This is the first I've heard of it."
Adult Kakashi said,
'Then how did they resolve the blood feud between the two clans? Was it really like Madara Uchiha said—did they drink a shared cup of sake?'
Adult Obito said,
'He was beaten into submission by the First Hokage. I carry Madara Uchiha's memories, and from what I've seen, the First Hokage was nothing like the naive, sweet fool you all imagine him to be.'
'Huh?'
'So the First Hokage was actually a natural-born schemer, the pure black-hearted kind.'
'A n-natural-born schemer?'
'Wait, Obito, how are the two of us able to talk like this?'
'Uh… yeah. Why is that?'
Adult Obito thought for a moment. 'If our younger versions can't communicate like this, then it's probably because my eye is still with you.'
'I'll return it later.'
'Gifts I give as Obito Uchiha are never meant to be taken back!'
'But—'
'Shut up!'
If anyone else could hear their conversation, they would immediately realize it was almost a perfect reenactment of the dynamic between the First and Second Hokage.
The two of them had formed a small private chat on the side, while everyone else remained fully absorbed in the First Hokage's massive public lecture.
Hashirama Senju said,
"By the will of fate, on the battlefields of the past, it was always me fighting Madara, while Tobirama fought Madara's last remaining younger brother, Izuna Uchiha."
"Through the endless cycle of war, day after day, we each became the clan head and vice head of our respective ninja clans."
"Back then, we naïvely believed that once we possessed enough power, we could control the course of war. But after we grew into adults, we realized that the ever-growing hatred had pushed that dream so far away it became almost unreachable."
"The strength of Madara and myself, as well as Tobirama and Izuna, was evenly matched. For reasons unknown, it was as if some unseen force, or fate itself, maintained a subtle balance between the Uchiha's power and the Senju's power. If that balance wasn't broken, the war would never end."
When Hashirama finished speaking, Tobirama stated calmly,
"So I broke that balance. When Izuna Uchiha let his guard down, I used the newly developed ninjutsu at the time, Flying Thunder God Slash, to severely injure him."
"After that, I proposed an alliance to Madara," Hashirama continued. "If the two strongest ninja clans, the Senju and the Uchiha, joined forces, no nation would ever be able to stand against us. They would no longer be able to hire us to kill each other just to keep our power in check. Conflicts would gradually subside, and one day, the hatred could finally be set aside."
Tobirama Senju let out a sigh.
"If Madara Uchiha had agreed with my brother back then, perhaps Izuna could have been saved using the medical ninjutsu the Senju clan excels at."
Hashirama fell silent for a long time…
"Young man, your name is Sasuke, right? You look very much like Izuna. And your eyes… they're the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, aren't they?"
Because everyone was immersed in the illusion, they instinctively thought the First Hokage was speaking to them directly. Only afterward did the people of the ninja world realize that this was Sasuke Uchiha's memory, and that the First Hokage was speaking to him.
The moment the term "Eternal Mangekyō" was spoken, Fugaku Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, and several Uchiha clan elders all froze in shock.
Only they knew the truth.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could only be obtained by taking the eye power of a close relative.
Which meant that Sasuke had not only killed Itachi Uchiha, but had also taken his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Both brothers had possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Such exceptional talent, yet it had been buried because of the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha.
The Uchiha clan, who had never reflected on the failure of the coup, fell into silence this time because of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
They heard "their" body ask the First Hokage,
"I heard from Itachi that Madara Uchiha, in order to gain power, gouged out his own younger brother's eyes."
"Although such rumors did exist back then, that's simply impossible."
The one who immediately spoke up to clear Madara Uchiha's name was Tobirama Senju.
"There is only one possible explanation. Izuna Uchiha likely realized long ago that Madara's eyesight was deteriorating and found a way to give his own eyes to him. Other than that, I can think of no other possibility."
Hashirama Senju nodded as well.
"It's precisely because he lost Izuna that Madara's thoughts sometimes became strange. Even I couldn't fully understand him. But I believe he was, in the end, a gentle person. Because…"
With an expression on his face that clearly said he wanted to slap his brother from behind, Tobirama Senju listened as Hashirama continued,
"After replacing his eyes with Izuna's and obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō, Madara fought me once more. After losing, he agreed to the alliance—but only after making one demand. He wanted me to either kill Tobirama… or kill myself!!"
Huh?!
And this is what you call gentle?!
The ninja world, Konoha, the Uchiha—all of them were at a loss.
You're still the Hokage, indeed. Your way of thinking is truly something else. No wonder you could treat that legendary Madara Uchiha as some kind of divine revelation.
Uh, but…
If you'd just turn around and look at the Second Hokage's expression…
"…Big brother! How many times have I told you?! Don't take your own thoughts and assume everyone thinks the same way! Where exactly is Madara Uchiha gentle?! Just because he stopped you when you wanted to kill yourself?!"
Hashirama looked a little troubled.
"Isn't that enough? And besides, because Madara knew the pain of losing a younger brother, he even gave me an extra option to choose from…"
There was even a hint of him feeling unfairly wronged.
Tobirama Senju snapped back,
"So you think that if I had been the one trying to kill myself back then, he would have stopped me in time too?!"
"..."
Hashirama fell silent.
Shikaku Nara thought to himself:
For some reason, my stomach hurts.
Suddenly, he felt just a little sorry for the Second Hokage.
Adult Obito said,
"This part exists in Madara's memories as well. Now that we know about Indra and Ashura, and about Sasuke and Naruto, Madara stepping in to stop the First Hokage's suicide was probably inevitable."
Kakashi said,
"You mean… the lingering Indra consciousness left within Madara Uchiha might not have allowed him to kill Hashirama-sama, the reincarnation of Ashura?"
Adult Obito replied,
"Maybe. Including that parallel world where you went to the Valley of the End to witness Naruto and Sasuke's battle. In that world, before you arrived, Sasuke Uchiha should have had a chance to kill Naruto."
Only these two could casually form a private chat group.
Everyone else sensed Sasuke Uchiha pressing a hand to his forehead.
"Skip this part. Keep going."
"In short, Konoha was built after the Senju and Uchiha shook hands and made peace. Even now, when I think back on it, the scene still feels like a dream."
"The hatred between the two clans came to an end, and no more children had to die senselessly on the battlefield. Starting from nothing, we built the Hidden Leaf Village, Konohagakure on the land we chose back then."
"After that, we joined forces with the Land of Fire and became a presence other ninja clans dared not provoke lightly. It was like a sanctuary. As long as the clans that joined the village followed the rules, they no longer had to fear being dragged into war."
"When carrying out missions, we worked alongside outstanding ninja from other families, greatly increasing the success rate. Even clans like the Hyūga, Sarutobi, and Ino–Shika–Chō later came to us, hoping to move into the village and become part of it…"
"Everything was moving in a better direction. I just didn't notice that the emptiness hidden in Madara's heart was growing larger and larger."
The pain of losing Izuna was not something that could be filled by just anything.
"I once hoped that Madara would become Hokage…"