Chapter 368: Because I Have Felt Loneliness
"I know about this matter."
Hashirama nodded. Being slow-witted, he did not immediately sense the rising fury in Madara's heart.
"I was pulled over by the Six Paths Sage during the process of that kid Naruto unifying the Ninja World.
I was just planting trees in the desert of the Land of Wind when I was suddenly pulled over."
Boom!
The string in Madara's mind called "reason" snapped completely at this moment.
Hashirama knew?
He had known that Naruto was carrying out the "unification of the Ninja World" all along? Not only did he know, but he was also participating in it!
What about himself!
The best friend he had once wanted to drag along to do this very thing had, after his own death, gone off to help someone else complete the "ideal" he had dreamed of!
This was no longer just an irony of ideals; this was a naked betrayal!
It was a complete negation of all their disputes, all their partings, and even that life-and-death duel at the Valley of the End!
Why?!
Why was Hashirama willing to help a junior kid achieve "unification," yet had flatly rejected his own proposal back then?
Why, when his naive path of "mutual understanding" couldn't work, was he now willing to switch to a different method to "unify"!
Extreme rage, the humiliation of being kept in the dark, the mania of having his ideals "stolen," and the deep confusion and resentment toward Hashirama's "choices" that he could never fathom...
All these emotions erupted like a volcano at this moment.
Madara threw the "Seven Sins Mirror" he had been toying with fiercely toward the Six Paths Sage, his pitch-black eyes turning into purple Rinnegan.
His figure moved like lightning, stepping in front of Hashirama in one stride. Before Hashirama could react, he slammed his hands out, grabbing Hashirama by the collar and lifting him entirely off the ground.
"Senju Hashirama!"
Madara's roar shook the entire pavilion, his purple eyes seemingly dripping blood due to his extreme fury.
He stared intently at Hashirama's black eyes, which still held a hint of confusion and innocence, and squeezed out the question through gritted teeth:
"How exactly did that kid convince you? What flowery language did he use!"
Madara's voice was twisted by anger:
"You guy... you stubborn bastard, as stubborn as a rock!"
"Back then, I exhausted my tongue, and you wouldn't even nod!"
"Now, why?"
Madara pulled Hashirama closer, their noses almost touching,
"Why, because of a newcomer, a green kid whose ideals contradict yours!"
"You changed your damn persistence?! Huh?! Answer me! Hashirama!"
Facing Madara's hysterical questioning and the fury that was almost spraying onto his face, Hashirama first looked a bit ashamed, then a more obvious confusion appeared on his face, along with a hint of innocence, as if to say, "Why are you so angry?"
He blinked, seemingly having missed the point of Madara's anger entirely, and answered in a natural tone, even one that suggested "What is there to ask about this?":
"Naruto didn't persuade me; he originally wanted me to guard Hidden Leaf Village. It was Mito who persuaded me."
"Mito said that I don't need to blame myself for another path that might have existed in the past, nor do I need to be overly troubled about whether to conform to the current trend.
Regarding the path to peace in the Ninja World, I have already completed it from zero to one, which is already quite remarkable..."
Hashirama's words were not yet finished.
"Mi... to..."
Madara repeated the name, his voice terrifyingly low, as if brewing an even more horrific storm.
Persuaded?
Just because it was his wife who persuaded him, he changed the ideals he had held onto for a lifetime, even at the cost of becoming his enemy?!
You are a man, yet your will was shaken by just a few words of pillow talk?
Where did the Hashirama who said "If the Village is threatened, I will not spare even my brothers, friends, or even my own children" go?
How did your firm will disappear!
This realization made Madara feel a bone-deep absurdity, chill, and... rage, even more so than if Naruto had personally convinced Hashirama!
Although he did not approve of Hashirama's idea of "Village above all," Hashirama's thoughts should have been changed by him!
By him!
For the ideal of "unification," he could abandon his Family, break with his best friend, and become an Asura!
Yet Hashirama could easily change direction because of a few "words of persuasion" from his wife?
What is this?!
Those intense arguments, the clashes of ideals, the life-and-death battles between them... in Hashirama's heart, could they not even compare to a few gentle words from his wife?
"Ah!"
An indescribable rage and a feeling of being completely slighted and insulted completely devoured the last shred of Madara's reason!
Madara suddenly let go of Hashirama's collar and leaped backward, violent Chakra exploding from him like a tangible storm!
"Susanoo!"
An unimaginably huge, armored blue giant, accompanied by an earth-shattering roar and a terrifying pressure that seemed to tear through space, descended upon this land of the Pure Land!
This Perfect Susanoo reached a shocking height of two hundred meters!
Just by descending in a half-kneeling posture, its massive body and wings tore the Six Paths Sage's originally elegant little pavilion into pieces, like a child's building blocks.
The two-hundred-meter-tall blue demon lowered its head, with the same violent flames burning in its eye sockets as in Madara's heart, looking down at Senju Hashirama below, who was completely unaffected, and the Six Paths Sage, who had left the combat range and was floating in the air, his long beard fluttering, his expression still calm.
The terrifying pressure, like a tangible mountain, enveloped this area.
The original tranquility and peace in this part of the Pure Land were completely broken, replaced by the suffocation and murderous intent on the eve of destruction.
Madara stood in the crystal on the forehead of the Susanoo, his long hair dancing wildly due to the violent energy, his Rinnegan left with nothing but cold, bone-chilling killing intent and rage. He looked down at Hashirama, his voice like ten-thousand-year-old ice:
"Hashirama... It seems that, in the end, we still have to use this to speak between us!"
"Wood Release!"
Upon seeing the Susanoo, Hashirama finally put away that honest expression, his eyes becoming sharp and solemn, and he slammed his hands together.
A giant wooden figure nearly two hundred meters tall and a massive wood dragon nearly three hundred meters long slowly rose from the ground.
The wood dragon wrapped itself around the wooden figure.
Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, piloting the two giants, began their own battle.
"Hashirama!"
"Madara!"
"I am sure that I like you."
Sakura took Naruto's hand.
"However, I really want to know why you agreed so readily."
Hearing this, Naruto was a bit embarrassed.
However, his thick skin had already been honed.
"To put it ugly, I am a scumbag.
To put it nicely, because I have felt loneliness, I want to give more people warmth."
Naruto's feigned calm expression was soon changed by a hand grabbing his ear.
Uchiha Hikari pulled Naruto's ear with a sullen face, bringing her face close to his.
"Then you are quite a good person!"
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