Senju Hashirama did not like conflict; he hoped that the Konohagakure under his rule would never encounter war, and that every child born in this Village could live in peace.
Although he was a person who loved peace, he did not reject the use of force. He knew that to truly ensure the tranquility of the Village, powerful defensive strength was needed; therefore, Ninja training could absolutely not be stopped.
Konohagakure was not a single family like in the past, but an alliance of multiple different Ninja Clans. The way of fighting naturally had to change accordingly, and Tobirama intended to use the experimental results from the Academy to formulate the combat formations that the Ninja Village should adopt in the future.
Others did not know it yet, but Hashirama had already discussed with Tobirama that the Academy would also undergo changes in the future. Not only the heirs of the Ninja Clans, but their other clan members as well would be sent there for training. Furthermore, every Ninja Clan would have to be under the unified management of the Ninja Village; this was a necessary process to realize Hashirama's ideal.
But Hashirama and Tobirama also knew that this was not an easy task, and they could not achieve it all at once. In fact, if it weren't for Tobirama serving as a teacher at the Academy and indicating to each family that he would select outstanding individuals from the Academy as his disciples, the Ninja Clans might not have agreed to this matter.
After all, heirs were supposed to be taught by the Ninja Clans themselves; was there any need to go to some Academy? Could the teachers at the Academy compare to the Ninja Clan's own education?
Only because Hashirama and Tobirama were the ones in charge of the Academy were the Ninja Clans willing to send their heirs to study there. On one hand, they could learn more from the two of them; on the other hand, as long as one became a disciple of either of them, the family heir's voice in the Ninja Village would carry more weight, and the Ninja Clans certainly would not miss this opportunity.
Even though he had a premonition, Hashirama still felt very frustrated to see the Ninja Clans only willing to send out their heirs after he had made so many promises. Tobirama comforted his older brother, saying that this was the first step to realizing their ideal. As long as this first step was taken, the path ahead could be continued, and sooner or later, the Ninja Village of Hashirama's ideal would truly appear.
Tobirama expressed that he believed the future landscape of the Ninja World would further drive this process. Other Ninja Villages had also gradually established themselves, and the situation of the Five Great Nations standing against each other had initially formed. To ensure the tranquility of the nation, the method of Ninja Clans teaching Ninjas on their own was likely already outdated, and education led by the Ninja Village could better guarantee the Village's strength.
Only the Senju brothers knew these things, and they would not easily let these thoughts slip out; if they encountered resistance from the Ninja Clans, their ideal would only become more and more distant.
Therefore, they had to carefully implement these policies, slowly weakening the clans' control over their own Ninjas without them realizing it, and letting those from the Ninja Clans establish an identity with Konohagakure. From now on, there would only be Ninjas of Konohagakure, not Ninjas belonging solely to a certain family.
This point applied not only to other Ninja Clans, but even the Senju Clan to which Hashirama and Tobirama belonged had to follow this rule. To achieve their goal, they also needed to find people who could agree with their ideas. Tobirama choosing his own disciples in the Academy was also out of this consideration. In the Ninja World, a disciple was the successor of the master; ideals, Ninjutsu, will, and so on, would all be inherited by the disciple.
Although the Konoha Academy had not officially opened, Hashirama already had a candidate in mind. He silently glanced at Fūmori Masaki. With Fūmori Masaki's ability to perceive Natural Energy, his future strength would certainly make him one of the best in the Village. No one could be clearer than Hashirama about the power of Senjutsu; once one truly mastered the power of Senjutsu, it created an obvious distance from ordinary people.
However, Hashirama still had to examine Fūmori Masaki's mindset—whether he could prioritize the Village's interests over his own family's interests, and put the Village's interests before his family's. If he could do that, then Fūmori Masaki would have the qualifications to inherit this Ninja Village!
Looking at Fūmori Masaki, Hashirama laughed, "Haha, don't think about these things first. Let me teach you how to control Natural Energy. It's not like you can expect me to stay here forever."
Fūmori Masaki came back to his senses and also realized that his immediate priority was to learn to control the Natural Energy that was constantly being absorbed into his body. Just by speaking for a short while, the Natural Energy in his body had accumulated quite a bit more. Therefore, he composed his thoughts and began to listen attentively to Hashirama's instruction.
Satomi did not know what Senju Hashirama and Fūmori Masaki were talking about. She knew that some things were not meant to be known. Although Hashirama did not say it explicitly, Satomi naturally understood the meaning, so she moved a far distance away from the house to ensure that she would not hear their conversation.
She sat on a stone by the doorway, resting her cheeks in her hands, looking up at the sky. From time to time, she looked at the house, and seeing no sign of anyone coming out, she continued to wait.
After an unknown amount of time, when Satomi was so bored she was about to doze off, she heard the sound of the door opening.
Satomi immediately woke up, turned her head, and saw Senju Hashirama and Fūmori Masaki walking out. She quickly stood up and ran over, asking hurriedly, "Lord Hashirama, how is Masaki?"
"Ah?" Hashirama was stunned upon hearing this. He looked at Fūmori Masaki beside him and smiled at Satomi, "He is fine now, and this situation will not happen again in the future."
Satomi immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her face, and said to Fūmori Masaki, "That's great, Masaki."
Fūmori Masaki nodded with a faint smile, bowed to Senju Hashirama, and said, "Thank you so much, Lord Hashirama."
"No, this also relied on yourself; I only provided some help." Hashirama smiled, his gaze toward Fūmori Masaki carrying a trace of surprise. This kid learned way too fast.
Although Hashirama's own understanding of Senjutsu was already very deep, and his experience in learning Senjutsu was partly similar to Fūmori Masaki's, his experience was indeed rich, but he had not expected Fūmori Masaki's comprehension ability to be even more impressive than he had imagined. Basically, just by listening once and trying a few times, he had successfully learned to control Natural Energy.
This left Hashirama somewhat bewildered; since when was Natural Energy so easy to control? Even he, when learning Senjutsu back then, had nearly endangered his own life. But looking at Fūmori Masaki who had successfully learned to control Natural Energy, he could only admit that Fūmori Masaki seemed to have a lot of talent in controlling Natural Energy.
Hashirama said, "Masaki, you should rest your body well. The damage caused before has not completely healed yet, so don't be in a hurry to go to the Academy."
"I understand, Lord Hashirama," Fūmori Masaki replied.
"Then I'll be going first." As Hashirama said this, having just walked a few steps, he seemed to remember something and said to the two, "Think carefully about what I said before. You two are about the right age to get married, so don't keep dragging it out."
"Well..." Although Satomi was willing, her reserve as a girl prevented her from expressing it actively. Besides, Masaki hadn't agreed yet. At this moment, Fūmori Masaki, who was beside her, said, "Okay."
Satomi looked at Fūmori Masaki in surprise. He had clearly said he wanted to achieve better results before getting married, so why did he suddenly agree now?
Hashirama didn't mind, smiling, "Good, then I'll go prepare for the two of you's wedding and pick a good day. Haha." Since neither Satomi nor Masaki had parents, it was naturally up to Hashirama to arrange the wedding; after all, he was Satomi's elder.
After Hashirama left, Satomi gently bit her lip and said to Fūmori Masaki, "Why did you agree to marry me? Didn't you say before that you wanted to wait until you became a Jonin before getting married?"
"Are you unwilling?" Fūmori Masaki asked.
"Of course not!" Satomi responded a bit urgently, then felt her reaction was too eager, turned her head away with blushing cheeks, and said, "I was just a bit curious."
"This incident rang an alarm bell for me; I almost left this world," Fūmori Masaki said. "I don't think things can go on like this. If I couldn't even fulfill your wish before I died, that would be too shameful."
"What kind of unlucky things are you saying!" Satomi glared at Fūmori Masaki, grabbed his hand, and said solemnly, "You cannot die; you still have to revive your family."
"I know, I definitely don't want to die." Fūmori Masaki smiled, "I don't want to leave you alone in this world."
Satomi looked at Fūmori Masaki, was silent for a while, and said, "Masaki, you seem to have changed from before."
"Having experienced such things, of course I would change," Fūmori Masaki said. Although he still could not distinguish whether he was "Fūmori Masaki" or that other person, he knew that he had indeed changed. Even without confirmation, he guessed that his spirit had undergone some unique changes, and the reason for absorbing Natural Energy probably stemmed from this. When learning to control Natural Energy, he clearly felt that it was easier for him to calm his mind and perceive the Natural Energy flowing in the outside world.
Fūmori Masaki also believed that the manga he had seen predicted the future of this world. Although that manga did not have a clear timeline, he thought that it wouldn't be long before Uchiha Madara, the head of the Uchiha Clan, would leave Konohagakure. A few years later, he would attack Konoha with the Nine-Tailed, and Senju Hashirama would also pass away shortly after the battle at the Valley of the End. With Senju Hashirama's death as the beginning, what was to come was the First Great Ninja War, which would leave deep wounds on the Five Great Nations.
Thinking of the future wars and conspiracies, Fūmori Masaki made up his mind. He must become stronger so he could survive the brutal First Great Ninja War. Then, he also had to eliminate the factors that would endanger Konohagakure and the entire Ninja World one by one. For this, he must obtain powerful strength and authority, so that he would have enough capability and the power to utilize to deal with those enemies.
And the Konoha Academy was an opportunity. Fūmori Masaki thought to himself that he would try to become a disciple of Senju Tobirama, learn profound Ninjutsu from him, and his performance would have to surpass Hiruzen Sarutobi, letting Senju Tobirama choose him as the successor to become the Third Hokage of Konohagakure.