"You two… you can feel it as well, can't you? Hashirama, you once told me about that chakra inside you—the one that seems to push you to greater potential."
Tobirama's gaze turned deep, and he spoke each word with deliberate weight: "This is the price. The chakras of Asura and Indra, while stirring your bloodline and granting you power, also subtly reshape your thoughts. With the strength of the ancestors, they take possession in another form—remaking the descendants into copies of themselves."
"At that point, though you may appear to be Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, in truth, you are nothing more than Asura and Indra."
Senju Hashirama nodded heavily in silence.
He had long sensed the chakra within him… but never had he realized Asura's chakra was so deadly.
Like a maggot gnawing piece by piece at his very soul, it carried out a terrible murder unnoticed.
Uchiha Madara's eyes turned sharp as blades.
He could naturally feel it as well… he just hadn't expected it to be this severe!
"I thought this was just my exceptional talent awakening the power of my bloodline…" Uchiha Madara ground his teeth, his voice thick with barely contained fury: "Damn Indra, damn Asura, damn the Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya, and the entire Ōtsutsuki clan!"
Tobirama shot him a surprised glance.
Really? That's your take on it? An inexplicable chakra appears inside you, and instead of being wary like any normal person, you assume it's some gift of your bloodline?
Then again, considering this was a world without Kazuki—where, in the end, Black Zetsu had actually managed to pick the fruit—Tobirama let it go with a sigh.
"In any case, we can draw two conclusions from this…"
He raised two fingers and spoke slowly: "First, the Sage of Six Paths—this so-called guardian of the shinobi world—placed his family squabbles above the entire world."
"The conflict between Asura and Indra is the very root of the endless wars that have ravaged the shinobi world."
"And as family, I will never sit by and allow their chakra to continue influencing the two of you!"
At that, the eyes of young Hashirama and Uchiha Madara lit up.
Could it be solved?
That would be incredible!
Truth be told, when it came to the parasitic chakra of Asura and Indra, the two of them had no real way to resist it.
They were both formidable in battle, but against such insidious trickery, this was not their domain of strength.
If not for Tobirama…
Both Hashirama and Madara shivered at the thought.
Would they really have no choice but to sit and wait for death? To watch helplessly as they grew less and less like themselves, their thoughts manipulated, until they were forced into a death match against their dearest friend?
It was far too venomous—utterly intolerable!
Even if the Sage of Six Paths had once saved the shinobi world, that gave him no right to ride roughshod over all shinobi lives as he pleased!
"Tobirama, it's a good thing I didn't insist too strongly on stopping you from studying forbidden techniques back then!" Young Hashirama let out a long breath, patting his chest with a silly grin.
Tobirama rolled his eyes at him, saying nothing.
Not too strongly, huh? Every time I created one, you tossed it straight into the Sealed Book…
"Hmph, I suppose your research isn't entirely useless after all." Uchiha Madara fixed Tobirama with a complicated stare, and only after a long silence did he mutter those awkward words.
Half thanks, half provocation—
That was just the Uchiha nature: never able to speak properly.
Tobirama, however, took no offense. Instead, he gave Madara a knowing look, thought for a moment, and then suddenly beamed with a bright smile: "Eh? Forget that—brother-in-law!"
"We're family now. Your business is Izunai's business, and Izunai's business is mine. Why act like a stranger?"
With a modest wave of his hand, as though embarrassed by excessive praise, Tobirama slipped an arm around Izunai's shoulders right in front of Madara, laughing heartily as he declared: "Izunai, am I right?"
"You're so full of yourself! Just look at you…" Izunai rolled her eyes at Tobirama and gave him a playful shove.
But the blush spreading across the girl's cheeks revealed everything her heart wanted to say.
A fiancé who could uncover a conspiracy hidden for a thousand years in the shinobi world, and who even had the power to rid her elder brother of such a deadly affliction—how could anyone not be moved?
That single "brother-in-law" not only sent Uchiha Madara's temper flaring red-hot, it also made Izunai's heart feel as though a sweet breeze had passed through.
"You!" Uchiha Madara glared furiously at Tobirama, but when Izunai turned her head toward him in puzzlement, he quickly—helplessly—forced his expression into a stiff smile.
What a wicked Senju!
Madara was certain Tobirama had called him "brother-in-law" purely to spite him! But even if that was true—so what?
This sorrowful clan head of the Uchiha realized, with bitter clarity, that once Izunai was given away in marriage, she was like water spilled—her elbow already bending outward.
"In any case, the first priority is to resolve the Indra and Asura chakra inside the two of you. I'll see it done within one week."
Though Tobirama still held Izunai close, his gaze had grown sharp once more. "The second matter is guarding against the Sage of Six Paths, and preparing for the decisions that will shape the shinobi world's future…"
"First of all, his indulgence toward Indra and Asura makes it clear: though he may have quarreled with his eldest son, it was, in essence, still an internal family dispute."
"If the Sage truly wanted to deal with Indra himself, everything would have ended long ago. So when we, the pawns, turn and kill his son instead—will that not draw his wrath?"
"This is a danger we must remain vigilant against."
Tobirama's tone sank lower as he went on: "And beyond the Sage of Six Paths, we also have to consider the troubles left from the ancient era with the Ōtsutsuki clan."
"Kaguya is still sealed within the moon. Will the Ōtsutsuki send others to exact retribution? These are crises we may one day be forced to face…"
Young Hashirama and Uchiha Madara listened in grave silence.
Not long ago, they had merely been heirs in the Warring States era. Their only real concern had been how to lead their clans to a glorious victory in battle.
To raise one's thoughts to the level of ending the chaos of the Warring States was already a vision far ahead of its time.
But Tobirama—his perspective had already soared to the realm of sages, to the scale of the cosmos itself…
In Izunai's eyes, her love for him only deepened, mingling with an undefinable sense of reverence.
For anyone to meet such a man—brilliant, wise, and yet clumsily harboring a childhood crush on her—how could she not, the more she savored it, fall completely intoxicated?
[Detected intense emotional fluctuations from Uchiha Izunai. A large amount of alien temporal aura has been absorbed.]
[Your Six Paths power has begun to unlock.]
[Detected intense emotional fluctuations from Black Zetsu. A portion of alien temporal aura has been absorbed.]
[Your Six Paths power is unlocking at a slightly faster rate.]
In that instant, Tobirama's heart stirred violently!
What should have been Izunai's contribution suddenly carried an off note…
Though the measure of Six Paths power unsealed was small, it was enough for Tobirama to instantly rouse his sensory perception and lock onto Black Zetsu's position!
"Where do you think you're going?!"
He slammed both palms to the ground. Countless black chains formed from sealing marks erupted like serpents, surging through the earth to strike at Black Zetsu with relentless ferocity!
In a flash, they coiled around it!
Black Zetsu was thrown into panic. It had slipped in here only to investigate the strange anomaly surrounding Tobirama—
—but it had never expected that this man could even pierce through its Ephemeral Technique!
With a violent pull, Tobirama yanked the sealing chains back. Under the stunned eyes of Izunai, Uchiha Madara, and young Hashirama, he dragged Black Zetsu out from beneath the ground by sheer force.
"You…" Black Zetsu glared at him with venomous fury.
"Die!" Tobirama wasted no words. His hand shot forward, seizing its heart, and the overwhelming power of the Six Paths burst through Black Zetsu's body.