"But in the shinobi world—in this Warring States era where strength and authority come first—as the lining, you're the one more suited to stand at the front, with the face best placed behind you."
"A great tree that flourishes, with its bright, fresh leaves—behind them are roots that lurk in darkness, constantly drawing up nourishment."
"Roots are ugly, but without them, where would the leaves come from?"
"Your duties and burdens are far heavier than what Hashirama has to carry… You're Izunai's older brother, and now you count as my family too."
"I don't want to deceive you. I want to lay it all out plainly for you, Madara… I hope that, knowing these flaws, you're still willing to accept and bear them."
Tobirama sighed.
"Of course, Izunai doesn't want to see you this exhausted… And personally, I believe you're the best choice. But still, we're family. If you find it too difficult, we can always come up with another way together…"
Family?
Madara mulled over the word, staring hard at Tobirama's earnest face. In the end, he could only give a helpless curl of his lips and nod.
They really were family now…
If Tobirama had harbored ulterior motives, he would never have laid everything bare like this.
He was speaking the truth.
"Hmph… Do you think I don't know all this already? It's nothing but the criticism of the weak. I, Uchiha Madara, what would I have to fear?"
Straightening his collar, Madara's Mangekyō eyes burned like blood in the dim room as he spoke in a low voice: "Let that childlike simpleton Hashirama be the so-called face. Like you said, Tobirama, for this role—who else but me?"
"I stopped caring about others' opinions long ago. All that matters is that I know what I'm doing is right!"
In his heart, Tobirama allowed himself a smile.
Surely he didn't care anymore? That was doubtful…
Izunai had told him herself—her brother cared more than anyone about the opinion of the clan.
Still, Tobirama gave him full respect, nodding. "I believe in you, Madara! You'll be the best First Hokage!"
"Of course!" Uchiha Madara declared, brimming with confidence.
"By the way, Madara, the Indra chakra in your body—have you finished absorbing it? Any unusual effects?"
Tobirama's eyes settled on Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan as he asked.
These past months hadn't just been about merging Senju and Uchiha.
With the Six Paths power he had only just begun to unlock, combined with the malevolent Blaze Release: Wakatsuki that burned both spirit and soul, Tobirama had devised a treatment tailored for Hashirama and Madara.
The black flames slowly scorched away the remnants of Indra and Asura's chakra, destroying their consciousness while leaving behind only useful nourishment.
"Hmph…"
Madara let out a cold snort, but faced with Tobirama's look of genuine concern, he hesitated for a moment before speaking in a quieter voice: "No anomalies. Indra's consciousness has already been extinguished. My ocular power is steadily increasing. Compared to before, using Susanoo now hardly drains my eyes at all."
"Then I'm relieved…" Tobirama nodded. "Go all out, Madara!"
At that moment, even though Madara still held plenty of grudges against Tobirama, he had to admit—having this damn bastard by his side was, in every way, a true relief!
So much so that, compared with Izunai, even the biased Madara had to concede—Izunai is wonderful, but compared to Tobirama, she still falls short!
Too damn useful!
"And what about you, Tobirama? What will you and Izunai be doing…" Even Madara himself didn't realize that, without noticing, he had begun calling this bastard by his name.
"You remember what I told you before, don't you, Madara…"
Tobirama's fingers tapped lightly on the desk. "The Ōtsutsuki clan… they may yet come to this shinobi world. I have to find a way to deal with that future crisis."
"But that belongs to the future. What matters now is returning this war-torn world to peace. So, we'll divide into two paths."
"You, Hashirama, and Izunai will handle the present. I'll take responsibility for the future."
Tobirama spoke calmly.
Madara looked at the man he had once hated so bitterly, and in his heart, a flood of emotions surged forth—helplessness, disappointment, admiration, envy…
What Tobirama had chosen to do was the hardest.
In this great era when the spotlight was about to fall upon Senju and Uchiha, to earn renown as legendary ninja who brought all wars to an end—that was something even Uchiha Madara yearned for.
Who wouldn't want to be the one who carved history?
No one could resist such temptation.
But Tobirama dismissed it entirely. As the greatest contributor, he simply and decisively stepped back from the stage, handed off all the essentials, and turned to confront the hidden dangers of the future…
Such magnanimity left Uchiha Madara ashamed in comparison.
"…Thank you, Tobirama."
Madara let out a sigh and extended his hand of his own accord. "I will be a worthy Hokage. And you must take care of Izunai…"
"If you need anything, tell me. I'll help you."
"Of course. I won't be shy—we're family, after all…" Tobirama smiled and reached out his hand.
The two men's hands clasped together firmly.
And from that day forth, the alliance of Senju and Uchiha declared war upon the entire shinobi world!
...
"Ah? War has broken out? Why didn't you tell me, Madara…!"
Hashirama clutched his head, staring at his friend in disbelief, and shouted.
A rather comical matter.
Every single member of the Senju and Uchiha clans already knew that war was about to begin—
—because Uchiha Madara had issued a declaration of war against the entire shinobi world.
But Hashirama, who paid no attention to current affairs and spent his days basking in the harmony between Senju and Uchiha after peace, hadn't noticed at all.
After all, back when he was still head of the Senju, any major or minor event in the shinobi world had always been filtered and simplified by Tobirama before being presented to him…
If Tobirama didn't tell him, then as clan head he was essentially sidelined, blind to everything.
Tacitly, Tobirama, Madara, and Izunai all kept it from Hashirama… and none of the Senju or Uchiha thought it strange that someone as important as Hashirama wouldn't even know about this.
So today, when Hashirama was playing shogi with an Uchiha elder, the elder kindly remarked—
"Make sure you perform well in the war—you're Senju Hashirama, after all…"
Hashirama agreed without thinking, only to realize—wait, there's a war?
He hurriedly took his leave from the elder, escaping from a game he was about to lose, and rushed anxiously to find Tobirama and Madara to ask what was going on.
"There is a war, Hashirama… but you don't need to take part. The three of us—me, Izunai, and Tobirama—are enough to handle them."
Uchiha Madara cast him a glance and said with amusement, "Judging by the timing, you were playing shogi with that old man again, weren't you?"
"I hear you haven't won lately. How about today?"
Hashirama instantly deflated, his mood plunging as if under a genjutsu, his forehead filling with dark lines.
"Ah… he's still too strong. If it weren't for something coming up today, I'd probably have gotten beaten dizzy again…"
Hearing Hashirama's answer, Madara, Izunai, and Tobirama all burst out laughing. For a while, the room was full of cheerful air, nothing like people about to go to war.
But in his gloom, Hashirama suddenly realized something was off!
The situation had changed… why did it feel like Tobirama and Madara were getting along so well, bringing Izunai with them and leaving him isolated?
Such a major matter, and they hadn't even told him!
Looking at Tobirama standing shoulder to shoulder with Madara, Hashirama's mind went blank… wait, that used to be his place!
Just how had his troublesome younger brother pulled it off? He'd even managed to talk Madara around…
What young Hashirama didn't know was—
To Tobirama, a young Uchiha Madara was the easiest to handle. As the greatest hand behind forcing Madara out of Konoha in the past, a certain white-haired man understood better than anyone the principle of teaching with both carrot and stick.
What Madara cared about was nothing more than his clan's understanding, his obsessive yearning for peace, and his refusal to be betrayed…
And all of those, Tobirama could give him.
When Tobirama laid everything out, using the art of words to turn Madara's disadvantages as Hokage into advantages as the "power behind the throne," the problem was solved with ease.
Uchiha Madara didn't need to think about anything else; he only needed to do what he was best at.
To deal with the Uchiha clan—especially the deep-minded, paranoid Mangekyō Uchiha—the best method was to plainly state what you intended to do, then lightly embellish it in the manner he liked; that always produced a good result.
Tobirama had come to understand this deeply through his interactions with Kazuki.
How he had come to understand it was, of course, by watching how Kazuki got along with other Uchiha...
That Uchiha Obito—even when driven to the brink of madness—still thought of Kazuki in his heart and refused to do anything that would harm Kazuki...
This, then, was the true worth of the new-generation Uchiha king!