Hearing his younger brother say such things, Hashirama's expression turned a little ugly.
Yuzuru raised an eyebrow and asked, "I heard that in order to get others to sign peace treaties, you even kowtowed to them?"
Hashirama fell silent, unable to respond. Tobirama couldn't help but complain, "More than that…"
"If it weren't for my suggestion to buy the tailed beasts with money, big brother was already prepared to give them away to the other villages for free."
Yuzuru hadn't expected something like this and couldn't help teasing him. "First Hokage, you really are a 'ninja' through and through."
Seeing the two of them joking about his past, Hashirama muttered, "For the sake of peace, I'm willing to make some sacrifices."
"As for dignity… I don't care about that."
Yuzuru snorted coldly, disdain evident in his voice. "But everything you did ended up achieving the opposite."
"If all nine tailed beasts were sealed in Konoha, even if you died, would the other villages dare harbor any ill intentions toward Konoha?"
"In the end, everything you did was nothing more than self-gratification."
"Not only did it fail to bring peace to later generations, it only brought endless trouble instead."
Hashirama opened his mouth, but for a moment he couldn't find anything to say.
Yuzuru, however, felt a sense of relief in his heart and continued, "And your original intention in founding the village was to end wars and protect children from having to go onto the battlefield, wasn't it?"
"But during the Ninja Great Wars, not only did the scale of the wars expand to an unimaginable degree, the children of the ninja academies still had to graduate early and be sent to the front lines."
"No longer fighting as clans, these children instead became the ones who died in the greatest numbers."
"Every Ninja World War continued until the new generation was completely severed, then the nations would lick their wounds for over a decade, silently accumulating strength for the next Ninja World War…"
"I say the system you created was nothing more than a childish game born from a moment of hotheadedness. Am I wrong?"
Hashirama spread his hands, but he couldn't find any reason to refute it. The facts had already happened—anything he said now would only sound weak and hollow.
Tobirama sighed, patted Hashirama on the shoulder, and comforted him. "Big brother, with your talent, being able to achieve this much is already very impressive. You don't need to blame yourself so much."
Hashirama choked slightly, feeling even worse inside.
Seeing Tobirama like this, Yuzuru frowned.
So it's fine to criticize him, but not you?
Annoyed, he said, "Second Hokage, you're not much better than the First Hokage either."
Hearing that, dissatisfaction appeared on Tobirama's face. "Then tell me—what's wrong with me?"
"During your time in power, you constantly suppressed the ninja clans and were full of hostility toward the Uchiha clan, causing the internal divisions within the village to grow more and more severe."
"You directly designated Sarutobi as Hokage, rendering the village's jōnin voting system meaningless."
"And most importantly…" Yuzuru snorted coldly, "Sarutobi, Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu—those four were all cultivated by you!"
"From a certain perspective, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that you were the source of the chaos."
Being pointed at and criticized like this by a brat from the Uchiha clan made Tobirama's face alternate between pale and flushed.
But what the other party said was true, and he had no way to refute it.
In the end, he could only say sullenly, "Stop criticizing us all the time. Why don't you tell us what kind of system you want to establish instead?"
Yuzuru smiled. "I want to establish a unified nation across the entire ninja world, integrating everything in the ninja world into one."
"All kinds of resources would be allocated in a unified manner. There would no longer be distinctions between nations, and a complete selection system would be established."
"Same tracks for carts, same writing, unified measurements, unified moral codes…"
Yuzuru patiently explained his ideas at a basic level, leaving both Hashirama and Tobirama feeling stirred to the core.
"Same tracks for carts, same writing, unified measurements, unified moral codes…"
Tobirama muttered the phrase under his breath.
Even someone like him, who had always deeply disliked the Uchiha clan, was somewhat shaken by Yuzuru's words.
What kind of capacity did one need to speak of something like this?
After a moment of silence, Tobirama couldn't help asking, "Your idea does sound very good, but how can you ensure that future generations will continue to follow the rules you establish?"
"Just like us back then—after only three generations, all kinds of systems were already altered beyond recognition."
"After you die, if someone like Sarutobi comes to power again, what then?"
Hearing Tobirama's concern, Yuzuru waved his hand dismissively. "That's small-minded. Your perspective is too narrow."
Tobirama frowned. "What do you mean?"
Yuzuru said calmly, "I've already considered your concern. That's why I made a decision at the very beginning of my plan."
"What decision?"
"I won't be human anymore," Yuzuru said slowly. "I will become an existence beyond the Sage of Six Paths. With eternal life and infinite power, I will suppress all those ambitious individuals who dare to try and destroy the unified ninja world!"
As his words fell, both Hashirama and Tobirama froze in place.
Beyond the Sage of Six Paths?
Eternal life and infinite power?
That sounded nothing short of a fantasy!
Hashirama couldn't help asking, "Yuzuru, is something like that really possible?"
"Of course it is. Sages are omnipotent."
A trace of cold laughter appeared on Tobirama's face, as if he had found an opportunity to mock him. "The Sage of Six Paths exists only in ancient legends. Whether such a person even existed is uncertain."
"And even if the Sage of Six Paths did exist, didn't he die in the end anyway?"
"Besides… how exactly do you plan to become an existence beyond the Sage of Six Paths?"
Seeing the provocative look in Tobirama's eyes, Yuzuru raised an eyebrow. "Very simple. Just become the Ten-Tails jinchuriki."
Hashirama and Tobirama stared blankly at Yuzuru, confused. "Ten-Tails jinchuriki?"
Aren't there only nine tailed beasts in the ninja world?
What is the Ten-Tails supposed to be?
Could it be… that the Uchiha brat in front of them had lost his mind?
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Yuzuru said slowly, "There's no need to doubt the existence of the Ten-Tails."
"The Sage of Six Paths was originally the Ten-Tails jinchuriki, possessing eternal life and immense power."
"The reason he died was only because he voluntarily extracted the Ten-Tails from his own body."
Tobirama immediately refuted, "But there are only nine tailed beasts in the ninja world. We've never heard anything about a Ten-Tails."
Yuzuru chuckled lightly and explained, "That's because the Ten-Tails is the collective form of the nine tailed beasts."
"After the Sage of Six Paths extracted the Ten-Tails from his body, he split it into nine tailed beasts. That's how the nine tailed beasts we're familiar with today came to exist."