Madara's words hung between us like smoke over a battlefield.
I let my shoulders drop, just a little. Funny how even now, after everything, I still relax around these idiots.
"It's been a while since we talked like this," I muttered. "Feels like… what? More than ten years? Back when we weren't busy leading clans and dying every other week."
Madara gave a dry laugh. "We grew up."
Hashirama's gaze softened with that same melancholy he always carried. He knew exactly what I meant.
When we were kids, the three of us used to rant about changing the world. No clans. No war. Just three brats slinging stones across the river and dreaming big.
Then we got older.
Older means responsibilities. Responsibilities mean chains.
And chains mean you don't get to choose anything anymore, not even your enemies.
"Do you two still remember your childhood wishes?" I asked quietly.
Hashirama closed his eyes, grief flickering across his face.
Madara hesitated, then squared his jaw like a man walking into fire.
"We remember," he said. "But remembering doesn't change anything. We all have roles. And those roles lead us here. To a fight."
So that was the choice. Their choice.
I let out a breath that felt like ash. "Then you've abandoned the old dream. Fine. Today we sever everything that came before."
My chakra surged, burning through the air as Susanoo raised its blade. There was no turning back now.
"Konoha is the place I'm going to build," I said, voice low and sharp. "My dream, my life, everything I've bled for is there. Anyone who tries to stop me dies."
Susanoo lunged.
Madara's eyes blazed with Eternal Mangekyō, bright like twin crimson storms. "Raizen! I've wanted to test myself against you for years. Don't hold back!"
His complete Susanoo burst into being, twin blue blades carving through the air as he charged.
From behind him, Hashirama's voice cracked the sky.
"Wood Release! Deep Forest Emergence!"
The ground detonated.
Trees, vines, roots, whole forests erupted upward, swallowing the battlefield in a tangle of living muscle. Their crushing weight thundered toward me.
"Tch."
I kicked Madara's Susanoo back with a double slash, wings flaring as my Susanoo lifted into the air. Leaves and debris spiraled around us like some twisted mural of our childhood riverbank.
"Amaterasu."
"Flame Control."
A black arrow of fire formed, drawn back by Susanoo's massive bow. With a single release, it twisted into a dragon of black flame, roaring as it dived toward both of them.
Hashirama slammed his hands together. A tidal wave of trees rose to block it. Wood groaned, burn marks spreading, but the vines didn't break.
Madara shot into the sky, blade raised.
"Don't get cocky!"
He swung at me.
"Kamui Shuriken."
I sneered, flicking my wrist. The arrow launched, a shuriken folded within the distortion.
Madara's Susanoo jerked as the flaming projectile slammed into its chest, driving him toward the dirt.
But Madara was Madara. He rolled the impact through his Susanoo in some ridiculous contortion, absorbing the force before flipping back toward me with murderous intent.
Fine.
Try this.
White light burst from my hands. A barrier cannon. Raw, compressed chakra. It screamed across the sky like a falling star.
Madara's eyes widened. He dropped, slamming Susanoo back to earth just as the blast carved a trench across the world behind him.
He wiped cold sweat off his brow. "I'll admit it… that was unpleasant."
I hovered above them, expression flat. "Is that all you've got?"
Madara barked a laugh, more exhilarated than angry. "You're still the same insufferable brat."
Before he could attack again, Hashirama spoke.
"Raizen… stop. Please." His voice trembled with something painfully sincere. "We don't have to do this. Not like this."
I stared at him.
"Hashirama, you know the only way we stop is if one clan kneels to the other. Are the Senju joining Konoha?"
His smile twisted painfully. "I don't want more war. I'm tired of burying people. I don't want to fight you, and I don't want to fight Konoha."
Hashirama stepped forward alone, hands lowered.
"If we must clash, then let it be just us. No clans. No titles. No burdens. A fight like when we were kids. Just the three of us… deciding our futures with our own hands."
I stared into those eyes. Clear. Honest. Ridiculous.
Even after everything he'd lived through... Hashirama hadn't changed.
Not at all.