"Mm. Wait a moment. Let me sort out my thoughts."
Hashirama Senju raised his hand, signaling Rei Kaguya and Orochimaru beside him to wait for a while. Then he bent his fingers one by one and began listing out the information he had grasped so far.
"Kirigakure. Fourth Mizukage of the Kaguya clan. And this is Konoha Year 51. In other words, this is the world more than thirty years after my death…"
When he thought to this point, Hashirama suddenly raised his head and looked straight into Rei Kaguya's eyes. In a broad, kindly tone like a neighborhood uncle, he asked in good faith,
"Then, since Kirigakure has already reached its Fourth Mizukage, and even has a young man as shockingly young as you serving as Mizukage, what about Konoha? What generation of Hokage has Konoha reached?"
"The Fourth. His period of ascension was close to mine. In terms of age, he is seven or eight years older than I am, but he is still very young."
Rei Kaguya naturally picked up Hashirama Senju's question. There was no barrier or distance between them due to the difference in their positions as Kirigakure and Konoha. Rather than speaking with the deceased God of Shinobi, his relaxed manner made it seem more like he was chatting with an old acquaintance he had not seen for many years.
"Oh? Has the shinobi world already reached an era where villages can allow outstanding young people to rise to power?"
Hearing this, Hashirama Senju's eyes lit up. As he nodded somewhat proudly, he asked with curiosity,
"Then, if it is convenient, can you also tell me which clan Konoha's current Fourth Hokage comes from? The Uchiha clan? Or the Hyuga clan?"
"Neither."
Rei Kaguya smiled lightly and shook his head.
"Mm… Then could it be a younger shinobi from the Shimura, Sarutobi, or perhaps Ino-Shika-Cho families? If that is the case, they have become quite prosperous as well…"
The light in Hashirama Senju's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Every time he named a ninja clan that had already joined Konoha during his era, the smile on his lips could not help becoming more obvious. Looking at that open and honest expression, devoid of the slightest falsehood, Rei Kaguya could not help feeling admiration for the idealist position that had not faded even until Hashirama's death.
He took a deep breath, then gave an answer that nearly made Hashirama burst into laughter on the spot.
"None of them. Konoha's Fourth Hokage is a civilian-born ninja named Minato Namikaze. He inherited the Flying Thunder God Technique created by the Second Hokage and carried it forward, earning the title of Yellow Flash during the recently concluded Third Shinobi World War. After the war ended, he received the position of Hokage from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Oh, now that really is wonderful!"
Hashirama Senju could no longer suppress his smile. He laughed heartily.
"More than thirty years later, even a civilian-born ninja can learn a profound ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God Technique and become a Hokage recognized by everyone. To allow something like that to happen… Konoha has become much more open-minded than it was when I was alive! Monkey really did well."
"Open-minded… is it?"
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth curved into a cold arc.
"Then Lord First, you truly are optimistic."
"A civilian ninja being able to stand out, even becoming a Hokage who surpasses ninja with Kekkei Genkai and clan inheritances… In the era when Konoha had just been established, even I did not have much confidence that such a thing could be achieved. From that perspective, Monkey has already done better than me, the First."
Hashirama Senju, who was in a good mood, did not pay much attention to the cold barbs hidden in Orochimaru's words. Instead, he sincerely praised the changes the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had made in that regard. Only then did he take a deep breath and turn his gaze back to Rei Kaguya, whose expression was amused. His tone became somewhat serious again as he asked,
"However… the Third Shinobi World War? After I left, did even the deterrent force of the Tailed Beasts fail to make the ninja led by the Five Great Shinobi Villages abandon the idea of launching wars?"
"To be precise, shortly after your death, the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki were deployed as some of the most important weapons of war of the Five Great Shinobi Villages into the First Shinobi World War, which swept across the entire shinobi world. The intensity of that war not only far surpassed the conflicts at the end of the Warring States Period, but also led to the deaths of every Second Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, directly pushing the shinobi world into the era of the Third Kage."
"…It actually became like that?"
Looking at Hashirama Senju's expression, which instantly became gloomy and solemn, Rei Kaguya shrugged and commented in a casual tone.
"For the time being, I will not speculate on or judge what considerations led you to distribute the nine Tailed Beasts to the Five Great Shinobi Villages at the first Five Kage Summit. But judging from the development of history, you overestimated the deterrent force of the Tailed Beasts as weapons. Intentionally or unintentionally, you also ignored the fact that you yourself, alive and healthy, were the greatest guarantee maintaining peace in that era."
"That could not be helped."
Hashirama Senju sighed and shook his head with a bitter smile.
"After that battle with Madara ended, I could feel my body worsening at an unprecedented speed. Even if I stopped fighting and acting as a ninja after that, I could only have delayed it by another two or three years at most…
"Even if, as you say, I truly was the key to maintaining peace in that era, when my own body had already begun deteriorating uncontrollably, I could not simply remain in that position foolishly without thinking of any methods."
"So you thought of distributing the Tailed Beasts to every hidden village, allowing them all to possess such tremendously destructive trump cards so that they would fear one another and not dare restart the flames of war lightly?"
Rei Kaguya did not dwell on whether Hashirama Senju's decision to distribute the Tailed Beasts was right or wrong. Instead, he asked seriously about the reason behind that choice.
"Yes. Because the power of the Tailed Beasts really is very strong."
Hashirama Senju said words that held no persuasive force coming from someone of his identity, his mood somewhat low.
"I originally thought that if every hidden village possessed similar power, then the threshold for starting a war would become very, very high. The different sides would then be able to sit down properly and resolve disputes through communication…"
"Like you and Madara Uchiha?"
"Perhaps… that consideration was part of it?"
Hashirama Senju scratched his head, not entirely certain himself.
"After all, for someone as proud as Madara, if you did not possess strength on the same level as him, he would not even have the patience to sit down and listen to you. And among the major hidden villages that had just emerged from the chaos of the Warring States Period, there should have been quite a few talented ninja as arrogant as him."
Rei Kaguya gazed at Hashirama Senju's clearly defined face. His voice carried a hint of helplessness.
"Then you truly chose a very strange path, First Hokage. If I remember correctly, even though you and Madara Uchiha once opened your hearts to one another and jointly established Konoha, the first hidden village in the shinobi world, you still ended up parting ways in the end. Eventually, you even reached the point of fighting to the death… Knowing that this attempt had a considerable chance of failure in the end, what exactly was the reason you still chose it?"
"Because Madara and I relied on that kind of mutual understanding to set aside the hatred between the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan and build the Hidden Leaf Village."
A nostalgic expression could not help appearing on Hashirama Senju's face. He tilted his head and glanced at Rei Kaguya, who had not concealed too much of his surging senjutsu chakra. His tone became complicated.
"Even when death came for me, I still had not figured out what Madara meant when he said he had found a new path. I did not know what kind of state of mind made him decide to bring the Nine-Tails back and destroy the Hidden Leaf Village we had built together. I could not even guess why he had to risk his life to fight me in that battle."
"He became someone who carried a goal and dream I could not understand. And I became someone who could kill a friend and family member without hesitation in order to protect the village. In his eyes, perhaps I also became someone he could no longer understand."
Hashirama Senju shook his head with emotion. His expression also became gentle and calm.
He looked at his weak body, made of strange dust and scraps, and murmured to himself.
"But even so, I still remember the relief I felt when Madara and I finally put an end to the war between the Senju and Uchiha. I still miss the freedom and joy we felt when the two of us sat atop the empty Hokage Rock, discussing what name we should give to this childhood dream that had finally come true…
"I even recall more clearly and more deeply the feeling from when we first met. We did not even dare exchange surnames, yet somehow, inexplicably, we felt that the other person was someone who could understand us."
"Perhaps that feeling of mutual understanding was simply too beautiful. That is why I hoped that among the later generations of ninja, there would also appear boys like Madara and me who could reach mutual understanding. They would not need to bear the hatred and pain brought by their clans and villages. They could freely exchange names, become friends, brothers, family, and walk forward together on the foundation I had built, making the road to peace longer and wider."
"But obviously, no matter how beautiful a fantasy is, it is still only a fantasy in the end… Your idea of relying on mutual understanding between people to gradually achieve eternal peace failed without any surprise, Hashirama Senju."
Rei Kaguya remained unmoved, giving Hashirama Senju's sincere and heartfelt confession a cold and sharp evaluation steeped in reality.
"So that is why you, who possess the power to change this era, are alone, Rei Kaguya?"
Hashirama Senju merely gazed at the pair of white eyes in Rei Kaguya's sockets, eyes that did not completely match him, and sighed with complicated emotion.
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