Hokage × Strange Howling

After reaching an agreement with Hashirama, Madara did not linger at the Hokage Building.

They quickly settled on implementing only the parts that did not affect the clans' actual interests for now, avoiding conflict and proceeding step by step.

As for the draft's true origin, they agreed to conceal Izuna's name completely.

"If anyone notices or presses us about it, we'll say the two of us came up with it together." Madara's tone left no room for argument.

Hashirama nodded. "I understand. But Tobirama... I'm afraid we can't hide it from him. He knows both you and me too well, and Konoha can't function without his attention to detail. Once he knows what we're doing, he'll surely guess it has something to do with Izuna."

Madara's brow furrowed again. That was one of his greatest concerns.

"Rather than let him figure it out himself and investigate in secret, we should tell him part of it ourselves and make sure he understands what's at stake."

Hashirama suggested, "Tobirama can be stubborn sometimes, but he cares about Konoha as much as we do. If we make him understand the draft's potential value to the village's future and the need to protect Izuna, he'll cooperate."

Madara was silent for a long time before finally nodding slowly. "All right. But he has to sign the strictest confidentiality contract. If he dares breathe a word of it, or does anything to harm Izuna..."

A red gleam flashed in Madara's eyes, his unfinished words carrying a chilling warning.

"Don't worry, leave it to me." Hashirama patted his chest and grinned cheerfully. "Madara, don't worry so much. Go back and get some rest. Your injury only just healed."

Madara gave a noncommittal snort. "Cut the nonsense. You know that hardly counted as an injury."

"Madara, that's—"

"Shut up!"

Hashirama sank into gloom.

Madara was speechless. "Can you stop getting depressed all the time? What will people think if you're still like this when you're Hokage?"

Before Hashirama could complain, Madara had said something he never expected. His head shot up, and his eyes went wide. "I want you to be Hokage!"

"Izuna said you'd become Hokage, so you will." Madara planted his hands on his hips. "You just stay in that position."

Hashirama stared at him. "Izuna said I'd become Hokage?"

Madara raised an eyebrow. "He also said I didn't care for your position."

"But..."

"All right, I'll let you have the First Hokage's position." Madara gave him a carefree grin. "But I get to be the Second."

Hashirama's eyes grew brighter and brighter. At last, he jumped up with a cheer. "Then it's a deal!"

"Yeah!"

Madara picked up the original draft, with all the immeasurable weight it carried, and vanished silently through the window as he had come, disappearing into the deep night.

Hashirama stood alone in the brightly lit office, gazing at the window where Madara had vanished. It was as though a scorching current had filled his chest, swelling until he hardly knew what to do with himself.

All traces of laziness and gloom had vanished from his handsome face, replaced by a pure, uncontrollable excitement, like a child's.

His face glowed, and even the tips of his ears were flushed with excitement.

Hashirama raised his hands and slapped his cheeks hard, then vigorously rubbed his mouth, which was grinning almost from ear to ear, but he still could not contain the happiness overflowing inside him.

Madara... Madara said he wants to be the Second Hokage!

Madara said he'd stay in Konoha!

For the past six months, Hashirama had seemed carefree as he dealt with tedious village affairs each day, matched wits with Tobirama, and worked to balance relations among the clans. But deep inside, a string had remained taut—he was afraid of losing Madara.

He was afraid Madara would grow increasingly disappointed in Konoha, afraid Madara would decide this path to peace led nowhere, afraid his proud, untamed best friend would leave without a sound, like the wind, to pursue a path unknown to him alone.

For that reason, he had maintained his relationship with Madara with near-excessive care, indulging some of Madara's more extreme remarks and even wavering over the Hokage Position, torn with indecision.

But just now, Madara had said it himself!

He had said, "I'll let you have the First Hokage's position," and "I get to be the Second"!

This was more than a promise about a position. It was Madara's acceptance of and commitment to Konoha and the path they shared!

It meant Madara truly was willing to stay and continue building their shared dream with him!

"This is wonderful... wonderful!" Unable to contain himself, Hashirama spun around the empty office, his loose green robes swishing as he whirled, like a child who had received a beloved toy.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, until he felt he had endless energy. The joy was practically bursting out of the top of his head. He had to do something to let it out!

He stopped abruptly and swept his sparkling eyes around the office, his gaze finally settling on the window.

It was late, and most of Konoha lay shrouded in peaceful darkness, with only scattered lights here and there.

At the edge of the village, the enormous rock face that held the dreams he and Madara had first shared revealed its hazy, majestic outline in the moonlight.

A childish impulse seized Hashirama!

His figure vanished in a flash, leaving only a breeze to stir the scattered papers on his desk.

The next second, Hashirama Senju appeared atop the rock face.

The night wind whistled, blowing through his long black hair and tugging at his robes.

From this height, he could take in all of Konoha, still under construction, at a glance.

Moonlight poured down like liquid silver onto the rows of rooftops, winding streets, and the shadowy forest in the distance, peaceful and full of life.

An indescribable sense of pride and satisfaction mingled with his earlier elation and surged through Hashirama's heart.

He took a deep breath of the night air, fragrant with grass and trees, and cupped his hands around his mouth. All the happiness, excitement, and boundless anticipation for the future that had built up in his chest turned into one full-throated—

"Awooooo!!!"

The loud, booming howl burst like thunder out of a clear sky, instantly shattering Konoha's peaceful night. It echoed through the mountains and village, startling a flock of birds from the distant woods.

Immediately afterward, startled cries and angry curses rang out across the village, one after another:

"What the fuck was that?!"

"Who the hell is that in the middle of the night?! Are you going to let us sleep or not?!"

"Is that a wolf? No, wolves don't sound that awful!"

"Which bastard is making that horrible racket?! I have a mission tomorrow!"

"Sounds like it came from Hokage Rock... It couldn't be Lord Hashirama, could it?"

"No way! How could Lord Hashirama... Uh, actually, I guess it could be..."

"Lord Hashirama! Please get a hold of yourself!"

Listening to the sleepy, angry complaints from below, Hashirama felt no embarrassment at all. Instead, he chuckled, his shoulders shaking.

He did not care one bit. He felt so light he could almost fly away on the moonlight.

He lowered his head, his gaze seemingly able to pierce the darkness and see the quiet residence in the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Izuna...

The smile on Hashirama's face softened, and his eyes filled with sincere gratitude.

Thank you, Izuna.

Thank you for coming back.

Thank you for bringing that astonishing draft and lighting the way toward Konoha's future.

Thank you... for making Madara stay.

He did not know what Izuna had experienced in that world, where his extraordinary wisdom came from, or why he had grown close to him and Tobirama so naturally...

But at that moment, Hashirama Senju's heart was full of relief and gratitude.

He was grateful that this remarkable "little brother" had come to this world.

He was grateful that Izuna had given their crumbling dream of peace a much-needed boost.

"Madara... Izuna..." Hashirama murmured the two names, determination shining in his eyes. "We'll build Konoha into a fine village. We will."

He took one last look at the sleeping village below, drew a deep breath, and vanished.

Only the moonlight remained, still shining gently on the bare Hokage Rock, as if silently bearing witness to the secret conversation that had taken place that night and would determine the course of the future.

In the distance, the villagers who had been woken up cursed for a while, but when they heard no more strange noises, they gradually drifted back to sleep.

Only a very few perceptive ninja, such as a certain white-haired, red-eyed man on his way to the Hokage Building to call his big brother home to bed, felt a vein throb at his temple when he heard that bizarre howl.

What kind of madness has Big Brother gotten up to this time?!

By the time Madara returned to the Uchiha Residence, all was quiet. He softened his footsteps and went first to Izuna's room.

He slid the door open a crack. By the faint light from the corridor, he could see his younger brother curled up under the covers, breathing deeply and evenly, fast asleep.

Madara stood in the doorway for a moment, taking comfort in the sight, and smiled gently.

He quietly closed the door, returned to his own room, and laid out his bedding to sleep.

But lying in bed, Madara was not sleepy at all.

The scroll and its neat yet powerful words seemed to bear a searing heat, branded into his mind and impossible to shake.

He closed his eyes, but in the darkness, every detail of the draft, every ingenious idea, and the revolutionary thinking behind it emerged all the more clearly.

"Is the Uchiha Clan a traditional Shinobi Clan held together by bloodline and martial might, or an 'organization' with shared goals, interests, and rules, which form the basis for effective cooperation?"

The question posed at the beginning echoed in his mind again and again.

Yes, what are the Uchiha? What are the Senju? What, in essence, are the Hyuga, Sarutobi, Shimura... the Shinobi Clans that fought without end during the Warring States Period?

They were fighting groups, bound together by blood, surviving through force, and perpetuating themselves by seizing and guarding resources.

They revered the strong and despised the weak. Their internal hierarchies were rigid, and when dealing with outsiders, they either conquered or submitted.

Survival was their sole purpose, and strength their sole truth.

That was a ninja's fate, an instinct flowing in their blood.

He and Hashirama had established Konoha to break that fate and create a future where children would not have to go to war.

But the methods they had used to establish Konoha were still the methods of ninja—greater power, the exchange and balancing of interests, and the deterrence of force.

They were trying to build a shelter for a new world with the bricks and tiles of the old.

Izuna's draft, however, pointed toward an entirely different foundation.

It no longer regarded a clan as a closed fortress founded on blood and force, but as an organization with shared goals.

What held an organization together was not the personal authority of a powerful individual or the natural bonds of blood, but clear rules, effective division of labor, fair incentives, and shared interests.

A community that did not depend on a savior or an unrivaled powerhouse, but could survive, develop, and withstand risks from within and without through the healthy functioning of its own institutions.

If... if a model like that could really be put into practice within the Uchiha and in Konoha...

Madara's breathing involuntarily quickened.

Then perhaps ninja could truly escape their fate as "tools."

They could cease to be swords wielded at will by nobles and daimyo and discarded when no longer needed, and instead become... people, with wills and rules of their own, able to control their own destinies.

A group possessing immense power, yet restrained and guided by reason, cooperation, and rules accepted by all.

Such a Konoha would no longer be merely another, larger alliance of Shinobi Clans, but the beginnings of a true, unprecedented nation of ninja.

Even those worries and considerations could not stop his thoughts from surging.

Madara gazed at the familiar outline of the ceiling in the darkness, unable to sleep.

All night long, he worked through the draft's details in his mind, imagining the resistance they might encounter and planning how to put it into practice step by step, all while worry for Izuna and the urge to protect him lingered in his thoughts.

Thoughts came one after another, colliding fiercely.

Only when the horizon outside the window gradually turned pale and the faint morning light began to drive the darkness from the room did those thoughts subside a little.

Madara sat up, went to the window, and pushed it open.

The cool morning breeze swept into the room, carrying the fresh scent of plants and clearing his head a little after a night of thinking had left it aching.

In the distance, Konoha's outline gradually grew clear in the dawn light.

Madara's gaze was calm and resolute.

The road ahead was long and strewn with thorns.

But he had already seen the direction of the light.

For the peaceful future they had dreamed of together, and for the younger brother who had brought the light and needed his protection.

Madara Uchiha had never feared a challenge.

He let out a soft breath, then turned to wash up and prepare for a new day destined to be anything but peaceful.