Do You Remember How Many Slices of Bread You've Eaten?
Hashirama Senju followed the passing caravans into Konoha, looking around with wide-eyed wonder, like a country bumpkin visiting a grand garden.
This place is quite different from the village he remembered.
Ancient buildings are already rare, and the streets are lined with shops, but he could only recognize a few of the various goods.
Apart from arms dealers, most businessmen prefer a stable environment. Konoha provides guide prices for various commodities, so the profit margin is indeed relatively low.
But things sell well here, and there's no need to worry about bandits robbing you along the way.
While Konoha's ninjas may not be enough to cover the entire Land of Fire, the safety of several trade routes can still be guaranteed.
Although the city walls are gone, each checkpoint is still guarded by a combination of Uchiha Byakugan to prevent enemy ninjas from infiltrating.
But Hashirama Senju was no ordinary man. If he wanted to come in, not even a regular Uchiha could see through him, let alone Mangekyo Sharingan user.
I walked through the streets and alleys for several hours.
Hashirama Senju sensed the biggest difference between the village now and when he was there.
Sense of order.
Everyone seems to know what they should and shouldn't do.
They have a sense of respect and adherence to rules.
When the Uchiha Police Force was initially responsible for maintaining order, although no major incidents occurred, Hashirama Senju always felt a little uncomfortable.
The problem lies not with the Uchiha, but with the villagers.
The Uchiha operates entirely according to rules and regulations; they prioritize law over personal feelings.
However, in newly established villages, most people are related by blood or marriage. If you punish one person according to the law, you will offend a large number of people.
You can't expect someone not to feel resentment when they see a loved one being punished.
The majority tend to side with their relatives regardless of right or wrong.
Whether the law is above sentiment or whether the law is inseparable from sentiment is a question that has been debated for thousands of years.
Tobirama Senju did nothing wrong.
The Uchiha Clan is indeed the most suitable clan to serve as law enforcers.
Hashirama Senju noticed that the caravans seemed about to have a conflict several times, but when his gaze swept over the Uchiha patrolling not far away, he became amicable again.
Any clan that gains too much power for too long will become corrupted. He and Tobirama knew this, which is why they disbanded the Senju Clan.
Otherwise, given his and Tobirama's prestige, the position of Hokage would simply become the exclusive domain of the Senju Clan.
However, the Uchiha Clan, who are extremely proud of their bloodline, would not accept such a thing.
However, this clan is too prone to extremism, so Tobirama's solution was to use them in a suppressed manner.
We cannot allow the Uchiha to hold supreme power.
Those who maintain order must not be people who act on emotion.
If any Uchiha Clan Head were to get provoked, and he were also a Hokage, then that would be the end of them.
This is not prejudice; it is the conclusion that Tobirama Senju reached after countless experiments, and it is a responsible decision for the majority of people.
In his mind, you can't gamble the future of the village, or even the Shinobi World, on whether the Uchiha will go out of control.
It's true that Tobirama Senju disliked the Uchiha, but he also acknowledged the abilities of Minato Namikaze, whom Kagami Uchiha had chosen as Hokage.
I just don't want to gamble.
Kagami Uchiha is still very young; sooner or later, he will develop an ambition to rule the Shinobi World.
He didn't want that kind of future.
Ultimately...
Tobirama Senju had long been tired of war and did not want to fight anymore.
If he had firmly opposed it back then, even threatening suicide, Konoha would never have been established.
He, too, is someone who emerged from the flames of war.
They lived through war from birth to death.
That's how the Shinobi World is; every survivor yearns for peace in their own way.
However, this triggered war after war.
Well, except for Danzo.
——
On the road leading to the Hokage Building, Hashirama Senju looked up and saw the two Face Rock, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.
Madara... If you were the second generation back then, the village might be like this.
No, not necessarily, although I don't really want to say it...
Actually, you weren't the right person back then.
If only Izuna hadn't died back then...
Once Hashirama arrived Hashirama Senju the Hokage Building, it would be difficult for him to do so without alerting anyone. Those barriers and similar structures were like spider webs to him, easy to destroy, and quite troublesome to keep quiet.
After thinking for a moment, he temporarily adjusted the usage of a Cursed Technique.
In the Hokage Office, Minato had just dealt with a problem involving... well, a local official.
It was lunchtime, and he had just taken out the Kushina had prepared for him from the drawer.
Before he could even open it, he keenly sensed a fluctuation of chakra.
Holding the Special Kunai in his hand, he looked solemnly at the green plants in the corner.
A hand reached out from the leaves of the green plant, and just as Minato was about to throw out his Kunai, a deep male voice came from within the green plant.
"Haha, sorry to meet you this way."
A verdant figure materialized, Hashirama Senju removed his straw hat, revealing a kind smile.
"Hokage of the village, I am Hashirama Senju. I have some questions for you, is that alright?"
——
——
Hozuki Castle.
Beneath the city walls, which resembled a demonic prison, all the walking corpses were engulfed in crimson flames, like blooming red lotuses of Karmic Fire.
From a distance, it has an eerie beauty reminiscent of thousands of lights in the city.
Ryuzetsu's eyes widened in disbelief at what he was seeing.
There were no earth-shattering energy fluctuations, and not even Hand Seals.
Tens of thousands of zombies were turned to ashes in an instant!
With his hands in his pockets, Kagami Uchiha watched the filth beneath his feet as he slowly walked towards the city.
Ryuzetsu's legs seemed to follow along as if they were not under its own control.
Suddenly.
A loud roar startled her so much that she stopped in her tracks.
With a flapping of wings, a colossal creature stood atop the city wall.
His limbs are thick and strong, with well-defined muscles, exuding a sense of power.
A huge head with a pair of enormous wings.
With its gaping maw and two enormous fangs on either side, it exudes an aura of utter evil and otherworldly power.
The products of the Box of Paradise are born and move with enlightenment.
"Muku..."
Ryuzetsu witnessed his playmate, Muku, being tainted by the red light seeping from the Box of Paradise, and then turning into this monster.
The reason she stayed here was to find a way to save her companions.
Time and again in the dead of night, she heard Muku's wailing from within the Box of Paradise.
"Your chakra... is enormous..."
The giant made a chilling sound and grinned.
Swish swish swish!!
With a flick of its head, countless steel-blade-like wings shot out!
"Careful!"
As soon as the Ryuzetsu opened its mouth to exclaim in surprise, it saw its wings melt away like an ice pick falling into boiling water just a few meters away from the person.
Sizzle————
A slash flashing with black and red lightning tore through the sky.
The pitch-black slash cleaved the giant beast in two, and the dissipated energy, like a storm, wantonly destroyed its body tissues!
"Why... why..."
Wu looked at his crumbling body and couldn't understand it at all.
"I can clearly... sense fear and killing intent... no one should be able to attack me..."
A tall, slender figure wielding a knife appeared above its head.
It answered its question.
"How could I possibly have murderous intent toward food?"
——
From this vantage point, Kagami Uchiha saw a black box emanating an eerie aura in the center of the ancient city.
Box of Paradise...