Returning Empty-Handed (Continued)

What the future of humanity would look like was up to Uchiha Madara to decide, wasn't it?

He wasn't going to be like the Sage of Six Paths, sitting on immense power and doing absolutely nothing.

Senju Hashirama watched Uchiha Madara's excitement and couldn't help feeling a headache coming on. Both Hashirama and Tobirama Senju could see that this was a trap designed to make everyone slaughter one another, all to reduce the population of the Ninja World.

But from the look of Uchiha Madara, it was clear he understood that perfectly well—and had no intention of sitting around and waiting for death.

And when Madara saw Hashirama sigh, he knew Hashirama really did intend to play it safe and hold back for now!

As his old rival, Madara knew Hashirama's thoughts all too well. He'd show off his strength, then try to get people from the other villages to rein themselves in and prevent a war. That was all.

But—

"Don't tell me you still want to wait and see what happens, dreaming about joining forces with everyone else and all that. Hashirama, even if we ninjas don't use this, will the samurai who've disliked us for ages refrain from attacking ordinary people to grow stronger? Will the smaller ninja villages care about this so-called peace? And even if they agree not to fight one another, what about the civilians? There are far too many people in this world who can't afford food. If killing someone gets them money and food—and the person might even 'come back to life'—how many do you think will take that risk?"

Madara paused to let Hashirama take that in, then continued.

"Besides, how can you be sure the other villages won't try to seize our land? How can you guarantee they won't covet