The Tailed Beast Deterrence System

"I killed Madara?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Madara and I were so close. We founded Konoha together, and he even came up with the village's name. Why would he leave, then attack the village?"

"Tobirama, what exactly have you done?"

Elder Brother's roar made Tobirama shrink back again, but he couldn't show the Uchiha even the slightest weakness.

He could only stand his ground and retort:

"Elder Brother, that was Madara's own choice. Who could know what that guy was really thinking? Besides, he left after arguing with you. You should know best!"

Hashirama had regained his composure. No matter what, he couldn't blame Tobirama.

And he'd heard that Madara had left the village after arguing with him?

What had they argued about? It hadn't happened yet! Could it have been when Madara invited him to Naka Shrine?

No.

When he got back, he had to find out what happened. He'd talk things through with Madara and make sure he stayed!

"Tobirama, was Madara really killed by me?"

"Yes, Elder Brother. You fought him for three days and three nights, changing the terrain across a vast area. In the end, you stabbed Madara in the back. I personally sealed away his body..."

Hashirama fell silent. Tobirama had described it in such detail that it was most likely something that had really happened in the future.

He had actually killed Madara with his own hands?

How could that be?

Had he really changed in the future?

He had founded the village to protect the people he cared about.

And in the end, he'd killed one of them for the sake of the village?

For a moment,

Hashirama was unusually bewildered. Summer Yuu's earlier question came to mind:

[What is it you want to protect, the village or your family?]

"Elder Brother?"

Tobirama's call snapped Hashirama out of his daze.

"It's nothing. It's just hard to accept..."

Hearing this, Tobirama didn't know what to say. He understood better than anyone the bond between his elder brother and Madara.

The feeling of killing one's closest friend with your own hands had to be awful. If Hashirama had Uchiha blood, maybe he could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan in one fell swoop!

In fact,

Hashirama of World 2 really had been despondent for a long time after the Battle of the Valley of the End, barely attending to the village's affairs.

Only the birth of his beloved granddaughter, Tsunade, managed to ease his grief somewhat.

"Enough. I'll look into what happened with Madara when I get back. Tobirama, tell me more about your situation."

"Why did the other great nations start this war?"

Tobirama frowned and got straight to the point. "At its core, it was a fight over resources."

"The Land of Fire occupies the richest, most advantageous territory in the entire Ninja World, so naturally, it's coveted."

"Elder Brother's death was only the immediate cause."

"The real reasons for this war were to provoke a fight, test Konoha, and even carve up the entire Land of Fire."

"But if you were still alive, Elder Brother, this war never would have started."

"And even if it had, these two wouldn't have been allowed to run rampant!"

Tobirama glanced at Kinkaku's mangled remains and the dying Ginkaku in the distance, unable to suppress his fury.

He had led Konoha to defeat the combined forces of Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure in the great war, earning the title First God of Speed in the Ninja World and forcing Kumogakure to negotiate.

Yet he'd nearly fallen at the hands of those two beasts. How could he not be furious?

Natsu Yuu imagined what it would have looked like if Hashirama had been at the Alliance Conference.

It probably would have gone something like this:

Kinkaku and Ginkaku had just appeared.

Hashirama would have boomed, "What villains are these? Brother Raikage, wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

Raikage: "Have this cup of wine before you go, Lord Hashirama."

Hashirama: "I'll drink it when I get back!"

In the blink of an eye...

Hashirama: "Hahaha! Brother Raikage, you have no idea. These two are quite the amusing pair. They can even turn into red foxes with six tails. I've caught them so you can amuse yourself with them later. Hahaha!"

The Raikage touched the cup on the table. The wine was piping hot!

But inwardly, he felt uneasy: That was terrifying. No wonder he's the God of Shinobi! But could he really not know Kinkaku and Ginkaku were from our village? Surely no one could be that oblivious, right? Hahaha...

Joking aside,

Hashirama knew perfectly well that Tobirama was right.

He had ended the Warring States Period through sheer, unmatched strength. The Ninja World's decade of peace after Konoha's founding had also depended on his power.

But he knew even better that he would die sooner or later.

Peace was only ever temporary. They had to find a way to preserve it without relying on him.

"What about the Tailed Beasts?"

"Tobirama, did I use them to create a system of deterrence in the future?"

The topic made Tobirama indignant.

At the first Kage Summit, Hashirama of World 2 had actually wanted to give away the eight Tailed Beasts he'd captured for free.

Only after Tobirama's vehement objections had they settled on selling seven Tailed Beasts to the other four villages and keeping the strongest, the Nine-Tails, for Konoha.

But what happened afterward proved that the Tailed Beasts had done nothing to deter anyone.

The moment Hashirama died, the other three villages had lost no time in starting a war.

Only Sunagakure had kept its head down and played dead, focusing single-mindedly on how to use its Tailed Beast. In time, it developed Magnet Release, the Feigning Sleep Technique, and other techniques...

After hearing Tobirama's account, Hashirama was stunned again.

Had the Tailed Beast Deterrence System failed too?

"Sir, was distributing the Tailed Beasts a mistake?" Hashirama turned to Natsu Yuu, remembering how this Sage had seen through his wish to distribute the Tailed Beasts from the very start.

Perhaps this man could give him an answer.

Natsu Yuu smiled faintly. He didn't mind discussing the Tailed Beast issue.

"Distributing the Tailed Beasts wasn't the best solution, but it was a good one. The problem was in how it was carried out."

"Why?"

"Tobirama Senju, how do you judge whether a policy is good or bad?" Natsu Yuu turned to Tobirama. There was no point asking Hashirama about this sort of thing.

Tobirama paused, then gave his answer.

"As long as the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, it's a good policy."

That was the conclusion he'd reached through his own experience governing the village. Establishing Anbu and founding the Konoha Military Police Force both had their downsides.

But as long as the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, the policies were worth implementing.

As for their flaws, they could be addressed and remedied gradually.

If they were so afraid of drawbacks that they never moved forward, shutting themselves off from the world, they would make no progress at all and would only be left behind by the times.

"Then what benefits did Konoha gain from distributing the Tailed Beasts? And what were the drawbacks?"

"We gained quite a bit of money."

"What else?"

"We spread Elder Brother's vision of peace?"

"Hmm... Let's set that aside for now. Anything else?"

Tobirama glanced at Hashirama beside him, afraid to say more.

Natsu Yuu saw Tobirama's hesitation, so he spoke for him:

"I'll say it, then."