Hashirama hadn't been too hard on Tobirama. He knew Tobirama had Konoha's best interests at heart and was simply putting their village's interests first.
"Sir, according to Tobirama, wouldn't the drawbacks of distributing the Tailed Beasts actually benefit Konoha even more?"
On one hand, distributing the Tailed Beasts had brought Konoha considerable gains and advantages. On the other, the potential danger of Tailed Beast Rampages could greatly weaken the other Ninja Villages.
So how could Konoha possibly lose?
Wasn't this a sure-fire way to win without lifting a finger?
At least in Tobirama's view, even though those Kumogakure bastards had ambushed him this time, Konoha was still destined to win in the future.
Monkey and the others just had to hold steady and do nothing.
Konoha's overall strength would sooner or later surpass that of the other four villages by far.
Even Tobirama looked at Natsu Yuu with curiosity, hoping to learn from this 'Sage'—who seemed able to travel through time and space and foresee the future—where his plans had gone wrong.
Natsu Yuu smiled faintly and asked Tobirama again.
"Second Hokage, if it were you, what would you do after discovering the drawbacks?"
"Of course I'd find a way to deal with them."
"And what would the other villages do after discovering that the Tailed Beasts were powerful, but their Jinchuriki were unstable and prone to rampages?"
"Find ways to improve their Fuinjutsu and strengthen the Jinchuriki's ability to adapt, until they could completely control the Tailed Beasts..."
"But that's not something they can accomplish easily. It would take at least decades of adjustment and development..."
Tobirama's assessment was right. The villages really had spent decades tinkering before they managed to raise Killer B, Karatachi Yagura, and Naruto Uzumaki. Even the last one had little to do with his village's efforts. He'd been left to fend for himself, with guidance from Kumogakure and a power-up from a kindly old man.
"Then you left Konoha with a Nine-Tails that couldn't lose control, and a pushover who could be easily subdued even if he did. Did you think the village was too peaceful? Or that your enemies were too stupid to make any progress?"
Natsu Yuu's question jolted Tobirama into sudden realization!
An environment that was too comfortable would only make people complacent, leaving future generations with no experience handling Tailed Beast Rampages.
Especially when everyone else was constantly improving at the cost of enormous casualties.
If you stayed where you were, you were already falling behind—especially when you were actually regressing little by little!
The truth was—
Tailed Beast Rampages had indeed brought the other four villages immense casualties and trouble.
There was no need to even mention Sunagakure. Shukaku, the One-Tail, had driven several generations of Kazekage mad or to their deaths.
Kirigakure was much the same. Several Jinchuriki rampages had killed large numbers of its elite ninja.
Iwagakure had Ōnoki, that old tortoise, who could suppress the Tailed Beasts, but several Jinchuriki had still left the village one after another.
Kumogakure was an even clearer case. Without the Third Raikage's overwhelming strength, the Eight-Tails would have destroyed the village countless times by now.
But over those decades—
The other villages had managed to milk the Tailed Beasts for plenty of benefits.
Sunagakure had developed Magnet Release and the Feigning Sleep Technique, among other things, through its research into the One-Tail...
Kirigakure had developed the Bubble Seal and trained a Perfect Jinchuriki.
Kumogakure had developed the Iron Armor Seal and trained a Perfect Jinchuriki too.
Iwagakure had achieved the least, but its Jinchuriki had all been fiercely loyal to the village and earned countless merits. The village had also gradually improved its own Fuinjutsu.
Compare them all—
Only Konohagakure had the strongest of them all, the Nine-Tails, yet made no progress whatsoever. It had gotten no value out of him and relied entirely on the Uzumaki Clan's legacy to suppress the Tailed Beast.
Then the Uzumaki Clan had been wiped out by misfortune.
And in all of Konoha, there wasn't a single person who could teach Naruto how to control the Tailed Beast...
Naruto had to struggle his way forward alone before he could truly make use of the Nine-Tails' power.
Before that—
The Nine-Tails had never helped Konoha in the slightest. Instead, it had brought disaster upon the village time and time again.
Everyone else was making progress, finding ways to milk the Tailed Beasts for all they were worth.
Wasn't it only reasonable for them to beat you up once they'd surpassed you?
If Konoha had given Orochimaru one or two Tailed Beasts to study as much as he wanted, he could probably have swept through the Edo Tensei Army with a mechanical army of Tailed Beasts during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Then what would they have needed the Shinobi Alliance for?
"Sir, Tobirama, what are you talking about?" Hashirama scratched his head, completely unable to understand the significance of technological progress.
Tobirama looked at Natsu Yuu and thanked him sincerely:
"Thank you for the reminder, sir. I hadn't considered that. I'll keep it in mind."
Tobirama secretly resolved to overhaul Konoha's research into and use of the Nine-Tails once he returned to the village.
He couldn't just sit around and wait for the other villages to slowly surpass Konoha.
The foundation he and his brother had left the village was substantial, but it couldn't withstand their successors' lack of ambition and refusal to move forward forever!
Of course, Tobirama wasn't too worried.
The Uzumaki Clan and the Uchiha Clan were his greatest sources of confidence. As long as those two clans remained, it would be difficult for any Tailed Beast to bring Konoha down.
Natsu Yuu guessed what Tobirama was thinking and couldn't be bothered to say more.
Later, he'd take the Tobirama from World 2 to see the future Konoha.
Once he saw that Konoha's F4 had wrecked both the Uzumaki Clan and the Uchiha Clan, he'd know to panic.
If you can't find the book by its title, try searching for the author instead. Maybe it was just renamed!
"By the way, sir, what was that optimal solution you mentioned earlier?"
Tobirama asked of his own accord.
Setting aside Natsu Yuu's mysterious abilities, Tobirama was impressed by how precisely he had analyzed the Tailed Beast Deterrence System. It was as if he'd found a kindred spirit.
Naturally, he hoped to hear more of Natsu Yuu's insights.
"It's simple. There's no need to distribute the Tailed Beasts at all. Just unify the Shinobi World and destroy every Ninja Village and country!"
Natsu Yuu finally revealed his true intentions.
All that analysis of the shortcomings of the Tailed Beast Deterrence System had only been meant to persuade the two of them to give up on their ideals and devote themselves to the great cause of unifying the Shinobi World.
Natsu Yuu didn't expect to persuade Hashirama in just a dozen minutes, of course. He only needed to plant the seed and guide him gradually afterward.
He couldn't just come right out and force Hashirama and the others to unify the Shinobi World.
He hadn't even mastered the power of the Rinnegan yet. Even if he had, he couldn't guarantee he'd be able to defeat Hashirama.
"This... wouldn't be right."
"It took so much effort to end the Warring States period. How many more people would die if we started a war to unify the world?"
Hashirama immediately objected. He truly didn't want to see any more wars or sacrifices...
"Elder Brother is right. Besides, there's no guarantee that the world wouldn't split apart again after it was unified."
Tobirama quickly added, though a glint flashed deep in his eyes.
Deep down, he'd wanted to do exactly that for a long time!
Unfortunately, his elder brother had never allowed it.
Once his brother was gone, it would be difficult for him to sweep across the entire Shinobi World on his own.
Originally, he'd had some reservations about unifying the Shinobi World. He'd genuinely feared that it would split apart again. But after experiencing the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama was convinced that the peaceful system of Ninja Villages had been worthless paper all along! Complete nonsense!
Those bastards from the other villages could never do as his brother did and bring people to understand and accept one another with love...
He gradually abandoned that approach, too.
Natsu Yuu glanced at Tobirama. That's right, that's the look!
I knew you had ambition, you little rascal!
Good! I like it!
Sure enough, the idea of unifying the Shinobi World was still the easiest way to persuade this Second Hokage!
"Don't get worked up. I'm only making a suggestion, not forcing you to unify the Shinobi World."
"If you can think of a more suitable path, I certainly won't stop you from taking it. But you'll have to be prepared for the cost."
Hashirama and Tobirama fell silent.
After witnessing and experiencing the First Shinobi World War firsthand, both of them felt a sorrow they couldn't put into words.
Even the most steadfast person couldn't help questioning themselves and seeking answers after witnessing the truth.
The problem was, they couldn't think of a better alternative to the Tailed Beast Deterrence System.
"Hashirama Senju, what do you think? Can you answer my earlier question now?"
"Huh?"
What is it you want to protect—the village or your loved ones?
"This..."
Hashirama looked at Tobirama and hesitated again.
When he founded Konoha, it had been to protect Tobirama, Madara, and the people he cherished.
But in this world's future, his future self had killed his closest friend, Madara, for the sake of the village.
Wasn't that the ultimate betrayal?
Had his future self really changed?
Had he betrayed his original intentions?
What was it he truly wanted to protect?
Natsu Yuu was quite satisfied to see Hashirama looking somewhat lost.
The will of the God of Shinobi wasn't so easy to change.
First, he'd gently crack Hashirama's mental conditioning with a hammer, then encourage him to change everything and unify the Shinobi World. There was no doubt that this was the safest approach.
"Still no answer? There's no need to rush."
"Let me ask you two more questions."
Hashirama Senju, what exactly is the Will of Fire you want to pass down?
Tobirama Senju, was it really the right choice to stay behind and cover the retreat with your life?
Hashirama: "The Will of Fire?"
Tobirama: "Huh?"
Was it wrong for him to stay behind and cover the retreat with his life?
That made no sense, did it?
"No rush. Let's go see the story of the Hokage after the next one. You can answer after that."
Before you continue