What Is a Village, and What Is a Shinobi?

The Senju brothers stared at each other, their eyes seemingly locked in a tense standoff.

"Put your finger down!"

"I know, don't unleash your Chakra recklessly, big brother!" Faced with his big brother's powerful Chakra, Tobirama Senju could only lower his fingers and arrogantly turn his head to the side.

"Hahaha... Oh, sorry, sorry. But you, Sasuke, have a great older brother, a better ninja than me. I can talk to you about the village, but it will be a long talk!" Hashirama Senju, deciding to help the boy resolve his inner conflict.

"If possible, please keep it brief and tell him what he wants to know. We don't have much time left!" Orochimaru reminded him.

"Not much time?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, looking puzzled.

"There's a war going on right now. Uchiha Madara has been resurrected, and he seems to want to kill all the ninjas in the world!"

"War is inevitable in any era!" Hashirama Senju said with a helpless expression, this being the third time he had been resurrected.

"I can definitely sense some kind of powerful Chakra at the two o'clock position!" Tobirama Senju said, slowly walking towards the wall at the two o'clock position and carefully sensing it. Then he continued, "It seems you weren't lying; I can indeed sense Madara's Chakra!"

"Then let's head to the battlefield too!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

"Your movements are restricted under the constraints of my Impure World Reincarnation Technique. If you want to go to the battlefield, you'd better finish what you're saying!"

"We can talk about this later. Now that Madara has been resurrected, can't you tell what's important and what's urgent?"

"I'll listen to Sasuke. If he's not satisfied, I might control you and destroy the entire Konoha at this crucial moment!"

"That despicable Ninjutsu!" Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth in anger upon hearing Orochimaru's words.

"Orochimaru, you've misunderstood some things. This time, the Impure World Reincarnation technique is more precise than last time, and you overlooked that. This time, we are reincarnated with almost the same power as before. Your Impure World Reincarnation can't bind me at all!" With that, Tobirama Senju raised his right hand high, and the wall cracked with just the power of his Chakra.

He said smugly, "In the end, I'm the one who invented this Ninjutsu. Brother, now that things have come to this, I have no other choice but to take action!"

After saying this, Tobirama Senju prepared to rush out, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't move an inch. Orochimaru Hand Seals hand seals and bound him tightly.

Seeing his younger brother restrained, Hashirama Senju said with admiration, "Monkey, the ninja you trained is quite capable!"

"It is my honor to receive praise from the God of Shinobi!" Orochimaru accepted Hashirama Senju's compliment.

"Hahaha... My cells have been added to his body to strengthen the binding force. Tobirama, your senses are a bit dulled!"

After careful observation, it was discovered that this guy's body was almost entirely composed of his elder brother's cells. He had been careless! Tobirama Senju shook his head slightly as he sensed Orochimaru's physical condition.

"Next..." Hashirama Senju said, his sharp gaze sweeping over the group in front of him.

However, even with just Hashirama Senju's simple sweep, Orochimaru's heart immediately jumped, and he instantly became extremely vigilant.

This is different from the Second. The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, with his strength, could break free from my restraints and could capture me at any time... We can't afford to be careless in the slightest!

Seeing Orochimaru's wariness, Hashirama Senju said calmly, "Don't worry about Orochimaru. I'd better help this kid resolve his inner conflict first. Although I don't know what choice the Uchiha Clan boy will make after hearing my words, if we ignore him now, he will inevitably become the next Madara. In that case, even if we end the war and win the victory, it will be meaningless!"

"A very rational decision. I must say, your decision is excellent. I'm not saying it's better not to take action, but rather that it can help your descendants resolve their inner conflicts. First Hokage, you may not know this, but this child is your granddaughter Tsunade and Tianqi's grandson Sasuke Uchiha!"

Upon hearing Orochimaru's news, both Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju were taken aback and involuntarily turned their gaze to Sasuke. They didn't realize until they looked closely that they could see Tsunade's shadow on Sasuke's face.

"Hahaha... I didn't expect Tsuna to have a grandson. So your brother is also Tsuna's grandson? That's wonderful!" Upon learning that this boy had such a relationship with him, Hashirama Senju was overjoyed.

"It's those damned Tianqi and Xiaogang! That damned Uchiha bloodline is such a menace!" Tobirama Senju muttered to himself. He blamed Sasuke's bad condition on the Uchiha bloodline; in short, it was all the Uchiha's fault.

"Who I am is not important. Hashirama Senju, as the first person to establish the village and an ancestor of Tsunade, I want to hear the answer from you personally. This is very important to me!"

"Is that so? Let me think about where to begin..." With that, Hashirama Senju sat cross-legged on the ground and began to think. Since he was a descendant, he was determined to help him resolve his inner conflict today, no matter what.

Tobirama Senju didn't struggle either. He wouldn't care if it were any other Uchiha brat, but since they were Tsunade's family, they were his family too. He was willing to help his older brother untangle this knot in his heart.

"Right, when talking about villages and ninjas, we have to start with the Uchiha and Senju..." Having figured out how to begin, Hashirama Senju started talking about the past of the Uchiha and Senju, as well as his love-hate relationship with Madara.

...,

"And so ended the battle between your great-grandfather and me. Although I don't know how Madara was resurrected, I did kill a friend, for the sake of the village..." Hashirama Senju this point. He hadn't done anything wrong to the village, but to his friends...

"Yes, the village, as we initially envisioned it, was a place that would connect clans, a key to establishing and maintaining order from chaos. It was a place to protect children from unnecessary conflict and achieve peace. However, it later bred the kind of darkness that your brother Itachi carried. Madara might be right; he may have foreseen this situation. I am the ninja who caused this situation, and I am the only ninja who tacitly approved of it all..."

"I said that a ninja should be someone who endures humiliation and hardship to achieve a goal, but different goals will create different ninjas, just like Madara and me!" Hashirama Senju said, his expression becoming very somber.

"What is a ninja? A ninja is someone who endures humiliation and hardship to achieve their goal?" Sasuke silently pondered Hashirama Senju's words.

"My goal is to establish a village, but Madara seems to have found something else. Although I don't know the details of what Orochimaru just said about Madara's resurrection and his attempt to destroy the ninjas of this world..."

"Infinite Tsukuyomi, whether it's a village, ninjas, a country, or civilians, it will trap everything in Genjutsu and manipulate them at will. This will reduce my brother, Madara's brother, and everything you want to protect to nothingness!" As if he had figured something out, Sasuke directly stated the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Upon hearing Sasuke's words, everyone turned to look at Sasuke, awaiting his confirmation.

"In other words, my brother, without ever mentioning your will, silently inherited it. My brother..."

Remembering the words he saw his father and Itachi say in the Genjutsu, Sasuke continued sadly, "My brother carried the heavy responsibility of the clan, yet... He didn't hesitate to kill our parents and bear the stigma of missing-nin who massacred the entire clan, yet he still monitored organizations hostile to the village, and even now..."

"My brother endured even more humiliation and hardship than you, and until the very end he was still proud to be Konoha Ninja. The ninja who understood you best was actually a member of the Uchiha. How ironic!" Sasuke smiled as he said this. His brother Itachi had once surpassed his great-great-grandfather, Hashirama Senju, who was known as the God of Shinobi. Sasuke was proud of his brother.

"It's not just your brother. There's a man among my subordinates who looks a lot like your brother, named Kagami Uchiha!"

"Second, didn't you hate the Uchiha?"

"That's not true. I keep an eye on any clan that might threaten the village, that's all. Back then, the Uchiha did need to be more vigilant in this regard, but because the Uchiha Clan values relationships so much, there were quite a few people like your brother and Kagami Uchiha who were willing to step outside the clan's limitations and dedicate themselves to the village!" As he spoke, Kagami's face appeared in Tobirama Senju's mind.