Meeting and Argument

The courtyard of the abandoned relay station had been cleared out again. A layer of Earth Style had filled the gaps in the stone walls; it was rough, but enough to block the wind. A crude wooden table stood in the middle of the courtyard, with uneven stools and stone seats lined up on both sides. Moonlight fell across the tabletop, stretching the shadows of several coarse clay cups and a teapot long and thin as they swayed faintly along the edges of the water stains.

By the time the Five Kage arrived, Hashirama and Madara were already there.

Hashirama sat on a low stone seat deeper in the courtyard, his back against half a stone wall, looking as relaxed as if he had come for an outing. His hair gleamed dark brown beneath the moonlight. His hands rested on his knees as his calm gaze swept over everyone entering the courtyard. Madara sat opposite him on a slightly higher stone platform, one leg bent up, an arm resting on his knee. His purple Rinnegan glimmered with an unobtrusive dark light under the moon. Neither of them deliberately released Chakra, yet the pressure around them seemed to seep from the stones themselves—not suppression, but fact. Anyone who entered this courtyard would immediately realize that these two were the weightiest presences at the table.

The Five Kage understood that perfectly well. The moment Tsunade stepped into the courtyard, her footsteps paused. She looked at Hashirama, at the face that overlapped with the portraits in her memories. Her lips moved, but she said nothing, then continued forward and took a seat by the table. A's gaze rested on Madara's face for two seconds. His taut jaw loosened slightly, as though confirming that this man was not an enemy at the moment. When