A Request

Senju Hashirama's body was absurdly resilient. His cells were so active that Madara had managed to cling to life after biting off a piece of him. In the end, Hashirama's face had even sprouted from Madara's chest.

In theory, this outrageous cellular activity was what kept Senju Hashirama alive.

But that battle had been earth-shattering, and Senju Hashirama had been gravely injured. To heal him, the cells in his body had to keep devouring the damaged, infected, and deteriorated cells.

That was also why Senju Hashirama had recovered so quickly.

Every cell in his body had been helping repair it.

But once this devouring began, it couldn't be stopped.

You could think of it simply: the cells had developed a kind of momentum after continuously devouring other cells to keep Senju Hashirama alive. Even after new cells grew in, healthy and unchanged, they kept devouring them too.

The constant devouring left the new cells no room to survive. Yet Senju Hashirama's absurd vitality kept producing more and more of them.

Those endlessly multiplying cells meant the devouring cells never stopped working.

The first thing Yuya thought of when he learned about the symptoms was a disease he'd read about in his previous life: leukemia...

White blood cells in the human body were powerful weapons that devoured foreign pathogens, infectious bacteria at wounds, and other harmful invaders.

But if there were too many white blood cells, and they kept growing stronger by devouring without dying off normally, they would eventually destroy their own host's body.

Hashirama's symptoms were all too similar. If not for those cells in his body, he would have died long ago from his grievous injuries. But their excessive devouring had ultimately turned against him...

Hashirama's immune system was probably close to collapse by now...

Otherwise, his chakra wouldn't have leaked out and caused a tree to grow in his own home.

But...

Understanding the cause was one thing. Yuya had no idea how to save him!

He wasn't a medical ninja! He didn't know medicine!

And the fruit he'd eaten was the Gold-Gold Fruit, not the Op-Op Fruit!

Yuya panicked. He looked at Senju Hashirama and asked, "Master, how much longer can you live?!"

Hashirama stroked his chin and thought for a moment before answering, "Hmm, about half a year."

Uzumaki Mito, sitting beside him, wore an exasperated look. These two really were a pair: one dared to ask, and the other dared to answer. At a time like this, weren't they supposed to comfort each other?

Yuya panicked. If Hashirama died, how was he supposed to grow stronger? He'd only managed to get his hands on a little over five hundred kilograms of gold. That wasn't even enough to whet his appetite, let alone strengthen his body, awaken his Devil Fruit powers, or make him stronger.

"Master, you can't die!" Yuya blurted out.

Hashirama blinked, then smiled. "I didn't expect that to be your first reaction."

Yuya pressed his lips together, then said to Hashirama, "Master, if something happens to you, the peace in the Shinobi World will disappear."

Hashirama's smile faded, and he sighed. "I know, but there's nothing I can do."

He couldn't possibly attack the other four great nations' hidden villages just because Yuya said so. If he did, the retaliation would be even worse after his death.

Sweat had already appeared on Yuya's forehead. He knew what would happen if war really broke out. Children around Uchiha Itachi's age would be sent to the battlefield, and he'd be no exception. (Uchiha Itachi had been unlucky enough to be set up by his own father, but Uchiha Obito and the others weren't exactly old, either.)

He hadn't even grown strong yet, and he was already going to be sent to war. He wanted no part of that...

Hashirama hadn't thought that far. He assumed Yuya was only worried about him, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry too much about me. Ninjas accepted long ago that they could die at any moment.

If you want the truth, I should have died in that battle with Madara. I've lived this long since then, so I've already gotten more than my share."

Yuya fell silent. After a moment, he asked, "Master, after you die... can we skip the funeral?"

Hashirama stared blankly for an instant, then laughed. "Well, would you look at that... You really are my disciple. We were thinking the same thing."

Yuya understood. Hashirama had called him over to entrust him with his final wishes.

Hashirama sighed. "As your master, I haven't been very good to you. So I'm a little embarrassed to be making demands of you now. Hahaha!"

Seeing Hashirama's hearty smile, Yuya couldn't help feeling a pang in his heart.

They had lived together under the same roof for several years, after all. It was impossible not to feel anything.

"Anyway, Yuya, I haven't been a good master, but I still have to ask this of you. After I die, don't hold a grand funeral for me. Don't let anyone find my body. And...

"Don't tell Tsunade."

Yuya pressed his lips together and nodded.

Hashirama sighed. "That girl seems to have sensed something lately. She keeps wanting to follow me around. I guess she really is my granddaughter."

Yuya rolled his eyes inwardly. Sensed something, my foot. That little brat has simply picked up your bad habit, that's all.

"But I won't be able to look after her anymore. Her father died young. From now on, I'll have to leave her in your care."

Yuya froze. He really hadn't known that. So Tsunade had been raised by a single parent?

He nodded. He didn't think taking care of a little girl would be that much trouble.

"Now for the most important thing..." Hashirama suddenly sat up straight and narrowed his eyes at Yuya. "Are you willing to give everything you have for the village?"

Yuya froze, and almost instinctively began, "I, I..."

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and clamped his mouth shut.

Hashirama sighed. The imposing aura from a moment ago vanished.

"Yuya, even though you came to Konoha as a refugee from elsewhere, in my eyes..." Hashirama said softly, "you're also one of Konoha's people."

Yuya fell silent, then bowed his head respectfully until it touched the tatami. "Master, please speak plainly."

Hashirama looked at Yuya calmly, then suddenly laughed. "Hahaha, why so serious? Get up. What I want you to do is actually very simple..."

Hashirama smiled at Yuya. "Do you... want to become Hokage?"

Yuya froze. An indescribable fear surged through him.

His lips trembled. He drew a deep breath, and in an instant, he recalled every relevant scene from the television shows he'd watched in his previous life. Then Yuya opened his eyes, looked at Hashirama, and said:

"I don't have a clan backing me. I could never be elected."

Yuya knew that if he refused, he'd be finished. He was an outsider, a refugee who had come to Konoha and lived with Hashirama for years. Hashirama already suspected that he felt no attachment to the village. If he now said he had no interest in becoming Hokage at all...

Well, that would be interesting. Then what...

Was he interested in?