The Death of Senju Hashirama

Yuya gradually fell silent after his initial shock.

He had never expected Senju Hashirama's hopes for him to be about this...

How should he put it? Hashirama hadn't said a word about Yuya's combat ability, and Yuya understood why. No matter how strong he got, could he ever be as strong as the God of Shinobi?

So Hashirama had gone straight to another matter.

He wanted Yuya to lead Konoha to prosperity and a better life.

Yuya really could do that. For one thing, his golden finger alone could help him build Konoha up with money.

The Golden Emperor could use gold to build an entire city. Yuya didn't think he was any worse at making money.

But...

All of this depended on one thing...

Senju Tobirama had to make it safely through the next ten years.

Yuya looked at Hashirama. "If I can, I'll find a way to make Konoha prosperous."

Hashirama nodded, satisfied. But Yuya immediately continued, "There's one problem, though. After you die, won't the other countries take the chance to attack us, Sensei?"

Hashirama smiled even more warmly.

Tobirama smiled too. "The fact that you're thinking about this shows that you really do care about the village.

"It's true that the other villages might try something, but we won't be afraid of them."

Tobirama looked at Yuya with a serious expression. "Konoha has the largest number of shinobi among the five nations. We don't fear the other villages, so don't worry."

Yuya: "..."

Was that a death flag?

To be fair, they did win the fight. It was just that their boss didn't make it...

There was no way Yuya could actually say that out loud. He'd really be dragged off and cut open for study.

All he could do was nod gloomily.

Hashirama smiled and nodded. He could already picture Konoha flourishing in the future.

What a shame he wouldn't live to see it.

The brothers shared the same view of the Impure World Reincarnation technique Tobirama had developed: the living belonged among the living, and the dead among the dead. It was wrong for the living to disturb the dead's eternal rest.

Tobirama had even considered erasing every trace of the technique.

But he worried that Konoha might one day fall into decline and be destroyed by another village. If that happened, someone who knew the Impure World Reincarnation technique might be able to summon them to help, so he hadn't destroyed it completely.

"Those are the main things I wanted to say about the village." Hashirama looked at Uzumaki Mito, who had remained silent all along. "I'm sorry. I haven't been a good husband. In the future, you'll have to walk the rest of the way alone."

Mito looked at Hashirama coldly. "Hmph. You think far too highly of yourself. I only married you because my clan asked me to."

That was true. Strictly speaking, the marriage between Mito and Hashirama had been an alliance from start to finish.

In return, the Uzumaki Clan had been allowed to establish a shinobi village in a small country.

Given the choice between becoming a shinobi village and joining Konoha, many clans would choose to become a village of their own.

Whether they were strong enough to hold on to that advantage was another matter.

The Uzumaki Clan wasn't particularly strong, but that changed after Mito married Hashirama. Konoha and the Uzumaki Clan became allies. The Uzumaki could handle weaker enemies themselves, while stronger ones would have to think twice about Konoha's presence.

Hashirama smiled at his wife. "That's good, then. After I die, if you meet someone suitable, you can remarry. I won't hold it against you."

Mito's eyes immediately reddened. "Who asked you?! If you die today, I'll go marry some random man tomorrow! That'll teach you!"

Hashirama burst out laughing.

He'd meant every word.

He had simply forgotten that the woman who had once shared his bed was Uzumaki Mito, the God of Shinobi's wife. What man could possibly measure up to him in her eyes?

And in the original manga, Mito really had lived out her days alone.

Hashirama turned to Tobirama. "I'm leaving Tsunade in your care."

Tobirama nodded.

Tsunade had a mother but no father, which was why Hashirama had said that.

Hashirama turned to Yuya again. "That girl likes you quite a bit. If you can, marry her when you grow up, hahaha!"

Yuya's face darkened, but Mito was already rolling up her sleeves. "Don't go meddling in that! I'll make sure Yuya's future wife is up to my standards!"

Hashirama burst into hearty laughter again.

After that, the four of them—three adults and one child—chatted there, occasionally breaking into cheerful laughter.

Tobirama used the Flying Thunder God to go buy food and drinks, but Yuya noticed that his eyes had grown a little damp.

After they'd eaten and drunk their fill, Hashirama began urging them to leave. He didn't want the three of them to see his final moments.

But naturally, none of them would go.

With no other choice, Hashirama could only wait for the end to come.

Later, Hashirama asked Yuya what plans he had for Konoha. If Yuya became Hokage ten years from now, how would he make Konoha stronger?

Yuya was silent for a moment, then dropped a bombshell: reform and openness.

The shinobi system needed to change. Shinobi should form a separate military branch. They could have officers and an army, but they couldn't go into business or compete with ordinary people for power and wealth. If they wanted to make money, they could leave the shinobi army and focus on business instead.

The business model needed to change, too. In the past, merchants from outside brought wagonloads of goods to sell in Konoha. Konoha could make things itself, so in the future, it should go out and sell its own products.

Of course, Yuya only explained a small part of his ideas. Take the shinobi army, for instance. He'd actually considered banning shinobi from getting involved in politics altogether, but the problem was that shinobi weren't necessarily just soldiers, so that was definitely impossible.

Still, if he could, Yuya would certainly change the shinobi ranking system.

Having only three ranks—Genin, Chunin, and Jonin—was far too simplistic. It made it easy to see just how far one could go. The ranks needed to be more detailed. Something like a system that went from squads to divisions would work well.

Then there was the economy. Konoha had a solid foundation. It was located in the Land of Fire, which had ports, so it could use waterways to trade with the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, and the Land of Lightning.

What about the Land of Wind?

It was a dirt-poor country, with deserts everywhere. What money could it possibly have?

And the Land of Wind could only trade with the Land of Fire by land. It couldn't use waterways, making transport far too inefficient.

So the Land of Wind wasn't a priority.

But all that could wait. If they were really talking about Yuya becoming Hokage ten years from now...

Boss Tobirama, maybe you could make it through next year first...

Hashirama and the others listened with great interest. They really hadn't expected Yuya to already have a plan in mind.

There were plenty of parts that could use more thought, but for a child, it was already more than enough.

Hashirama could finally rest easy.

Later, in the dusk of evening, Hashirama felt an overwhelming drowsiness come over him. After saying goodbye to the three of them, he fell asleep and never woke again.

Mito finally couldn't hold back her tears. Yuya turned away, unable to look anymore.

No matter what, if Hashirama hadn't taken him in back then, he would have starved to death.

Yuya would never forget a life-saving kindness like that.

As for Tobirama, he walked over and poured the alcohol from the bottle over Hashirama's body. Then he formed hand seals, and Hashirama's corpse sank directly into the ground.

One evening in Konoha's sixteenth year, Hashirama fell into eternal sleep.

That very night, the woods on the outskirts of Konoha underwent a sudden transformation. Trees began growing at a frantic pace, merging with one another until they were so enormous that it took two people, then three, then ten, to wrap their arms around them. Eventually, it might take a hundred people to encircle a single tree.

The giant trees formed a spectacular forest that stretched for a hundred miles.

Acting as the Second, Tobirama declared the area off-limits and named it:

The Forest of Death.

Yes, the very same Forest of Death where the Chunin Ninja Exams were held.