Senju Tobirama

The estate where Senju Hashirama lived was located in the southern part of the village.

A cliff stood to the north of Konoha, and the village had expanded outward from its base. The dense forest to the west belonged to the Hyuga, Sarutobi, Inuzuka, and other clans, while the Ninja Academy founded by Senju Tobirama stood to the southeast.

The Uchiha territory lay to the east, stretching all the way to the Naka River—(the place where little Sasuke practiced Fire Release and hoped Fugaku would praise him; yes, that was Uchiha territory too). Of course, calling it "territory" sounded a bit distant. After all, everyone lived in the same village now. In theory, they were all comrades and part of the same whole.

Well, that was what people said, but who knew what things were really like?

It was no secret that the Uchiha were ostracized by the village. Everyone in the village knew it.

At dusk, Yuya returned to the Senju Estate with a backpack on his shoulders.

"I'm back." Yuya took off his shoes and removed the backpack from his shoulders.

"..."

Unlike before, Uzumaki Mito didn't call back with something like "Welcome home," followed by a reminder to wash his hands and face before dinner.

Today, it was quiet.

Yuya tilted his head, puzzled. What was going on?

After changing into his indoor slippers, he pattered through the entryway and into the main room.

"Sensei's wife? Is she not home?!"

Yuya slid open the wooden door and froze in place.

His sensei's wife was kneeling at a low table, drinking tea. That wasn't the point, of course. Uzumaki Mito treated Yuya well, and he wasn't really afraid of her.

—Well, not when she wasn't angry.

Ahem. Anyway, what had left Yuya frozen stiff was the other person.

His white hair stood straight up in spikes, and his blood-red eyes might have made people think he was an Uchiha—if not for the lack of patterns in them.

Senju Tobirama, the younger brother of Senju Hashirama.

The current Second.

In Konoha's eighth year, Senju Hashirama had handed the position to Tobirama, hoping to set an example for future Hokage. Of course, officially, Tobirama had succeeded him because the people of Konoha loved him and had elected him by popular vote.

But the truth was, if you cared to look into it, who else besides Senju Tobirama had been suitable to become the Second?

Madara Uchiha?

He was gloomy every day. He couldn't match Senju Hashirama in strength or Senju Tobirama in developing new jutsu. Why would anyone choose him?

To put it more bluntly, Senju Tobirama could develop more and stronger jutsu. What could anyone else offer?

So, under the circumstances, only Senju Tobirama had been suited for the position.

Of course, Yuya only dared to grumble about all this in his head. He wouldn't dare say it aloud.

"Where did you go today?" Tobirama asked calmly as he looked at Yuya.

Yuya forced a smile. "M-My sensei told me to take the day off, so I went to play in the woods on the west side of the village."

Tobirama's crimson eyes fixed on Yuya without a hint of emotion. "You just went to play?"

Yuya shrank his neck. "I really just went to play..."

Tobirama narrowed his eyes. "You should know what happens if you lie to me."

Yuya: "..."

A minute later, Yuya covered his eyes and wailed, "Waaah... Leave me some! That's mine! My gold! He's stealing a kid's gold! He's stealing a kid's gold!"

Senju Tobirama shot Yuya a look. "Quiet down."

Yuya pouted, tears glistening in his eyes as he stared at Senju Tobirama.

Senju Tobirama cleared his throat, ignored Yuya's furious glare, and hefted the gold from Yuya's backpack a few times.

"It's about ten-some kilograms, around thirty pounds... Heh, you're a little brat carrying a whole backpack of gold around Konoha. Weren't you afraid someone would rob you?" Senju Tobirama tried to keep a stern expression, but he just couldn't hold it in.

Put it this way: the gold in Yuya's backpack weighed over ten kilograms. Converted into money...

Ten-some kilograms came to a little over ten thousand grams. At five thousand ryo per gram, that meant at least fifty million ryo.

Yikes. Fifty million... That was enough to pay the salaries and bonuses of over two hundred jonin for a month!

The thing was...

Konoha didn't even have that many jonin!

This money could even build a bridge!

And with what was left over, they could buy some cement and pave the roads...

There was no need to explain how much a bridge would improve transportation, was there?

Still...

Looking at the tears welling in Yuya's eyes, Senju Tobirama cleared his throat awkwardly. He certainly had no interest in taking things from a child.

But, to be honest...

He couldn't let a child like Yuya carry around ten-some kilograms of gold.

Safety aside... gold that never left the house was just a pile of pretty but useless rocks.

So Senju Tobirama thought it over, looked at Yuya, and said, "How about this? I'll teach you a jutsu. It should be worth as much as that thirty pounds of gold."

Yuya's tears vanished at once. Senju Tobirama looked at him suspiciously. The little brat had been on the verge of tears just a moment ago. How had he gone back to normal so quickly?

Had he been played?

Senju Tobirama gripped the gold in his hand, feeling reassured. Whatever. He already had the gold, so he couldn't lose either way.

He had tested the gold with water. It was real.

It wasn't some fake gold Yuya had made using his "Kekkei Genkai."

Since that was the case, he couldn't lose no matter what.

"What jutsu?! Is it S-rank?!" Yuya asked, staring at Tobirama excitedly.

Tobirama rubbed his chin. It seemed the kid was excited because he'd get to learn a jutsu. He'd overthought it.

"Forget about S-rank. I can't teach you that." Tobirama ruffled Yuya's hair and chuckled softly. "Wait for me at the Academy tomorrow. I'll take you to the training ground on Back Mountain."

Yuya nodded repeatedly, thrilled, then dashed off to wash his hands and face before dinner.

Uzumaki Mito didn't show it, but she was happy.

She was glad that Yuya hadn't gone out to play, but had a clear goal in mind.

But deep down, she still hoped he could live carefree, like Tsunade...

Sighing, Uzumaki Mito got up to prepare dinner.

Meanwhile, Tobirama looked at the gold in his hand and sighed again.

If Yuya had been born fifteen years earlier...

Konoha...

With a bitter smile, Tobirama greeted Mito and left the estate.

The next day, Hokage Office:

"Bang!"

At the loud crash, Senju Tobirama looked up and saw Senju Hashirama charging toward him with his mouth wide open, roaring at the top of his lungs. "You bastard! You took all the gold yesterday! You didn't leave me a single bit! Not a single bit! How can you call yourself my little brother?!"

Senju Tobirama's face changed instantly. "Idiot! Don't say things like that here!"

Hashirama blinked. "Huh? Why?"

Tobirama's already pale face grew even paler.

Ten minutes later:

"Tap-tap-tap-tap." The sound of countless footsteps rang out as a crowd rushed to the office door.

"Lord Hokage! I heard you found a gold mine?! Does that mean we have money now?! Our Akimichi Clan would like to request funds to eat—ah, no! To train in the Multi-Size Technique!"

"Lord Hokage! The Sarutobi Clan's little estate was demolished to make way for the village's development. Can we get our compensation now? You've got a gold mine!"

"Lord Hokage! The Hyuga Clan would like to ask when this year's shinobi subsidies will be issued."

"Lord Hokage! Please approve some funding so we can choose better Ninja Dog offspring and improve Konoha's police dog bloodline!"

"Lord Hokage!"

"Lord Hokage!"

Senju Tobirama sat in his chair, ashen-faced. Meanwhile, Senju Hashirama had already snuck out and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Whew. It had been years since he'd been Hokage. He'd almost forgotten...

Those people were like starving Ninja Cats who'd spotted a mouse whenever they saw money.

Never mind. There was still some money left from trading Yuya's fake gold last time. He'd use that for now.

Hashirama whistled as he headed toward Konoha's Commercial Street. As for his dear little brother...

Well, he could work hard. After all, he was the Second.

I changed things a little from the original plot. Madara Uchiha now believed Senju Tobirama would target the Uchiha Clan once he took office. He foresaw this and wanted his clan to be on guard against the Second, but no one in the clan listened to him. They only wanted to assimilate into Konoha as a whole. In the end, he was isolated and ostracized by his own people. On top of that, Senju Tobirama won the Second election unanimously. All of it pushed him over the edge, so he left Konoha and then brought Kurama to challenge the village. After that, Hashirama defeated and killed him. This changes the original story, where he opposed his own clan, into one where he opposed the entire village. The main point is that Madara Uchiha believed he was acting in Konoha's best interests. He was certain Senju Tobirama would target the Uchiha Clan, and the Uchiha Clan surely wouldn't sit back and take it—they'd fight back. That would destroy the village's peace. That was how Madara Uchiha saw it. Unfortunately, not a single person stood by him, and he was pushed over the edge.